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A review by introvertsbookclub
Homebodies by Tembe Denton-Hurst
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
3.5
I’m struggling to work out how much I enjoyed reading this book and I think my main problem is the blurb which misrepresents it and misdirected my expectations.
‘Homebodies’ has so many of my favourite story elements: an overworked main character questioning capitalism, a return to a hometown that brings up feelings of failure and forces a reexamination of adolescent experiences, complicated relationships that waver between toxicity and honesty, and an author who isn’t afraid to highlight her protagonists’s flaws. Mickey’s meltdown is portrayed in such a relatable way, particularly the crisis that is triggered when your idea of yourself comes tumbling down and you no longer feel as though you can trust your own judgement. The novel was messy and chaotic and didn’t deliver resolutions that are too tidy to feel realistic. But as much as this felt honest to real life, the back and forth of Mickey’s inner monologue and the lack of clarity and closure on so many of the novel’s relationships and plot points felt dissatisfying as a reading experience. The reminiscing began to feel repetitive and disorganised in a way that made it difficult to pin down a timeline or chronology.
What started as a novel about career and status and racism in the workplace was derailed by the romance plot which took precedence, but both suffered from the novel’s pace and structure (which needed fine-tuning) and unclear conclusions. There were several relationships with family and friends that felt as though they had been picked up just to be put back down, again true to life but frustrating in a novel. Her reckoning with racism embedded within industries and the decision between infiltrating them or creating new spaces from scratch felt like the beginning of a much bigger journey, and I wish we had gotten more of that and less of the romance.
It was at its best when it focused on Mickey, her internal processing of her thoughts and feelings, and her reflections on the way that her insecurity in her work, her self, and her relationships were all interconnected. I would have liked more closure on this, but the lack of closure might also have been what made it feel so real and powerful. Reading a book with a Black, queer, plus-size main character feels amazing, and Mickey was so well-rounded in the way she was written, complicated and contradictory and flawed, and self-criticising, but also thoughtful, and ambitious, and able to be vulnerable. I wish she had been a better friend in many instances and that the novel delivered a clearer idea of how she was going to show up for herself and in her relationships in the future, but there was a lot of hope in the ending.
My feelings might be mixed, but there was so much to love within the complexity of this novel. I’m really intrigued to read what this author writes next.
‘Homebodies’ has so many of my favourite story elements: an overworked main character questioning capitalism, a return to a hometown that brings up feelings of failure and forces a reexamination of adolescent experiences, complicated relationships that waver between toxicity and honesty, and an author who isn’t afraid to highlight her protagonists’s flaws. Mickey’s meltdown is portrayed in such a relatable way, particularly the crisis that is triggered when your idea of yourself comes tumbling down and you no longer feel as though you can trust your own judgement. The novel was messy and chaotic and didn’t deliver resolutions that are too tidy to feel realistic. But as much as this felt honest to real life, the back and forth of Mickey’s inner monologue and the lack of clarity and closure on so many of the novel’s relationships and plot points felt dissatisfying as a reading experience. The reminiscing began to feel repetitive and disorganised in a way that made it difficult to pin down a timeline or chronology.
What started as a novel about career and status and racism in the workplace was derailed by the romance plot which took precedence, but both suffered from the novel’s pace and structure (which needed fine-tuning) and unclear conclusions. There were several relationships with family and friends that felt as though they had been picked up just to be put back down, again true to life but frustrating in a novel. Her reckoning with racism embedded within industries and the decision between infiltrating them or creating new spaces from scratch felt like the beginning of a much bigger journey, and I wish we had gotten more of that and less of the romance.
It was at its best when it focused on Mickey, her internal processing of her thoughts and feelings, and her reflections on the way that her insecurity in her work, her self, and her relationships were all interconnected. I would have liked more closure on this, but the lack of closure might also have been what made it feel so real and powerful. Reading a book with a Black, queer, plus-size main character feels amazing, and Mickey was so well-rounded in the way she was written, complicated and contradictory and flawed, and self-criticising, but also thoughtful, and ambitious, and able to be vulnerable. I wish she had been a better friend in many instances and that the novel delivered a clearer idea of how she was going to show up for herself and in her relationships in the future, but there was a lot of hope in the ending.
My feelings might be mixed, but there was so much to love within the complexity of this novel. I’m really intrigued to read what this author writes next.
Content Warnings
Minor: Fatphobia