Weight

by Dhonielle Clayton

Genres: Short Stories

ebook

Published January 1, 2018

About the author

Dhonielle Clayton is a New York Times bestselling author of The Marvellers series, The Belles series, Shattered Midnight, co-author of Blackout, Whiteout, The Rumor Game, and of the Tiny Pretty Things duology, a Netflix original series. She hails from the Washington, D.C. suburbs on the Maryland side. She taught secondary school for several years, and is a former elementary and middle school librarian. She is COO of the non-profit We Need Diverse Books. She is the President and founder of Cake Creative and Electric Postcard Entertainment, IP story companies creating diverse books for all ages. She’s an avid traveller, and always on the hunt for magic and mischief. Find her on Instagram: @brownbookworm.

Reviews

[Lokinda Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short story is quite good and thought-provoking. It resonates with me as the questions which are interwoven into the whole story like "Do we really love who we think we love? Are these feelings sincere?" I asked myself and my husband recently too. I don't think that some questions should be asked and answered for our own good. And it seems to me the author supports this idea wholeheartedly.

[Julie Martin]

Trying to find new, diverse and cool short stories for high school is challenging; however, I think this short story will be a success. I will know more tomorrow, when we look at it together in class. I love the concept: very different, but I wonder if the students may have a problem with the ending?

[Alba Marie · Rating 2 out of 5]

So, I finally finished Weight... the story is pretty short and took me close to 2 weeks to read it, which means that I wasn't all that invested in the story. Or the plight of Marcus and Grace.

The plot is simple: 2 high school sweethearts go to the Heart Scale Centre to have their hearts weighed - which will tell you who you love. As the "heartician" explains: “I can’t tell you what’s on the road ahead. But I can tell you how much you love each other right now. Your heart will reveal its imprints. The deeper one is, the more love you have for a person. The fresher one is, the newer the love for a person. Scabbed imprints tell us about past loves that have gone away. And the weight of each one will tell us the value of your love for one person in relation to your love for other people.”

I'm trying to pinpoint what exactly didn't resonate it with me. I think part of it was not feeling all that connected with the 2 characters - I feel like I knew nothing about them, and therefore struggled to sympathise.

I think the other thing I struggled with was the concept itself - trying to use a pseudo science to explain one of the most magnificent and mysterious things of the world: love. It just felt... odd. Like cheating. Like oversimplifying one of the world's greatest things. I dunno. It wasn't a great story.

[Neel · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this story, there is a conflict that asks the question of whether couples really love each other. If you want to read a book with lots of tension between a couple, this is a great story:

“Coley got the appointments for us, didn’t she?” he asked.

Marcus felt her bristle.

“Yeah. Why?”

“Nothing.”

“Well, it’s going to be great. Marisol and her girlfriend did it last weekend.”

“Aren’t they about to break up?"

Throughout the story, the narrator hints to us that this test isn't really the best option. This story was pretty good. i also really liked the tension between the couple, the charactors and how the messsage of the story was that not everyone will love eachother for ever.

[Caroline · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought the premise was a bit intriguing. But I honestly couldn't fathom caring enough about all the stuff Grace cared about enough to have a medical procedure done. Even if the characters treated it like it was as commonplace and simple as getting a tattoo or a teeth cleaning. It just seems like exactly the type of thing that would ruin every relationship as one person is bound to read too much into things.

[McKenna R · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was a really interesting concept that could even be extended out of a short story form. All about a new “scientific” procedure that allows your heart to be taken from your body and weighed, to find out who you’ve loved, how deeply, and so on. Focuses on two high school sweethearts trying to decide if they should try to continue their relationship into college. I liked it.

[Sasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

*SPOILERS*

I really enjoyed this short story, but that "Lady or Tiger?" ending abruptly stopped my momentum. I feel cheated! I wanted to know what happened!

[Nikki Prock · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really unique story. Easy read with a fun concept. I want to have this procedure done! The story leaves us with more questions than answers, but I understand why.

[Avis · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't care about the characters all that much