Small Beauty tells the story of Mei, who in coping with the death of her cousin abandons her life in the city to live in his now empty house in a small town. There she connects with his history as well as her own, learns about her aunt's long-term secret relationship, and reflects on the trans women she left behind. The novel explores the protagonists's transness, but it also tenderly, yet bitterly unpacks her experiences as a mixed race person of Chinese descent, cycles of death and loss, and queer and intergenerational community.