The Tiny Things are Heavier by readers Esther Ifesinachi Okonkwo
4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you so much partner Bloomsbury Publishing and NetGalley for the e-Arc!

A novel with a poignant reflection on young adulthood, migration, cultural misunderstandings, and complex family relationships. The narrative, at times both amusing and heartbreaking, follows the journey of Sommy, a Nigerian graduate student striving to find her footing in Iowa.

I was so deep into this story. It held me tight, in my mind body and soul. The characters were so complex with their own backgrounds and emotional hardships they battle. To me when the characters feel real it makes the story so much more unforgettable! Real raw feelings and emotional trauma really carried this book as it was tough it was remarkable.

It’s was daring and ambitious with stirring and tender prose. It explores the challenges of migration, the subtleties of Nigeria's class system, and the lengths to which individuals will go to protect their loved ones.

I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to read something deep and moving!

This is one of those books that makes you feel almost a sense of nervousness the entire time you are reading it. There are aren’t any moments in the first half of that have pushed me to a true sense of “uncomfortableness” but it’s brewing almost right under the surface, waiting to bubble over like a pot. I usually get this feeling when I read novels that are centered around young black women or women of color because so many of our stories from adolescence all the way up to adulthood contain some sort of pain, abuse or emotional/physical scarring. It can be scary/daunting to dive into these types of stories at times, you have to prepare yourself mentally for it. I truly detest reading about the suffering of women at times but I know it is a thread that connects us in more ways than one. It is quite sad that some of the the characteristics of our lives/upbringings that cause us grief are also one of the things that connects us the most.

Sommy is a 25 year old woman from Nigeria who ventures to the United States to attend graduate school in Iowa after contending with the aftermath of her eldest brother’s suicide attempt. Being that Sommy is from Nigeria, a country where the dealings are around suicide are quite skewed in comparison to how they are in the US, Sommy struggles a lot with the realization that her brother is deliberately not communicating with her about anything regarding his life/emotions, this causes a huge strain on the relationship between her and her family. Sommy is dealing with immense feeling of not only homesickness but also loneliness, all while navigating a new identity/personhood in a foreign country.

During Sommy’s journey back to her family home with her boyfriend in tow she watches not only the remnants of her past come back to the surface but also the dealings of her current life coming undone before her eyes.

The Tiny Things are Heavier is a tumultuous story of kinship, loneliness and the woes of self love as well as familial love, and how those things differ amongst societal norms across diasporas.

I am rating this 4 ⭐️’s!

Very emotional and engaging story. I felt the characters and a ton of depth and although the plot dropped a little for me in the middle, I was able to get engaged in the story again,

This story follows Sommy, a Nigerian immigrant, while she spends grad school in the US. From falling in love, to complicated family relationships, Okonkwo explores what happens when you define yourself by your relationship to others.

Is home a place? A person? A feeling? Sommy, a young Nigerian woman seeking her master’s degree in America, finds herself asking this when she visits Nigeria after two years away. During her visit, a traumatic event causes lasting rifts in her relationships and haunts her after her return to the United States.

A beautifully written and emotionally resonant debut by Nigerian author Esther Ifesinachi Okonkwo, this was a reading experience I won’t easily forget. This book started out as a story about a Nigerian graduate student in Iowa who finds herself in a love triangle, but it grew to be so much richer and deeper than that. Sommy’s story explores the cultural divide experienced by young Nigerians who move to the US, specifically when it comes to the complexities of familial obligation and the way masculine emotion and mental health are perceived and treated by these two very different societies.

Although it quietly meanders and takes its time, this was an engrossing read that felt longer than its 288 pages and certainly did not read like a debut novel. I would highly recommend this novel to fans of Akwaeke Emezi and The Idiot by Elif Batuman.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bloomsbury USA for the opportunity to be an early reader of this title, available now!

Okonkwo's emotional debut will resonate well with 20 and 30 something women struggling to figure out how to find their place and purpose in a world that often flattens them into stereotypes.

Timely. Timely is the word that I would use to describe this debut novel. Aptly named is the phrase that I would use to define the feelings that might linger after reading this novel. I enjoyed this book, but I am unsure if I would recommend it for a group reading selection. With so much reflection that it inspired, perhaps a buddy read, if not a solo experience might be best.-but read it.

I didn't really get into this until 25% or so which is fine, but I was really uncertain at first. I liked it overall because it surprised me and has lovely prose. But there are three parts and it kind of felt like I was switching books..? Like connected novellas or something. It's a continuous story but it's like the pacing and vibe change each time.

Interested to see what this author does next.

A beautifully written, emotionally resonant debut about identity, belonging, and the weight of our choices. Centered on a Nigerian woman straddling two worlds, this one's perfect for fans of Americanah. Highly recommend!

Beautiful writing Esther’s strength and determination kept me turning the pages.An emotional moving story that has me looking forward to more by this author.# NetGalley #bloomsbury

A tale of otherness, belonging, and mental health. Sommy, a young Nigerian woman, is a grad student in Iowa a place far beyond her imagining. She's got a roommate, Bayo, who wants to be more and a love interest in Bryan who is half Nigerian. He's never met his father. She's also worried about her brother, whose mental health struggles are severe. A trip home to Nigeria with Bryan brings not only new realizations but maturity. It's not a conventional romance. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. An accomplished debut for fans of literary fiction.

I featured The Tiny Things are Heavier in my June 2025 new releases video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6q31xhbo1tE, and though I have not read it yet, I am so excited to and expect 5 stars! I will update here when I post a follow up review or vlog.

"The Tiny Things are Heavier" had a way of unexpectedly growing on me. In the beginning, I wondered if the novel was going to focus on romance and the life of grad students, which is does to a degree, but then the novel delves much deeper into the lives of our main characters, their expectations of each other, of themselves, and how they see themselves in this world. Sommy leaves Nigeria to attend graduate school in Iowa and despairs over the fact her older brother basically ghosts her after he has endured a painful dilemma. In time, Sommy meets Bryan, a MFA working on his novel, whose father is Nigerian, though he left Bryan when he was one month old. Bryan was raised by his white mother and white brothers and on summer break, they take a trip to visit Sammy's family and for Bryan to look up his father, which is where the crux of the novel takes place. The author wrote this novel when she was a MFA student and it's a helluva first novel.

Wow, what a debut! This is such a rich book with fierce language that sits with one as you keep turning the pages. The book makes many sharp turns that are not displeasing but keep you on your toes and propel you to keep reading. I really liked it!!

Sommy, a young Nigerian woman, comes to the United States with a heavy burden: her beloved brother has just attempted suicide. As she tries to fit in, to continue her studies and to find out who she really is, her brother’s act looms ever-present in her thoughts and nightmares, and worse yet, her brother won’t take her calls.

Nothing really seems to matter until she begins a relationship with Bryan, a bi-racial Nigerian. When Sommy and Brian visit Nigeria so that Sommy can reconnect to her brother and Brian can finally meet his father, things don’t go well at all.

For Sommy to find herself, she must find the strength to make her own way in the world. In a very human, imperfect way she manages to do just that.

This story brings up important insights, among them how we are conditioned by our culture and what that can do to our relationships. Though the difficulties of migration and the ever-present family obligations and relationship difficulties are well documented, what I missed was a more fleshed out description of Sommy’s brother and their relationship.

Esther Ifesinachi Okonkwo’s The Tiny Things Are Heavier is a poignant exploration of identity, grief, and the immigrant experience. Sommy’s journey is raw and deeply felt, weaving together themes of family, belonging, and the weight of untold histories. The novel masterfully captures the tension between past and present, as Sommy grapples with leaving behind her brother and forging a new life in America. Okonkwo’s prose is tender yet unflinching, making this debut both powerful and emotionally resonant. A beautifully rendered story that lingers long after the final page.

Thank you to the publisher for the gifted EARC.

I really wanted to love this story. It felt so promising in the beginning. The prose was easy to understand, flowed beautifully, I was immersed. Somewhere it changed from a book I felt would be reflective to a not so great romance.

You may love this, it was not my favorite.

The story follows Sommy’s move to Iowa from Nigeria for her Masters degree and everything in between. Her friendships, relationships and family dynamics get so twisted, I find myself not being able to put the book down.

I relate deeply to Sommy when it comes to moving abroad and starting life on her own, but not so much to the questionable decisions she makes afterward. She’s a sharpshooter and I loved how she always spoke her mind, especially in moments where most would be quiet. Her morals and values were constantly in question. I struggled to sympathize with her a lot as everything unfolded.

One of the things I love most about the book is how it captures the subtleties of being Nigerian in the diaspora. As a Nigerian myself, it made me reflect on the things we’ve come to accept over time and the unique coping mechanisms we’ve developed. A beautiful and thought-provoking read that kept me gripped until the very end.

beautiful and raw book!I love that Esther was able to articulate what many of us deal with and experience

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