What do you think?
Rate this book
Half Moon Waking: Rising, Falling, and Walking Through Marriage, Motherhood, and Miscarriage
Tired new mothers and new fathers will find hope and laughter in this collection of poetry, fiction, and essays. Via Half Moon Waking, parents walking through a miscarriage can receive tangible comfort.
Here are the reflections of a woman who has cried with you . . . has wrestled through the same grief.
Here are also those questions whose answers don't fit nicely within proper, typical prose. Questions such as, "What is the meaning of life?" or "Where exactly is heaven located?"
Poetry is able to place hard and abstract pains into understandable frames. Half Moon Waking offers poetry, metaphors, and fiction, rather than "teaching" or "how-to-guides," so that refreshing insights on surviving babies, toddlers, marriage challenges, parenting abroad, living overseas, or grieving a miscarriage can all be digested in a soothing and empathetic way. Essays, written with care and compassion, offer real-time and hands-on support to new moms and new dads, through the asking of vulnerable questions.
Liv Hunziker's vast spread of creative writing genres enables each reader to pick up where they left off or to simply jump right into the middle of this encouraging book. Haiku's and bite-sized phrases are the real balm, the deeper empathy, that mothers, tired parents, and anyone suffering a miscarriage, have been needing. These lines and expertly crafted poems are indeed the artists' alternative to didactic teaching or preaching. When not for oneself, this book is the right resource to hand to a friend grieving a miscarriage and is also a timely gift for baby showers, Mother's Day, Father's Day, or other seasonal holidays.
Leaf through this collection at the pace that works for you, let it rest a few weeks on your coffee table, and then pick it up again, to soak in the parenting puzzles, traveler joys, hiker perspectives, and honest questions. The dexterity of lyrics, the genuine transparency, and the respect for nature in Half Moon Waking will satisfy and restore each reader, as well as strengthen the significant relationships and families we all find ourselves in.
Here are the reflections of a woman who has cried with you . . . has wrestled through the same grief.
Here are also those questions whose answers don't fit nicely within proper, typical prose. Questions such as, "What is the meaning of life?" or "Where exactly is heaven located?"
Poetry is able to place hard and abstract pains into understandable frames. Half Moon Waking offers poetry, metaphors, and fiction, rather than "teaching" or "how-to-guides," so that refreshing insights on surviving babies, toddlers, marriage challenges, parenting abroad, living overseas, or grieving a miscarriage can all be digested in a soothing and empathetic way. Essays, written with care and compassion, offer real-time and hands-on support to new moms and new dads, through the asking of vulnerable questions.
Liv Hunziker's vast spread of creative writing genres enables each reader to pick up where they left off or to simply jump right into the middle of this encouraging book. Haiku's and bite-sized phrases are the real balm, the deeper empathy, that mothers, tired parents, and anyone suffering a miscarriage, have been needing. These lines and expertly crafted poems are indeed the artists' alternative to didactic teaching or preaching. When not for oneself, this book is the right resource to hand to a friend grieving a miscarriage and is also a timely gift for baby showers, Mother's Day, Father's Day, or other seasonal holidays.
Leaf through this collection at the pace that works for you, let it rest a few weeks on your coffee table, and then pick it up again, to soak in the parenting puzzles, traveler joys, hiker perspectives, and honest questions. The dexterity of lyrics, the genuine transparency, and the respect for nature in Half Moon Waking will satisfy and restore each reader, as well as strengthen the significant relationships and families we all find ourselves in.
180 pages, Paperback
Published March 7, 2024
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 2, 2025
Through poems, lyric essays, and voice-driven short stories, Liv Hunziker’s Half Moon Waking walks readers through her life’s journey in this book on motherhood, marriage, and love.
Hunziker’s collection builds like a walk through the woods, with pauses to look at the important parts of her life and a trail that circles back on itself in a way that gives a sense of lessons learned to help readers keep moving forward. Hunziker seems to understand that topics like love, religion, and motherhood never have destinations or ends; her approach to these topics highlight the journey of each as well as their complicated intersections.
Hunziker talks about the intertwining nature of religion, marriage, and motherhood and the beauty and dread that accompanies each in their own ways. This collection will especially resonate with mothers, both those holding a newborn for the first time and those who have guided their children through to adulthood but will always see them as their babies. Reading this as a mother in the newborn and toddler trenches, Hunziker’s words “Motherhood. Tougher than any marathon” and her cinema-veritas description of holding a coughing toddler in a steaming shower through the night to free his cough rattled me in a way I couldn’t let go; I returned to those lines over and over, feeling seen and like I had company in the early hours of the morning where only nursing mothers and insomniacs dwell.
While sometimes the religious aspects of Hunziker’s work might be distracting to some readers, her connection to the religious side of her life is intrinsic to understanding her approach to the trials of marriage and motherhood.
Review by Betsy Lepchitz
@horror_momma_betsy
Hunziker’s collection builds like a walk through the woods, with pauses to look at the important parts of her life and a trail that circles back on itself in a way that gives a sense of lessons learned to help readers keep moving forward. Hunziker seems to understand that topics like love, religion, and motherhood never have destinations or ends; her approach to these topics highlight the journey of each as well as their complicated intersections.
Hunziker talks about the intertwining nature of religion, marriage, and motherhood and the beauty and dread that accompanies each in their own ways. This collection will especially resonate with mothers, both those holding a newborn for the first time and those who have guided their children through to adulthood but will always see them as their babies. Reading this as a mother in the newborn and toddler trenches, Hunziker’s words “Motherhood. Tougher than any marathon” and her cinema-veritas description of holding a coughing toddler in a steaming shower through the night to free his cough rattled me in a way I couldn’t let go; I returned to those lines over and over, feeling seen and like I had company in the early hours of the morning where only nursing mothers and insomniacs dwell.
While sometimes the religious aspects of Hunziker’s work might be distracting to some readers, her connection to the religious side of her life is intrinsic to understanding her approach to the trials of marriage and motherhood.
Review by Betsy Lepchitz
@horror_momma_betsy
December 24, 2025
Half Moon Waking is a tender, beautifully written book that sits with you long after you finish reading. The language is gentle, reflective, and deeply human. This is a book for anyone walking through grief, transition, or a new season of life. It offers comfort without forcing answers and that is its greatest strength.
December 24, 2025
This book feels like a quiet companion. Thoughtful, honest, and grounding, Half Moon Waking speaks to the emotional realities of motherhood, loss, and renewal in a way that feels authentic and compassionate. I would especially recommend it to new parents or anyone needing encouragement during a difficult chapter
December 29, 2025
I appreciated how calm and reflective this book is. It doesn’t rush the reader or try to fix everything. Instead, it creates space for reflection, healing, and hope. A meaningful read for those navigating grief, change, or personal growth.
December 29, 2025
Half Moon Waking is written with great care and emotional insight. The tone is gentle, the reflections are honest, and the themes of resilience and renewal are handled thoughtfully. This is a book I would gift to someone who needs reassurance that they are not alone.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews