I enjoyed this book. I found Abi's unfiltered commentary throughout to be amusing and refreshing, and sometimes akin to a stream-of-consciousness in its fluidity. I found the novel to be quite poignant, as one of its themes is coming to terms with losing loved ones, and I enjoyed its ironical barbs at those that set themselves up to help. The way that this conflict was resolved was a big surprise.

I absolutely loved this book. It sang, it bounced, it ... flew! The author really captures so many aspects of being human (and being a woman). I will be recommending it to my local Book Club and everyone else!

I have to say, very much not for me. But I can see how it would be intriguing to someone who is not me.

For the past 20 years Abigail has been receiving a monthly chapter of a mysterious guidebook, she has no idea why she was chosen to receive this however the arrival of the first chapter loosely coincided with the mysterious disappearance of her brother and she had mentally linked the two events since. Now Abigail has the chance to visit a retreat to discover the truth behind the guidebook she can’t help hoping it will solve the mystery of her brother too. The book follows Abigail from her time at the retreat interspersed with flashbacks from the last 20 years, both told in differing styles. I found the bullet style prose of the flashbacks easy to follow however the stream of consciousness writing from the retreat onwards just felt like too many words to compute and although I could follow the story I would have found it significantly easier to read with greater editing. Overall though the story is quite magical and features a great mix of characters and certainly stretches the imagination.

Gravity has two definitions -and in this novel, there is a third, punning interpretation behind the title, to do with death.
As a sister of the more famous novelist Lianne Moriarty, Jaclyn has a hard act to follow and it was interesting for me to compare the two.
This is her first foray into writing for an adult audience and it comes across to me as being written in a Y/A style - off-beat and quirky with whimsical flights of fanciful inner monologue. Perhaps I’m just not in the right age bracket to connect with it, but this can be irritating if overdone – as in this example:

‘A very slight woman sat in one of these armchairs, ankles crossed, manila folder resting on her lap. She was frowning to herself. She caught my eye, threw me a quick smile, then resumed the frown, deepening it now. Maybe making up for time lost with that smile. (Or had my face reminded her of something troubling? An unreturned library book, say, or soup she’d defrosted weeks before but forgot to eat.'

This is the story of Abigail Sorenson, 35 years old, mother of Oscar, former lawyer and now the owner of The Happiness Cafe which only serves food that releases serotonins. My kind of cafe. She gets an invitation to an all expenses paid retreat on an island in the Bass Strait where she will learn the truth about chapters of a self help guide books she has been receiving since she was 15. Free holiday? Yes please. So off she pops. There she meets a disparate group of people including Niall who she has a brief relationship with and Wilbur who is running the retreat. They do some weird activities to ‘find the balance’ and ‘learn to fly’. Yes, indeed. At this point I confess I nearly gave up but I have a defiant nature and so I kept going and although there are some parts I did not particularly enjoy there are others where I definitely did, in particular the concept of learning to flying. Part of the story deals with the loss of Abi’s brother Rob (15) who had just had a a diagnosis of MS. Despite a police search no trace of him is found which clearly has a devastating effect on Abi and her very likeable parents. Although these two aspects seem unconnected the ‘learning to fly’ helps Abi accept the loss.

The book has some very likeable characters especially Abi who is funny, easy going, quirky and very caring. Oscar, her son is utterly delightful and I love his expressions. There are some funny sections and some good descriptions of people and place. However, a lot gets lost in over detail and there is some repetition as the story goes backwards and forwards in time. I like the end where Abi sees that she can overcome her fears and learn to fly, that there is hope, that friendship is paramount and you can fulfil your dreams.

Overall, an ok read, interesting in places with a thoughtful premise but I’m not sure that it is a book I will remember for long.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atlantic Books for the ARC. Publication on 2/1/20.

Sorry but this one just missed me completely. I thought it was slow and kept waiting for it to get going. I really struggled to understand what on earth I was reading and I am still no wiser. It seemed to me to be pretentious and verbose without a jot of entertainment value. Sorry to be so negative but that’s how I felt.

I gather it has attracted a lot of 5 star reviews, so obviously lots of other readers loved it. Sadly, I got bored very swiftly and skim read it to the end. Received this as an ARC from Netgalley.

Abi's brother, just 11 months younger, fails to appear on the evening she's about to turn 16. His then complete disappearance has a huge impact on her life. At the same time she starts to receive chapters of a mysterious guide to life. Later, as a single mother, she's called to an equally mysterious retreat...

Original, life-affirming, whimsical, this is a very well written exploration of life. For me through it was rather slow-moving.

Thank you to Jaclyn Moriarty, Allen and Unwin and NetGalley for the arc of Gravity is the Thing..
An incredibly moving tale of a young single mother, Abi and the way she copes when her brother disappears at the age of fifteen. Abi is very close to Robert who is diagnosed with MS before he disappears. Abi's life is shaped and steered by her feelings around her missing brother and why he left. There is no closure for her or her family and that pressure pushes Abi into decisions she may not have made illustrating how fragile we all are. The ending brought me to tears.

A complex story about love, relationships, families and life. It was a good intertwined story with lots of twists and turns. I didn't like the guidebook chapters much and thought quite a bit of the story was unbelievable, but I still wanted to keep reading. It is a rich book full of unexpected twists and leaves you with a lot to think about.

Gravity Is the Thing by Jaclyn Moriarty is about Abi whose brother went missing when they were teenagers and that loss has shaped her life. She is now a single mum looking for the answers to some of life's questions. Unusual, moving and really well written.