A review by musingsbymichelle
Small Worlds by Caleb Azumah Nelson

emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

As the title suggests, the author drops you into a snapshot of small worlds, vignettes of a young man struggling to find himself. The main character, Stephen, is certainly lost. He seems to have an unclear relationship with most things in his life: his faith, his father, and his love interest (Del). Despite this book being short (~250 pages), it took me a long time to read. The writing is very flowery and the author loves a comma! There were so many long sentences that just kept going, making it hard for me to stay focused. The last 50 pages or so made it worth it. We switch to the father's pov and suddenly, we see everything the son had a periphery view of at the beginning of the novel in more detail. I thought that was so beautifully done. I'll admit that I connected with the main character in the end.

I'm a similar age, my mother died, and it fundamentally changed my relationships with my dad and siblings. Heck, even my brother's name is Steven.

Needless to say, I was in my feels with this book and despite it taking me a long time to get into, I enjoyed it.