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Pack Up the Moon
500 pages
A bittersweet, tear-jerking, yet ultimately uplifting journey through the first year of grief, guided by letters from a lost love.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like sitting down for a good, cathartic cry with a deeply empathetic friend who also knows exactly how to make you laugh through your tears. The pacing is steady, anchored by the rhythmic arrival of monthly letters that gently push a socially awkward widower out of his comfort zone and into the messy, vibrant world. The mood is undeniably melancholic and tear-jerking, yet it is constantly pierced by rays of profound warmth, humor, and hope. The prose is accessible and conversational, making the heavy themes of terminal illness and profound loss feel manageable and deeply human. It is a perfect fit for anyone who loves stories about introverts finding their footing, enduring love, and the beautiful, clumsy process of building a found family after the unthinkable happens.
- Mood
- tender
- tear-jerking
- hopeful
- melancholic
- Tone
- bittersweet
- humorous
- earnest
- poignant
- warm
- Pace
- steady
- Themes
- navigating profound grief · enduring love · social anxiety · building found family · finding joy after loss
- The writing
- Accessible and conversational, effortlessly balancing laugh-out-loud comedic moments with devastating emotional truths.
- The arc
- Moves from the paralyzing isolation of fresh grief through awkward, painful steps of healing, culminating in a hopeful embrace of a new life.
- Who it's for
- Readers who want a cathartic, ugly-cry read that ultimately leaves them feeling uplifted and wrapped in a warm hug.
Content notes
- death of a spouse
- terminal illness
- intense grief
About the book
They used to joke about it. Like many brilliant scientists, Josh sometimes had trouble remembering things that needed doing in the “real” world—like buying groceries, eating regular meals, and talking to people. But he was happy to have his beloved wife, Lauren, remind him with her “honey do” lists. He just never realized how much he would need one when she was gone.
Being a widower is not something Joshua Park ever expected. Given his solitary job, small circle of friends and family, and the social awkwardness he’s always suffered from, Josh has no idea how to negotiate this new, unwanted phase of life. But Lauren had a plan to keep him moving forward. A plan hidden in the letters she leaves him, giving him a task for every month in the year after her death. A plan that leads Joshua with a loving hand on a journey through grief, anger, and denial.
It’s a journey that will take Joshua from his first outing as a widower to buy groceries...to an attempt at a dinner party where his lack of experience hosting creates a comic disaster...to finding a new best friend while weeping in the dressing room of a clothing store. As his grief makes room for new friendships and experiences, Joshua learns Lauren’s most valuable lesson: The path to happiness doesn’t follow a straight line.
Funny, sometimes heart-wrenching, and always uplifting, this novel from author Kristan Higgins illuminates how life’s greatest joys are often hiding in plain sight.
Description from Open Library.
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