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A review by annreadsabook
Homebodies by Tembe Denton-Hurst
emotional
reflective
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
3.0
I wanted to love this more than I did! Didn’t hate it, but definitely finished this book feeling sorely disappointed.
First, the good: I loved what this book was getting at—Black women who are searching and yearning for more than what we’re given in life. And, Black women trying to find ways to grow and giving themselves grace in the process. I think this is a topic that’s so profoundly important, and I love seeing some Black messy characters.
However…I felt that after the 40% mark, the book ground to a halt. There were some serious pacing issues in this book, and I also found that the character development we were promised didn’t fully pan out. In fact, by the end it seemed like a lot of Mickey’s actions post-manifesto were nothing more than her shooting herself in the foot without any real lessons learned—I’m not sure how much she actually grew over the course of this book, yet that seemed to be the point of the novel.
Anyway, I would still be interested to see what this author writes next, since I found the premise and a good chunk of the book to be promising.
Thanks to Harper Books for the advance copy!
First, the good: I loved what this book was getting at—Black women who are searching and yearning for more than what we’re given in life. And, Black women trying to find ways to grow and giving themselves grace in the process. I think this is a topic that’s so profoundly important, and I love seeing some Black messy characters.
However…I felt that after the 40% mark, the book ground to a halt. There were some serious pacing issues in this book, and I also found that the character development we were promised didn’t fully pan out. In fact, by the end it seemed like a lot of Mickey’s actions post-manifesto were nothing more than her shooting herself in the foot without any real lessons learned—I’m not sure how much she actually grew over the course of this book, yet that seemed to be the point of the novel.
Anyway, I would still be interested to see what this author writes next, since I found the premise and a good chunk of the book to be promising.
Thanks to Harper Books for the advance copy!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Fatphobia, and Homophobia