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sloanefg's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Deportation, and Death of parent
jasminrain's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Open Water was one of the best books I've ever read in my life and it set the bar very high for Caleb Azumah Nelson's next novel. I cannot say that it lived up to Open Water regarding storyline and characters but the writing was phenomenal. It is so emotional and powerful - so much is said with so few words. I also loved the second-person narration and I think it adds a lot to the story. Listened to this as an audiobook and every sentence sounded like poetry.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Police brutality, Racism, Death of parent, and Grief
apmreads's review
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Caleb Azumah Nelson does it again. If you were a fan of the prose of Open Water, but maybe you wanted less romance and more family dynamics explored, then this is the book.
Small Worlds follows Stephen over the course of the first three summers after he graduates high school as he navigates a relationship with his childhood best friend, Del, his first semester of college, growing pains with his father, and finding what brings him joy and purpose in life. Open Water explores community,--I truly, truly love how Nelson builds community in his books. They are warm, inviting, and a big hug wrapped in light--identity, love, family relationships, systemic racism and colonialism, immigration and the pressure of first generation immigrants living in a place where they aren't fully welcome.
I think I loved this book more than Open Water because the majority of Small Worlds was written in simple present tense, mainly following Stephen during a period of growth and transition. I enjoyed that Open Water was told as "You are doing this..." but I liked that only a small portion of Small Worlds did this (a chapter from Stephen's father's POV).
This was such an emotional experience for me, and I appreciate the concept of this story. The title, Small Worlds, referring to the small worlds each of us are living in every day. The little things we're going through every minute of every hour, some feeling or being harder than it may seem on the outside. And the prose is the same as you can expect from his previous work--repeated phrases that show up throughout the book that provide emphasis or gentle reminders or themes. It was stunning. I loved pretty much everything about this, and I will be thinking about it for a long, long time.
Thank you to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for giving me advanced reader access in exchange for an honest review. This title publishes July 18, 2023.
Small Worlds follows Stephen over the course of the first three summers after he graduates high school as he navigates a relationship with his childhood best friend, Del, his first semester of college, growing pains with his father, and finding what brings him joy and purpose in life. Open Water explores community,--I truly, truly love how Nelson builds community in his books. They are warm, inviting, and a big hug wrapped in light--identity, love, family relationships, systemic racism and colonialism, immigration and the pressure of first generation immigrants living in a place where they aren't fully welcome.
I think I loved this book more than Open Water because the majority of Small Worlds was written in simple present tense, mainly following Stephen during a period of growth and transition. I enjoyed that Open Water was told as "You are doing this..." but I liked that only a small portion of Small Worlds did this (a chapter from Stephen's father's POV).
This was such an emotional experience for me, and I appreciate the concept of this story. The title, Small Worlds, referring to the small worlds each of us are living in every day. The little things we're going through every minute of every hour, some feeling or being harder than it may seem on the outside. And the prose is the same as you can expect from his previous work--repeated phrases that show up throughout the book that provide emphasis or gentle reminders or themes. It was stunning. I loved pretty much everything about this, and I will be thinking about it for a long, long time.
Thank you to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for giving me advanced reader access in exchange for an honest review. This title publishes July 18, 2023.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Drug use, and Racism
Moderate: Police brutality, Violence, Colonisation, and Death of parent
laurataylor's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Hate crime, Body shaming, Death, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Drug use, Sexual content, Alcohol, and Grief
flashandoutbreak's review against another edition
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Death of parent, Racism, Hate crime, Police brutality, and Deportation
serendipitysbooks's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Small Worlds is another stunner of a novel by Caleb Azumah Nelson. Set in London and Ghana, it follows Stephen for three summers beginning with the break between school and university. It starts off almost in YA territory with a very tentative possible romance with his best friend, dance parties, wondering what his exam marks are going to be and whether he’s going to get the marks and scholarship to enable him to follow his music dreams. The coming-of-age storyline continues as Stephen moves from teenager to new adulthood but, bit by bit the novel adds increasing layers and depth including examinations of the realities of the migration experience, of racism, of police brutality, of lingering trauma, of lost dreams, of generational divides. The power of music and of dance, their importance in Stephen’s life - for freedom, for healing, for cultural identity, for creativity - was a strong feature of this novel and I couldn’t help but notice the parallels with Fire Rush. Music and dance are not my thing but these books really made me feel their importance to others. Food played a similarly important role for Stephen. This story is one of the more powerful and beautiful explorations of a complicated father-son relationship that I’ve read in a long time. Stylistically there’s a lot of repetition as well as a sense of rhythm which give the prose an almost musical quality. The prose itself is gorgeous and lyrical, yet hard-hitting in its truth-telling.
“I tell Mum, as another fire erupts on-screen, we’re watching a group of people who are tired of being erased, tired of being forced into where they do not fit, tired of inhabiting a restless spirit, tired of crying, tired of being murdered in the seclusion of daylight. I tell Mum, we’re watching what happens when a community feel they have nothing to lose: how they turn to protest to make their voices heard. Otherwise, what else is there to do but sit in silence? What else is there to do but wait until next time? What else is there to do but wait until it is your mother, or brother, or you?”
“I tell Mum, as another fire erupts on-screen, we’re watching a group of people who are tired of being erased, tired of being forced into where they do not fit, tired of inhabiting a restless spirit, tired of crying, tired of being murdered in the seclusion of daylight. I tell Mum, we’re watching what happens when a community feel they have nothing to lose: how they turn to protest to make their voices heard. Otherwise, what else is there to do but sit in silence? What else is there to do but wait until next time? What else is there to do but wait until it is your mother, or brother, or you?”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Death, and Police brutality
Moderate: Racism
carmentxx's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
i write this review with tears in my eyes. azumah nelson has a gift. i’ve never read any author who can put the sheer joy, devastation, love and being of life into words. the book isn’t perfect, there are things which i would’ve done differently. but my god, is it a masterpiece. it is so bright, so emotional, so deeply thought out, so connected, so raw and painfully written that it steals your breath away. a beautiful, beautiful book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Police brutality
Moderate: Car accident, Death of parent, and Alcoholism
lochanreads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
A tender and beautifully-crafted narrative. One of the most heartfelt books I've read in a long time.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Police brutality, Death of parent, Racism, Deportation, and Grief
kat_impossible's review
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
*I was provided with an eARC by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!*
Caleb Azumah Nelson's debut Open Water was one of my favorite bookish discoveries last year and my appreciation for his writing has only grown after reading his sophomore novel. In fact, I would go so far as to say that Small Worlds hit me even harder and has cemented him as an auto-buy author for me.
Dealing with music and family, love and loss, Small Worlds follows Stephen through various life stages in three consecutive summers. While we still get the author's signature second person POV in parts of the novel, most of it is written in first person and brings us all the closer to Stephen's world of emotions. As always, the poetic prose is just so beautiful to read, but at the same time there was an added element of repetition that really served to highlight how cyclical life can be. It also makes you feel everything tenfold - Caleb Azumah Nelson never fails to make his characters' experiences feel authentic and relatable, be it joy and laughter or pain and sorrow. It is the balance of all these elements - and the way they intertwine - that makes Small Worlds work so well.
I especially enjoyed the focus on family in this one. Family is a complicated beast and Small Worlds truly showed every facet of that. I liked the way sibling-, parental- and mother/son or father/son relationships were depicted. It felt so nuanced, layered and steeped in generational history.
I gaze at my parents, and see that a world can be two people, occupying a space where they don't have to explain. Where they can feel beautiful. Where they might feel free.
Tender, vulnerable and refreshingly open, I always enjoy Caleb Azumah Nelson's portrayal of Black culture (in the UK). This one felt special in particular to the many music references, which gave it an extra spark of life. Truly, everything this man writes is just a big recommendation from me!
Fazit: 5/5 stars! No notes - this was a stunning book!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Death of parent, Police brutality, Racism, and Death
sidekicksam's review
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
When I saw Caleb Azumah Nelson wrote another book, I immediately had to have my hands on it, and NetGalley came through for me. Thank you again NetGalley!
Small Worlds follows Stephen, after his graduation of high school, navigating a new phase of his life in the various worlds he occupies. Three summers filled with his family world, his friends/community, his music, his faith, and how he experiences the thrills of life, but also how his small worlds affect him.
As with Open Water, Caleb Azumah Nelson's writing is lyrical, poetic and consuming. His writing feels like tasting the scent your smelling, mouth-watering for more and also feeling so sated after finishing the book. I loved this one (mostly the story) more than I did Open Water, as I felt I resonated with the story so much more.
If you're one for literary fiction or stories about community, read this book!
CW: depression, death of a loved one, grief.
Small Worlds follows Stephen, after his graduation of high school, navigating a new phase of his life in the various worlds he occupies. Three summers filled with his family world, his friends/community, his music, his faith, and how he experiences the thrills of life, but also how his small worlds affect him.
As with Open Water, Caleb Azumah Nelson's writing is lyrical, poetic and consuming. His writing feels like tasting the scent your smelling, mouth-watering for more and also feeling so sated after finishing the book. I loved this one (mostly the story) more than I did Open Water, as I felt I resonated with the story so much more.
If you're one for literary fiction or stories about community, read this book!
CW: depression, death of a loved one, grief.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and Death of parent