The Moon Pool

by Sophie Littlefield

North Dakota is like nowhere Colleen has ever seen. Vast rolling plains of silvery snow, studded with shimmering black pools, lit by occasional flares of orange light. It is a landscape both beautiful and terrible. It is the landscape that swallowed her son.

Across town, another mother also searches for her missing boy. He too went missing from the oilfields where he worked. And no-one - not his employers, not the police - seems to care that he is gone.

As long as they are alone, these two women will never find out the truth. But if they team up, and help each other, then maybe, just maybe, this freezing wilderness will give them back their sons.

- See more at: http://headofzeus.com/books/The+Moon+...

Genres: Mystery

384 pages, Hardcover

Published October 9, 2014

About the author

Called a “writing machine” by the New York Times and a “master storyteller” by the Midwest Book Review, Sophie Littlefield has written dozens of novels for adults and teens. She has won Anthony and RT Book Awards and been shortlisted for Edgar, Barry, Crimespree, Macavity, and Goodreads Choice Awards.

Sophie also writes under the pen name Sofia Grant.

Reviews

[Tez · Rating 3 out of 5]

SPOILER WARNING: This review contains a spoiler. (It doesn't tell you whodunit, but who didn't.)
TRIGGER WARNING: The novel contains ableist and racist slurs, but the review doesn't.

Two mothers from different lifestyles band together to find their sons. In icy North Dakota, humble humans take on big business in an underdog story -

Well, that's what I expected. And for two thirds, the book is like that: the heroines asking questions, getting shut down/threatened... So far, so good.

But in the final third, where the mystery is solved, the story takes a totally different turn. Admittedly, it's been a long time since I regularly read crime novels, but I seem to remember that if the story is set in a certain place or occupation, it has something to do with the case.

In this novel, the oilfields - and reservations leasing rights to drill - are red herrings. The disappearances have nothing to do with those. This story could've been set ANYWHERE, but I thought the oil and money might've been important to the case. They aren't.

Up until then, I really enjoyed this novel. But that final third doesn't live up to the greatness of the rest of the book. Disappointing.

[Lör K. · Rating 3 out of 5]

"You don’t get to choose from a menu of tragedies and losses, don’t get to consider which you can survive and which will crush you. God simply serves them up and there you are; you either play the hand He deals, or you give up."

Rating: 3 / 5 (This could have been four stars so easily if I didn't have so many problems sobs)

Publication Date: 2nd September, 2014
Review Date: 03rd May 2017

Trigger warnings: some slight ableist language, the r slur is used in chapter fourteen, ableist language, r slur again in chapter fifteen, and n word used in chapter sixteen, possible Native American / Native Indian (my apologies, I don’t know the correct term) slur in chapter twenty seven.

All spoilers marked with correct formatting.
Review can also be found here on my blog -- spoilers not hidden
Are y’all ready for what is probably my longest review so far? Kinda ranty, sorry

Twenty-year-old Taylor Capparelli and Paul Mitchell go missing in Lawton, North Dakota, where they have been working on rigs owned by Oasis Energy. The boys stayed in Black Creek Lodge, a "man camp" providing room and board. The mothers of the two boys come to Lawton to find out what happened to their sons and form an uneasy alliance. Shay Capparelli, a 41-year-old single grandmother, has more grit than resources; for wealthy suburban housewife Colleen Mitchell, the opposite is true. Overtaxed by worry, exhaustion, and fear, they question each others' methods and motivations—but there is no one else to help, and they must learn to work together if they are to have any chance of breaking through the barriers put up by their son’s employer, the indifference of an overtaxed police department, and a town of strangers with their own secrets against a backdrop of a modern day gold rush.

When I first got The Moon Pool, I was really excited to start reading it. The premise seemed really good, and the plot sounded like it was going to be exciting. However, when I first started it, I found that it was extremely slow paced and I struggled to get into it. I was ready to completely throw this book aside when there was a twist introduced at the end of chapter fourteen that captured my attention and dragged me straight in the book.
In my opinion? Chapter fourteen / chapter fifteen is way too late in a book to begin introducing the interesting part of the story. If I had quit out one more chapter before, I wouldn’t have discovered the twist.

One thing straight away that bugs me a lot is the characters and the point of view changes. It’s hard to tell which mother is who, who all the characters are, and the point of view changes are really harsh. It’s hard to tell when they happen and it took me to read the whole chapter when the first point of view change happens to actively understand that the point of view had changed and to get everything that Littlefield wanted the reader to get. This was really disappointing, I hate having to reread whole chapters just to get that one piece of information in it to understand what’s happening and it shouldn’t have to happen.

There are a few spelling and grammar mistakes in here – through instead of thought, to instead of too. I’m really not sitting here trying to pick holes but surely, surely, being published through an actual publisher rather than being self-published, that means that an editor has to read it, someone who is meant to pick these details up? It’s rather infuriating as these things stand out and drag you out of the mood of the book and it takes a few sentences to get back into the story. Careless mistakes that should have been picked up countless times, by not only word processing, but also editors, human eyes, and readers. These mistakes should not have made it to publication.

I feel the characters are very weak. Colleen seems to be like a little lost lamb, just trailing around after Shay. She takes way too long to become useful to the actual story line. Of course, it’s her story we are following, mainly, but she just feels so weak. She bored me, and I didn’t want to read more about her. Honestly? I wanted way more of Shay. She was definitely the stronger mother, and the stronger character. It’s almost as if Shay got more brainstorming as to what Littlefield wanted her to be.

That being said, the characters definitely get better around 60% of the way through the book. Shay is one bad ass mother fucker and I have such infinite respect for her. I relate to her a little bit too much with the way she loses her cool and tends to say things she goes on to regret. She’s a cool character, with a lot of pent up anger. I do feel, however, Shay could have been so much more than just the one with the brains and the mouth. I think she deserved better than what she got. She could have been a lot more, and it saddens me to see that her character isn’t really fully utilised, in my opinion.
Colleen also gets better and actually becomes useful to the story. She becomes a much better character and more likeable – for me, personally. In my opinion, though, this development should have happened earlier, rather than at 60-65% of the book. I spent a large portion of this book just scowling a lot at Colleen’s actions, and seeing how long I had until the next point of view change.

However, this does fall a little short. With the amount of twists and turns, I felt like I was lost in the countryside, desperately trying to find my way back to the correct path that would take me home. I enjoyed this, I admit, but at the same time, there is a lot going on, and Littlefield could have done with a few less plot twists and turns. We find out this girl is pregnant with one of the boy’s child, and then it turns out it’s not actually her, it’s her cousin, who is underage by a few months and has to keep everything a secret. This just felt like too much to divulge in only a few chapters. This could have been spaced out more, and it feels like as the book begins to draw to the conclusion, Littlefield was trying to get everything out instead of spacing it all out. Maybe she was writing to a deadline. I don’t know. But it was annoying as hell, and I felt breathless trying to keep up with it.

The chapters dedicated to T.L. really didn’t need to be added in. Each chapter I just groaned and rolled my eyes. Luckily, they’re only short, so they go by very quickly, but they weren’t needed! They were really distracting from the plot and I kept forgetting things trying to understand what T.L. was trying to do and it was so aggravating. I understand that these were put in to prepare the reader for chapter thirty-one, and so that we know who T.L. is. However, when chapter thirty-one came, I felt like I had no clue who this person was, I didn’t really care what was happening, I wanted to follow what was happening in chapter thirty. Like, come on! One of them finds their son and they find out what happened to the other son! I just wanna follow on from that and find out what’s happening! I don’t really care about T.L. right now!

All this being said, though, it twists again. I was getting pretty sick of twists at this point in the story, but this one. This one tells us everything that happened, everything we’ve been waiting on. And damn did Littlefield do good. I was completely taken aback. Everything was brand new, everything we knew was shattered out of perspective and we were left wondering what the hell is now going on. (It was also vaguely annoying to me personally, but I won’t go into that.)

Shay loses a lot of character development, who can blame her after her son dies, but it was painful to read. She just spiralled and spiralled into a mess that I just couldn’t wrap my head around. I understand why, I understand, but I feel like she just spiralled too much and lost too much character development. There are times where the 60% BAMF Shay comes through again, but dear l-rd, she lost so much. It was heartbreaking to see such an amazing character just become someone I couldn’t even bring myself to like. Colleen also becomes a total fucking bitch and I couldn’t stand her at the 80% mark. Don’t even get me started on Colleen

I love how this book continues past 86%, going on after the book has seemingly come to a close. They find Taylor’s body, and Littlefield takes us on one last adventure to say goodbye to the boy we never knew, but felt a pang of sadness for when we discover he died. I think this was really sweet, on Littlefield’s part, even if it did take the book longer and slowed the pace right down. Personally, I would have done the same thing, and it’s nice to see and to read.

This ended absolutely beautifully and really brought the book to a close. It was a stunning last few chapters that honestly had me in tears once or twice. I wasn’t keen on this at all, but these last chapters definitely made it worthwhile to read. It’s just a shame the writing wasn’t 100% like the writing at the end, I think that would have made this a little easier to read for me, personally. The writing at the end felt a lot more emotional, and more heartfelt. It made everything just fall into place and the rest of the book felt quite rushed, quite out there and like Littlefield was trying to get everything out as soon as possible – especially with how the twists kept coming and coming like they were on some kind of convoy, being deposited one after the other.

The one last thing that really annoys me is the title. The Moon Pool. What is a moon pool? What relevance did it have to the story? Am I being a total idiot and it refers to (serious spoiler) Tyler falling through the cracking ice? Is that what it is? It’s the only thing I can think of and the only thing that really makes sense. Why is it called The Moon Pool damn it, what it the relevance???

Now, please do not get this review wrong. This book is a good one; in my opinion, it’s pretty mediocre. That being said – I have read a lot better books in my life time. Littlefield has great talent, and I think that this might just be one of her weaker books. I really hope this isn’t her best book, if it is, she’s in trouble. Please remember this is my own personal opinion on the book, and you might enjoy it a lot more than I did! For me, I’m quite a picky reader, so when there’s so much like I’ve highlighted – especially all the slurs and such – it turns me off a book. Personally, this might just have been the deal with my opinion, the constant slurs might have just turned me off of the book itself without me really realising what was going on. I feel like The Moon Pool deserves to get a second chance from me, I’m not sure why. It was possibly due to all the twists and turns that ended up giving me a headache, but this is good. I just couldn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would.

Please, if you want to read the book, give it a chance! It’s got a good premise and it’s only my personal reading opinions as to why I didn’t like it. It might be your ultimate book of the year!

[Betty · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a compelling and thought provoking novel, but maybe not that satisfying. It raised lots of questions, and I guess it is not a novel's requirement to answer them, but I felt a bit cheated at the end.

[Christina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whilst I loved the originality of the storyline here, I felt it could've been developed to a much deeper level. The boys being found could've been stretched out more, as it came about quickly and sort of lost the suspense after that. It was mostly enjoyable to read, but could have definitely been developed more to make it even more engaging and suspenseful.

[Diane Bartlett · Rating 3 out of 5]

The subject matter is what really drew me to the book.... Two young men go missing while working on an oil rig. The mothers come together and try to solve the mystery of their missing sons. The story started off with a lot of promise, but my interest and enjoyment of reading the story went slowly down hill as the book went on. The characterisations were very good, but the story development to me seemed a bit rushed towards the last quarter of the book, as if the author had only just realised, 3 quarters of the way through writing the book, that they had written a lot and had better come to a conclusion soonish because it would be a very much longer book to read if they didn't. Bit of a let down if I'm honest, but not a bad read, just not as good as I thought it would be consistently.

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book grew on me with it’s amazing setting and with the two so very different characters. I thought Shay had some good insights on parenting but it was over-simplified. Let Paul fight his own battles .... for ten years at school? Bullying does not miraculously go away. I also though Elisabeth was a manipulative little cow - albeit butter not melting in her mouth. Still, the plot was well though out and the characters interesting.

[Emma Slaughter · Rating 2 out of 5]

Starts off well and drifts off after the mystery is solved. The location (oil rigs) has nothing really to do with the story aside from bringing the two mothers together, and there is a whole class divide thing that doesn't bring anything to the story (one mother being jealous of the other throwing money around to find the answer)

[Laura Aston · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great novel which had suspense throughout. The two main characters, Shay and Colleen were so different, but somehow managed to work out their differences. The ending wasn't finalised, in the sense of fixing all the problems. However this worked, as the friendship between Shay and Colleen was repaired.

[Tina Blaxtvedt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the dynamics between the characters of the two mothers; they come across as genuine and believable.

Also really enjoyed the suspense, although I must say I was a little disappointed in the end, because of the build up.

All in all a good read though, its not often I have the chance to finish a book within a week.

I'm excited to read some of the other books by this author.

[Jessica Trounson · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first 3/4 of this novel was great and the author had a nice writing style. It was suspenseful, mysterious and intriguing but the final part of the book really let things down. I was waiting for one final twist which never came and I felt there were loose ends not tied up, it was like the genre switched from mystery to drama at the end and it was rather anticlimactic.

[Tina Surch · Rating 4 out of 5]

From my A Box of Stories subscription and not necessarily a book I would have picked up myself but was gripped from the start, characters were flawed but endearing and plenty of twists and turns in the plot. Well written book

[Jennifer Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tense and atmospheric. You can feel the characters’ emotions very clearly through the page. The story took an unexpected turn about 2/3 of the way through and it kind of petered out a bit at the end.

[Renita D'Silva · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liked it, especially the interaction between Shay and Colleen.

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two young men missing + two mothers searching = an enjoyable and suspense-filled read. Would give it 4.5 stars if possible.

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written, good plot, strong female characters. I liked the way it ended without the 'they all lived happily ever after' cliche

[Lauren Boughey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wasn’t really into this book got a quarter way through and was bored already, didn’t feel like it was going anywhere, didn’t end up finishing the book.

[Becky Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the progression through the story but I'm unsure what the main point of the story was. Well written though so I would read something from this author again.

[Sarah M · Rating 4 out of 5]

his book was in my box of stories that I received so not something I would have pick up but enjoyed