While Open Water is beautiful, the unnamed protagonist shocked me. It took me a couple of tries before I completely got lost in Azumah Nelson’s writing. Small Worlds on the other hand immediately captivated me from the first page. Stephen felt like a familiar figure in my life. Azumah Nelson captures the second generation Ghanaian experience in the most captivating light. He writes in such an effortless way that even me who normally opts for storytelling over prose, can’t help but love. I’ll never not marvel at the way he shines a soft light on the small world of a man who is trying. In life, in love, in just simply existing. He is trying to be a fully formed human, in touch with his feelings and those around him and I appreciate that more than anything. This is not always an easy thing to articulate but Azumah Nelson does it with ease. It’s a nice reminder that men like Stephen truly do exist.

I'm gonna start out strong and say that reading Open Water convinced me that Caleb Azumah Nelson is one of the greatest writers alive. Small Worlds cemented that.

The book, set across three summers, follows Stephen as he finds himself faced with big life changes. This is a story about growing pains, family, love, friendship, dance and music.

When I say music, I don't mean just the literal playlist (love the Open Water one), or the way Nelson can translate into text the music his characters are listening to or creating, but the actual lyricism of his prose. It's breathtaking and melodic, repeats the theme in just the right places and made me choke up multiple times throughout the book. I've read some prose that thinks itself musical, but nothing like this. If writing is a craft this is a master at work.

Stephen's world was such a joy to be immersed into. The drifting apart and finding the way back, the journey from London to Ghana and back again, the parallels, oh my God, the parallels. I had to put my kindle down multiple times because I was too emotional. I don't remember the last time that happened. The father storyline broke me into a million pieces and built me back up. This was, hands down, my favorite read of the year. It had me making a pinterest board for the first time in my life.

I truly have no complaints. The characters, the pacing, the story, the music, the writing, the ending. The couple typos that inevitably popped up due to it being an advanced copy just made the story feel more intimate overall. I don't know how it could get better but I'll be there to check when this book comes out, and to supplement this review with a million quotes and excerpts. Thank you for reading and go preorder this book.