When fifteen-year-old Carolyn moves from New Jersey to Alabama with her mother, she rattles the status quo of the junior class at Adams High School. A good student and natural athlete, she’s immediately welcomed by the school’s cliques.
She’s even nominated to the homecoming court and begins dating a senior, Shane, whose on again/off again girlfriend Brooke becomes Carolyn’s bitter romantic rival.
When a video of Carolyn and Shane making out is sent to everyone, Carolyn goes from golden girl to slut, as Brooke and her best friend Gemma try to restore their popularity.
Gossip and bullying hound Carolyn, who becomes increasingly private and isolated.
When Shane and Brooke—now back together—confront Carolyn in the student parking lot, injuring her, it’s the last attack she can take.
Sarah Bannan’s deft use of the first person plural gives Weightless an emotional intensity and remarkable power that will send you flying through the pages and leave you reeling.
This is one of the most unique YA books I’ve ever read. The storytelling is different from anything I’ve ever read and that helps it stand out from other books about bullying. The foreshadowing that happens from this plural POV makes you anticipate what is bound to happen to her but once it happens, it’s still devastating.
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Basically, Carolyn begins dating Shane, the most popular boy in school who was dating the queen bee Brooke. After Carolyn begins strutting around the school with Shane, Brooke takes matters into her own hands by pushing and shamelessly bullying an innocent and sweet girl. Things really go downhill for her when a video goes out of her “having sex” with Shane in his car.
I found Weightless a compelling YA novel that aggravated me in a good way. How can you be aggravated in a good way? Well, I was so bothered by the fact that people could just stand by and not step in. Worst of all, the “we” who narrates the novel completely refuses to acknowledge that this whole thing was wrong. Even though it bothered me, it wouldn’t be realistic for them to automatically feel bad about everything that had happened.
The huge thing that I took away from this is that high school can be such a cruel place. Carolyn was a girl who actually self-harmed herself and nobody did anything. They didn’t ask her one thing about all the marks on her body. Instead, the mean girls and even the narrator brushed it aside and said she only did it for attention or that she wouldn’t have talked about it if they asked her anyway. “We talked later about the marks on her arm. And maybe we should have asked what was wrong, but we didn’t and plus, Carolyn wouldn’t have answered anyway.”
I found this to be realistic due to the cyberbullying part of it. Now in high schools, it feels like hiding behind a computer and saying something mean about someone is the most popular form of bullying. In this book, we see these horrible Facebook statuses from Gemma and Brooke saying such hurtful things about Carolyn. It’s not a typical bullying story, the approach is totally different and it will stick with you long after the book ends. This is a must read for anybody who has been there and understands how tough high school can be.
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REVIEW: 8/10
Our friends at St. Martin’s Press were nice enough to provide ONE copy of ‘Weightless.’ The giveaway started on July 1 and is still going on. Now that you know more information about it, hopefully you’ll want to enter! Like I said, this is truly an emotional yet beautifully written novel that book lovers everywhere just don’t want to miss out on. So make sure to enter below!
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