"The Weight of Him" BOOK REVIEW

“The Weight of Him” by Ethel Rohan

Published by St. Martin’s Press


Finished 2/12/17  -  3/5 stars

One night while the family was sleeping Billy’s oldest son, Michael, walked out of the house and hung himself in a tree.  His suicide took the family by complete surprise and seeing as how he didn’t leave a note, no one really knows why he did it.  One thing Billy does know is that he doesn’t want Michael’s death to be for nothing.  He is determined to bring attention to suicide in the hopes of preventing others from taking their own lives.  He decided to accept pledges/donations to a charity for him to loose half his weight (he is truly obese), to create a walk in the town to bring awareness, and create a documentary to share the story of Michael and others affected by suicide.  If Michael’s death can stop someone else from dying, then it will all be worth it.  But what about the rest of the family…..is it worth it to them?

The idea behind this story is a good one.  There are too many suicides in the world, especially teens.  I love the fact that Billy takes this on as his new life mission, which helps him to heal as well, but I feel like the story is missing a lot that could have made it a better book.  I think Michael’s character needed more development and back story and truly, so did the rest of the family.  For example, Billy has a daughter that you know almost nothing about and therefore, I’m not even sure why she’s a character in the book at all.    I also found the storyline to be quite slow.  It took me longer than it should have to read this book simply because there was nothing drawing me back to pick it up and read more.  I did feel for Billy though – he had a very tough time with Michael’s death and had to work through surviving it without any true help from his own family.

Thank you to Net Galley and St Martin’s Press for an advance copy of this book in return for an honest review.