There was much to enjoy in this debut novel. The story revolves around a successful PR executive struggling to deal with the grief of losing his wife and raising his son as a single dad. I felt myself cheering for him, even as he spiraled out of control and lost his grip with important clients of his company. His abuse of drugs and alcohol caused irreparable damage at work and with his son, who couldn't handle his father's constant absences. However, he was a good person, who recognized his faults and eventually tried to overcome them. I liked the first-person narration, although at times keeping track of conversations was difficult. The author had many thoughtful phrases and insights that made you pause and reflect. The business story was at times lengthy but having worked in the corporate world, I enjoyed the details and found them to be quite accurate. I also enjoyed the travelogue of places he visited - New York, DC, San Francisco, Barbados, and Barcelona. The one downside for me is that most of the other characters were not very interesting. I really enjoyed the story when it focused on Mark and his son Colin. I would recommend this book as a hopeful book with good writing.

I am going to give my feedback here, although I have not finished this book. I started reading it, put it away, waited a couple of weeks, took it back out, continued reading and then put it away.
It was well written, but the subject matter just fell flat for me. The corporate business world is light years away from my interests. It just couldn't keep me going.

I did not finish this book. When one sentence is 93 words long this impossible to follow I couldn’t continue reading. It was like a high school student trying to make his word minimum.

Appreciated the opportunity to read and review this book received from Netgalley. This novel is the story of Mark White, head of the highly successful PR firm that he built in the DC area. Mark has recently lost his much-loved wife Monica to a tragic accident. He and his young son, Colin, are both suffering from the time and travel demands of Mark’s corporate position;
both are taking medications for anxiety and stress while coping less and less well. The first part of the book centers on the work of Mark’s firm, the major characters there, and specifics of his work for a start-up translation app company about to launch an IPO but suddenly beset with devastating publicity. Mark can give only scant attention to Colin, who is struggling, lonely for his remaining parent and largely being raised by their housekeeper.

The second part of the book, when Mark’s psyche begins to unravel and he begins to realize fully how his hectic job is damaging his son, is much better and stunning as regards his emotional growth. He takes steps to remedy the cockeyed work-balance in his life to reflect the love and attention his son needs. The trips he and Colin take to Barbados and Barcelona are well-described and present local color very well down to the finest detail.

While I enjoyed this book very much, I found the beginning regarding the corporate PR world ponderous going in parts and some verbiage and vocabulary overly pedantic. The later parts of the book with father and son drawing closer while spending more time together and traveling moved more quickly, were rich in local color and emotionally touching.

Where do I even start with this book? As a debut author, I'm seriously impressed with Mr. Bovim. This book brought out so many emotions in me - I actually felt like I was living right alongside Mark and his young son, Colin.

Mark married the sweetheart he had since he was 18 years old. She was an artist - he became an entrepreneur. They had a child, Colin. Unfortunately, his wife passed away leaving him to care for his son and his demanding business. Each time he told his son he had to go out of town, he saw the worry and sadness in his son's eyes. Both Mark and Colin were taking pills to help with everything - their anxiety, depression, etc. Until one day Mark just about reached his breaking point - his business went to hell and his son was nearly failing out of school (early years - either kindergarten or 1st grade). He can't keep living like this - he hears his wife talking to him all the time, but he is starting to forget her face. He is driving himself crazy. He knows he needs to do something to save both himself and his son, but does he have the courage to do what it takes?

After I finished this book, I told my husband I thought he would like it more than I did. Don't get me wrong - I really liked the book, but it also left me exhausted. The book is SO detailed with descriptions for everything - at times I felt I couldn't breathe. I swear a few times one sentence lasted for an entire page. But the writing is beautiful and his use of words are eloquent. I probably should have paced my reading to where I had more breaks to let my brain recover. But I do recommend this book - it still has me thinking about it nonstop.

I was provided this book in exchange for an honest review. The opinions above are mine without biases.

I enjoyed this very different book. The detailed and intimate details of the main character's life came through in the phenomenal writing. What a heartening story about the journey through heartbreak to optimism.

This book started off very slow and I almost gave up. However, since I received a free copy to review, I forged on as it is unfair to review a book I did not complete. A little over have way, the story and, in my opinion the writing got better. At the beginning, the story is very bogged down in the particulars of Mark’s life as CEO of a PR firm and the various events that eventually lead to the firm’s downfall. All of this is happening against the backdrop of the fact that Mark is grappling with the untimely, accidental death of his wife and raising his young son, Colin. In the end, Mark comes to terms with his wife’s death and raising his son on his own.

Around the Sun follows Mark White as he deals with his clients, his employees, his depression after the death of his wife, his son, and the list goes on. My point is that while mulltiple plots can be interesting, the abrupt ending and starting of those plots, and some of the inconsequential detail detracts from the reading experience. I found myself considering putting down the book before I finished.
Having said that, it did hold my interest. Highly recommend tightening up the writing and focusing on fewer subplots.

New voice in fiction delivers a compelling tale of naked ambition, business crises, moving grief and the path to redemption.

Reading Around the Sun, was not an easy task at first. The stream of conscious narration in the beginning of the book was rather long-winded and confusing; and, I had trouble staying focused and vested in the characters. Some of the vocabulary felt unnatural and stilted. But the description of the book was intriguing, so I plowed ahead and ended up liking the characters and enjoying the book. The relatable and modern setting along with the realistic social media tensions, made the last 90% of the book engaging. The authenticity of Mark White’s distracted parenting accurately reflects what I have experienced as a teacher because, parents are human and sometimes life is messy. I found myself reading late at night as Mark White’s world unraveled because I ended up liking him and wanted to see him rebound and regain control of his life.

This is the story of Mark, the head of a firm of consultants, who travels around the world pretty much nonstop. He is also dealing with the death of his wife and trying to raise his son, Colin. The writing was choppy like bursts of thoughts that Mark is having. Part 1 dealt with his business deals and I found that boring. Part 2 was more interesting as Mark makes some colossal mistakes and on one hand is trying to save the business but on the other seems to be doing what he can to make it tank. I didn't like Mark very much. He seems to feel sorry for himself. He has created this business that makes him a lot of money but now seems to hate every minute of the responsibility. Instead of getting out and selling the business he sabotages the future of the company but I don't think it was intentional. He takes pills, drinks and keeps himself highly caffeinated.

Colin seems like a normal little boy, missing his mother but Mark has him on a regimen of pills for supposed anxiety. All I saw was a kid looking for some stability. Colin was nine and I thought that his mom died about a year before but it turns out it was four years. It seems like a long time for Mark to be getting his act together. I felt like he keeps Colin medicated so he doesn't ask questions.

This was the kind of book that can't be read for short periods and picked up later. I found once I could sit and absorb it I liked it much better. The writing seemed to flow better. There was no big ending because this wasn't that kind of story. A lot of character study so if you are looking for action this isn't the book.

Around the Sun is that book you have to make yourself comfortable so you don't miss anything. Personally i found the first chapters a little bit slow but it started to pick up in subsequent chapters now that's said let's analyze the book
I loved how descriptive the plot was, it wasn't rushed but just right for me at least or if you're someone that needs to know everything like I am
Reading this book like i was fully in the mind of Mike , each blending perfectly with the story coming together nicely even if there were some parts i confess i skipped

Mark White is the founder and owner of a very successful Washington, DC public relations company. His stream of conscious narration takes you through his memories of his recently deceased wife, his efforts to provide stability for his son, and his own unraveling.

If you're a reader who highlights beautifully-written passages just to go back and savor them, Around the Sun will be a goldmine for you. This book was the most staggering display of virtuosity with words that I've come across in -- I can't remember how long.

It's written in first person, with a wealthy man as the point of view character, so perhaps it's unfair of me to grumble that there was solely a male frame of reference and that it felt felt more than a bit elitist. Because none of the secondary characters really came alive for me, my irritation with the entitled, self-absorbed protagonist was amplified.

Despite the frequent pauses to delight in (yet another) astonishing phrase, I flew through this book. At the end, though, I was left with the afterglow of a glamorous travelogue punctuated by first-world problems. So -- I guess my summary is "style over substance."

Thanks to NetGalley and Epigraph for an advance readers copy.

Bovim's debut novel "Around the Sun" packs quite a punch in its 288 pages! Told in three distinctive parts, the reader is introduced immersively to our protagonist Mark White, the powerful CEO of an elite Washington, DC Public Relations firm. His client list includes DC movers and shakers, heads of international Fortune 500 firms, and heads of state in foreign lands. He mans the helm of the DC based, yet internationally connected firm with style, confidence, and ego to spare.

In Part One we join Mark as he jet sets (at the drop of a dime) around the world, troubleshooting and providing damage control for his elite clientele, the picture of cool, calm and commanding, he quite literally has the world by the tail! Or so he would have everyone think. Told in rapid, scattershot, frenetic language and almost stream of consciousness prose, Mark would have everyone (himself included) believe there is no problem, no situation that he CAN. NOT. HANDLE. Bada bing, bada boom! Dash here, dash there! Fix it, fix it, FIX IT!

Part One ends, however, with a devastating professional crash for Mark. His armor has chinks and his "I Can Handle Anything" mask has slipped. In Part Two, we find that the Prince of PR has a few unresolved and seriously troubling problems. While not a surprise, for these problems were cleverly "hidden in plain sight" within the novel's first section, we discover the true extent of Mark's attempts at self-deception and avoidance. For you see, Mark's beloved wife Monica was killed in a hit-and-run accident months before. Monica, a successful artist, has always provided Mark with context and grounding. With the sudden removal of the connecting "color" in the portrait of his life, Mark has tried, unsuccessfully, to bury his deeply devastating grief in booze, pills, and business. With his mantra of "I'm fine," he has neglected to see that his young son, Colin, is far from fine. Slowly realizing that he is all Colin has in the world, a devastated Mark in the third and final part of this excellent story is led on yet another round of soul searching "turns around the sun" hopefully coming to terms with his struggle between ambition and life without, like Icarus, flying too close to the scorching rays of the sun.

Eric Michael Bovim's writing is not for those who want an "easy read" in either topic or prose. I will not lie, I consider myself a "word nerd" and his vernacular of choice had me reaching often for my dictionary! So too did I Google with frequency the world that Bovim's characters inhabit. As my career path did not lead me through the halls of high power, high energy public relations agencies or make me privy to the ins and outs of the corporate financial world, I definitely sought edification a time or two or three! But what I did recognize early on, and quite clearly, was the very real and oh so human pain of grief and loss that he so successfully wove throughout the pages of his book. Mission accomplished Mr. Bovim! I look forward to sharing many more of your turns around the sun as written in your distinctive voice!
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I'd like to express my thanks to NetGalley and to the author, Eric Michael Bovim, for the opportunity to receive an advanced digital copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

#NetGalley
#Eric Michael Bovim

DNF. Tried several times to get into this and simply couldn't. This is painfully boring and not a novel.

Really good read. Would recommend to friends and family. I could sympathise with characters (important for any fiction novel!) and looked forward to picking it up and reading the next few chapters! Interesting plot line and a good ending. Will look out for more novels by the author. Thank you.

I was looking forward to reading Eric Bovim’s book Around The Sun after reading some very high praise for its “lush graceful prose, a portrait of grief and hope in the age of social media, globalization, and artistic decadence.” I came away with mixed feelings about it, as I appreciate the author’s skill in drawing the reader in to the protagonist’s self-destructive spiraling descent into – what? I’m not sure, but for starters it’s definitely a wild ride.

Mark White is living what seems like a fairly schizo life. On the one hand, he is the wildly successful head of a prestigious PR firm based in Washington, D.C., and he spends his work time trotting the globe, fixing crises and manipulating media (including social) to support his “engagements,” as he calls his client relationships. He is volatile and there is a sense of impending doom in the first of three parts, introducing the idea of a looming meltdown.

Part two feels like a brief respite from the chaos, and a revelation of sorts into the reasons why Mark is reeling. He is the single parent of a young boy, left motherless when Mark’s wife Monica was killed in a hit-and-run accident. The grief is palpable as we learn through flashbacks of the intensity of their relationship and the sudden change in Mark’s life, magnified by his deep desire to be a good father.

In part three, Mark’s jet-setting, globe-trotting, pill popping excesses begin to unravel, and his move toward a more sane life is excruciating…I wanted to yell at him “MARK! WTF? You have more money than you will ever need! GET OFF the merry-go-round!!”

Lots to like and appreciate in this, but it was a bit much for me. Possible quarantine isn’t the time to wallow in a character’s grief, but there was hope at the end and the fact that I came to care so much about Mark and his son is proof of Mr. Bovim’s skill. Four stars, and thanks to Epigraph and NetGalley for providing a copy in exchange for this honest review.

After a slow start, readers may settle into a good story. This is literature so there are no action scenes, just a story about relationships and well-written characters. It's a little emotional at times, and gratifying overall.

I really appreciate the review copy!!

Around the sun By Eric Michael Bovim was a wild trip of writing where it felt stream of consciousness from the first person point of view. The style is something very unique in which something I have never seen or experienced.

The character Mark White works in a Big PR clean up firm and is grieving over his wife's death. He is a single father who keeps spiraling out of one big problem into another while trying to be a father however in some ways its kind of absent. He basically overworks himself and drugs himself with anti depressants and alcohol to feel numb to any feelings or grief. He sees her everywhere ( her name was Monica White) It feels like a downwards spiral and he has to create a perfect image. Her memory haunts her like a ghost. While his child Colin needs his attention and love and to talk about what happened that his dad just doesn't want to talk about her or anything.

In a job where you have to deal with social media also with news fading more it can attack any company at any angle you are paid to clean it up with a ton of money. He is getting an account onespeak where the creators Lars and Fung had an incident. His Job is to fix it however he gets dragged in a spiraling problem of not coming through or possibly not coming through with empty promises.

This is an amazing book with a really complex story.
Thank you net galley for this arc