Unfortunately this novel didn’t quite hook me; although the cross generational depiction of three women’s experiences and explorations of their sexualities was an interesting premise, I just couldn’t connect to the MCs on anything more than a surface level. I think that the differentiation between the three women were intriguing and well plotted out but the plotline just didn’t entice me as much as I had hoped it would.

On Home is a slow burn novel that follows three generations of women, it explores motherhood, past memories and I think overall, it was an okay novel.

I don’t know if it was because I wasn’t in the mood for reading this or the story just didn’t strike me, but I didn’t enjoy this as much as I had hoped, and I felt like I was forcing myself to read through it all.

I will say it was a beautifully written coming of age story, but it just fell flat for me and I didn’t really care about what I was reading. I did enjoy the back and fourth between past & present, although i sometimes was getting a tad confused and was having to remember where I was.

Overall, it was a decent novel, but ultimately didn’t catch me like I had hoped.

I thought this book was incredibly well written. However, I found the plot a little slow and jumbled. I would still recommend it purely for the lovely prose.

Well written with a great sense of setting. The themes of fertility and motherhood are the main point but it makes for a frustrating sense of characterization. Jane's story thwarts some of the usual tropes of WWII women workers but Paloma and Cassidy are deeply selfish characters who are characterized oddly. Paloma only loves her husband because he's the father of her daughter (o.O) and Cassidy burns through relationships because she can. Idk, good analogies but very frustrating characterization.

I found the sections about the cam girl interesting, but the other characters failed to reel me in. I didn't end up finishing this book and I doubt I'll come back to it.

⭐⭐⭐

This one was okay. I am not sure if I just wasn't in the mood for this book, but it just felt really slow and a bit jumbled at times. The characters themselves were also kind of "meh" Jane was my favorite. Paloma my least. I also really enjoyed the friendship between Cassidy and Noeli. It wasn't a terrible book. It was well written and I really loved the setting. I am chalking up my feelings for this one to just not being in the right mood for this type of book. 🤷🏻‍♀️

**ARC Via NetGalley**

On Home is an inter-generational story told by three women - Cassidy, Paloma and Jane, from West Virginia. The narrative begins with the death of Cassidy's father Ken in a car accident. As she travels back to her hometown for the funeral from California, Cassidy reluctantly divulges into her past and has sort of a visceral experience of being stuck in the small town that she always yearned to escape as a child. Through the unraveling of Cassidy's version of her childhood, we encounter life in West Virginia through the lens of her mother Paloma and her grandmother Jane. Thus, starting an exploration of past and a descriptive account of the journey of life of three women, told from three very distinctive perspective.

On Home is a slow-burn and plotless, so if you are expecting some sort of resolution of a plot point, then this isn't for you. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of reading the stories of 3 independent women who are so strikingly different from each other yet, so similar in many ways. I loved how the author explored aspects about motherhood, love, home and the evolution of the characters' relationships with their Appalachian roots. I also quite enjoyed that each character had their flaws which gave the story a realistic vision. Lastly. I completely loved the parts where Becca uncovered our relationship and dependence on memory and how in one way or the other we are all unreliable narrators of our own lives.

Completely enjoyed reading this! Thank you Netgalley for giving me an opportunity to read beautiful stories that I would have known otherwise. Looking forward for more work from this author!

I couldn't get into this one. I'm all for respecting sexworkers, but there wasn't enough substance to make up for all the profanity. Just kind of fell flat for me.

DNF around 20%. I really tried to get into this story but there was just something missing, a hook, some depth, something. I tried to pick it up a few times and put it down within pages. It didn't connect with me in the way I'd hoped. Perhaps it's a personal preference, so I will not hold it against the author.

3/5 Stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Inkshares for providing me with an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Going home even at happy times will try your soul, coming home after life threatening tragedy leaves the soul bare. Cassidy is not only at a threshold,she’s pushed to reevaluate her path. The reader is treated to all the women before her, family , solid , true to themselves. The multi story push was a welcome twist. A story of women who have come to terms with themselves and what they want.

This was definitely an interesting read. It was more emotional than I thought and while I think it didn’t start off the best, it was still a decent read.

I thought this was a really enjoyable story. I struggled with getting into the main characters storyline but was engrossed by her grandmother and mother’s stories. I felt like there was a missed opportunity to really dive into some of the story lines. Making it feel a bit shallow and a little too tidy. Overall an enjoyable read but would loved to have seen characters a bit more fleshed out.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the chance to read this ARC in exchange for a review!

Honestly, I didn’t know what to expect from this book. When I found it on NetGalley I was first drawn to the cover, and then intrigued by the synopsis. I was pleasantly surprised when I was completely drawn into the story in the first chapter.

This book made me realise that I love generational stories. I’m definitely going to be reading more stories like this in the future!

One thing I loved was how the three stories were connected. Similar things happened in the different time periods. I loved seeing how the characters handled the similar situations in different ways.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t that interested in Paloma’s part of the story. I think that Jane and Cassidy’s strong personalities and personal stories overshadowed hers. She wasn’t a boring character, though! I was just more interested in the others.

3.5 stars? 4? Not quite sure, but I really enjoyed it!

One Sentence Summary: Three generation of women in one family and their different routes to motherhood.

Overall
On Home is the story of three generations of women in the same family and their journeys into motherhood. It discusses abortion, miscarriage, race, sexuality, and sex workers, among other things. However, it felt a little too ambitious, so failed to really provide any depth on any of the issues it took up outside of motherhood. Set in the past and present and centered around a small town in Western Virginia, On Home is about Jane, Paloma, and Cassidy and how each of them found themselves back in the small town, particularly as it related to their different paths to becoming a mother.

Extended Thoughts
On Home is about women and motherhood. It’s about three generations of women (grandmother, mother, and daughter) and their lives specifically as it relates to motherhood. Grandma Jane lived through WWII as a Government Girl, leaving her small West Virginia town to work in Washington, D.C. along with her cousin Ding. With soldiers aplenty and single women everywhere, Jane just wanted to do her job while her cousin was boy crazy. Paloma, Jane’s daughter-in-law, sought freedom and art in Prague, finding a life she loved, only to wind up in a small West Virginia town, desperate to have a child while her feelings were ambiguous towards her husband. Cassidy, Paloma’s daughter, left West Virginia for California, but family circumstances pulled her back to West Virginia and forced her to examine what she really wanted.

Set in Southern California’s Inland Empire and a small town in West Virginia, On Home is really the story of Cassidy figuring out where her heart and home are. Being a native of Southern California, and one-time resident of the IE, I liked how it felt familiar. But it mostly felt superficial with mostly just the names of streets and cities dropped in, until Cassidy’s Mexican friend Noeli starts talking about being a brown girl and what it’s meant for her her entire life. West Virginia felt so backwards it kind of made my jaw drop. I know very little about the state, but the descriptions are most vivid when it comes to the small town. It’s stark and felt poverty ridden. There seemed to be a small progressive group, but it overall just felt so backward I had a hard time seeing Cassidy wanting to live in her family’s home.

But On Home is really about the characters: Jane, Paloma, and Cassidy. Other than their different ways of becoming a mother, I’m not entirely sure what the book was supposed to be about, though I did like that it focused on motherhood. Overall, I’d have to say this is a book about characters, about people, and their stories, particularly as it relates to motherhood and their feelings around it.

As a mother, I did enjoy reading about three women in the same family who viewed motherhood differently. I liked that it wasn’t all focused on the resulting baby and how to raise children, but was instead focused on the mother, on her views on pregnancy and the kind of mother she wanted to be. It also fearlessly discussed abortion and miscarriages, the pain and the sadness.

There were several other things touched on throughout the novel, including race and sexuality. One of the main characters even works as an online sex worker, highlighting why some women choose to do that kind of work, though I did feel it wasn’t quite as relevant to the story as a whole as it could have been. Actually, most of the issues mentioned were dealt with in a more surface-level way. There was so much depth that could have been given, but I felt there was more a need to touch on so many different things than to actually weave it all together into a beautiful story.

But, as I mentioned, On Home is really about Jane, Paloma, and Cassidy.

I liked Jane and her story the most. She lived through WWII and, after graduating high school, she and her cousin Ding went to Washington, D.C. to do various office work. In the present day, Jane has recently been diagnosed with dementia, so much of her story is told through reflections and memories of the past. Her chapters tended to blend almost confusingly as she slipped back and forth in time. But the pieces that took place in the past really took me back to the past and what life might have been like for two young women from rural America in a big city with soldiers literally everywhere. I loved the stories she told of her past, but I didn’t quite know how it fit in with the present.

Paloma wasn’t one I cared for much, though she did get my sympathy towards the end as she and her daughter came to terms with their mother-daughter relationship. She doesn’t seem to spend much time in the present day, either, instead reflecting back on the days before she met her husband all the way to when she and her husband Ken moved from Prague to his hometown in West Virginia. I got the sense she was supposed to be something of a free spirit who ended up tied down because of her marriage and their mutual desire to have a baby, but I couldn’t really tell much of who she was. As a whole, she kind of felt like a vague figure, though I did like her and Cassidy’s interactions.

Cassidy kind of drove me up the wall. I thought she was entitled and self-obsessed. But she felt like the main focus of the story. It was about her leaving home to seek something more than what her small town could offer, especially as a lesbian who was labelled “different” early on and bullied because of it, and then going back home and being changed. But she was just so self-obsessed and kept running from all her problems that I kind of felt like shaking her. It was hard for me to feel any kind of sympathy for her and I just kept waiting for her to grow up.

On Home was an interesting story about women and motherhood. I liked that it involved three generations of women in the same family and the different ways they became mothers. But, other than Jane, it was hard to connect with them and difficult for me to feel interested in their stories. There’s a lot of back and forth between past and present. Cassidy’s was the only one that really took place in the present, but she failed to pull all three story lines together, so it felt more like On Home was the story of how she was made instead of seamlessly blending the three stories and voices together.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a review copy. All opinions expressed are my own.

I was so excited to delve into this novel considering part of it is set in rural Appalachia. Unfortunately, I didn't really enjoy the multiple perspectives and wish the narrative had just stayed with Cassidy.

The way this is narrated, this is written us immaculate. Me, like a young reader liked so much this novel. The portrayal of the character is so good. I sincerely recommend this book.

Soon review in my blog.

Three generations of women with their own issues. This book had a rich portrayal of the characters, and their challenges as they faced life in their small town. A clever book, beautifully written, and one I'm pleased I've read. Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to Inkshares and NetGalley for the free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

On Home by Becca Spence Dobias follows 3 generations of women - Cassidy; her mother, Paloma; and Paloma's mother, Jane. As they face various struggles in their time, including pregnancy, we see how they were shaped by their experiences and their responses to conflict.

First, the good: I think these characters felt pretty realistic, and I liked the writing style. I love a generational family story, and this one delivered on that aspect.

Now for things that I struggled with: Cassidy was a very unmotivated character. She made choices, but they were never particularly explained to us as to why she did them. She flip-flopped between two big decisions (including making the same choice twice) and I struggled with understanding why and how she made those choices. I would've liked a little more reflection on that. I was frustrated with her as a character, but I think that could've been useful had it been set up a little better. As it stands, she was just too inert for me to want to follow for the majority of the book.

On the whole, I think this critique kind of sums up my issue with the whole book: it felt a little too surface level. I appreciated what it was trying to do, but a little more introspection from all of the characters would've helped me follow their logic a little better. I do think that Paloma and Jane felt a bit more explained, at least by the end, but Cassidy was just too wishy-washy to get a real hold onto who she was and what she wanted.

I'm intrigued to see what this author does next, and I'll be keeping an eye out for her next work.

A good book related to three generations of women and their struggles.

although the book was a little slow at first, i soon got into it and the story panned out well. I am glad i waited and carried on with the book.

You just have to be patient with the characters and it soon makes sense further in the book.

Worth the read.

This beautifully written book is a sensitive and insightful portrait of three generations of women struggling with sexuality, relationships and belonging. Grandma Jane's story begins post-WW2 as she leaves her small town in West Virginia to go and work in the big city - Washington D.C where men in uniform seem to prey on young, impressionable women. Paloma, Jane's daughter-in-law, meets her husband, Ken in Prague while she's teaching at a university there. Cassidy, Paloma's daughter, left West Virginia behind and is a cam girl in Southern California. When her father, Ken is killed in an accident, she comes home intending only to stay for the funeral, but fate takes a turn . The setting of small town, West Virginia is a major factor in this novel. Jane sees it as a place of safety while Paloma, who at first viewed it as a good place to raise a family, feels suffocated and longs for the liberated lifestyle she left behind in Prague. Cassidy feels that returning to Buckannon is a sign of her continued failure in the eyes of her mother, and the interaction between the two is prickly and distant as they try to interact without the buffer of Cassidy's beloved father. The interaction between the three women and their attempts to come to terms with their life in the small town, and their place in the world as women, is skilfully and expertly portrayed by Dobias who weaves a well-paced, compelling story that deals with many deep human issues such as the fleeting nature of experience as well as the sanctuary of home and family, and the power of love.