Unfortunately my Amazon account got hacked numerous times and I closed my account. When closing the account, I lost all of my electronic kindle ARCs from netgalley under that email including this title which I am unable to review

When I picked up this book, it had been some time since I had read the synopsis. So, I knew next to nothing, other than the cover is gorgeous. I am so glad I went in blind because I have a tendency to avoid books that I know will make me emotional and this book definitely does that.
This book is about Bobby Seed, just an average teenager, trying to figure out his life. Except, nothing about his life is normal. Bobby is the main caregiver to his mother who has debilitating MS and her condition is only getting worse. He also cares for his brother who is likely on the autism spectrum, but that is never spelled out within the story. He is just Bobby’s fantastic little brother who loves video games. Bobby learns about a support group for other teenage caregivers. As he attends, he develops friendships with people who can understand his daily life.

This is a wonderful story about growing up, family, and the lengths you are willing to go for the people you love. It was beautifully written and such an emotionally charged book. I definitely recommend.

Thank you so much to Bloomsbury & NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book!

Woah. Such heavy subject matter. It was a very real emotional journey Bobby goes through. It was a slow novel, but if you can stick with it, it will be worth your time.

This YA book is about Bobby who is struggling with caring for his mother who is dying, his younger brother who has a social disability, being a teenager and considering what his future might look like as well as his sexuality. There's a lot going on here. But the dialogue is terrific -witty and sarcastic. The characters are interesting and well developed. The choices Bobby makes are hard and well considered-he's a really terrific character. I think a lot of kids will identify with Bobby and will want to hear his story.

I ended up DNFing this book, it just wasn't for me. I hope that one day i can pick it up in the future, because it sounds so great still. The cover was stunning, but i just kept feeling bored and uninterested in what was happening.

What do you do when the person you love most in the world asks you to help them die? This is the heart-wrenching moral dilemma 17-year-old Bobby Seed faces when his mother Anne, who is reaching the final stages of Multiple Sclerosis, asks him to end her suffering. For five years, Bobby has witnessed her struggle and decline and has become her primary caregiver, a burden he gladly carries because of his profound love for her. “Funny how no one ever uses the word “love” when discussing my case. I do what I do because she’s my mum; she’s the only one I have, so I wouldn’t mind holding on to her for a bit longer. That pure and that simple.” For Anne, however, the pain, memory loss, and feelings of sadness and humiliation that her son must help with her personal needs add to her despair, to “exist without living.”

During all this time, Bobby also shoulders the responsibility for his 14-year-old brother Danny who is developmentally-delayed. He doesn’t want to tell him that their Mom isn’t going to get better. However, when Anne can no longer communicate clearly and fears she will forget her sons, she makes her decision and asks Billy to tell his brother. Although Danny is slow, he isn’t, in his own words, “stupid” and has already researched the “right to die.”

Despite everything Bobby must juggle, he still wishes he could just be a typical teen without pity and allowances for his behavior. After joining the teen carer support group Poztive, Bobby meets other kids in the same situation, including American Lou who is an enigma. What is his mom suffering from that he won’t share and why does being around him make Bobby tingle? How will Lou’s experiences and potentially unhealthy influence on Bobby affect the major decision he has to make?

Conaghan has gifted us with a story that is life-affirming even in the face of suffering and death. The love between the mother and her sons and between the brothers is intensely moving while, at the same time, full of sarcasm and humor. The descriptions of the disease are written with dignity, honoring both the victim and her sons. There are also several beautiful poetic verses written by Bobby interspersed throughout. (With an Advanced Reader Copy, it’s unclear how they’ll appear in the published book.) This is a valuable and worthy addition to YA literature on death and is essential for any library that serves teens.


I received a complimentary copy of this book from Bloomsbury YA through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

The Quick Cut: A teen boy struggles to keep up with the demands of caring for his MS riddled mom and deficient brother.

A Real Review:
Thank you to Bloomsbury for providing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

When you're a teenager, your lives are supposed to be filled with classes, emotional angst, and partying (or at least that's what every teen soap tells me). However, all that gets thrown away when family gets sick and priorities shift. If you're the one who has to do the caretaking, how does that change you? Or your perspective on life? Those are the thoughts this book works through with its lead, Bobby Seed.

Bobby's life is anything but simple. Even though he is only seventeen, he is the primary caretaker in the house. Between his mom who is losing her battle with Multiple Sclerosis and his little brother who is developmentally years behind, Bobby's life revolves around keeping his family together. It's a weight that changes how he looks at the world, but also means that the future isn't bright and promising like it should be. It all gets even more complex when Bobby starts going to a teen carer group and meets Lou... then the chaos really hits the fan.

This book is an emotional hammer that really hits hard. Bobby is responsible for far too much and is doing everything he can to hold on. Seeing him go through that, you can't help but want his life to improve and to see his family get better. Between the failing mom and the apparent cluelessness about his best friend Bel being in love with him, you can see how the chaos has cause Bobby to miss the obvious.

His mom's MS does play a prominent role in the book (it is not the only major plot point though) and it's quite enlightening the way they handle her condition. You see how her condition affects her physically and mentally, along with the toll it takes on the two sons. The accidents, trips, and days went without leaving bed - its heartbreaking to read.

The only issue I had with this book is the inconsistency with the chapter length. Some chapters were barely a page long, which is a reading pet peeve for me.

With more heart than you expect, this book about a teen grappling with his mother's MS is sure to rock you.

My rating: 4 out of 5

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this title for review. All opinions are my own.

Actual rating: 4.5/5 stars

This was close to a 5 star book, but I couldn't get over one of the interactions between two main characters. I won't spoil it for those who haven't read it, but there was a pretty significant interaction between two major characters, that should serve as some sort of turning point, and it just fizzles. There isn't any real resolution to it and no explanation as to why it happened that way. The reader ends up feeling a bit disjointed regarding one of the characters, and I think it could have been more fleshed out.

Besides that, this was everything I wanted it to be. The main character is funny and real and relatable. You are rooting for him and you are with him as he struggles to make some of the hardest decisions that anyone could ever have to make. He is flawed, but you are willing to overlook it because he is also so damn lovable.

Bobby Seed is a carer. He is 17 and runs his house. His mother is suffering from MS, which means he is in charge of cleaning, cooking, caring, and making sure his younger brother gets to school, gets his homework done, and doesn't spend too much time on the internet. Bobby knows that his mother isn't going to get better. She knows she isn't going to get better. And it is becoming more and more obvious that her condition is worsening. As his mother is confined to her bedroom, Bobby's only solace comes from his new support group: Poztive, a group of young carers. There he meets Lou and thinks he might have found a friend and someone who can understand the burden he is under. So when his mother asks him the unthinkable, he thinks he might have finally found someone who will understand what he is going through.

Highly recommend. Appropriate for grades 9 and up. There is some language, some drug use, and issues of death and mortality.

What would you do if your mother asked you to help her die? That’s just one of the struggles sixteen-year-old Bobby Seed faces in Brian Conaghan’s new book, The Weight of a Thousand Feathers. This YA coming-of-age novel explores the themes of young caregivers, incurable illness, teenage sexuality, and single parent families.

Bobby’s mom has multiple sclerosis. Bobby is trying to juggle high school, look out for his younger brother, and care for his mom. Taking on the family responsibility just comes naturally to Bobby, but it’s not something he likes to talk about. So when a school counselor suggests Bobby join a local young caregivers support group, Poztive, he’s hesitant. At first he has trouble opening up to this group of teens experiencing situations similar to his, but he becomes comfortable with the group after awhile and begins to find his place.

Bobby also finds his eyes landing on Poztive’s resident rebel, Lou. Lou talks like an American, throwing around words like y’all, cool, and damn. He drives a vintage Vespa and has a laidback attitude about being his mom’s caregiver and life in general. In other words, he is everything Bobby isn’t. As Bobby and Lou develop a friendship, beginning with Lou giving Bobby rides to Poztive on the back of his Vespa, Bobby hopes for something more, but he doesn’t know how to make that happen. Not long after, however, Bobby’s mom asks for his help in ending her life, and his whole world changes.

The Weight of a Thousand Feathers is haunting and poetic (quite literally - Bobby tries his hand at poetry throughout the novel, and is oftentimes quite good.) This book’s deep moral conundrum - would you assist in someone’s suicide, or even further, kill them solely on your own - will have readers pondering what they would do if ever similarly tasked with caring for an ill family member or friend on the brink of losing the very essence of who they are. Conaghan delves deep into Bobby’s psyche, exploring how a sixteen-year-old boy juggles living as a teen by day - going to school, chatting with friends, crushing on cute guys - and as an adult by night - taking care of his practically immobile mother, as well as his brother with special needs. Conaghan’s writing is heart-wrenching, and readers will be laughing alongside Bobby and his mom on one page, and crying with them on the next. Have lots of tissues ready because this one takes you in directions you weren’t expecting!

Thanks to NetGalley & Bloomsbury YA for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I liked this book because it dealt with a topic I haven’t seen a lot. The main character’s mom is suffering and dying of MS. She has asked her son to help her die with dignity. The author did a great job showing the anguish in Bobby’s decision whether or not to help his mom. There were many gut wrenching scenes and my thoughts and opinions changed throughout the book because the author presented both sides of this controversial topic so well.

This book took me on an emotional roller coaster. There were moments that I wanted to cry from sadness and happiness. As a teacher, this book can really explain what some students are going through. Sometimes we can think that students come to class prepared and are ready to focus on class. It is important to remember that that is not always the case. This book showed that students can have so much on their plate, and a teacher can just be someone that can help support students in more than academic ways.
I would recommend this book for the high school students, and maybe into upper middle school. I also think that anyone that is looking for a book that will give them an emotional experience or wanting to look into the lives of children that are care-takers, this is the book for you. I am so glad that I got a chance to read this as an e-arc through NetGalley.