{"id":4118,"date":"2025-09-18T09:17:43","date_gmt":"2025-09-18T09:17:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=4118"},"modified":"2025-09-18T09:17:43","modified_gmt":"2025-09-18T09:17:43","slug":"book-review-the-weight-of-waiting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=4118","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: The Weight of Waiting"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

The Weight of Waiting<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

by Brian Whelan<\/p>\n

Genre:<\/strong> Literary Fiction<\/p>\n

ISBN: <\/strong>9798290350790<\/p>\n

Print Length:<\/strong> 55 pages<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n\t\t\t\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\n

\t\t\t<\/p><\/span>Amazon<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n

\t\t\t<\/p><\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Reviewed by Eric Mayrhofer<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong>The Weight of Waiting <\/em>takes the interminable suffering of the DMV and transforms it into the fertile soil where small, quiet, and meaningful connections grow.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

At the beginning of Brian Whelan\u2019s The Weight of Waiting<\/em>, readers meet Jake Morrison, a young man who feels like he\u2019s peaked at the age of 32\u2014a grim prospect indeed. He\u2019s impatient and cold. While sitting through the agonizingly slow wait at his local DMV, he sees an old man struggling with a ruined umbrella, and instead of sympathy or a compulsion to help, he thinks \u201c\u2018What the hell is he doing?\u2019\u2026appalled by the man\u2019s lethargic incompetence.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

But when Jake has (what he believes to be) the misfortune of having to engage with this old man, he learns that Harry Brennan is far from an inconvenience. Instead, he\u2019s a font of wisdom who shows, through his warmth and sadness, his insight and regrets, that Jake\u2019s despair over his own problems isn\u2019t eternal, and that the wall of hyper-independence he\u2019s built needs to crack\u2014and break\u2014in order for him to lead the whole and happy life he yearns for.<\/p>\n

Whelan\u2019s book is a charming one. Jake\u2019s life transforms in such a mundane place and all because of conversations with strangers: both Harry and Stephanie, an increasingly involved third participant in their conversation. A thing like this could happen to any of us.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Jake\u2019s revelations come in the quiet, like when Harry describes his late wife, he says, \u201cShe was\u2026the smartest person in the room, but she never made anyone feel stupid for not keeping up. That\u2019s a rare quality in smart people.\u201d<\/em><\/strong> This small moment of vulnerability makes Jake think differently of interactions with his ex-girlfriend Taylor, who held him accountable for his impatience with people who didn\u2019t understand ideas as quickly, and for using \u201chis intelligence as a weapon rather than a tool.\u201d<\/em><\/strong> He admits to himself that \u201cat the time, he\u2019d dismissed her criticism as oversensitivity,\u201d<\/em><\/strong> but that \u201cnow, sitting next to Harry, he wondered if she\u2019d been trying to tell him something important about himself.\u201d<\/em><\/strong> These and other realizations throughout show not only a satisfying character arc, but a deft portrayal of a character with real depth, someone defined by his forced, callous disregard of others yet also in possession of a willingness to be vulnerable and a yearning to heal.<\/p>\n

While Jake\u2019s growth is inspiring, readers may also find the book\u2019s portrayal of connection a bit one-sided. Throughout, Harry shares vulnerable feelings about his past, his family\u2014even his high-stakes insecurities about visiting the DMV. For Harry, being able to renew his license \u201cwasn\u2019t just about renewing a license\u2014it was about maintaining his autonomy, his ability to navigate the world on his own terms.\u201d<\/em><\/strong> As for his family, he shares that, with his wife gone and daughter grown, he finds himself unsure of what his purpose is. It\u2019s admirable to see Jake ask questions, unearth these feelings, and be there as Harry prepares for his turn at the DMV counter; however, most of Harry\u2019s deep admissions serve primarily to help Jake grow and heal without equally deep inspiration for Harry. Harry is sweet, warm, and wise\u2014it may be naive on my part, but I wished for more of his own reimagining of his future.<\/p>\n

The Weight of Waiting<\/em> is a tender and empathetic look at how life can seem like a dead end until you find someone to show you the long, hopeful way. This thing is well worth the read.<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\t\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\n

\t\t\t<\/p><\/span>Amazon<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n

\t\t\t<\/p><\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Thank you for reading Eric Mayrhofer\u2019s book review of The Weight of Waiting <\/em>by Brian Whelan! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\t\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\n

\t\t\t<\/p><\/span>Book Reviews<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n

\t\t\t<\/p><\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n

\n\t\t\t\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\n

\t\t\t<\/p><\/span>IBR Blog<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n

\t\t\t<\/p><\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n

\n\t\t\t\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\n

\t\t\t<\/p><\/span>Resources for Writers<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n

\t\t\t<\/p><\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The post Book Review: The Weight of Waiting<\/a> appeared first on Independent Book Review<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Weight of Waiting by Brian Whelan Genre: Literary Fiction ISBN: 9798290350790 Print Length: 55 pages Amazon Reviewed by Eric Mayrhofer The Weight of Waiting takes the interminable suffering of the DMV and transforms it into the fertile soil where small, quiet, and meaningful connections grow. At the beginning of Brian Whelan\u2019s The Weight of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":4119,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4118","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bookreviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4118"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4118"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4118\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4119"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4118"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}