Book Review: Half Moon Bay by Alice LaPlante

I was excited to read this book as it sounded like a book I would love to read. The story follows a woman named Jane who has lost her teenage daughter to an accident that claimed her life. Jane is dealing with the loss of her daughter, and then the subsequent loss of her husband, as her husband decides to leave her for another woman.

Dealing with the loss of her husband and daughter, Jane decided to move to the town of Half Moon Bay in California. A new start in a small town where no one knows her. Then one day children begin to go missing in Half Moon Bay. She identifies with the parents’ of the missing children, as she can empathize with their pain and loss. Until one day the town begins to think that maybe Jane had something to do with the disappearances and deaths of Half Moon Bay’s missing children.

Did Jane have something to do with it? Or is she innocent?

This book for me started off ok, but was very slow to get into. Even once I reached the halfway point I felt as though I should keep reading as I was sure something big was going to happen so I pushed on to continue. I have never had a book that I was unable to finish and so I didn’t want this book to be my first “did not finish”. I stuck through it and read the entire book, but it fell short to me. I am sorry to say that this book just wasn’t what I thought it would be and it didn’t keep my interest. I struggled to finish it.

I found several parts confusing and it was hard to follow in some parts. It jumped around a lot from one part to the next.

Thank you to Scribner at Simon and Schuster Canada for the free ARC copy of this book.

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