Elle, selecting HEAVY as “The 19 Best Books of 2018 (So Far),” called Laymon’s memoir “a staggering opus… a heartbreaking narrative on black bodies: how we hurt them, protect them, and try to heal them.” HEAVY also received a rave review from NPR books where Martha Anne Toll writes, “Dear America, please read this book. Kiese Laymon is a star in the American literary firmament, with a voice that is courageous, honest, loving, and singularly beautiful.”