Almost Moon by Alice Sebold

I read Alice Sebold's first novel The Lovely Bones about four years ago. The plot was rivetting, the characters were relatable, and the emotions ran high. After having so much success with Bones, I think that fans were expecting Sebold to have written a similarly great, if not better, novel. I must admit, my expectations for Moon were initally high, but it wasn't until I'd read a good number of the seemingly endless bad reviews on Amazon.com, that I decided to proceed reading with caution.

The Almost Moon is dark, disturbing, and destructional to its core. The opening pulls you in immediately, detailing the action of Helen - our mentally disturbed heroine - murdering her own mother. The given images throughout Helen's attempt to cover up her crime are graphic and unpleasant; sometimes downwrite vile. This isn't a revel read you want to curl up with before bed with a warm cup of milk. It makes you think and it forces you to consider some of the underlining motivations of mental illness.

I think that if Alice Sebold had not gained such a strong sole base of fans from her first novel, The Almost Moon would have undoubtabley received more positive attention. Because it focuses only on the thoughts of a single character, Moon reflects a much more psychological piece of work, than a novel story. The entire book spans just over the length of a single day, filled with snips of Helen's difficult family past, while counting down the tocks of her present clock. Will Helen be caught for her peccancy? Will another suspect take the blame? Will her two daughters find out the truth of their grandmother's death? And will Helen's supportive ex-husband be penalized for trying to help her?

The Almost Moon took on two interesting topics that aren't easily ignorable in our present society: Mental illness and family dysfunction. I fully commend her for exploring such difficult subject matter, as it could not have been an easy book to write. Perhaps the author was going through a dark-phase herself, or had experienced similar trepidations she wanted to use as a jumping board for serious writing. Whatever the reason, I'm giving her praise where she deserves it... because too many people have condemned this book by comparing it to her first novel, which isn't fair at all.