Small Places is Matthew Samuels latest novel and I am excited to bring you not only my thoughts on this New Adult Fantasy but also a Q&A with the author – all in one post! Matthew was recently on the blog sharing his favorite indie books and there, he has briefly mentioned Small Places so you might remember the book from that post. I was in the middle of the book when that post came through and as promised, here I am with the review. Take a look at the synopsis to jog your memory and then read on for my thoughts and questions.
Jamie is a lonely, anxious kid when he has a run-in with a witch in a remote Somerset village. He’s almost forgotten about it thirteen years later when unpredictable storms and earthquakes hit England – and that’s the least of his worries. Suffering from anxiety, terrible flatmates and returning to his family home after his mother is diagnosed with cancer, he’s got a lot on his mind.
But Melusine, the witch of flesh and blood, lures him back with the offer of cold, hard cash in exchange for his help investigating the source of the freak weather; something’s messing with the earth spirit, Gaia, and Mel means to find out who – or what – it is.
As they work together, travelling to the bigoted Seelie Court and the paranoid Unseelie Court, meeting stoned fauns and beer-brewing trolls, Jamie must reconcile his feelings about the witch’s intentions and methods all while handling grief, life admin and one singularly uptight estate agent.
Content Notes: Cancer diagnosis and treatment, violence, implied cruelty to animals.
Thoughts on Small Places
Small Places starts off from the point of view of ten year old Jamie who is sent on an errand to the old medicine lady Melusine. I was hooked in these first few pages because he offers such an innocent and funny perspective. The way he describes his dad for example: “He gives great hugs, smells… reassuring… and I’ve inherited his love of reading.” I connected with Jamie from the getgo and whenever that happens, it means I have found a book I am bound to love.
On Growing Up
Meeting a character when they are young and then meeting them again in a decade and a half later is an interesting experience. I quite enjoyed contrasting Jamie with his younger self and seeing how he has grown into an adult. He comes back to his little home town when his mom is diagnosed with cancer. He can’t concentrate at work and takes this opportunity to reconnect with his home and think about what he wants to do with his life.
Recalling the errand he had been sent on as a child to Melusine and the magic of the place where she lives, he wonders if there is something beyond medicine that might help his mom. When he reconnects with Mel, he has an opportunity to find out.
I loved Jamie for taking these risks but also being practical about them. He doesn’t take everything that is told to him on face value. He is high in openness but he still questions and as a result, I, as the reader, can learn more about the world too!
On Magic
Sometimes Small Places felt like an academic novel where Jamie was the only one going to school and learning about magic. His wide eyed exploration of the Seelie and Unseelie courts and the creatures he meets there. The reason Jamie ends up on this quest with Mel is because the earth spirit, Gaia, is behaving strangely and by helping Mel figure out what is wrong, he might be able to get help for his mom.
I liked how the story unfolded and we learned about the real motivation of Mel. I was never overwhelmed with too much information. I felt that as strict and blunt as Mel was, she still scaffolded Jamie’s entry into the magical world in a comfortable way. She gave him challenges and kept him on his toes. She ensured that he understood that magic is not something to be played with and there is a price to everything that one is able to do.
There are a number of fantastical creatures in Small Places, most hidden away in these small pockets around the world. I loved meeting them! The vivid and vibrant personalities made this a fun read and there was enough humor to keep me chuckling.
On The Writing
I enjoyed Matthew Samuels’ debut novel, Parasites, and it was an honor to read his next book. While Parasites is a science fiction about space faring around the universe, Small Places is about magical courts and creatures. Parasites presented a brilliant concept that I had not read before. Hopping between planets for scientific pursuit and intense problem solving in space was so much fun! In my review, I had wished it had been longer and allowed me to savour each of the planets on the way more.
With Small Places, I felt I was able to savour every place and situation that Jamie experiences. His slice-of-life aspects made the story more mundane and his magical expeditions and lessons added to the worldbuilding. I was curious to know more (and excited for what comes next!) but the book itself did justice to my curiosity and it was a satisfying read.
Reading Experience Summary
Small Places is a sweet and adventurous book. Jamie is a relatable protagonist. Fans of Dungeons and Dragons will love this book as the magical courts of Seelie and Unseelie are found there too. Life isn’t always kind to us which means that sometimes we have to grow up earlier than we need to. For Jamie, his mom getting diagnosed with cancer puts a lot of responsibilities on him as he is the executor of all her wishes. In the hopes to make her better, he becomes an apprentice to an old neighbourhood witch and learns about the world of magic. The plot moves at a good pace, leaving lots of possibilities for further storytelling. The characters are well written, diverse and distinct. It is easy to have favorites!
This isn’t a long book so if you are looking for a New Adult Fantasy to immerse yourself in, go get Small Places!
Will you pick up this book?
Small Places is available in stores. Be sure to check your local library and order it through there to help this book reach more readers.
Amazon Kindle
Many thanks to the author for providing me a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Q&A with Matthew Samuels
Hi Matthew! Thank you for this quick interview opportunity with Small Places – it is a fantastic edition to my book review.
Having read both your books now, Parasites and Small Places, and reflected on them above, my first question is the obvious one (I am sure you get that a lot) – what inspired you to write Small Places? It is such a different book from Parasites and I love how it gave me a better understanding of you as a writer. 🙂
Thanks Kriti, great to be here and thanks for featuring me on your site again. It started back in 2019; I was on holiday in the New Forest, a little bit adrift after finishing Parasites and parking another urban fantasy title after about 60k words. Now, a number of years ago, I’d heard Iain M Banks speak, and talk about planning out Use of Weapons like an orchestral symphony, almost mathematically beautiful in its plotting, and that’s sort of how I felt when I read Nevernight by Jay Kristoff. I’d had that kind of feeling when I read Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson, and wanted to emulate that kind of really tight plotting. I started to think about woodlands and witches during a walk, and little by little, it started to come together.
What were some lessons from Parasites, broadly speaking, that influenced Small Places, during its various staging of writing and publication?
Oof – there were a lot of lessons during the writing, editing and production phases. Parasites was fairly free-form; I had a structure but it was a lot less prescriptive than in Small Places; there were a couple of set pieces in the former that were written fairly organically. Small Places was written to a plan, with a lot more consideration for plotting and character development.
I brought in quite a few editing guides for Small Places; it was edited by someone who wasn’t me, and went through three beta readers and a sensitivity reader, so I had lots of external thoughts on everything, which was really useful.
Similarly, the launch phases have been quite different – launching Parasites taught me a lot and introduced me to a lot of wonderful people. I’m incredibly grateful to the reviewers who gave Parasites a chance and have come back to read Small Places, and am delighted to meet more people during the tour I’m doing with Storytellers on Tour.
Oh, and I also had merch this time around, which was either fun or frustrating, depending on how you look at it – I really wanted to get something from Stephanie Law, whose work is amazing, but I never found anything quite right. I was thrilled to find Charlotte Regan’s studio on Etsy which is just perfect. I would have loved to offer her Window Amongst the Trees print, because it’s (I assume) based on the same real-life location that also appears in the book, but had set myself a reasonably tight budget for review copies and merch, and couldn’t quite make it work! Maybe we’ll do something for the one-year anniversary…
Jamie is a wonderful protagonist and seeing his ten year old self mature to his twenties was a nostalgic and sweet element in my mind. Small Places does a great job of showing those new adult years when we are still connected to our roots but also challenging and exploring the world in our unique way. What drew you to write about Jamie and Mel in the small town setting?
A lot of Small Places is about hidden things, and although we do see a couple of urban settings in the book, it’s much easier to hide things in sparsely populated areas. It made sense to me that Mel would settle in the country, but I think it was hard on Jamie – he has a rough time growing up, and then he feels a bit out of place in the city, having grown up in the countryside. But that makes his quest to fit in all the more real, which I think is a fairly defining characteristic for him – he’s looking for home.
There are so many fascinating characters and creatures in this book, the little inventor who Mel called V, being my favorite! Are there any that you might tell us more stories about in the future?
I had a great time writing Merovech, but an equally great time with the others – the fauns were a late addition but will certainly feature again. We’ll definitely be seeing Jamie and Mel again, and Alizon, as well as the Seelie and Unseelie Courts. My partner asked for a Melusine novella, but that might have to be one for a bit further down the road!
What is next in store for your readers? Do you plan on introducing us to another world in your next book or is that a top secret at the moment? 😀
I do have about 60% of a plan for the Small Places sequel mapped out, but I do struggle with planning and working out if a book is going to be one book or two, so that’s a bit of a way away. I was in the middle of writing the sequel to Parasites, Dusk, and pretty much finished one of the strands, but it’s slowed down a bit.
For some reason, I was inspired to go back to the other urban fantasy title that I parked a while back, Wild Court, and have been working through it relatively steadily. It’s going to be quite big, probably bigger than Parasites, so I’m not quite sure what’s going to come first or whether I’ll go back to Dusk and try to work through that. There’s a few other ideas floating around in my head as well, including a high fantasy novel, a rewrite of the first book I ever wrote, and … uh … a post-apocalyptic sci-fi which explores the concept of IQ. Who knows what’ll see the light of day!
It has been a pleasure to share with you lovely readers about Small Places today! Stay tuned for one more review tomorrow – this time I’ll be writing about a memoir.
Cover image: Photo by Pawel Czerwinski on Unsplash
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