BLOOD MOON

In Exley’s novel, four estranged friends convene at the site of a deadly accident to reckon with secrets, blame, and heartache.

Maddie Harrison returns to her small college hometown of Maplewood on the night of a blood moon (“Trees and hills in the distance were dark silhouettes against the crimson sky”). Five years before, to the day, she and her friends were in a car crash that killed one of them, and it happened during a similar lunar event. This framing device sets things up before flashing back for the bulk of the story and exploring Maddie’s relationships with those friends in the months after the accident. Primarily, it focuses on the ambiguous but comfortable dynamic she strikes up with Myle Callahand, whom most of the town blames for the tragedy. As a coming-of-age story, Exley’s novel tackles some relevant topics in a compelling way, including small-town shame culture, how a community chooses its villain when a tragedy occurs, financial struggles intersecting with grief, and the act of leaving one’s childhood to decide what is right for oneself. The present-day sections are the most skillfully written; they have a distinct eeriness to them as Maddie and the rest of the group gather, unplanned, at Dead Man’s Ravine. The events of the past, on the other hand, are tinged with less-believable dialogue and plot developments, such as Myles’ father showing up at Maddie’s house to tell her that he thinks his son is in love with her. Overall, the tone of the story feels more like high school than college; it seems like the only reason Maddie and company are portrayed as college grads is to lend more credibility to her oddly situated rebellion against her parents and the community.

A mystery-romance that’s at its best when exploring its characters’ present-day emotional struggles.