The Bookish Mindset

Overview:

Title: No Small Thing
Author: Orlaine McDonald
Published: July 2024
Genre: Literary
Themes: Family, Relationships

One sentence summary: Multiple generations under one roof and problems with men, this multiple POV story will have you gripped.

One sentence review: One of my favourite books from last year, you need to read this.

Review:

After escaping an ex, Mickey and Summer have no choice but to move in with Livia. But in such a small space and so much history to unpack, how will they cope living so close after so much time has passed? 

This was brilliant. 

I love the structure of books like this that start at the end and then slowly build back to that point in time. My mind changed so many times trying to work it out and the build up was effective in this way. 

Earls narration was really beautiful in this and I absolutely could have read more from him. I loved his plants, his routines, his care for the girls. 

It felt pacy but not rushed, mostly due to the short chapters and it saw me fly through it. We love a short chapter here, I’m talking lots of 1/2 pages! 

There’s a lot of dark themes in here that are discussed really well and make it necessary reading for literary lovers. It broke my heart but I have hope for the aftermath of their stories. 

I absolutely recommend picking this one up and Bookshop.org do too, they’ve just made it their book of the month this month!

If reading more is something that you’re looking at doing this year then should check my reading challenge out here! Read nine books from nine prompts over the first six months of the year and be entered into a draw to win a bundle of bookish goodies.

If you’d like to get yourself a copy, you can support local bookshops while doing so on Bookshop.org with this link here. Bookshop.org current have 10% because it’s their current book on the month! Use code SMALL for the discount!

If you like what you’ve read and would like to access more content, I’d love if you could take a look at my patreon and consider supporting my content on there too. You can also find more content on my Instagram here.

And don’t forget to check out my other blogs and reviews – you can find books with similar themes in the same folder link below, or click back onto blogs to see the whole offering.

Last updated 06/06/2025