Reviews

Such A Small World by Jordan Clayden-Lewis

lostboylit's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

firstly, thank you Jordan for gifting me an advanced readers copy of Such A Small World. 🧡 

Such A Small World brings us into Mackenzie’s world. Mack can see the relationship timeline of every new person he meets. while on a flight from the East Coast to Central Australia, Mack meets Jasper and sees their relationship timeline, including watching Jasper die in his arms in the future, this brings up Mack’s past trauma & he has to decide to surrender to his fate with Jasper or to fight it! 

Such A Small World explores grief in so many different forms, in an absolutely gorgeous, poignant way. the story follows the timelines of “then” and “now” as we follow Mack from teenager to adult. grieving what has already been lost and what could be lost. 

Such A Small World also is full of love, romantic, platonic, familial. each lovingly given space to shine throughout the book, from the friendship between Mack & Rachel, the relationship with Mack & his mum or his relationship with Jasper. there is copious amounts of love & it makes your heart swell. it’s so so so sweet! and they do, of course, get their spicy moments 🌶️🥵

each character you’ll never want to say goodbye to (even if you have to) & with the stunning settings of Central Australia, Brisbane & London. it’s an unforgettable story! i could live this world that Jordan creates for the rest of my life (which is funny because i kinda do? i’m literally Australian 😂) 

Such A Small World is available in stores June 5th and i highly encourage you to buy/preorder it (or else 🔫) & before Such A Small World releases, you can go and read Jordan’s first book When Things Happen Together 🫶🏻

luhos's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

In Such a Small World we follow Mackenzie as he embarks on a trip to central Australia with his friend, Rachel. Mackenzie unexpectedly meets Jasper, a flight attendant working his flight, and thanks to his ability to see a timeline of his future relationship with everyone he meets, things with Jasper get a little complicated.

Such a Small World alternates between the story of Mack & Jasper as well as Mack's youth, coming into his queer identity as he explored his relationship with his best friend, Finn. In Mack's current predicament he sees echos of his past troubled relationship with Finn. We follow Mack on his story as he relives his past and tries to reconcile his present to allow himself a happy future.

This was such a beautiful novel. On one level, it's a beautiful love story; on another level, it's about the difficulties of growing up queer, combined with sudden loss and grief. Mack's experiences in his past and his present were so relatable and definitely reminded me a lot of what it was like to grow up queer, how difficult it can be; but it also provided a lens to be able to look back and realise how far I've come.

On top of the beautiful story, Clayden-Lewis does a really excellent job of celebrating the Australian landscape, something that I don't see often in books. This is a must read for anyone, Australian and otherwise, if for no other reason than this!

Thanks to Jordan Clayden-Lewis for providing me with an ARC of this beautiful story. It's out June 5, and I can't recommend it enough.