The Weight of This World

by David Joy

Critically acclaimed author David Joy, whose debut, Where All Light Tends to Go, was hailed as "a savagely moving novel that will likely become an important addition to the great body of Southern literature" (The Huffington Post), returns to the mountains of North Carolina with a powerful story about the inescapable weight of the past.

A combat veteran returned from war, Thad Broom can't leave the hardened world of Afghanistan behind, nor can he forgive himself for what he saw there. His mother, April, is haunted by her own demons, a secret trauma she has carried for years. Between them is Aiden McCall, loyal to both but unable to hold them together. Connected by bonds of circumstance and duty, friendship and love, these three lives are blown apart when Aiden and Thad witness the accidental death of their drug dealer and a riot of dope and cash drops in their laps. On a meth-fueled journey to nowhere, they will either find the grit to overcome the darkness or be consumed by it.

Genres: Fiction, Southern Gothic, Crime, Southern, Thriller, Mystery, Audiobook

260 pages, Hardcover

First published March 7, 2017

About the author

David Joy is the author of the Edgar nominated novel Where All Light Tends to Go (Putnam, 2015), as well as the novels The Weight Of This World (Putnam, 2017), The Line That Held Us (Putnam, 2018), and When These Mountains Burn (Putnam, 2020). His memoir, Growing Gills: A Fly Fisherman's Journey (Bright Mountain Books, 2011), was a finalist for the Reed Environmental Writing Award and the Ragan Old North State Award for Creative Nonfiction. His latest stories and essays have appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Garden & Gun, and The Bitter Southerner. He is the recipient of an artist fellowship from the North Carolina Arts Council. His work is represented by Julia Kenny of Dunow, Carlson & Lerner Literary Agency. He lives in Jackson County, North Carolina.

Reviews

[David Joy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, I did write the damn thing.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

The juxtaposition of grim circumstances and the sheer beauty of this author’s words is astounding. This was my first time reading David Joy and my first foray into Appalachian-Noir or Grit Lit, whatever you want to call it, and I can honestly say, I’m hooked. I’m a reader that frequently dabbles in dark reads, but I can’t say that I’ve ever experienced this version of dark. Reminiscent of a train wreck . . . it felt wrong to stare, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away from this shit-storm of bad choices.

With a gritty and almost dreary undertone, THE WEIGHT OF THIS WORLD delivers a look at what can happen when someone finds themselves down-and-out. When the harsh reality of abuse, PTSD and an economic downturn come to a head. When meth becomes your solace, your friend, your only escape from the nightmare your life has become.

The story opens with a bang . . . literally. Two gunshots blasts that rob 12-year-old Aiden of a family and mar his view of the world. It’s his best friend, Thad, tossed aside by his own mother and abusive step-father, that offers him a place to live and ultimately becomes his family.

Fast forward, ten plus years, and both Aiden and Thad are wasting away in the tiny mountain town of Little Canada, living in the same trailer, and stripping abandoned houses of copper to survive and feed their addiction. There’s no jobs and no chance for a better life without money and starting over somewhere new. At least that’s how Aiden sees things. Two years post deployment, Thad has a completely different outlook. He’s happy to spend his days blissed out on meth, wandering the mountainside or kicking back with his rescue, Loretta Lynn. Naturally, I had to wonder, was there any hope for these two?

Early on, a part of me expected this story to be about finding sympathy for these characters and uncovering their redeeming qualities. To find some sort of excuse viable enough to pacify my own feelings and acceptance of what was going down. To feel something deep on an emotional level. Those things sort of happened, but that’s not what really resonated the most. For me, it was about looking the truth dead in the eye . . . life can be ugly. Some of us don't have the luxury of choices. And then there's those of us that feel justified in making the wrong ones.

Guaranteed not to be to everyone’s tastes, there’s nothing pretty about this picture, it’s a jarring and all too real reality, but it’s one the author tells in such a compelling way. David Joy’s writing is nothing less than stellar. I cannot wait to check out his debut, Where All Light Tends to Go.

*Thank you to G.P. Putnam's Sons and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Farrah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second David Joy book that I've read and its all I need to make it official - I am in love with his amazing writing skills!

The Weight of This World is gritty and tragic.
The characters are so strong and the atmosphere is so rich that I felt like I was living the story, not reading it.

"𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡 𝙝𝙞𝙢𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛 𝙢𝙤𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙘𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙫𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙚𝙙𝙜𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙚 𝙠𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙝𝙞𝙢, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙙𝙣'𝙩 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙥 𝙝𝙞𝙢𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙜𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧. 𝙃𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙙𝙞𝙙 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙠. 𝙃𝙞𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙬𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙛𝙚𝙡𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙤𝙡𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙚𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙞𝙩 𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙖𝙙𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙙."

[Shelby *trains flying monkeys* · Rating 4 out of 5]

David Joy's debut book Where All Light Tends to Go kinda left something wanting for me, but dang, he stepped it up in this one. *4.5 stars*

This book opens with young Aiden McCall's parents dying violently before his eyes. He ends up in a group home and runs away. He takes to the woods and is found by his friend Thad. Thad tells him to come live with him now, his mom won't care since she and his step-father have given him a trailer on their land to keep him out of their hair.

That sets up the boys friendship. They stick together no matter what. Even after Thad comes home from being deployed in Afghanistan a changed person. They never really stand a chance in life, both of the boys are known screw-ups in the mountain town they live in. Thad's red hair lies to the tale that his mom told him about his dad being a Native American. But there is that red-headed deacon at the church that gives his mom the eye during church.
Thad's mom April now lives up in the house by herself, wishing for a way out of the mountains that she feels trapped in. She put up with a husband that beat the crap out of her because she felt she needed the help he provided, she also never really loved her son Thad. She and Aiden are now sleeping together.


Sounds like a crazy train already doesn't it? But wait, it gets soooo much worse.

Thad and Aiden are bored and tired of stealing copper out of foreclosed houses. When they show up at the dope man's house and stuff and thangs happen, they end up with a ton of dope and cash.

Do they do something smart with the money/drugs? Umm the answer to that would be.... no.



Then the real fun begins, once the two go on a drug filled binge things start to spiral. They end up with two girls. It ends badly.

Then stuff really starts getting bad.
At about 56% into the book I had to take a break.


Then I picked the sucker back up. Because no matter how dark (AND THIS FUCKER IS DARK) this book got I couldn't look away. I at times hated these characters. That's understandable with them. I mean, most of the time they are drugged out of their minds with not much care as to what kind of crap they stir up. Then stinking David Joy did something with this book that completely took me by surprise. He made me actually really sort of care about these messed up losers.

Then he tore my heart into little pieces and laughed.


Booksource: Netgalley in exchange for review.

[Kaceey · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5*
This is the third book I've read from the highly talented David Joy. And while the others both deservedly earned five stars, this one fell just a little short.

Aiden and Thad have been life-long friends. Both struggling with personal demons of their own that they fight on a daily basis. When a drug deal goes bad the first fracture in their friendship develops. What direction will these two friends take? Will it be on the same path? Or is it just time they go their separate ways.

David Joy truly knows how to write an incredible grit-lit story. The desperation is palpable as it envelops the characters. Once again an incredible read.

A buddy read with Susanne.

Looking forward to more from this very talented author.

[Larry H · Rating 4 out of 5]

"In that way, this day was no different from any day that had come before, and that was part of what kept Aiden up at night: the cyclical nature of it all. For his entire life everything had been a continuous whirling of disappointment, the circle seeming to tighten and become just a little more certain with each passing year."

Aiden McCall has known nothing other than his small North Carolina town, and virtually known nothing other than being poor his entire life. Orphaned at a young age, he fended for himself until his best friend, Thad Broom, convinced his mother and her boyfriend to let Aiden stay with them. Aiden and Thad have been inseparable ever since, except for when Thad joined the military and went to Afghanistan.

With the economy in tatters, there is very little for Aiden and Thad to do in order to make money, so they resort to stripping foreclosed houses of wiring and other supplies, and much to Aiden's chagrin, they use most of their earnings to buy drugs. (He dreams of getting out of their town and heading somewhere slightly larger, where there was more opportunity.) Thad returned from Afghanistan with a significant back injury, and his time in the military left him changed emotionally as well, unable to shake the things he saw and did which continue to haunt him, and drugs provide him the only escape.

"Whether a man was born one way or another, he wound up doing things that haunted him the rest of life. People made mistakes that couldn't be fixed...When it all boiled down to it, the only difference between one person and another was whether there was someone to jump in and keep you from drowning."

One night, everything changes. Thad and Aiden's drug dealer accidentally dies in front of them, which leaves them with a significant amount of crystal meth, not to mention weapons and money. The two react in different ways—Aiden tries figuring out how to sell what they're able to take, while Thad loses control and connects with a troubled trio of people, to whom he reveals their secrets. That split-second decision sends Thad and Aiden down a path with dangerous consequences, and both will be tested physically and emotionally, pushed to the brink of survival.

I felt a pervading sense of doom, danger, and bleakness from the opening pages of this book. Even though Aiden and Thad made questionable—and in some cases, troubling—decisions at times in their lives, I still felt like their upbringing left them at a disadvantage from which it was nearly insurmountable to recover.

Can the path of our lives be changed by our actions, or is it predetermined? Does not having a loving family put you at a disadvantage? David Joy explores the answers to those questions, although he makes no real excuses for his characters. This is a dark book, although there are glimmers of hope (in an interesting way), but Joy's storytelling keeps you from getting utterly depressed. His use of imagery is tremendous as well; you can hear the noises and see the sights he describes.

This is the first of Joy's books I've read, and I'm definitely going to read his debut novel, Where All Light Tends to Go , which I've also heard is terrific. This isn't the happiest of books, but the characters he has created and the story he unfurls hooks you so you need to know what happens. Moving and evocative.

NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam provided me an advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making this available!

See all of my reviews at http://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blo....

[Cheri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aiden McCall was twelve years old the one time he heard “I love you.” Even then he didn’t so much hear the words as read them on his father’s lips.

That night would be the last time he saw his father or his mother, those words would be his father’s final words to him. In the group home, on the nights that followed he shared a bed with a boy who loved baseball, collected baseball cards and wet the bed. But even those days wouldn’t last, and it wasn’t long before Aiden helped himself to some clothes, some food, went to school and took a bus that would lead him not back to the group home, but to a hunting camp he knew from his life before.

Spring made it easier to find enough to eat, scrounging for wild mushrooms, wild potatoes, ramps, and trout nearby. One day, a boy from school finds him drawing in the dirt with a stick, Thad, the only friend Aiden has really ever had.

As time passes, Thad and Aiden are almost inseparable, and Thad invites Aiden to live with him in his mother’s trailer. April, Thad’s mother lives on the property in a house with his stepfather, but the stepfather sent Thad to live in the trailer. After April agrees to let Aiden live there, the two boys head back to the hunting camp to gather Aiden’s possessions, what few he had, as evening descends and lightening bugs flitter about.

They slept on the ground, each with his hands interlocked under the crown of his head for a pillow. Through a scant opening in the canopy above them they watched stars move on to someplace else, and woke the next morning curled in the leaf litter and ferns like a pair of stray dogs. Their bodies shimmered with dew and they shivered to reclaim what warmth had escaped them. Thad gathered wood and Aiden built a fire. The world would never again seem so open.

Years pass in this small town of Little Canada, North Carolina. Aiden stays and Thad goes off to fight the war in Afghanistan. Thad returns a changed man, physically, mentally and emotionally altered by the things he’s seen and done.

Aiden and Thad make a living, if one can call it that, stripping wiring from foreclosed homes once the economy tanks and the housing boon goes bust. Aiden wants more than this, more than just scraping to get by, he wants to move to someplace bigger, where they can find work, someplace like Asheville. Thad never wants to leave this place, like Norman McLean’s character Paul, who says: “Oh, I’ll never leave Montana, brother.” Leaving Little Canada only one time, to go to Afghanistan, he’s not willing to leave again. Look where that got him, his back injury plagues him night and day, and really, all he wants is a break from the constant pain that haunts his days, and most nights, too. Afraid to sleep, afraid of the dreams that will come back to haunt him, Thad succumbs to sleep only when his body forces him to. All he can handle is how to make it through today. He no longer dreams about the future.

Aiden was thinking about the space between them, that two feet of space in the car that in reality stretched as wide as a universe.

Sometimes, as much as you might want things to change you don’t think as much about what that change is, or how you want it to manifest itself. As in life, change does occur, and with that change comes a tiny crack in their world that begins to show. Aiden aims to keep things together, from spilling out everywhere and ruining everything, while Thad can’t refrain from replaying the scene over and over, to himself, out loud, as though it were a scene out of a Hollywood movie.

While this story does have a dark side, with some very believable, broken characters living on the edge of abject poverty, there is also an almost unvarying message of faith, hope and redemption, accompanied by a glimmer of light that flickers but never truly fades.

This is the third of David Joy’s books I’ve read, beginning with his debut novel Where All Light Tends to Go, which I loved, followed by his memoir Growing Gills: A Fly Fisherman’s Journey, which I also loved. I’ve loved them all. The writing is as amazing, wonderful, if perhaps not always quite as poetically lyrical as Where All Light Tends to Go, but then these characters seem very unlike Jacob McNeely. This story is transfixing, with characters who are remarkably authentic and convincing.

Highly recommended!

Published: 07 Mar 17


Many thanks for the ARC provided by Penguin Group / Putnam

[Diane S ☔]

The book starts off with a bang, literally and at the ages of twelve, Aidan enters Thad's life. Lives that seem doomed from the start, they grow up but not much changes. Thad, goes to war and Aidan stays home and waits for his return. Aidan has plans to escape these South Carolina mountains, escape his numbing existence because let tell you these people are lost, lost in their drug fueled angst, their grim poverty, their gritty existence. Their, what seems almost a predetermined fate.

This author can write, of that there is no question. I am, however, leaving this unrated simply because at 55% I had to put it down. Although Aidan and his dreams for something better, his determination to drag Thad with him, was a saving grace, in the end the graphic and continuing violence got to be too much. Violence to people and a beloved pet. They may find redemption and a way out in the end, but I won't be there to determine this.

Readers all have different quirks, likes and dislikes, never know when we are going to rub up against them. Can handle different levels of violence, and I know many will love this book. I just can't.

[Zoeytron · Rating 5 out of 5]

North Carolina mountain country.  Crystal meth and trailer trash.  The smell of corn liquor and Aqua Velva.  Hear the evangelist spew his 'fire and brimstone swindlings' to those who cannot seem to discern his sly prevarications from God's own truth.

Damaged souls, unwanted and unloved.  Lives going from bad to worse in a hurry, courtesy of the influence of meth, hair-trigger tempers, and just pure D bad judgment.  Wrecked pieces that cannot be put back together.  There are prices to be paid for the damage that you do.

I have found a new favorite author with David Joy.  This is the second book of his I have read in the past couple of weeks and I am all in.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

A dark book about two young men in the Appalachian mountain area of NC. Thad has come back from Afghanistan with scars both inside and out. Aiden has turned into a minor criminal because jobs are scarce. Together, they strip copper out of foreclosed houses and vacation homes and are living a meager existence. As Aiden calls it “trying to make an honest living stealing from millionaires and banks.”

The story alternates between Aiden and Thad’s POV. Joy does a great job of getting into both of their minds. Best friends, they are vastly different. I had to ask myself how I felt about these two. How much of what plays out is because of their past? Thad suffers from PTSD. Aiden had seen his father kill his mother and then commit suicide. They don't have many options but it's really hard to feel sympathy, especially when you factor in the drugs. In addition to Thad and Aiden, there’s April. She’s Thad’s mom and Aiden’s girlfriend. She also has some serious issues and once again, it’s not black and white when it comes to sympathy for her.

The writing here paints a grim picture. I don't think I've ever read a better description of how meth affects someone. The story gets truly twisted after their dope dealer accidentally blows his brains out. Parts of the book are exceedingly gruesome, so this is not for the faint of heart. I had to take breaks to get through some sections.

The writing really paints a picture. I tend to highlight passages I like on my kindle. There were a whole lot of highlights at the end of this book. I think this was my favorite quote from the whole book:

“No, life had a way of heaping shit by the shovelful like God was up there cleaning out the horse stalls and you just happened to be standing where He threw it.”

This isn’t an easy read, but it is a very good one.

My thanks to netgalley and Penguin Group/Putnam for an advance copy of this book.

[Paula K · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wow, what a disappointment...

I’ve read David Joy’s Where All the Light Tends to Go and, more recently, The Line that Held Us, which is one of my all time FAVORITE Southern Grit Lit novels. The Weight of This World offered me nothing as a reader - characters that are uninteresting low life drug dealers, no decent plot, and a missing story line.

My hope is that his newest novel coming out later in 2020 comes full swing back to his writing style that I love.

Thanks to the Boston Public Library e program for the borrowed audiobook.

2 out of 5 stars

[Kelly (and the Book Boar) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Find all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/

“If there was a God, He wasn’t worth a damn. The devil wins out every time.”

Despite having a reader copy of this for months and despite the glowing review of a certain throne sitter, I never bothered taking a gander The Weight Of This World until the day before publication. When I started it during my lunch hour the other day I was hooked right from page one (in the immortal words of one Ron Burgundy, “boy, that escalated quickly!”) and knew when I arrived home that evening I’d be greeting my family in a not-so-motherly way . . . .



Turns out that wasn’t necessary, because they were already out doing basebally things and wouldn’t be home for a bit. It also turns out I wasn’t quite equipped to read all this misery in one go because rather than it feeling like ripping a Band Aid, these characters were experiencing something more like . . . .



Aiden and Thad had been like brothers ever since Aiden’s daddy blew his momma’s brains out in front of him in the living room one day, immediately followed by making quick work of offing himself as well. Thad wasn’t really living a dream life himself, seeing that his stepdaddy wasn’t too fond of having his (literal) red-headed stepchild under foot, so he’d been sent down to live in the trailer at the bottom of their property by himself.

If you’re interested in reading the types of suggestions Mitchell makes for book club, this one checks all the boxes. Like reading any trigger you could imagine? Enjoy hearing about all the awesomeness that comes with snorting crank and staying up for days on end? Do you love hearing about not one, but several characters blowing their heads off? A book where you know right away nothing could possibly end well? Then this is definitely the winner since it has all that and more that I won’t spoil for you . . . .



This is a story that will teach you . . . .

“The line between good and evil was fine as frog hair.”

And that . . . .



Mitchell says y’all should give it a go. He also said . . . .



But I’m pretty sure that was directed only at me.

ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, NetGalley!

And in honor of Ron 2.0 (who might actually find this one not so ridiculous even though these fellers were getting around in a Ranchero), here’s the song that played on a loop in my head while I was reading this one . . . .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGOBQ...

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Re-read: July 2018
I enjoyed David Joy's second novel even more during my re-read. Such a heartbreaking story at its core, and I don't know how Joy does it but he allows a glimmer of hope to shine in a storyline that appears void of any light at first glance. I love his writing!

Thank you to goodreads and G.P. Putnam's Sons! I was a Giveaways winner of the paperback edition of The Weight of This World.

Original Review: March 2017
If I learned anything from Cormac McCarthy's No Country for Old Men, it's that if you stumble upon a mass supply of anything drug related, just leave it alone and run like hell. The Weight of This World has this same dark, dire, but very realistic quality to it. I've been told it's called grit lit. I found a semi-definition online that described it as “people using weed and pills and sometimes meth. They’re usually white, usually rednecks, Snopesian. Broke, divorced, violent – they’re not good country people.” No, no they're not.

An event that had my jaw drop so fast it hurt left these characters with a mass supply of drugs that they try to turn into a jackpot of cash, but there's much, much more to this story than this simple plot. There's family dynamics, domestic abuse, war-related PTSD, trauma, poverty, drugs, crime, and a ton of complex emotions that drag you down like quicksand. Very dark in a genre that is it's very own. I am so glad I stumbled upon superb reviews for this book like Shelby *trains flying monkeys and Melissa's...seriously check out their reviews. This book is gritty, nasty, dark, drugged up, and bloodstained. But it's real. It's about the loss of innocence and how that happens. It leaves the reader with questions about humanity and our American world, and the title is oh so appropriate. Check it out.

My favorite quote:
"Thad saw only two Americans die while he was in Afghanistan, one of those being Billy Thompson, and it was his death and the death of that little Afghani girl that now drove him into a panic. Anyone could understand being haunted by something like that. But the deaths themselves weren't exactly what haunted him, and that was the problem with trying to explain it to anyone who wasn't there, or anyone at all. What haunted Thad was the realization that he lived in a place where both sides of good and evil saw that girl's death as an act of heroism. Evil men strapped explosives to a child's body in the name of God, and good men promoted Thad from private first class to specialist for pulling the trigger. In the end, she was just a girl and Billy Thompson was just a schoolteacher, and the two of them died together. Those were the only truths to be had."

[Ron · Rating 4 out of 5]

…on his shoulders. Those are the words I thought of to finish that sentence, even before cracking the cover. They fit perfectly from the first page. Tragic in its start, when revealing the background, the childhood (or lack thereof) of Aiden McCall. 12 years old to an adult in a moment. There is only one person there for him after that. Thad, the friend who becomes an inseparable brother until they are young men still living in those same hills of North Carolina, a place that is as much home as it is an internment. As deeply as Aiden desires to escape, Thad needs to remain, maybe to pay his own penance and with drugs that mask pain.

Saying life ain’t easy is an understatement here. There are no breaks for these two, or Thad’s mother April, who’s had a share of her own. But there is often a but. Some will lead you in the wrong direction, and one thing does lead to another.

”He’d never drawn a line before, and maybe lines weren’t things that were consciously drawn. Maybe the line was there all along, deep inside, and no one knew exactly where it was until he was standing at the edge of it.”

Although I flew through these pages (attribute that to shocks in an intense plot and an excellent telling), I felt that something was missing along the way. I just couldn’t put my finger on it. Whatever that something was, it was very small, insignificant by the end.

”When he came down, his father laid Aiden on his back in the grass and tickled him until he couldn’t breathe. Aiden thought in the moment that a boy could die of laughter. He believed that a child could literally suffocate from happiness. These were things he had never thought of since. Feelings he had forgotten until right then.”

[Faith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Set in Jackson County, North Carolina, this book is about childhood friends Thad and Aiden and Thad's mother April. Aiden was orphaned by an act of murder/suicide when he was very young. Thad, while not technically an orphan, never had the love of a family. I've grown a little tired of grit lit, which tends to be cliche-ridden, but I really liked this book. Yes, there were guns and meth, but this was more a story of inevitable tragedy than it was of stupid people making bad choices. The three characters felt very real, trapped in a place where none of them wanted to be. When Thad and Aiden rob a dead meth dealer, that move seems not just dumb but also understandable under the circumstances and acts as a catalyst, taking the characters to the place that their pasts had already doomed them.

I loved the author's writing style and I cared about each of the characters. The reason that I wasn't crazy about the epilogue was that it smashed my hopes for one of the characters into smithereens. I will definitely read more by this author. The narration of the audiobook by MacLeod Andrews was also very good.

I received a free copy of the e-book from the publisher, however I wound up listening to the audiobook borrowed from the library.

[Cathrine ☯️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 😵‍💫 😵‍💫 😵‍💫 😵‍💫
I haven't felt so conflicted by a story in . . . maybe never?
At one point I was wondering why I didn't just close the cover and move on. These days in particular I try and avoid saturating my mind with so much darkness, violence, and seemingly non-redemptive souls. But it has me thinking that maybe I could handle a Joseph Conrad now but no, this was enough for the reading time I have left.
Surely it speaks to the writing chops of an author if he can make me hang in through so much abject despair?
By the time I was three quarters through I was almost catatonic and then I could not put it down. I had very strong and disturbing feelings about how it should conclude. David Joy had different ideas. It's still churning in my gut.
Note to the author: I deducted a star off my rating for Loretta Lynn. TMI David, TMI.

I'm sorry, but I cannot recommend this to anyone.
It really messed with my head, in a disturbingly painful, yet personal growth kind of way. I think.
In one of his songs, Bruce Springsteen wrote "God help the man who doubts what he's sure of."
There's so much grit in my mouth I can't get my teeth together and I maybe need psychotherapy. Oh the weight of my feelings.

[Myrn🩶 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel gets your attention from the start. As others have stated, this one is dark and brutal but the writing is great and believable. Also, the characters are well developed and you eventually care a bit for them and hope for the best. If you love events that keep moving, pick this one up and WHAT an epilogue!

[Libby · Rating 4 out of 5]

David Joy is a North Carolina author I’ve been wanting to read. This is a tragic story about two young men. One, Aiden McCall, orphaned at the age of twelve, the other, Thad Broom, a combat veteran from the Afghanistan war. When Aiden leaves the group home where he has been placed (at age twelve), he goes to the woods, where he struggles to survive. There, he meets the only friend he's ever made, a redhead who proclaims a half-Cherokee heritage. Thad takes him to the mobile home below his mother’s house. He’s been displaced there by his stepfather with no intervention from his mother. From then on, the boys are friends who are closer than brothers. The most beautiful thing about this story is the relationship between these two.

When Thad comes back from the war, he is profoundly changed. The two young men steal copper from newly constructed homes and sell it to buy drugs. Events conspire to fashion a downward spiral that feels like a sticky web from which they cannot escape. While Thad was off at war, Aiden began an affair with Thad’s mother, April. Her story is an interesting one. As I read, I became convinced that April was not capable of genuine love. However, she is set on selling her home and beginning a new life somewhere else. Aiden dreams of escaping to nearby Asheville, where he, too, can begin all over again. He wants to take Thad with him.

This is a gritty story that would bear a reread to delve into all its ticking parts. There’s an underbelly in many of the places in the US. David Joy explores the underbelly of western North Carolina. I live in the foothills, a few hours away from where Joy sets his story. I’ve seen the underbelly here, too. The preacher’s kid, who, when he goes to pick up drugs, ends up murdering a man. The death of a coworker’s son from an overdose of methadone. The death of an aunt in her 40s from being strung out on drugs most of her life. The death of an uncle from suicide.

Joy is a good writer. I felt like I was there. It’s not a place to go if you’re in a dark place. The story felt true all the way till the end. At that point, something happened that I wasn’t sold on. It seemed out of character, but what can you know when all the stars go out?

[Susanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dark times, they are upon us.

Growing up in the mountains of North Carolina, Aiden McCall and Thad Broom have only ever had each other, that is until Thad goes off to war, leaving Aiden alone. Even though Thad comes home, he’s not the same man he used to be, though who can blame him? Aiden, wanting to feel needed, took up with Thad’s mother during the years he was in Afghanistan.

Now, however, everything is different. After everything Aiden and Thad have been through, including death, as well as addiction to drugs and alcohol, their loyalty is put to the test. Choices are made that cannot be undone.

Bleak, dark, and at times, ugly, this is a look at part of society that is real, hard and true. The Weight of the World is my 4th read by David Joy. While I enjoyed it, it was actually my least favorite, the reason simply being that I didn’t “feel” for any of the characters. None of them got deep into my soul, like the characters in Where All Light Tends to Go or The Line That Held Us. That said, I recommend this novel for showing the harshness of reality and the brilliant writing that we have come to know and love from David Joy.

A buddy read with Kaceey! This book sat on our unread shelf for years - I’m so glad we finally made time for it Kaceey!

Review posted to Goodreads, and Twitter.

[♥ Sandi ❣ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to First Read Digital for an ARC of this book in exchange for a review.
This book publishes March 7, 2017.

3.5 stars

High on the mountain - lost to the world. In the back woods of North Carolina, people feel lost to the world. They fight the outside - they fight each other. Crime is a way of life. Two young boys are cast aside to make their own way - anyway they can. Through death, drugs and violence Aiden McCall and Thad Broom grow into violent men.

The author David Joy put forth a story with a vividly aggressive plot line. This is a story in the reading world that takes place on the "other side of the tracks". It is an easy read that moves right along, however the verbiage, violence and sex will not be everyone's choice.

[Judy Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Talented storyteller, David Joy returns following his outstanding debut, Where All the Light Tends to Go to rural North Carolina mountains of Appalachia with another dark, gritty Southern noir THE WEIGHT OF THIS WORLD. From flawed and tortured souls, in search of light within the darkness.

“The loneliest moment in someone’s life is when they are watching their whole world fall apart, and all they can do is stare blankly.”— F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby.

In Sylva, NC Aiden McCall, at the young age of twelve, witnessed his dad murder his mother, then turn the gun on himself. A sight which would haunt him for the rest of his life. His worst fear was becoming his father one day.

Growing up in a group home he only had one friend, Thad Broom. Thad had his own past. Aiden had always believed that as time moved on the world would open up, that life would get easier rather than harder.

Hard led to harder. Life had a way of wearing a man down into nothing. The older he got the more complicated the world had become.

With enough money and a fresh start, Aiden and Thad could set things right. However, the housing bubble burst and jobs dried up. Thad was on deployment in Afghanistan when the construction business went to pot.

Those years Thad got to leave Aiden was jealous. But when Thad came back, Aiden was not sure who had it better or worse. If they could only leave the mountains. Aiden thought somewhere like Asheville, Hendersonville, or Atlanta for a fresh start. An opportunity for a better life.

April Trantham, Thad’s mother, had her own problems and past, starting from a young age. When the boys were in high school April inherited six acres and an old run down house and a single wide from the old man George had cancer.

April and Aiden find comfort in one another while Thad is away. Thad returns after a traumatic tour of duty in Afghanistan he is never the same, more damaged than when he left. The three of them want to escape their traumas; however, the weight of the world is heavy around them, and they cannot seem to escape.

. . . “There were so many horrible things they had buried inside themselves, all of the memories that had come to govern their lives. He found himself wishing that he could have been the one to bear it all. He wished that he could have taken all of the bad in this world and piled it onto himself so that he would have been the one to ever know that kind of suffering.”

From drugs, hatred, murder, crime and violence. Thad and Aiden’s drug dealer accidentally kills himself, leaving the two young men with drugs and cash; however, they cannot seem to pull themselves from the darkness. A drug- deal gone, bad.

. . . “Things weren’t okay. Everything wasn’t going to be all right. The world was entirely broken,”

Thad soon realizes that dying was a one-way ticket to judgment and it made no difference whether it came now or years down the road. He would be judged on his way to find redemption.

A mother who had not fully given herself to motherhood and her son, due to her own demons of pain and her innocence stolen. Aiden, trying to forget his haunted past. Did some people deserve to die? People had choices. These three may have more in common than they know.

As in his first book, David Joy skillfully balances the all-consuming brutality and darkness of his characters with the lyrical beauty of his writing. He captures the emotions, the setting, the culture; from crimes, dysfunction, hatred and poison, and struggles of the wounded human spirit, often with limited choices and repeating their own environment.

Told with compassion, from sadness to hope. Fans of gritty Southern noirs/literature and authors Ron Rash, Wiley Cash and John Hart will appreciate this skillfully written tale.

A special thank you to Penguin Putman and NetGalley for an early reading copy. (Also purchased audiobook)

JDCMustReadBooks

David Joy's books are always meant to be read, pondered, and listened to. MacLeod Andrews is a perfect narrator for THE WEIGHT OF THIS WORLD, as he was for Where All Light Tends to Go. Both 5 Stars.

A great Q&A with the Author: Smoky Mountain News
The weight of desire: David Joy releases second book

[Marjorie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The weight of this world has weighed heavily on the shoulders of the three main characters. Thad is back from a tour in Afghanistan and can’t come to terms with the horrific event that happened there. His mother, April, has her own secrets and violent past that she’s battling to get out from under. And Aidan watched his father kill himself and Aidan’s mother when he was a child. There’s no honest work to be found so Thad and Aidan find some dishonest work and both turn to alcohol and drugs to get through their days. When their drug dealer violently dies, his drugs and money are theirs but only if they can stay away from the meth long enough to figure out what to do with it.

Doesn’t sound too cheery, does it? This is a very dark book but that isn’t what bothered me about this one. We each have our own demons to bear and while some people’s demons may be worse than others, we all have choices to make in life. We can choose to blame our rotten luck and we can blame our stupid choices on others. But in the end, those choices are ours to make and we really only have ourselves to blame for them. This author didn’t seem to see it that way.

In reading the glowing reviews of this book, I expected to feel great compassion for these characters. They certainly had been through a lot and I tried to feel compassionate for them. But while I felt sympathy for them, I also felt turned off by them and their choices (and their choices didn't just include drugs and alcohol). Plus the mother's reason for not loving her son was completely unacceptable. I now read those glowing reviews and wonder how the writers of those reviews could have read the same book as I did. At one point Aidan says, “Perhaps God just had it out for certain folks and he’d been borne one of the unlucky ones.” That’s pretty much the theme of the whole book.

So why am I giving it even 3 stars? The writing is really beautiful. Here’s one random example taken from an Advanced Reading Copy so the wording may change in the final edition:

“They crawled along the edges of great cairns, stones the size of houses balanced with an unfathomable gravity as if they’d been set just so by the hands of some watchmaker god.”

The beauty of the language the author uses in some places contrasts sharply with the rough, coarse language used elsewhere. If these characters could have looked around them at the beauty that the author was describing instead of wallowing in their miserable pasts, their spirits would have lifted. While I found the book unpleasant to read, it really is a brilliant lesson on why you shouldn’t let the weight of the world weigh you down.

Self-pity is our worst enemy and if we yield to it, we can never do anything wise in this world. ~ Helen Keller

[RoseMary Achey · Rating 5 out of 5]

In his new novel David Joy explores deep multigenerational poverty, PSTD, and deep friendship. The protagonist, Aiden watches his father shoot his mother and then commit suicide. After bouncing around the foster care system for several years he runs away and eventually ends up living with a buddy, Thad. Thad is a returning combat veteran with serious mental and physical scars.

Joy once again sets his story in the rural impoverished areas of Jackson County North Carolina-an area where extreme wealth resides in close proximity to extreme poverty. His characters and story are one that most Americans never see or choose never to see. Joy's work is gritty and real. A chance event sets in motion a domino effect of tragedy. Desperation leads what some would view as either stupidity or a gross lack of common sense.

Joy is indeed a gifted writer. His narrative is spot on and the novel's pacing and timing is pitch perfect. This book may not be for everyone, but everyone who reads this story will take away something quite profound from Joy's insightful study of two best friends.

[debra · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5*s
Shelby(trains flying monkeys), Kelly(and the Book Boar), Zoeytron, Jennifer, Larry H, Melissa, and Liz expressed my feelings about the book, this talented author, and the characters perfectly. Read their reviews, they are that good.

[Carole (Carole's Random Life) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review can also be found at https://carolesrandomlife.com/

This was a really good book. I actually didn’t plan to read this book when I did but when I had it off the shelf and my eyes landed on the first page, I didn’t want to put it down. This book starts out incredibly strong and kept me turning pages as quickly as I could until the very end. I am so glad that I picked this book up when I did.

If you are looking for a book that will leave you with a smile on your face, this isn’t that book. This book is dark, gritty, and full of violence. It is the story of two men who are shaped by things that are outside of their control and just how far they can be pushed. As the book opens, we see Aiden’s father kill his mother and then himself. He eventually comes to live with his friend Thad, a boy that nobody ever really wanted. Jobs are scarce and options are limited so Aiden and Thad do what they need to in order to have enough money to get by and secure their next high. When Aiden and Thad find themselves in a situation to get a step up, they jump on it but things go wrong almost immediately. It was rough watching these two men navigate the things that were thrown at them and I wondered just how far they were willing to go.

The writing was superb. I was taken by this story and thought that the descriptions really helped to bring the story to life. Even when the characters were making poor choices, I understood what brought them to the decisions that they made. I felt their desperation to find a way to a better life. There were many moments in this book that made me think.

I would recommend this book to others. This was a violent, dark book that explored just how far the bonds of friendship can be stretched. I would mention that there is an animal death that may bother some readers. I cannot wait to read more of David Joy’s work.

Initial Thoughts
If you are looking for a book that will leave you with a smile on your face, this isn't that book. This book is dark, gritty, and full of violence. It is the story of two men whose lives are shaped by things out of their control and just how far they can be pushed. This is a very well written story with many moments that made me think.

Book Source: Purchased

[Kyra Leseberg (Roots & Reads) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Thad Broom left Afghanistan but he can't forget it.  He's in constant pain and doctors have given him the run around for years, shuffling him between specialists with no results, just meds that can't stop the physical and mental pain.

Back in the trailer he grew up in with his childhood best friend Aiden McCall, the two friends are barely scraping by, stripping copper from abandoned homes to feed a meth addiction.

Aiden realizes there's nothing for them on the mountain.  He has a sense of loyalty to Thad and to Thad's mom, April.  April carries a secret with her that shaped the lives of both her and her son.  Aiden has to figure out a way to get Thad to see the grim reality so they can start over, but his plan takes an unexpected turn when a visit to their dealer goes horribly wrong.

With more meth than they can possibly sell, Aiden needs to find someone who can afford to move the drugs for them; he just needs a modest cut to get him on track to a new life.

Aiden has no way of knowing how deep Thad's pain goes and now the men who grew up like brothers no longer see eye to eye.  Both are searching for redemption in very different ways and are lost in the depressing landscape of their small town.

The Weight of This World is a fine piece of country noir.  It's extremely depressing and violent and it doesn't attempt to give readers a false sense of hope.  Readers know how this story is going to end almost as soon as it begins.  
I needed more insight into Thad's and Aiden's thoughts to feel emotionally invested in their story.  We get some details on their pasts but not enough for me to feel connected.

I recommend The Weight of This World to readers who enjoy Southern/Appalachian literature and country noir/grit lit.

For more reviews, visit www.rootsandreads.wordpress.com

[Carmel Hanes · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 rounded down.

I was warned. One GR friend stopped reading this at about the halfway point and another finished it but was completely conflicted by it and questioned why she kept reading it (thanks for the previews, Diane and Cathrine). For some reason that piqued my curiosity and I felt compelled to check it out. I can handle dark. I can handle painful. I can handle despair. At least in small doses and in the right head space and if there's a reason to. I know people like this exist, events like this happen, places like this dot our landscape. I'm a realist and I've seen the dark side of human nature (for far too long, perhaps).

But...

I also believe in redemption and hope and change and transformation. And I could find none in these pages. And I think I need at least a smidgen of that stirred into stories about broken and lost people. There's a reason I couldn't watch Breaking Bad.

With each new chapter, each new decision point, each new element of chaos...my hope rose, only to be stamped out. I can give the author credit for writing a gripping narrative that is fast moving and which creates an unvarnished look at the life events that wring goodness out of people, setting them on a path of self/other destruction. While I felt some sympathy for these characters, I also wanted to shake sense into them. And at a point, I simply wanted to look away, shrugging in resignation.

As I said, I know this story plays out in "real life", too often, and I give people the freedom to be who they are....but don't make me watch.

[Jocelyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

David Joy is definitely one of my favorite authors, which happened pretty immediately with the first book I read by him, The Line That Held Us. This man can write some beautiful and dark fiction, like no other.

The Weight of This World immediately sucked me in. Aiden and Thad took me to a place/world I know nothing about (specifically drugs) and I felt like I could see, hear, feel their world (I’m glad not literally lol).
David Joy has a gift of both character and world building that I really appreciate, his books tend to be very visual to me and I love the way he writes.

I’ve already recommended this book, with the warning it’s dark, but so worth the read.

[Donna Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

David Joy is a writer that keeps it real, and that’s what made me lurch forward in my desk chair and grab my mouse when I saw his second novel was done. Big thanks go to Net Galley and Putnam Penguin for the DRC, which I received in exchange for this honest review. This title will be available to the public March 7, 2017. Those that cherish strong fiction should buy it and read it.

The setting is Little Canada, North Carolina, a wide place in the road in the middle of nowhere. The family unit, such as it is, consists of April—the most unwilling of mothers—along with her son Thad, and his best friend, Aiden McCall, who shares the trailer at the rear of April’s property with Thad. The plot is centered on the inadvertent death of the local meth dealer, and a small fortune that is unexpectedly left in the custody of Thad and Aiden.

They are not stellar decision makers. In fact, some of the time they seem as if they are half feral.

Aiden came to live with Thad when he was on the run from the law, young and desperate. Thad offered him shelter, and that was more than anyone else had ever done. In fact,

“Nothing about this place had changed in all of Aiden McCall’s life, and maybe that’s why he’d come to hate it so badly. Everything was exactly as it had always been, the haves having and the have-nots starving to damn death.”

Thad, unfortunately, is the last person in this world anyone should become overly attached to. Between his unloving childhood, his time in Afghanistan and the meth he’s used to self-medicate since then, he’s more than half crazy more than half the time. It’s just him, Aiden and his dog, a crossbreed named Loretta Lynn. But things get out of hand, and the bits of baling wire and rusty screws that were barely holding his poor savaged brain together come undone:

“Something broke inside him then. His mind retreated to a place more familiar. There was a sergeant who told Thad the infantry were the hands of God, and that idea made sense to Thad because it was no different from what he had heard all his life growing up in church. The old-timers said some prayers needed feet. But there was evil in this world that had to be strangled. And so it wasn’t just a matter of giving those prayers legs. Sometimes a prayer needed hands just the same.”

As you can see, it’s gritty prose, and it features hardscrabble characters that are not entirely lovable. And so, reader, if you are one that needs a character you can fall in love with, you may have to look elsewhere. Some reviewers have found the story too harsh for their liking, and so to some degree it’s a matter of taste.

But I can tell you this: the settings here are stark and immediate, and the characters are well drawn and completely believable. I appreciate a story that fits the time in which we live, one in which young people have a rough time becoming independent due to economic woes and the rampant drug addiction that seems to live in the shadow of every economic downturn. I believe Aiden and Thad, and I believe Thad’s mother April as well, a woman that only became a mother because someone spit on her as she came out of an abortion clinic. This is a story that resonates, and nobody can tell it like David Joy does.

Highly recommended!

[Jim Angstadt · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Weight of This World
David Joy (Goodreads Author)

Grim, unsettling, probably accurate, portrayal of life and death in remote, hilly North Carolina.

The three main characters are April Broom, her son Thad, and Aiden McCall, the long-time friend of Thad.

These three live in a world vastly different from more main-stream people. Their world is filled with alcohol, drugs, incoherence, lies, theft, and just getting by. There are no 'good' role models, or good schools, or adequate social or political infrastructure. Kids learn from their screwed-up, drunk, doped, single-parent, who is just barely making ends meet, but not always.

There is no way out. This is a sink-hole that gobbles up all that stay. That warps their perspective. That short-changes their chance for a decent life.

April's husband was a wife-beater and church goer. Her son Thad enlists in the Army, goes to the Middle East and takes part in 'questionable' interrogations of locals. He comes back with nightmares and feelings of despair. Aiden, at age 12, was saved by Thad. They formed a bond that lasts until death, and, perhaps, beyond. Oh, and Aiden has frequent sexual relations with April, although Thad is cool with that.

The idea of a 'normal' date goes right out the window. Aiden and Thad hook-up with two young women who have problems of their own. We quickly see that the winner is the one who can steal the most from the others.

The norms and behaviors shown here will be repellent to many. The options of those involved are few and undesirable. The failure of society is clear.