The Weight of Zero Review
With Christmas only a few days away, you may want to shop for the reader in your life or even yourself. If that is the case, then I suggest picking up The Weight of Zero by Karen Fortunati. This book was a great read and something I felt was emotional, sweet, and even informative at times, for a non-fiction book.Warning this review may contain some spoilers.
The book follows the story of Cat. Cat is a teenager whom has dealt with bipolar disorder and depression, resulting in suicide attempts in the past. Now besides going to school and her doctors appointments, she must attend these group meetings with a group of kids with similar situations to her own. While Cat has been hiding pills away in her home and planning to attempt suicide again, Cat starts to meet more friends, get a boyfriend, and enjoy many different things in her life. The question remains if Cat will actually want to go through with it or not.
This book was an amazing read. I read it in only a day and could barely put it down. I felt that Fortunati had gotten a teenagers voice down perfectly and many of the doubts, beliefs, thoughts, etc. that the main character and narrator, Cat, was having felt not only realistic, but relatable. I really enjoyed how it was not just a romance book, nor did they make the romance seem like the "savior" of Cat, something problematic I have seen in other stories similar to this one. A boy did not swoop in and cause Cat to somehow magically loses all her anxieties, depressive thoughts, etc. That would not be realistic or respectful to those whom have mental health disorders. Instead they do explain that Cat has a condition that can be managed, but not "entirely cured." When Cat's boyfriend, Michael, does finally find out about her bipolar disorder, he does not care at all. This contrast Cat's past friends whom left her and started picking on her once they found out about her having bipolar disorder. Their relationship is sweet, funny, but also not the something that makes her magically not have bipolar disorder or the sole thing that helps her to begin to deal with her bipolar disorder and depression. It may be a contributing factor to Cat feeling better than she previously did, but not the only factor.
Besides getting a boyfriend, Cat begins to start feeling happier relating to other things in her life. One of those things is her new friend Kristi whom she met at her group therapy sessions. Kristi is a great friend to Cat being honest with her and inviting her to places like her mother's museum which even helps Cat to decide on a subject for her and Michael's history project. More on that later. There is a point however in the story where Kristi is mad at Cat once Kristi finds out about Cat's bipolar disorder. She feels betrayed and like she told Cat everything and Cat did not feel like she could tell Krsti anything. While this is later resolved, it was a good contrast to Michael's response to finding out Cat's bipolar disorder. While I was sad that Kristi was not as understanding as Michael was it did make sense that Kristi felt betrayed by Cat and scared that Cat did not trust her. They do make up in the end and are still friends. One of the few issues I had with this book is that I wanted to see more from Kristi and Michael about their lives, but I am very grateful for this great friendship and sweet romance I got to read about.
The last parts of this book I really enjoyed were Cat's mother and Cat's relationship with her and the project. Cat and her mother do not always seem to see eye to eye on everything. Cat's mother seems to work very hard both at her job, her Catholic faith, and her devotion to taking care of her daughter. She makes sure there are no side affects to her medications, searches Cat's room for any pills (which is why Cat hides them in different parts of her room and her grandmother's old room), and is very protective of Cat. While they did have fights at time it was sweet to see that relationship develop and Cat's mother feel like she could be more lenient of Cat and Cat trying to be more understanding of her mom's life, thoughts, and feelings.
The other aspect of the book I really enjoyed was the addition of the African American women soldiers in WWII project subject. At the museum Kristi's mom works at Cat learns of a woman named Jane whom was an African American woman whom helped to organize the mail system so that soldiers could send and receive mail to and from their loved ones more efficiently. While the character of Jane was fiction, the women that Fortunati describes in the book are completely real which helped me to learn something along with giving Cat a story she felt she could connect to and learn from. I am a large fan of fiction stories finding a way to slip non fiction into their novels so that was a real treat to learn and something I never even knew about.
All in all this was an excellent book. It felt relatable, sweet, and a book that showed how one part of your life may be a big part of it, but does not have to control it. The book I felt was written in a very real sounding teen voice and was even informational at times. If you are looking for a book to read this holiday season, I highly recommend The Weight of Zero.
**** out of *****
4 out of 5 stars
