The Weight of Our Sky

by Hanna Alkaf

A music loving teen with OCD does everything she can to find her way back to her mother during the historic race riots in 1969 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in this heart-pounding literary debut.

Melati Ahmad looks like your typical movie-going, Beatles-obsessed sixteen-year-old. Unlike most other sixteen-year-olds though, Mel also believes that she harbors a djinn inside her, one who threatens her with horrific images of her mother’s death unless she adheres to an elaborate ritual of counting and tapping to keep him satisfied.

A trip to the movies after school turns into a nightmare when the city erupts into violent race riots between the Chinese and the Malay. When gangsters come into the theater and hold movie-goers hostage, Mel, a Malay, is saved by a Chinese woman, but has to leave her best friend behind to die.

On their journey through town, Mel sees for herself the devastation caused by the riots. In her village, a neighbor tells her that her mother, a nurse, was called in to help with the many bodies piling up at the hospital. Mel must survive on her own, with the help of a few kind strangers, until she finds her mother. But the djinn in her mind threatens her ability to cope.

• ISBN10: 1534426086
• ISBN13: 9781534426085
• Publish Date: 21 February 2019 (first published 5 February 2019)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 5 April 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Imprint: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 288
• Language: English

Reviews

[Angie]

Proceed With Caution:

The author includes the following content warnings: graphic violence, death, racism, OCD, and anxiety triggers.

The Basics:

The Weight of Our Sky is narrated by sixteen-year-old Melati, a Malay girl living in Malaysia with her mother in 1969. What was suppose to be a normal afternoon at the cinema with her best friend quickly turned deadly as the race riots began. Mel has to find her way home, but she also has to keep her OCD at bay in order to focus on surviving.

My Thoughts:

I was immediately pulled in by Mel's narrative. I haven't read many books featuring characters with OCD, so I was eager to pick this one up. Especially since Mel describes her compulsions as a djinn in her head. Neighbor's and family believe she's cursed rather than struggling with a mental disorder. I identified with her so hard, since I also struggling some of her same obsessions and compulsions. Particularly obsessing over a loved ones possible death if we don't do things right.

I will admit that I didn't know anything about the racial tension and wars that had went on in Malaysia. The Weight of Our Sky was my introduction to these devastating events and I can't even imagine having to live through something like this. Mel is so young and having to run through burning streets to find shelter with a neighbor. Then she starts volunteering with the Red Cross as she tries to make her way back home to find her mother. All of this after watching her best friend get murdered for being the wrong race. It's all sickening.

The Weight of Our Sky is a heavy read. I'm not sure how else to describe it. The political situation Mel is living through is horrific. She's struggling really hard with OCD on top of it all. There is a...well, I can't say "happy ending" but Mel is in a better place at the end, so it's not all tragedy. I was a little disappointed with how her OCD was handled at the end, like it just magically disappeared and she can now has control over the Djinn. That's not how it works. Overall, it was a great read though.

[layawaydragon]

Read for free on RivetedLit.com.

WOW. Amazing. I really appreciate the trigger warning from the author in the beginning. It is heavy, her dealing with OCD and the world rioting around her. I had to take some breaks when starting because the OCD demon was so real, I almost started tapping along. Then things went haywire-er and I finished the second half in a sitting.

Highly recommended, just take care of yourself!

Highlights:

"It means where you plant your feet is where you hold up the sky."

"You ever hear anyone say words don't matter after this, you tell them about this day, when Malay idiots and Chinese idiots decided to kill one another because they believed what the bloody politicians told them."

[shannonmiz]

You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight

Oh, this lovely book is going to tear down your faith in humanity, then rebuild it little by little. You will fall in love with Melati and your heart will break for what she is going through. I am going to keep this review purposefully short so that you can experience this for yourself, because you need to. But a few reasons why you need this in your life:

• •I mean, this event happened, and that makes the book extra important, even though it's of course a fictional account. I didn't know much about Malaysian history going into this book, and I feel like I have learned so, so much. Plus, this very obviously contains lessons that we can all use in the present day, in whatever country we happen to live in.



• •Mental health rep. Melati has OCD, and it challenges her at every turn. While I don't have Melati's exact condition, I have had so many obsessive and intrusive thoughts and compulsions related to anxiety that I felt like Melati was in my head sometimes. And as is often the case, this catastrophic event intensified Melati's feelings. I am so glad to see a book addressing this, because I think it's incredibly important.



• •Family and friendships and love above hate are all such important themes. Melati is desperate to find her mother. She is being helped by the kindness of strangers. In turn, she too displays such kindnesses. Strangers blossom into friends under the most dire of circumstances. And while there are a ton of examples of the hate and violence the characters endured, it's the love that shines through on the pages. 

Bottom Line: Do. Not. Sleep. On. This. Book. You will not regret reading this lovely book full of the worst of mankind, but also, the best of it.