Small Joys

Literary fiction following a young black British gay man, Harley who struggles with depression encounters Muddy, a bird enthusiast who changes his life for the better.  This was a lovely little book, very heavy on the characters , so the plot took a back seat. Some details and dialogues felt too superfluous and dragged the story for me specially towards the last 100 pages.  It dealt in very a thoughtful and sensitive way some important and dark themes such as mental health, depression, happiness, found family, toxic masculinity, friendship, music, queerness, prejudice, religious bigotry, homophobia and racism. I loved the relationship between the two characters, Harley and Muddy and the other members of their group of friends, just a bunch of good wholesome people, the kind of friends that anyone would wish for. There were so many great quotes that stuck with me.  While I personally would have preferred a tighter plot, this was a great and healing first novel on the power of kindness, respect and love.