Scan barcode
A review by shansometimes
Homebodies by Tembe Denton-Hurst
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I enjoyed parts of this book because I'm a writer and liked reading about the main character, Mickey's, writing career and thoughts about the craft. However, I wanted to shake her. She's a realistic character; I'll give the author that. And I would've had the same reaction to her shenanigans that her two equally realistic best friend characters had (and they were the only two characters I liked, by the way).
This is a story about a young Black woman experiencing racism in the media industry, but it's also a story of self-sabotage at every angle. It'd be easy to write this story off as Black lesbians being messy because of all the excessive plot points about old lovers and family and old friends and friends' family in Mickey's hometown and Mickey's generally bad decision-making and attitude. I found all the descriptive language excessive, too, and eventually started skimming over unnecessary details. The pacing is off, and it didn't pick up until around the middle, which is when I became a little more invested.
Speaking of the pacing, there was a lot of lead-up to...what? I thought a better plot would've been after what happened at the end. Racism isn't explored to the level I thought it'd be, either, given the book's description, and it felt like the issue was just vaguely floating around the story. Since I'm also a Black woman, I could pick up what the author was putting down about the subtle but harmful racism Mickey experienced, but so much more could've been explored in this area—which I thought was supposed to be central to the story—and so many other things could've been left out. Mickey's viral manifesto—finally revealed close to the end—was excellently written, though.
I read a lot of lit fic so I'm not usually annoyed about not getting a real resolution, but with this one, I was a little peeved. The end should've been the middle. I appreciate this book for what it ended up being, and some of it was well done, but I don't believe it quite reached its full potential.
This is a story about a young Black woman experiencing racism in the media industry, but it's also a story of self-sabotage at every angle. It'd be easy to write this story off as Black lesbians being messy because of all the excessive plot points about old lovers and family and old friends and friends' family in Mickey's hometown and Mickey's generally bad decision-making and attitude. I found all the descriptive language excessive, too, and eventually started skimming over unnecessary details. The pacing is off, and it didn't pick up until around the middle, which is when I became a little more invested.
Speaking of the pacing, there was a lot of lead-up to...what? I thought a better plot would've been after what happened at the end. Racism isn't explored to the level I thought it'd be, either, given the book's description, and it felt like the issue was just vaguely floating around the story. Since I'm also a Black woman, I could pick up what the author was putting down about the subtle but harmful racism Mickey experienced, but so much more could've been explored in this area—which I thought was supposed to be central to the story—and so many other things could've been left out. Mickey's viral manifesto—finally revealed close to the end—was excellently written, though.
I read a lot of lit fic so I'm not usually annoyed about not getting a real resolution, but with this one, I was a little peeved. The end should've been the middle. I appreciate this book for what it ended up being, and some of it was well done, but I don't believe it quite reached its full potential.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship
Moderate: Homophobia, Infidelity, and Sexual content
Minor: Racism and Abandonment