Wow what a book! This story was absolutely beautiful and heartbreaking. It was my first book by the author and while I'm sitting here writing this review I have to admit I already broke my book buying ban and picked up Open Water the day after I finished this book. I need more of Caleb's writing! His writing style is truly amazing! He has a way with words I can't even begin to describe.

I loved to follow Stephen, see him grow throughout the story. Following his journey around friendship, love, family, grief and music. All descriptions of characters, places, food and memories were so vivid and detailed I felt like being there with him.
I got so emotional and I sobbed more than once. The chapter of Stephen's father broke me and put me back together. I will be thinking about this book for a very long time and I can't recommend this one enough. It definitely is one of my favourite books I have ever read so far.

Thank you very much Caleb Azumah Nelson, Grove Atlantic and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Small Worlds explores grief, trauma, community, memory, and faith through the eyes of Stephen, a British-Ghanaian aspiring musician. Spanning three summers, we follow Stephen's journey in finding himself in art, love, friendship, and family, and in creating small worlds in between - worlds he could be the utmost free in.

As expected from Nelson, the writing in this is undoubtedly gorgeous, full of rhythm and flows like music. They way Nelson was able to create worlds within wolds left me in awe.

However, while everything else is perfect, I do think the characters lack depth (just a little bit!) and the plot ends up seeming too repetitive.

I've been waiting for Small Worlds since I first read Nelson's debut and it didn't disappoint! Nelson has cemented his place as one of my favorite authors.

i didn’t really click with nelson’s debut novel, open water, and sadly i didn’t feel like this one did it for me, either. i understand & appreciate what his going for, particularly regarding immigration & the subsequent marginalization that most poc people face while adjusting to the country that they’ve settled in. but i just can’t seem to connect with nelson’s writing, simply because it feels a little too . . . dramatic? i get that he’s trying to convey the feelings of a boy in the cusp of manhood, but i just felt so detached from the story all along that i couldn’t help but feel a little glad once i reached the end. i’m sure it’ll work for plenty of people, though — it’s just not for me.

I am once again deeply moved by the incredible writing of Caleb Azumah Nelson. The words are so profound, it resonates a lot with me. His way of describes the dynamics around family, love, finding your place, being part of a community, etc. around so truthful. He inspires me a lot as a reader and writer. It's been a while since I had since I had such a big author's crush. It is a privilege to be able to read these words. He shares this beautiful vulnerability with us, I feel lucky to discover it again and again, I can't wait to read it again. There are some sentences that came out of the book, hit me and got right through me. it's a very strange feeling, but it's healing at the same time. It's make a lot of my experiences feel like they are valid. The number of tears I've shed, I'm in awe.

"I've only ever known myself in song, between notes, in that place where language won't suffice but the drums might, might speak for us, might speak for what is on our hearts."

And it SHOWS. In every word, in every line, the importance of music is undeniable and tenable, resulting in incredibly beautiful writing that flows and sneaks its way into your heart. I was deeply impressed by the author's first book, and this one proofs he kn9ws how to write a beautiful story.

But in the end, that was also my one tiny little "complaint". While the book had me completely enthralled and spellbound by the sheer beauty of its language, the quiet moments where things go unsaid but are still expressed, I have trouble saying what it was about. Growing up, finding your way, yes. But. I wanted more plot sometimes? I think? It's still incredibly moving and heartfelt, but sometimes...

Still, I found this an incredibly moving book, and it was a joy to lose myself in it for a while. I also really loved the main character, Stephen, and watching him struggling to express himself and finding his way was a joy.

Beautiful, lyrical writing!
Small Worlds is a very emotional book. It has a bit of everything, finding one's self, about relationship with others- parents, siblings, friends and community. A story of migration and the effects.

Highly, highly recommend it.
There's something in Caleb Azumah Nelson's writing; it could be direct and poetic at the same time..

If someone handed me the first ten pages of this book with no cover, no context, and no author’s name anywhere to be found, I would have immediately known this was Caleb Azumah Nelson. It seems so rare these days that authors have such a distinct narrative voice and style that their work, the words they put on paper, speak for themselves.

Open Water was one of my favorite books in 2020 and one that I have reread twice sine and still find myself revisiting underlined passages. And Small Worlds is another I know I will be revisiting just as often.

The thing I find most impressive about Nelson is his ability to write prose in a way that is both direct and poetic. I have never felt as though the plot or actions of the characters were too vague, or buried too deep beneath some beautifully rendered language. The poetry never outweighs the story, but it is also never sacrificed for the need to move things along.

A really beautiful, poetic novel. Caleb did very well for his second book after Open Water. A must read.

Small Worlds is a beautiful, lyrical story of a young boy, right before college, during three different summers in his life as he comes to deal with loss: losing his childhood, losing faith in himself, losing his purpose in life, and losing his loved ones. And then he attempts to regain parts of who he was and make way toward who he wants to be.
I haven't read Nelson's Open Water (weird, I know) so I had nothing to base my experience on and no prior exposure to his writing but you can be sure that I'll be heading to his debut book very soon. I loved the writing style and the soft atmosphere and emotion that radiates off the page. I found myself really touched by the thought-provoking insights and the way he describes an immigrant's disconnect with their home country and their current country and how he shows the effects of being unable to communicate with those you love and to get them to understand.

While I'm not so sure about the overall "plot", I do think this is a book you read for the ~vibes. Rather than being hooked into seeing what comes next, you're more interested in what emotion will follow and how the character will describe it.

My main issue is that, at times, due to the style of the writing, some things and certain moments come to feel a bit repetitive. You feel you've already read this exact description before and it loses its charm this time, it makes you start to wonder if maybe the (already pretty short) book can be even shorter.
Side note: I don't know if this is maybe due to the fact that the version I've read is, as claimed on the first page, unedited and that there are certain changes to be made but I would often see certain phrases repeated twice even on the same page, and not in an intentional/lyrical way, but in a way that feels like a mistake. So, I can only hope this is due to the version of the book and that everything will be as perfect as it can be by the time it's out and everyone reads it!

Overall, if you're looking to explore a book with writing you feel you can touch that will leave you feeling all the emotions possible, I highly recommend this one.

Small Worlds is an exciting and vast book about the worlds we create for ourselves, the worlds we live, dance, and love inside, taking place over the span of three summers of Stephen's life, traveling from London to Ghana and back again.

Reading this was like dancing in the rain as I let Caleb's writing's beauty wash over me, erasing all my worries in the process.

Stephen, the main character, has one quality that sets him apart: he loves to dance. He will dance in church, to his father's records, with his brother, and with his best friend. He may have lost his faith, but he has unquestionably retained his sense of rhythm.

I will read this book again and again because of how beautifully the romance was depicted.

Everything about the story—characters, music, pace, and writing—was flawless. I can assure you that I will read a book if it was written by Caleb.

When it is published, I strongly suggest reading this; you will love every minute of it. especially if you enjoy modern literature, writing, and music

Thank you to Grove Atlantic and Netgalley

I absolutely loved this book. There’s something about a book where the characters speak to you, and this really exceeded my expectations. Caleb Azumah Nelson is an incredible writer!

Small Worlds is a story about love, grief, relationships, family, community, and everything in between. The story follows Stephen, and his relationship with himself, his best friend, his family, and art(majorly music and dance). It is not a simple story at all, and the book dives into everything mentioned above using the most beautiful language. Caleb Azumah Nelson has a way with words, and the way he manipulates language in whatever form he wants to pass his message in all his books is amazing. Though the plot is not very complicated, the language makes it so. Nelson uses complex words, repetition, idioms, and “pop-culture” references to his advantage. Every sentence is beautifully written with language that was crafted to invoke something deep in the reader....

What a gorgeous novel from Caleb Azumah Nelson. Poignant with music woven the whole way through it.

We share Stephen’s life over 3 summers and are totally transported into his world and how his life is shaped: coming of age post school, decisions that are true to you and respect your family, community, love, grief, being a British Ghanian. Music and the way it infects and adds to our lives.

I’d recommend this for an immersive, hopeful read, which will stay with you. Thanks to Grove Atlantic and NetGalley for the ARC.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC
So I’m this book we follow Stephen over the course of three summers from London to Ghana.
In this book we see Stephen partying with his friends, we see Stephen trying to pursue his friend Del, we see him going to university and struggling with his mental health, we see Stephen going back home because he couldn’t take it anymore, we see Stephen working at a restaurant and learning to cook, we see Stephen experiencing grief, we see Stephen going to Ghana and exploring his roots, we see Stephen falling in love with music again and healing his relationship with his father.
From the beginning I felt transported to Stephen’s world and I was there with him feeling every emotion, listening to every song and dancing along.
The most beautiful thing was seeing Stephen healing his relationship with his father, talking about the pressure from being an immigrant and expectations that parents make for their kids and we end up finding out that they had a lot in common in their journey.
This was a beautiful story filled with love, brotherhood, dancing, family dynamics and amazing music.
Caleb Azumah Nelson is one of my favorite authors right now and I can’t wait to read his next work

Thank you to Grove Atlantic for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

With Small Worlds, I knew I would have an even greater experience based on my reading of Open Water. Caleb writes in a beautiful style that is pleasant to the heart. He has a knack for putting words together in ways that inspire beautiful and vivid imaginations.

This novel is about friendship, love, community, life and belonging. It was an honor to read about Stephen's journey since I realized how similar some of the things he had experienced and I had been through were. Like in Open Water, Caleb's love for music was explored throughout the novel, and as a music lover, I found it to be quite rewarding. The romance aspect of this book is something i would love to read over and over.

I’m highly going to recommend this book if you’re into contemporary fiction.

Note: This requires your undivided attention and patience due to the lyrical and musical writing.

Caleb Azumah Nelson does not disappoint! Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read the e-arc!

Nelson's lyrical writing is unique and stands out from many books I've read. The way music is written throughout the novel is so beautifully written, and plays a huge factor in how it shapes our characters' lives. Our main character Stephen is faced with many challenges and life lessons from his late teens to early twenties that many people can relate to. Also coming to the realities of the real world is not an easy transition once you leave secondary/ high school. The realities set in and you start to learn more about yourself, and who you want to be, finding yourself through culture while coming from two completely different worlds. Trying to navigate familial, friendships, and romantic relationships is difficult as you get older and learn more about yourself. As a child of immigrants, I found myself in Stephen's character and facing the realities of growing up and going through many changes. I found my parents and grandparents in Stephen's parents and immediate family members.

There was not a moment I wanted to put Small Worlds down and if I'm being completely honest I wouldn't change anything about the book! Highly recommend it to everyone!

At its core, this is a story about belonging... about community - created, found, and lost. Where Nelson's debut was a poetic composition filled with lyrical language that ebbed and flowed and played your emotions like a ballad, Small Worlds reflects the Jazz musicians referenced in its pages. Complex build up, incomplete thought trails, smoothness juxtaposed with frenetic chaos. It still broke my heart, just in a different way.

All this said, there were a lot of plot similarities between the two works that I could not unsee which ultimately led me to have a less revelatory experience with this second novel. I still HIGHLY recommend this to folks looking for some contemporary literary fiction that grapples with complex ideas.

Ultimately I feel like this is more of a 3.5 for me and likely would have been a 4 if I had not read the two novels so close together

Perfect! I want to give this 10 stars!
Just as good as Open Waters, maybe even better! The prose is beautiful and the music theme continues, which makes this coming of age story contemporary and engaging for all generations.

Stephen is a first generation Londoner, whose parents migrated from Ghana and settled in South-East LondonThrough his story we feel the love, the disappointments, the grief and most of all the hope of his parents’ migration and their own love story and how that has influenced Stephen’s own journey, growing up in London.

Having worked in SE London, Azumah Nelson’s descriptions of Peckham brought back many vivid memories for me, but also gave me insights I was blind to as an outsider.

I didn’t want this book to end! I look forward to more brilliant writing from Azumah Nelson.

The best thing about this book is its lush prose and musicality. What a privilege it was to read it and follow Stephen growth and emotional journey, to feel you have been given access to his mind.

<i>“I’ve only know myself in song, in the space between the sounds we make to capture our quiet”</i>

Reading this felt like a gift because I’ve felt so many of Stephen feelings before, and I’ve been where he has been and would never be able to put it into words. Stephen might only know himself in song, but Caleb certainly knows in words.

<i>“I didn’t feel like myself there. I didn’t like this me, who was insecure, and rarely at ease; who felt like he was living in a city with no community to lean on, no one to just spend some time with; who not knowing how to dismantle his loneliness, cocooned, retreated.”

”I want him to be more open, to allow me the space to say, I feel broken, and I’m slowly taking myself apart, so I might build myself up once more</i>

This was a very emotional book about family, community, love, friendship, grief, and life. It also touches racism and the importance of our past and roots to better understand ourselves.
This book will be out July 18 and I could not recommend it enough.

<i>Thank you Grove Atlantic and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.</i>

TW – Depression, loneliness, death of a parent

This is the first book I've read written by Mr. Azumah Nelson and I apologize in advance for the structure of my review. I'll go with what moved me in reading this book and shy away from the grammar, tone and style of writing which all but left me feeling nostalgic and reminded of the dreams that die when you are far from home, in a land that's not your own, trying to see another sunrise and hoping you get to enjoy a couple of sunsets.

Stephen loves, lives and breathes music and his family and friends know this, and when he gets to join the university and go for Business, somewhere along the lines of playing it safe, he finds himself going back to his first love which is music and from there- it's a collective downpour, a shattering of ambition, control, expectations from everywhere.
Even though, he's born in London to Ghanian immigrant parents, the culture, customs of his parents and their expectations surround him. From the very beginning, the brothers-Ray and Stephen, have a strained relationship with their Father, and throughout the book this strain and how it unravels when Stephen decides to stand firm in his choices, their connection was memorable.

I enjoy listening to music and while reading this book I was taken by how even the writing weaves notes and beats into the way the characters interact. I wanted to read this book and got to do so courtesy of an approval from the Publisher and Netgalley and would recommend it to a specific reader who knows what it feels like to burn so bright that the light almost consumes you.