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3.46 AVERAGE
3.46 AVERAGE
this book was well written and the vulnerability and pure rawness in mickey is beautiful. i loved this book so hard.
people deal with heartbreak and defeat in different ways. normalize feeling lost, stuck, and confused
people deal with heartbreak and defeat in different ways. normalize feeling lost, stuck, and confused
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cursing, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
- I cared about the message of the novel and the problems at large but did not care about the actual protagonist who was supposed to make me care.
- This is a story that pulls back the layers at seemingly first world problems by addresses the injustices behind the institutions, whether that be racism in the workplace, the falling apart of a nuclear family, and how shame still can influence queer love after being out. I wanted to like this novel about a queer Black woman, but it felt like at times Mickey was an unreliable narrator. Then, when I recognized that, I started to wonder what that said about me as a queer White man and if I too was hesitant to listen, which is what this novel is all about. Ultimately, this book divided me in many ways because while I can recognize the thought that went into the story, I also found some other areas that seemed to contradict the entire point.
- This isn't exactly a comedy of manners, but I think the author did a great job at exploring many types of social dynamics and wrote them in a naturally believable way. I thought the strongest scenes were in the office when Mickey experienced endless microaggressions and later the complex family dynamic she had with her grandparents, father, and absentee mother. Many of these felt authentic. On the other hand, the romantic scenes felt superficial, almost romance novel level of missed reality. Also, there were so many times characters seemed to be rooting for Mickey, saying they always knew she would go far, that it started to feed into a manic pixie dream girl trope.
- It's important to contextualize who Mickey is and I think it is fair to do the same to the author since there were so many similarities that this started to read as autofiction and may have blinded the author to her protagonist's shortcomings. Mickey is a lot of things: Black, queer, a daughter, plus sized, works in media. These things shape her identity as a whole and are briefly addressed, like they are in real life, but at times it felt like there was so much going on in the novel that it lost focus. Starting with being Black, she grew up being told that she doesn't deserve to be in the room, so when she is facing discrimination at work, it's hard for her to shake that feeling. She's queer and has a seemingly loving partner, but this partner seems to be too tethered to her family that does not respect Mikey, so when she goes home and sees an old flame, she starts to get the old feelings she used to have, good and bad. Mickey doesn't have a good relationship with her parents, both of whom seemed to have soft ghosted / abandoned her, so she overcompensates in her professional life to win their approval. Being plus sized was only briefly addressed, mostly through judgement of her elder family members, but the unspoken was how her coworkers viewed her and how she compared herself to them. Finally, what starts the story, is that Mickey works in media, and she wants to write about all of the above things that makes her identity, but the reality is that media is an institution that wasn't built for her.
- Mickey seemingly has a lot to say and pens a letter about all of her frustrations we as a reader can only assume is a summary of every bad interaction Mickey experienced before getting fired, but for being such an important part of the story, it felt cheap to not have it written out, especially since that letter finally comes around in the climax when there is a reckoning in the beauty industry. The letter that she risked her career for went completely ignored for a while, killing Mickey's ego, but it's that same letter that gives her a place back into the media world. It's interesting to note that this novel was set in 2019, pre-George Floyd, so topics such as racism in the workplace was still a taboo subject, which does make Mickey's writing of the letter more brave, if this weren't a novel where the author, who also was fired in 2019 and that incident led her to writing the novel, knows how things sort of but not really change. The novel ends with her asking if she even wants to be part of that world anymore, which I thought was really smart, but I honestly didn't buy Mickey having grown that much.
- Okay, I think I've said enough to show that this story is complex and was well thought out in some ways, but here were some snobbish things I was confused by:
- Mickey can't believe that she is fired from her job in media. This is the industry where getting any job is next to impossible. She said she's smart and worked hard. She's like 25 in the novel. Just because you are smart doesn't mean you belong in media. Where were all of the seemingly good ideas? The nail art one was cool, but was the pitch meeting with the two other ideas, forgettable, clearly, it? Of course I think racism was behind Mickey being fired and replaced by a better version of Mickey, but how does Mickey not see that she was actually kind of bad at her job? She's late, doesn't get along with her boss, doesn't pitch anything that the editors above her will publish, etc.. This is all connected to the racism and microaggressions, which can't be ignored and not enough to have evidence of racism, but they clearly had enough to fire her. Don't even get me started on how she wore a crop top to her most important meeting.
- She is a terrible girlfriend. Literally, terrible. I was on the homophobic mom's side when she questioned why her daughter was taking care of Mickey who was doing nothing but sitting around all day, wallowing. She couldn’t even bother cleaning up after herself. When I think about the title, I think about Mickey staying at home in these scenes more than how she goes home to Maryland and the bodies part with relationships. So, Mickey breaks up with her girlfriend for her high school love who is actually a fuckboi? I thought it was a low blow when they made fun of the girl for working at a grocery store when Mickey was unemployed herself. All of the cheating scenes felt ridiculous to me, like Mickey was retreating and becoming more insecure like when she was younger. Was she having the affair because she wanted the girl to see her as a successful New Yorker now? Or was it because the girl always thought she'd go somewhere and Mickey is holding onto that dream?
- I'm sorry, but not only was this girl delusional, but she was so self-obsessed. Literally, she didn't actually care about anyone else. All she cared about were how the others saw her. And I mean every single character. Mickey is so controlling and cares about her image and I don't think people care about that because they can see it's all just a front. She is literally a beauty writer. None of these clickbait articles really matter or mean anything, so she needs to get off her high horse.
- I am a little resentful how poorly she looked at the DMV. I thought it was inaccurate the way she described DC as slow moving at Union Station. Maybe this was a purposeful NYC bias. It was suggested that Micky apply for a writing job in DC with real journalists, so maybe that's what she does in the future instead of returning to beauty. This novel couldn't be everything, but I was very, very confused why the Black queer protagonist did not once try to experience the Black queer DC scene that is thriving. When asked in a podcast her favorite book stores, she mentioned "Kramer" not "Kramer's" so she must not be that big of a fan, and she wrote into the novel Politics and Prose but made fun of the fact that it's a chain in the DMV, which I thought was weird.
- I really do not know if the author was well of all of these faults and wanted to poke fun at herself, but I think it's just her not being to see past these things.
emotional
funny
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:
Yes
This was good! Read this for Prose Hoes and this was my fav we’ve read so far. I did not find Mickey insufferable like so many others did lol. She was kind of messy but I have a soft spot for characters like that. The story was cute, although kind of predictable. I liked the writing as well, the ending was ambiguous but still felt like it wrapped things up well. All in all a fun read with some serious themes but lighthearted at the same time
challenging
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I cannot this is so sad she’s losing her job in the first page
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was ok. It reminded me of Queenie but with less character development. I liked that it took place in the DC area, I’d like more books to highlight there’s more here than politics. But overall, meh. Don’t recommend the audiobook, not a fan of the narrator.
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It took me a while to finish this one (as an audiobook). I have mostly good things to say and overall I am really happy that I read it. Mickey's struggles, as a young queer Black media professional who experiences "subtle" anti-Blackness in her workplace is Relatable and important. Perhaps more central to the story is her figuring out why becoming "somebody" is even important to her at all and her journey back home and to a former flame, helps her realize this as a question she must ask. One of my main issues with the book is related to that; I kind of felt like I didn't really know or understand what Mickey got out of her return home or her old fuckgurl flame. Of course, as this is perhaps best described as a hyper-realistic novel, it is unreasonable to believe that Mickey would have this perfect realization about her life, status-seeking, and the industry. But throughout the length of her stay back home, I kept wondering when she would return to NYC, back to her life. Not only did I find those parts more interesting, by the end of the book I wished that Mickey had spent less time with her grandma and spent more time exploring why and how the media industry had affected her so much. On a positive note, I thought the writing was really good (albeit, I thought some of the parts were overly long) and it is a standout in terms of crafting realistic dialogue. I also appreciated that the author complicated the common "return home to be rejuvenated" trope. I do look forward to seeing what else this author has in store for us.
Spoiler
hooking up with
slow-paced