Cover Image: A Tiny Piece of Something Greater

A Tiny Piece of Something Greater

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Member Reviews

3.5 stars

First of all, I need to highlight something important about this book. Reid Wastford, one of the main characters, has cyclothymic. It is a mental illness, which is described as "milder version" of bipolar. It's an important representation, an #ownvoice story based on the author's note at the end of this book.

I have never heard about this illness before, and I think Jude Sierra does a good job of describing what Reid is going through. It is educative, realistic, and touching all at once. I enjoyed reading the therapy session scenes.

Most important thing about this book that it shows how Reid's story is a JOURNEY. His disease doesn't magically cured because Reid falls in love. He still struggles with it trying to find a balance throughout.

I also found the setting of Key Largo to be a wonderful secondary character. I loved it when our young men swim or dive and it seemed to add the necessary calmness for our heroes to build their relationship.

Having said that, I wasn't completely satisfied with the romance. The thing is, I also thought that I didn't know a lot about Reid outside of his illness. Yes, sure, there were tidbits of information, like him being the only child, that his favorite book is Boy Meets Boy, that his favorite food is beef stroganoff that his mother makes, that his favorite color is blue

... BUT most of Reid's side of this book sort of strongly tied into his mental illness. This includes how Reid reacts to his ex-boyfriend and how he decides whether he wants to pursue his newfound love with Joaquim with full honesty.

On that note, Joaquim seems also to be a rather perfect fit for Reid. Oh, yes, of course there are moments that he doesn't know what to do to approach Reid when Reid is not in his better days. But other times, Joaquim seems to be rather (too) well-adjusted for someone like Reid. I guess I want to read about Joaquim making trials and errors too.

AND the ending is better described as HFN. My romantic heart wishes that it has sort of epilogue, or something a little bit of guarantee that Reid and Joaquim will be just fine.

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This isn’t the kind of a love story I usually go for & I’m very grateful for that. But also, despite the romance being a major part of the novel, somewhat of a catalyst for the whole plot, this isn’t really a love story. Not in the sense that the love is the most vital & important arc. Rather, it’s a story of a young gay man who is still learning to navigate adulthood while battling his mental illness and also happens to fall in love.

The main character - Reid - has cyclothymia and that really shapes the whole novel. He moves into his grandmother’s condo by the ocean to get away from his family & all the bad, exhausting things (and people) that make it harder for him to truly recover. To breathe. It’s not often that you find a book that honestly is mostly about living with a mental illness and even less often - an ownvoices one. That’s why A Tiny Piece is even more special.

Sierra doesn’t shy away from describing all the ugly parts of a mental illness, all the ache, the struggles, all the ways in which it can break a person. At the same time, though, she always makes sure not to paint it as something bad. There was this great quote that stayed with me, something Reid’s therapist said during one of their group therapy sessions:


“You are a normal person. We all are. We all have brains that work differently, that’s all. You guys have been handed challenges. But you are worthy of happiness and health and help.”


Nothing here would work as well as it does, if it wasn’t for Sierra’s wonderful writing. Her prose feels very lyrical in all the small moments, the ones that could otherwise be read as mundane. She plucks just the right words & even though they’re simple and not “fancy” at all, she still manages to weave the most delicate, graceful metaphors. She turns the otherwise harsh feelings into something tangible (still able to hurt you but not without you knowing why) and gives an extra layer of warmth to the soft ones.

Like I said, the romance is quite a big part of the novel as well. Reid meets Joaquim - a Brazilian scuba diving instructor - at the very beginning and they both develop crushes on each other right away, it’s extremely cute. It’s not an angsty story where you’re not sure about the romantic outcome until the very end (the boys start dating soon after meeting). Instead, A Tiny Piece is their journey to a warm, healthy relationship. We get to watch the guys through each bump along the way, through the obstacles that they resolve by talking and listening to one another. The love is there in abundance on every single page, it pours out of their words and more importantly - their actions. This makes A Tiny Piece one of the most hopeful books you could imagine & together with the sunny beaches of Florida, it creates a beautifully summery, tender story.

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As with her previous books, Jude Sierra continues to give such an amazing story, characters and emotions, The depth of emotion that she creates for her characters is so well done. I loved the journey the characters go on both on their own and together. It’s so sweet to see these two guys learn how to create this new little family in Florida. I always loved that the main character was from Eau Claire because that’s where I grew up! Very neat, This is a great story for anyone dealing with mental illness and the people around them, Jude handles the topics so wonderfully, I would recommend this book to anyone.

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I understood this book but I haven’t experienced anything like what the characters are going through.
Reid suffers from a little known mental illness that leaves him able to cope but unable to feel what he considers “normal.” His mood swings, often quickly, other times slowly, from depressed to not quite euphoric, and back again. He has suffered from this for many years (he’s less than 21 years old) and through therapy and medication has come to realize that some people are toxic to him. For that reason he’s left his Wisconsin home to stay at his grandmother’s house in Florida. Not really knowing what he’s going to do to fill his time he enrolls in SCUBA diving classes and it is there that he meets Joaquim, his SCUBA instructor. When his former boyfriend shows up uninvited he is able to tell him to go away, which shows progress in his ability to take care of himself.
Joaquim is doing an internship far from his home in Brazil, hoping to find permanent work in Florida. Joaquim is attracted to Reid and they fall first in lust and eventually in love. When his hopes for a job fall through he decides to go back home to visit his family. This is the antithesis of the way Reid functions. Reid is borderline OCD, keeping his home clean and orderly but unable to function without a life plan. Joaquim prefers to go with the wind, and what happens, happens.
The reader follows Joaquim, Reid, and their friends as they try to learn about each other, with the support of their friends. There are ups and downs along the way, and by the end of the book, are closer to being able to cope. This is the definitive HFN ending, without a firm handle on their futures, either separately or together. Not everyone’s life plays out along a pattern, especially with the interference of a mental illness. I won’t say I enjoyed this book as parts of it are very sad and upsetting, but it is a realistic look at imperfect lives. This is a book I recommend, however, for its view of life as it is.

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3,5-4 stars

This was an interesting and unique story!The story was captivating and the characters felt realistic!The concept was great!It wasn't an easy book to read, it's a heartbreaking story!

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**I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review**

<i/> This is a story about a boy on an adventure, a boy coming into his own and falling in love. For all of those living with mental illness, this story is for you. And I tell you this story because although I am just one voice, I hope that using it will help those who are afraid to speak feel less alone. Like Reid, I want my life and voice to be a tiny piece of something greater. </i>

I've been trying to get my thoughts together on this #ownvoices book because it took me on quite the ride, mentally and emotionally. I personally suffer mental illness, but it's always a hit or miss whether not I'll actually connect with a character also suffering from a MI as well. But I love Reid. I've been through very similar experiences as him, and multiple times throughout the book, found myself saying, "No, I know what you're about to do!" because it would've been my next move in the scattered chessboard of my mind.

It's not an easy book to read. It hurts. God, it hurts. But it also heals you, and I implore you to give it a chance.

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A heartbreaking book, dealing with very real subjects. The descriptions and character back stories were engaging, I just felt like I wanted more. Overall it was my very Jude Sierra read and it's won't be my last that's for sure.

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Unfortunately, I wasn't a huge fan of this book. There were things that I did like and things that I didn't, so I'll start with what I did like.

I liked the explanation of Reid's mental illness. I knew literally NOTHING about being cyclothymic and, in fact, had never even heard of it. Getting a first hand account of everything that goes through a person's mind by an author who has actually gone through it is fascinating and makes the story feel that much more real. I love reading books about mental illnesses that author's have suffered from because you know you are getting the genuine feelings behind it. Great job with the education, Ms. Sierra!

So what I didn't like.

The author's note says that Reid isn't his mental illness, but unfortunately, I feel like that's all we know about Reid. We aren't given much information about his personality outside of his mental illness; we know nothing about his hopes, his hobbies or anything other than how he's coping with mental illness. It was hard to feel the connection between Reid and Joaquim when everything was just about Reid's mental illness. Furthermore, the book was so focused on Reid's mental illness and his thoughts and feelings that it made it seem like Joaquim was always doing something wrong or like his feelings didn't really matter. I can't imagine how a relationship like that could last when there is no dialogue about how Joaquim could handle things better, what he should or shouldn't say, or even that it's okay for him to feel frustrated when Reid shuts him out.

Another problem I had with this book is that it should have been written from a first person POV. There were times when thoughts and dialogue became confusing due to the third person POV. Being inside Reid's and Joaquim's head would have made for more multi-dimensional characters and would really make readers understand their thought processes.

I'm torn on this book. While I wouldn't necessarily recommend it to my friends as an entertainment read, I could see why reading this book could be helpful and instructive to those who know someone suffering from this mental illness.

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