Book Details
Title: Homebodies
Author: Tembe Denton-Hurst
Genre: Contemporary fiction; lgbtqia+
Pages: 352
Year Published: 2023
Synopsis: Click here to read the synopsis on GoodReads
My Review
You know how some books tell the whole story in the synopsis? That is Homebodies. You know how sometimes the synopsis sets you up for one type of story but then you're surprised to find you should have been prioritizing a different expectation of the book? That is Homebodies. My biggest complaint is that I wish I hadn't actually read the synopsis.
As I was reading, I was mentally giving the book 3 stars teetering towards 2 stars. I kept waiting for the plot of the book to actually start, but it seemed like it was never going to. It wasn't until I finished the book that I declared it a 4 star read because I realized I just hadn't been paying attention. So, why did this happen? The synopsis. Normally, I include the books synopsis in the "book details" part of my review, but I just can't do that here. When I read the synopsis, I was expecting the media scandal to be the midway point of the book. I was expecting Homebodies to be extremely race driven and I kept waiting for Mickey to take down the white industry that failed her. After reading other reviews, I found I wasn't alone. I think the synopsis made it easy to go into the book with the wrong mindset. I went in expecting Tembe Denton-Hurst to be writing about Mickey's experience with racism as a central theme, but she was just writing about Mickey. Homebodies is about Mickey finding herself after being fired from her job, and I love that for her!
Enough about the synopsis and more about the book itself. If frustrating characters are not your thing, maybe pass on this one. Just about ever character in the book frustrated me at some point. Maybe it's the social worker in me, but I kept wanting to yell at the characters that none of this would be happening if they would just communicate. Mickey and Lex's relationship is messy. Mickey's relationship with everyone was at least a little messy, and yet here she is adding more messes. I wanted to help her so badly, but this is her story not mine.
I characterized this book on StoryGraph as character driven, but the character development was complicated. This was Mickey's story & Mickey's struggles, but that doesn't mean she found herself by the end of the book. Homebodies is so incredibly slow, but character development isn't a fast process. Denton-Hurst has set us all up perfectly for a mind blowing second book if she so chooses ( & I hope she does!). I need to know what happens next with Mickey and her letter. I need to know if her and Lex have a real come to Jesus moment and get their lives together (even if that means breaking up). I need Mickey to tell certain people in her life to fuck off and never look back. I struggled to see the point of Homebodies for so long, but I was so desperate for the story to continue by the end of it. This is why I ultimately decide to bump my almost 2 star review to a 4 star.
I would recommend Homebodies to anyone who loves a messy sapphic read. You're in for a treat!
My Rating: 4/5
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