With an excellent premise and various great messages, I enjoyed the novel. The characters are an expression of redemption, new starts, and self-acceptance.
The main characters, Tom and Nick, battle their past missteps and the consequences they have rendered. Together, the men excavate the memories of their major fault in order to find the road to atonement. They explore how their past will fit into their future while trying to reclaim their present.
“The ultimate competition in life is with yourself…”
Nick and Tom’s story that caused their major downfall is tragic and completely conceivable. I liked both of the characters, but felt little depth related to my connection with them because of the narration style. The story is told in first person, but reads like it is told in third person. The main characters are telling the story, but I felt like I was watching the story rather than being there in the story with them in their heads. Because of this, I felt like I could relate to the characters but I didn’t feel a personal connection with the characters that deeply resonated with me.
There were several stories within the stories. The subplots caused the novel to jump around a lot. I felt like I was a school bus on my way home from school–excited to get home, but there are a lot of stops you have to make before you get there.
For an independent book, it was quite good. I really enjoyed the message about the consequences of our actions on social media. I would describe the main message as thought-provoking and relevant to our current society. With editing, it could have easily been a book that I really enjoyed and loved.
I read this with Mitchell who really enjoyed it! I will say, it did make an excellent buddy read and naturally prompted great discussions. This book provides a lot of topics for a group or book club read.
Thank you Michael Bowe for the copy! I have a lot of notes and highlights throughout this one. Opinions are my own and unbiased.
The Weight of a Moment is Michael Bowe’s second novel. His first novel is Skyscraper of a Man was published in 2017.
