Alex Cabe reviewed Homebodies by Tembe Denton-Hurst
Delving Into Work and Identity
3 stars
The axis this book turned on, and something I'll have to think about for a while, is how exactly Mickey felt about her job. "Ambivalent", sure, but there were a lot of layers. She defines herself by a place she thinks she'll never feel truly comfortable. The author is a beauty writer herself, so she must consider it ultimately worth doing.
The protagonist could sometimes be frustrating with her decisions, but that gave the book flavor.
I liked how big the cast was and how I could see how Mickey fit into her community back home, but the Tee stuff mostly fell flat for me. It was hard to see why Mickey idealized her so much.
Also trying to decide if the letter worked. I thought it was a smart choice to delay reading the actual letter until the end of the book in order to build it up, but …
The axis this book turned on, and something I'll have to think about for a while, is how exactly Mickey felt about her job. "Ambivalent", sure, but there were a lot of layers. She defines herself by a place she thinks she'll never feel truly comfortable. The author is a beauty writer herself, so she must consider it ultimately worth doing.
The protagonist could sometimes be frustrating with her decisions, but that gave the book flavor.
I liked how big the cast was and how I could see how Mickey fit into her community back home, but the Tee stuff mostly fell flat for me. It was hard to see why Mickey idealized her so much.
Also trying to decide if the letter worked. I thought it was a smart choice to delay reading the actual letter until the end of the book in order to build it up, but I'm considering whether the payoff was worth it.
A quibble, but the author wasn't very successful when she tried to discuss church or religion. She got details wrong and it felt like describing something she'd seen on television.