Thank you Netgalley for the advanced digital cooy of Gravity is the Thing by Jaclyn Moriarty in return for my honest review.

Gravity is the Thing has a very intriguing premise, but one that was lost in its execution. For years, Abi has mysteriously received in the mail chapters from The Guidebook, lessons and activities to navigate life. Abi relied on The Guidebook to uncover the mystery of her sixteen year old brother’s disappearance, convinced that he would return and that there was a connection between the two because the chapters started arriving on the day he disappeared. Flash forward, Abi is a single mother, divorced , and has received an invitation to a weekend retreat to learn the truth about The Guidebook. This was such a unique and engaging beginning. There was a cast of interesting characters with revealing back-stories. The novel tackled substantial issues, but with compassion, and in many ways this book was extraordinarily charming. I am very attracted to a quirky story. In fact, I search them out, but this novel takes quirky to a new level, sometimes to distraction. The story veered off in an odd direction, and too much time was spent there; after awhile it was all too much to absorb.

That being said, there were special moments that felt real and true. Oscar, Abi’s little boy, is spot on. I could have read about him forever. He was precious, loving, inquisitive and precocious, but also stubborn and demanding. The mother-son relationship was so recognizable, relatable and honest. Hats off to the author because these pages were brilliant. Abi’s loves for her son is palpable, and the reader falls in love with him too.

The disappearance of Abi’s brother and the effects it had on her and her family were also well done. The author captured the feelings of coping with such a loss over time and how the loss infiltrates all aspects of life. Although, the mystery was resolved, this reader found it improbable and unrealistic.

Abi’s marriage to Finn was another storyline that touched me. It was hopeful and loving, hurtful and messy. It was relatable and honest. It was these life moments, that the author portrayed incredibly realistically that reached me and connected me with the story.

I was glad I read the novel. I wish there had been more explanation of The Guidebook, why it was written, why specifically it was sent to certain children, and what it was trying to accomplish. This was the focal point of the novel, and yet there was too much left unexplained.
3 1/2 stars.

A light read about a heavy topic --processing the death of a sibling. There were several story lines here that seemed sort of disjointed. The premise was very odd and not entirely believable. A group of strangers get together because they have been receiving a book of instructions over the years starting with childhood. The son of the people who was sending the book holds "flight lessons" to teach the chosen to fly, but the sessions really end up as a way for these lonely individuals to find companionship. Strange. Also, there is a break up story line that just sort of falls flat because the characters are not very developed. Also, what happened to the brother was not really believable; it was just odd. Like most of the book. I didn't care about any of the characters or what happened to them, but I read to the end because it was an easy read..

I received a free advanced copy of this book from NetGalley.

I was ultimately disappointed by this book. I think the point of it was to try and show how magic can be in anything, in our daily lives, in someone's search for meaning. But it just failed to deliver on the fantastical premise, to me. I was also frustrated by the handling of sexual assault in this story. It happens twice and the person it happens to almost doesn't seem to notice. It rubbed me the wrong way. That said, I do like Jacylyn Moriarty's other books, and I hope she writes more.

I find humor in novels to be a very fickle thing. When it hits on all cylinders for me, I just love the book. But when it’s off, I cannot enjoy other aspects. Unfortunately, for me this one just doesn’t strike the right note for me. The novel has a rambling and frenetic feel.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Interesting novel about a young women's journey through life after her beloved brother goes missing.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for letting me read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Abigail's brother Robert went missing when she was missing. At the same time, she started to receives chapters of a Guidebook that promise to reveal the truth.

Abigail's tone within the book is monotone. It does not help create any excitement for the story at all. Throughout the book, it was her thoughts within thoughts that drove me crazy. She also has such a weird obsession with sex, in which was never explained anywhere in the story. It read like a self-help/self-discovering type of book, but in a story form. The characters neither bring joy or sorrow to the story. There was no up or down to the story line. It was just a flat road that kept going on forever.

This book just wasn’t for me. It was all over the place. It’s too wordy and detailed. The author is long winded. It was up and down and in between. There were a few small parts in the beginning that I enjoyed a little, but it wasn’t enough for me to ultimately like the book. It failed to keep my interest. I was ready for the book to be over even before a quarter of the way through, and it was painful to finish. Very slow going, this one.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Have you ever read a book that simultaneously confused and enthralled you? And then by the end you were so thoroughly invested in the characters you felt like you’d know them if you ran into them at the grocery store? And then miss them when it’s over? This is that kind of book.

This is a challenging book to summarize. It’s about a thirty something single mom, Abi, whose brother went missing twenty years ago as a teenager. That same year, she started to receive chapters from an odd little self-help book called The Guidebook. Over time, those chapters became an important part of her identity and felt connected to her brother’s unsolved disappearance. So when she receives an invitation to an all-expenses-paid retreat promising to reveal the Truth about The Guidebook, she decides to attend. And then—in slowly revealed flashes between past and present—we see the effects of this in her prior and current life. This story beautifully explores love, loss, forgiveness, hope, marriage, and motherhood.

To say this an unusual book is an understatement. It’s written in small sections, as if we are glimpsing various moments in Abi’s life. The writing is absolutely delicious but I would say it took some time to “get it.” Despite this, I found myself becoming increasingly invested in Abi and the quirky cast of supporting characters. Deeply personal, moving, often very funny, and sometimes quite sad, this is a story that sticks to your ribs and weasels into your heart. I loved it. I especially loved the scenes with her son, and the way the author encapsulates the strange joy and terror of raising another human being. I highly recommend it to anyone who loves character-driven fiction with lyrical writing, unusual structure, and unique characters.

Many thanks to @netgalley and @harperbooks for a free digital copy in exchange for an honest review. Releases July 23, 2019!

I read this novel and liked the story line of the self-help manuals sent to a group of people for years and years. How inventive and original. I liked the weekly meetings and meditations. Then it turned into a basic romance novel. Was a little disappointing. Would have liked the story to have a little bit of strength on its own legs and see where that went without the development of yet another love story.

Another unexpected hit.

I went through a few different phases with this book. I loved the premise from the moment I read about it, and I was pretty sure it was going to be good. But when I actually started reading it (many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for granting wish), I was confused for a while. I think it's because of the author's writing style. The story might be in line with Eleanor Olipheant and Where'd You Go, Bernadette, but Jaclyn Moriarty has a unique voice that's very different from any mainstream women's fiction bestseller. Abigail calls it "impressionistic glances", and it's just that. This makes the book different from other books of the genre, but also makes it a bit hard to get into. But once you get into it, the characters and the story would worm their way into your heart.

The story itself doesn't necessarily stand out, but the way it was told made it relatable somehow. Once again, I don't know how it worked, it just did.

The ending somehow had me in tears without knowing why I was sobbing.

Overall, great story that requires a little patience at the beginning.

A wonderful, heartwarming book, yet heartbreaking at the same time. Abigail, a single mum to five year old Oliver, has had some tragic times in her life. First her brother disappeared when she was a teenager, then she broke up with her husband, "the love of her life" and gone through her parents divorce. During all these times she's been receiving mysterious help through chapters of 'The Guidebook', a self help manual she started receiving about the time her brother disappeared. Now, twenty years later, she's been invited to an all-expenses paid retreat, to finally learn the truth of 'The Guidebook.'

Abigail goes, somehow convinced that 'The Guidebook' and her brothers disappearance are connected, yet what she finds is something entirely different indeed. She finds herself going to a series of seminars connected to 'The Guidebook', finds new friends and really starts to find herself.

Gravity Is The Thing is a lovely, witty tale, beautifully written and original. Jaclyn Moriarty will make you laugh, and she'll make you cry. A compelling storyline that you wont want to put down, you'll find yourself neglecting what you're supposed to be doing. Recommended.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Abigail has spent her entire adolescence and adulthood searching for her missing brother, Robert. The year he went missing, mysterious chapters from "The Guidebook" began showing up. Abi believed these were connected and the guidebook held the truth behind Robert's disappearance. This novel shifts between past and present and the writing style was very choppy and hard to follow. I felt that it moved away from the basic premise of "where's Robert?" and I sometimes felt that I was reading a different book than the one I started. It took me a solid 150 pages to even start to like the characters and by the end, I wasn't any more invested or rooting for them than I was at the beginning. Thank you to #NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
#GravityIstheThing

This book definitely had a slow start, but I grew to really like the characters and the setting. A little bit mystery, with adventure and discovery throughout.

Gravity Is The Thing has a unique premise at its core. The guidebook seems to me the only aspect that differentiates this story from others with the same situations. It's unique but not enough that I loved it. It's a slow start, and I never got much into the story. I could not connect with this story or the characters. It's kind of blah, and I wouldn't read it again. Thanks to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

Gravity is the Thing is Jaclyn Moriarty’s debut adult novel and IT. IS. EVERYTHING!!! Jaclyn has been successful with her young adult novels so I was excited to get my hands on her first adult novel and it completely lived up to all of my expectations (and then some)! The storyline is brilliantly original!!! I found myself thinking throughout this novel that I’ve never read anything like this before and my second thought was I never want this book to end. This addictive book has it all- humor, quirk, mystery all mixed up with both anguish and joy! Gravity is the Thing deserves all of the stars and I wish I could give it more than 5 because it’s that flipping fantastic!

From the synopsis of “Gravity is the Thing” by Jaclyn Moriarity, the story sounded like it would be an eccentric read. I was thrilled when I was given the ARC of this novel and immediately sat down to read Moriarty’s work.

I tried, on numerous occasions, to get into the story and relate to the characters. I will admit that there were a few times that I did but it did not last long. Unfortunately, it was not enough to get me hooked. I struggled to dive into the book and not become distracted by other things.

So, with a heavy heart, I regret to say that I could not finish this novel. I am sure that there are readers out there who will love it but it was not for me. I look forward to giving Moriarty’s next a novel a shot!

Abigail (“Abi”) Sorensen was just turning 16 when her beloved brother Robert, recently diagnosed with M.S.,disappeared. She and her parents were devastated, and it changed the course of their lives. The parents eventually got divorced and Abi became obsessed with loss and the pursuit of some kind of closure, going down every self-help road she could find. One of the most enduring was a mysterious book she had been receiving chapter by chapter continuously since that fateful year called “The Guidebook.”

As the story opens Abi is now 35 with a four-year-old son named Oscar. She manages the “Happiness Cafe” in Sydney, Australia and has just accepted an offer for an all-expenses-paid trip for a weekend retreat “Where you will Learn the Truth about The Guidebook.” She joined twenty-six others for activities led by a man named Wilbur, who encouraged them to “let go” and free their minds, with the ultimate goal of flying - whether metaphorical or actual was unclear to the participants. At the conclusion of the weekend, those who wanted to were invited to continue the “lessons” at Wilbur’s apartment in Sydney on a weekly basis.

As the story continues, we read, interspersed throughout, the chapters that were sent to the recipients over the years, as well as their yearly thoughts they were encouraged to send in to the authors of The Guidebook. Back in present, we also go through, with Abi, her ceaseless efforts, via self-help books, to find answers in her life, or even happiness.

At one point Abi says, “The Guidebook was absurdity: inexplicable, inscrutable; and so was my brother being gone. Hence, the two must be connected. That is why I never cancelled my subscription: a part of me never stopped believing that, eventually, the one mystery would unravel the other.”

I would certainly agree about her assessment of “The Guidebook” and in fact, I found the content of the chapters to be annoying as well as absurd. Abi was also very annoying, but she had psychological “issues” that explained her. She blamed herself for Robert’s disappearance, as well as the disappearance of others in her life - boyfriends, friends, a husband . . . but her self-obsession was grating. Her son Oscar was a horrible kid with anger management issues but she seemed oblivious to it. In fact, all the characters, including Wilbur, had “issues” which explained in part why the adults continued to participate in the weekly sessions.

I didn’t really like the book at all until the end, when some explanations were provided and some of the protagonists found a way to be rid of their constraints at last. But it didn’t make reading it feel worthwhile to me. I thought there was too much in the book that was extraneous to the main story and could have been eliminated, and too much in the main story that was absurd and irritating.

Wow. So this story is unlike any I've ever read. I requested it because I LOVE her sister Liane and I was excited that Jaclyn finally wrote an adult story instead of a children's book. I really don't even know where to begin with explaining it. It's a great fiction story with a self help book mixed in. In the beginning I almost stopped reading it. I found it slow but I really wanted to give it a chance. I'm glad I did because it all came together in this brilliant creative story by the end. Thank you for granting my wish to read it. It was powerful and charming and enjoyable.

This is the first book I've read by Moriarty, I'll be honest - it took me about 50 pages to really get into the story, but I'm so very happy I stuck with it. Because once I did, it became quickly apparent that Moriarty is an exceptionally talented writer. I came to really love the character of Abigail, and found myself so invested in her journey by the end. It was a surprising story- not one I expected at the outset. Will definitely be reading more by Moriarty in the future! Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is my first book by this author, and she is obviously a very talented writer. The book has a bit of slow start, but I stuck with it, and was happy I did. A good plot with well-written characters, believable dialog, and a little mystery to boot. Recommended.

I really appreciate the ARC for review!