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A review by mx_manda
Homebound by Lydia Hope
4.0
A gripping action-filled romance that is gutting at times, this dystopian tale has a lot of heart.
✦ If you like longer SFRs with a lot of world building and character development, this is a good story to chew on. If you have a shorter attention span and find anything that isn't immediately romance-adjacent "boring," this likely isn't for you. That's OK, there are plenty out there for you.
TW/CW: this story takes place mostly in a prison and a really grim dystopian Earth. Attempted rapes, beatings, unwanted advances, descriptions of torture are all found in here.
Gemma used to live with her family on an island, where she was a ballerina. First, they lost her brother, Foy, in The Great Invasion. Then, she lost the remainder of her family and a her home when it became too toxic to inhabit any longer. In the confusion of evacuation, Gemma's ankle was broken and never properly fixed or set, leaving her with a life-long painful injury that could render her unemployable. Her last tie to home and hope is her doctor fiancé who went off to the planet all of the wealthy and "valuable" people fled to, leaving Earth to the destitute and an increasing population of violent alien races. She could not go with him before, but he promised to send for her when he was able. She's been waiting over 2 years in the "care" of distant family who all resent her and wish her gone, she now works in the prison facility as a janitor/helper in the women's ward.
Until she doesn't.
Abruptly switched to the dangerous aliens' ward, Gemma is thrown into a world of creatures she's never interacted with before—more than she knew even exist on the planet—with a steep learning curve and some sketchy coworkers. On her first day there, she notices the inhabitant of cell 35, a skeletal and silent male who seems to have been left to rot. Hitting a little too close to home, Gemma makes it her personal mission to see that he's looked after and not left to slowly die alone and filthy in his cell. She feels a connection to the unresponsive male and quickly becomes more deeply invested in his care, taking greater risks to improve his quality of life. It turns out he's really not popular with any of the other aliens in the block and neither of them are safe outside of his cell—both for different reasons.
Simon is a Rix who has been through Some Things. He has spent 3 years in cell 35, unable to eat, in a deep meditative healing state, and ironically slowly dying in the process. Humans are terrible, and even a superior Rix Defender can be overcome when weakened enough and against such large numbers. He's been left alone, until the one day he is not. Something very special walks into his small world the day Gemma becomes a helper in the alien block—a reason to live—and he starts the long, painful road to restoring his body.
This story is told 100% from Gemma's POV, meaning there will not be a lot of insight into Simon and his thought process. All we know about him he volunteers in conversations with Gemma. It's fairly sparse. It would have been interesting to see how these events progressed through his eyes, or even had more insight to why he thinks how he does—especially the Big Event before they leave the planet would have been interesting to see from his POV. Simon is a serious force to be reckoned with, even when he's operating on nearly empty. It was easy to see why many of the other aliens in the block were uneasy when it became clear he was going to wake up and did not want to be involved when feces started flying at the fan. What he volunteers makes it very clear that he's not from a human-like society.
It's hard to talk about this story in more detail without giving a lot of the plot away, and this isn't a book where you can skim to try and find "the good parts." The romance slowly builds up and doesn't come to "fruition" until over halfway through the book (this isn't a particularly explicit work. It's satisfying but not erotica), and even then there are hurdles to work around. All of the information in the world building comes into play in the story, even if it seems insignificant. All of the cast—alien and human alike—are believable and usually pretty awful, ngl. Earth is quickly dying and only the worst of the worst have been left there to die with it. Desperate times make for a lot of desperate and depraved people. There are some good people left, but they're understandably gun shy and guarded about who they extend their kindness to.
I really enjoyed how the romance built in this one, and watching Gemma try to puzzle out Simon's (obvious, but never stated in terms of love) feelings made me shake my head and smile sometimes. Honey, if someone refers to you as "[his] world," that says it all. Gemma is beautiful and flawed, tenacious, persistent, painfully naive, and manages to find a lot of trouble without being a walking TSTL trope. She has a huge heart and wants to give everyone a chance, because that is what she most wants. She tries to give what she wants back. Even though Simon is a lot of things she personally doesn't agree with, she finds herself accepting him—often questioning herself and her moral compass in the process. It was nice to see a mature relationship progress that wasn't build on melodrama, but rather on shared circumstances and mutual care. Though—
“But it can’t last.” Gemma stomped her foot, feeling contrary and desperate for things to be different. “There’s no future for you and me. Us.”
His firm mouth softened and the curved eyebrows rose above his large eyes. “Why do you always say words that make no sense?” he chided gently. “What future is there except you and me? Us?”
Ill at ease, she asked slowly, “Would you kill me if you had to?”
“You?” He seemed genuinely surprised. “I kill for you.”
I mean, seriously. Simon is a bad-ass killing machine, but he's YOUR bad-ass killing machine, Gemma. He's not shy about telling you that, either. Man's an open book if you're not insisting on humanized expressions and statements of feeling.
This tale abruptly ends and there is no Epilogue that we've been conditioned to expect in SFR. You have to be comfortable with knowing this is likely a stand-alone story and picture in your mind where they end up and how it goes. Maybe we'll be pleasantly surprised and find out what happens to these two next, but I'm perfectly content where it was left.
✦ If you like longer SFRs with a lot of world building and character development, this is a good story to chew on. If you have a shorter attention span and find anything that isn't immediately romance-adjacent "boring," this likely isn't for you. That's OK, there are plenty out there for you.
TW/CW: this story takes place mostly in a prison and a really grim dystopian Earth. Attempted rapes, beatings, unwanted advances, descriptions of torture are all found in here.
Gemma used to live with her family on an island, where she was a ballerina. First, they lost her brother, Foy, in The Great Invasion. Then, she lost the remainder of her family and a her home when it became too toxic to inhabit any longer. In the confusion of evacuation, Gemma's ankle was broken and never properly fixed or set, leaving her with a life-long painful injury that could render her unemployable. Her last tie to home and hope is her doctor fiancé who went off to the planet all of the wealthy and "valuable" people fled to, leaving Earth to the destitute and an increasing population of violent alien races. She could not go with him before, but he promised to send for her when he was able. She's been waiting over 2 years in the "care" of distant family who all resent her and wish her gone, she now works in the prison facility as a janitor/helper in the women's ward.
Until she doesn't.
Abruptly switched to the dangerous aliens' ward, Gemma is thrown into a world of creatures she's never interacted with before—more than she knew even exist on the planet—with a steep learning curve and some sketchy coworkers. On her first day there, she notices the inhabitant of cell 35, a skeletal and silent male who seems to have been left to rot. Hitting a little too close to home, Gemma makes it her personal mission to see that he's looked after and not left to slowly die alone and filthy in his cell. She feels a connection to the unresponsive male and quickly becomes more deeply invested in his care, taking greater risks to improve his quality of life. It turns out he's really not popular with any of the other aliens in the block and neither of them are safe outside of his cell—both for different reasons.
Simon is a Rix who has been through Some Things. He has spent 3 years in cell 35, unable to eat, in a deep meditative healing state, and ironically slowly dying in the process. Humans are terrible, and even a superior Rix Defender can be overcome when weakened enough and against such large numbers. He's been left alone, until the one day he is not. Something very special walks into his small world the day Gemma becomes a helper in the alien block—a reason to live—and he starts the long, painful road to restoring his body.
This story is told 100% from Gemma's POV, meaning there will not be a lot of insight into Simon and his thought process. All we know about him he volunteers in conversations with Gemma. It's fairly sparse. It would have been interesting to see how these events progressed through his eyes, or even had more insight to why he thinks how he does—especially the Big Event before they leave the planet would have been interesting to see from his POV. Simon is a serious force to be reckoned with, even when he's operating on nearly empty. It was easy to see why many of the other aliens in the block were uneasy when it became clear he was going to wake up and did not want to be involved when feces started flying at the fan. What he volunteers makes it very clear that he's not from a human-like society.
It's hard to talk about this story in more detail without giving a lot of the plot away, and this isn't a book where you can skim to try and find "the good parts." The romance slowly builds up and doesn't come to "fruition" until over halfway through the book (this isn't a particularly explicit work. It's satisfying but not erotica), and even then there are hurdles to work around. All of the information in the world building comes into play in the story, even if it seems insignificant. All of the cast—alien and human alike—are believable and usually pretty awful, ngl. Earth is quickly dying and only the worst of the worst have been left there to die with it. Desperate times make for a lot of desperate and depraved people. There are some good people left, but they're understandably gun shy and guarded about who they extend their kindness to.
I really enjoyed how the romance built in this one, and watching Gemma try to puzzle out Simon's (obvious, but never stated in terms of love) feelings made me shake my head and smile sometimes. Honey, if someone refers to you as "[his] world," that says it all. Gemma is beautiful and flawed, tenacious, persistent, painfully naive, and manages to find a lot of trouble without being a walking TSTL trope. She has a huge heart and wants to give everyone a chance, because that is what she most wants. She tries to give what she wants back. Even though Simon is a lot of things she personally doesn't agree with, she finds herself accepting him—often questioning herself and her moral compass in the process. It was nice to see a mature relationship progress that wasn't build on melodrama, but rather on shared circumstances and mutual care. Though—
Spoiler
I would argue based on what we can glean from his words, he was pretty much Instaloving on her, even in his "comatose" state. He says from the very first time she came in and said hello to him, he thought of her as HIS beautiful Gemma. Several times he states he's able to leave whenever he wants, but he has a Reason he's hanging around the prison. HINT: It's you, girl.“But it can’t last.” Gemma stomped her foot, feeling contrary and desperate for things to be different. “There’s no future for you and me. Us.”
His firm mouth softened and the curved eyebrows rose above his large eyes. “Why do you always say words that make no sense?” he chided gently. “What future is there except you and me? Us?”
Ill at ease, she asked slowly, “Would you kill me if you had to?”
“You?” He seemed genuinely surprised. “I kill for you.”
I mean, seriously. Simon is a bad-ass killing machine, but he's YOUR bad-ass killing machine, Gemma. He's not shy about telling you that, either. Man's an open book if you're not insisting on humanized expressions and statements of feeling.
This tale abruptly ends and there is no Epilogue that we've been conditioned to expect in SFR. You have to be comfortable with knowing this is likely a stand-alone story and picture in your mind where they end up and how it goes. Maybe we'll be pleasantly surprised and find out what happens to these two next, but I'm perfectly content where it was left.