Bobby Seed is 17 years old and cares for his mum who has MS. Daily life is a struggle but he deals with it because he loves her, but one day she asks him to go the extra mile. She asks him if he will put an end to her pain.

Having read several of Conaghan’s books previously, I had to get my hands on this one. I had high hopes, and it certainly didn’t disappoint. I didn’t get through it as quick as I’d have liked to due to life getting in the way, but it was so easy to follow and it was a fairly quick read.

This book was quite emotional. I knew going into it that it would be, but what I didn’t know beforehand was that it’s about MS (Multiple Sclerosis) which is what my mum has. Reasonably this hit home, but I would say the topics in this book are portrayed accurately and with care.

Bobby has a lot on his plate, caring for his mum isn’t easy but he does it because he loves her, though it is physically draining for him. He also has a little brother, 14 year old Danny, who Bobby admits takes up a lot of his emotional energy. Danny hasn’t been diagnosed with anything, but acts several years younger than what he is. Bobby’s supportive best friend Bel (Bobby does think she wants more than friendship, however he’s not interested in girls) helps out sometimes, partially as a way of avoiding her alcoholic father.

Despite how much time and energy looking after his mum takes up, Bobby has the typical teenager worries of upcoming school exams and what to do once school’s over. He’s under a lot of pressure. One day the school counsellor suggests he join Poztive, a support group for young carers, and through this he meets a boy named Lou. The two get close, though it’s clear from the start that Lou is hiding something.

The humor scattered throughout this book is an element I’m entirely grateful for, and is definitely something that helped this book feel so real. Humor can be the only thing that gives some hope in such a hopeless situation, it can be the only thing that keeps you going.

This book does get quite intense towards the end, but it really does a great job at showing how tough a disease like MS can be, not just on the person who has it but their loved ones, too. It really begs the question how far would you go for someone you love?

The Weight of a Thousand Feathers is a really important book. It did make me cry, but it also made me laugh. By the end, I was genuinely speechless. This is absolutely a book that everyone needs to purchase and read as soon as possible. Thank you so much to Bloomsbury Publishing Plc via Netgalley for letting me have an advanced copy of this wonderful book.

A moving and vital story of family, compassion, sacrifice and love. Engaging characters dealing with an emotionally charged situation. Heart-wrenching.

*thank you to Netgalley and Bloomsbury Publishing Plc (UK & ANZ) for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review*

4 stars.

Good God what an emotional Rollercoaster that was! I haven't read very many books like this where it is based on caring for a sick parent, (in this case its MS) and dealing with all that comes with that. The decisions that need to be made. The daily routine of it all. The reality. This book shows what it is like in a very real light. It is heartbreaking and so very well told from the oldest brothers point of view. I absolutely love his relationship with both Lou and Bel. If you are in the mood for an emotional and honest read that coukd easily require the need for a box of tissues, then this book is one to pick up.

I could not put this book down - it dealt so compassionately with the issue of young Carers and the impact such caring has on their lives. Bobby cares for his mother with MS and looks after his younger brother as well as trying to be a teenager. He is persuaded to join a young Carers group where he learns to have fun and meets Lou.

He has to watch his mother deteriorate until she makes an unthinkable request of him.

Poignant and thought provoking - lots of issues are raised and you are left to decide how you would have reacted in the same circumstances.

The subject matter and language were quite adult at times. I will be getting this for my school library but will recommend to my more mature readers.

"MS is a slow burner. It waxes, wanes, skips along. Sometimes I wish she had the Big C instead; at least the Big C can be found, fought and defeated. Let's leave it at that".

This book blew my mind. Family is everything, and until you're looking at the fear in the face of someone you love who knows their time is up, you just can't know that feeling. There is nothing more painful than watching someone you love suffer. And if they asked you to take that suffering away, could you help?

Bobby has watched his mum suffer and deteriorate from even before her official diagnosis to now, in the bed-ridden stage of disease she has reached. He has been her main carer, infact, since the very beginning. So when his mum asks him to help her die, he is faced with an impossible decision after doing everything in his power to keep her here, day after day, for just that little bit longer. It's unimaginable.

"Do you have any idea what it's like to forget your own name, where you are, why you're where you are? Have you any idea what it's like to be trapped in your own forgetfulness? Seeing all the action unfold around you and you can't contribute? Wondering who the hell people are? Have you any idea what it's like to exist without living?"

Conaghan does an excellent job of capturing the many facets of living with a disease, but also living with someone who has a very debilitating long-term disease, which in this case manifests itself as MS. He does a particularly fantastic job of weaving this into the life of a teenager, and all of the pressures that coexist with that complete with "teacher pity" and counselling groups.

The opinions racing through my mind were unstoppable. I had so many, and each one disagreed with the last. I can't even imagine what it would feel like if it were real for me or my loved ones. When faced with such an unimaginably painful proposition, but one which might end the suffering of someone you love more than you can say, who you have watched deteriorate in front of your eyes, who you would do anything to make pain-free, could you do it? We would do anything for the ones we love right? But would you want to say goodbye sooner than you had to? Would you want to be the one responsible? Could you live with yourself afterwards? Are you responsible if their fate is sealed? If they've asked you to do it who are you to say no? The debate surrounding this area is just too huge to scale down into one book, but Conaghan has a pretty powerful whack at it!

Fully expect your brain to be constantly working overtime whilst you're reading this book, considering all the different elements, whilst your emotions feel like their punching out of your chest. This book isn't true for every disease, for every family, for every situation - it couldn't possibly truly reflect each situation in one. But it is sensitive, honest and raw; a book which makes me so conflicted, makes me question what I think or feel, or has me racing through the pages as if I know the characters? Yeah, that's a book worth reading.

How to describe this book? This beautiful, heartbreaking, terrifying, uplifting book? It's not about issues, although there are plenty; it's not about romance, though there's some of that too; it's not about morals or preaching, though there's plenty of thinking and talking about them. It doesn't fit into any 'box'. But it is fantastic, and I hope it does really, really well. It deserves to.

Receiving an ARC did not alter my review in any way.

Bobby is a boy with a lot on his mind, getting his mum her pills and aiding her around their home as well as looking after his brother, Danny a few years younger than his seventeen, too.

He has a good friend in Bel whom fancies him but nonetheless stays his best friend and helps watch over his mum while he goes to young carer meetings.



It's at the young carer meetings he has the chance of a break, a short holiday whilst also making friends with other young careers including Lou a boy he has strong feelings towards as he doesn't romantically like Bel but Lou.



At home he watches his mum deteriorate more into her illness day by day and it saddens him, upsets and frustrates his mum that she can't care for her children but that they have to role reverse and care for her. As her MS starts to cause more and more bodily failures, she asks her Bobby to end her life as is worsening quicker and wishes for no more suffering.



Meanwhile his friend Lou becomes a rock for him as well as his poetry to release his emotions and he finds out secrets can make or break a bond as truths get shared.



This is a heartbreakingly beautiful story. I picked this book as I know an MS sufferer and seen her struggles develop year after year since her diagnosis. I personally have the pain condition fibromyalgia and osteoporosis and spend days in a different but not dissimilar completely status of pain. Sharing tales of suffering and hardship on family members like in this book is key to letting others know they can reach out no matter how hard it may seem, someone will get it, guaranteed. The struggles the family face are alike so many real life experiences and the moral right or wrong of what their mum asks for is often talked about and debated.



Overall, this book has many fun moments that are sweet between mum and son but mostly is a heartbreaker.



Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!