This character-driven story explores how we love; who we choose to love; and the lasting impression left by our first love. It’s beautifully written, and Fannin creates characters that you can relate to – they are honest, have good intentions and are also flawed. I will look forward to reading more from Fannin.

A carefully crafted exploration of the permeability of time and the persistence of memory. In 1995, Robin watches as the woman he desires inevitably falls intoxicatingly in love with his beautiful, ruinous best friend Joseph - ‘it would be tempting to say that by the time the three of them had turned down Woburn Walk...what would happen had somehow already happened, the loving and mourning had already begun and already ended’. In 2018, Robin is married to that same woman, Ruth, with Joseph as a spectre haunting their marriage. The book alternates between 1998 and 2005 and flits between perspectives in meaningful, well-executed manoeuvres, drilling deeper into the inescapability of a past that cannot be forgotten, and memories that cannot be monogamised. Yet for all its elegance, the story became increasingly difficult to maintain emotional investment in because the characters are so unsympathetic - Joseph is the worst: self-absorbed, Oedipal and insufferable; Ruth, perhaps the most poorly drawn, is frustratingly fragile and helpless, unwilling and unable to take responsibility for herself.

Throughout this story we follow the intertwined love triangle of Ruth, Robin and Joseph. The infatuations of some, the unattainable nature of others and how they navigate living day-to-day with the errors of the past and the frustrations of the present. How through lack of communication and affection a relationship can crumble but the slightest attempt of reach has the power to help heal. How the obsession of loved ones in our minds and placing them on an unattainable pedestal has the strength to break not only your heart, but yours and their spirit. And how the unspoken eats away at us more than we possibly understand until upon realisation, at which point we're too far apart to repair the distance we've created between one another.

I wouldn't classify this an uplifting book, but I really enjoyed this story. It's about the everyday, ordinary kind of love. It's a love story that isn't romanticised; it just feels real. Whilst reading this I felt transported to an icy, windy Irish beach. I felt cold, but comforted at the same time which is a true talent for a writer to possess.

The weight of love is a compelling book which explores love in all its forms. The passion and pain of unrequited love and the effects it can have on lives is beautifully portrayed.

Robin and Ruth meet in a school in London where he is a teacher and she is a special needs assistant. They are both originally from Ireland and this unites them initially and as their friendship grow Robins feelings deepen and he hopes Ruth feels the same. When Ruth meets his boyhood friend Joseph their mutual attraction is evident.

Robin and Ruth marry and settle in Ireland with their son Sid ,.but what about the years in between? Will the past come back to haunt their marriage? Will decisions made previously destroy their happiness? Can Ruth ever forget Joseph and will Robin ever feel first in her affections? Will their love story have a happy ending? Is it possible to love more than one person.

This is not your typical love story the characters at some points can seem uncaring and messed up. I felt like giving them my advice on lots of occasions but then again in real life it’s easy to see things differently when your on the outside looking in with no emotional attachment. Real life relationships are complicated and do not have a blueprint and this book explored this beautifully.

A fantastic debut novel thank you to netgalley and the publishers for my chance to read and review it.

I thought this book was excellent. I made no annotations to my copy at all which is always a great sign, I whisked right through it, completely absorbed by the observational passage of time for each character. Even seemingly secondary ones like Helen had an impact, not just serving as stage dressing but part of the whole. The Weight of Love may not be your typical love story. It may not have characters that you relate to at all, or even want to know. They make exhilarating and sometimes terrible decisions, hurt one another, carry resentments and make a terrible mess of things. As unflinching as it all is I felt this was a powerful look at love and relationships nevertheless.

I am a fan of contemporary Irish writing but The Weight of Love was a difficult book to like. I found myself distanced from the characters, perhaps because of the writing style.

Essentially this is a love triangle between Robin, Ruth and Joe but I had little sympathy for any of the characters. Unlikeable characters do not normally put me off, as they can be relatable to real life ones, but they do need to have some redeeming features. Ruth loved Joe and used Robin, Robin loved Ruth and was weak because of his unrequited love and Joe? Joe loved himself.

A novel that shreds marriage and friendships apart, The Weight of Love will probably appeal to readers who enjoy Anne Enright and Sally Rooney. Many thanks to RandomHouse/Transworld and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

The Weight of Love by Hilary Fannin is about a love triangle between Ruth, Joe and Robin but it's also about marriage, parenthood, family, friendship.

Enticing blurb but sadly I found this dreary and not very well written ('fluorescent cheese'? 'his bed, empty as a hungry mouth', a bedroom rug described as 'her small blue oval of frozen tundra', 'two fat cellophane wrapped steaks that looked like a pair of bloodied fists'). This kind of small story of failed loves depends on exquisite emotional nuance in the writing and I didn't find that here. I was surprised to find Fannin is a playwright because the characters and narrative don't have distinctive voices, and the story is filled with indirect speech rather than scenes and dialogue.