The Weight of Air

If not for the saturation of sensuality and a couple of bedroom scenes, this story could have been a dazzling five stars.

The grand adventure of this circus-set novel appealed to me, as did the delicious cover and Gothic vibes. Once I dug into the story, I was captivated by the unconventional convenience-marriage trope and the mother-daughter-reunion angle. The story delved into the depths of such themes as melancholia (depression), the search for a place to belong, and hard-edged grief all while navigating the competitive atmosphere of the circus.

While the prose was well written, it often pushed into titillating sensuality, which felt wholly unnecessary for the plot or character arcs.

I appreciated that a character realized a dark, evil sin needed to be stopped. It was just a shame it wasn't the leading character who had instigated the sin in the first place.

Content: skimpy clothing (large focus), tattoos, sensuality (excessive), unwed sex, nudity, tobacco, alcohol, profanity, suicide