this started out really strong, and i loved following the characters of Mitty and Lena as they form a friendship. I do believe this book’s marketing is a bit misleading - i expected the AI/sci-fi elements to be stronger but it really just serves as a backdrop setting for the story, which is just more of a litfic slice-of-life character study. again very well written but I wish it had a little more in the way of plot and the unexplored sci-fi was disappointing.

This novel made me wish fiction could forever stay weirder than the truth.

I want to describe the bulk of the novel as a quiet crescendo towards an unsettling potential truth, but I feel like that doesn’t do Gatwood’s writing justice. She punctures the monotony of the main characters’ lives with observations and sensations that make you feel akin to how some people feel when yelling at the main character of a horror movie through the screen, urging them not to enter the dark basement alone.

Lena and Mitty, two young women with questionable pasts and odd presents, navigate life in Santa Cruz. Mitty never went to college and lives with an elderly woman she has no blood relation to. She watches people move through life with a natural ease she is slightly jealous of yet stays unsure and insecure about what to do besides live in her reality. And then you have Lena, who, despite the security of her boyfriend’s position in Silicon Valley, is unsettled with life due to her sense (or lack thereof) of where she begins and their identity as a couple ends. Their becoming neighbors is the catalyst needed to make them evaluate things they’ve never allowed themselves to dwell on.

My favorite aspect of the story is how Lena and Mitty exist a few degrees shy of epiphany, their willingness to realize held at arm’s length until the hunger to understand becomes so dire and so animalistic they dive into a supposed unknown for something they may have always, in some way, known.

This novel was jarring and weird and reflective and exciting. I can’t wait for Gatwood’s next one.

Did not click with this one at all. I felt the writing way too hard to crack, the characters all over the place, and the plot super messy.

I thought this book was unique, I liked the mysterious AI aspect as well as the character development Mitty went through. Thought it was great.

Olivia Gatwood's Whoever You Are, Honey is a mesmerizing debut that blends elements of literary fiction with a tantalizing hint of sci-fi that never quite crystallizes into full-blown speculative fiction. Set in a gentrified Santa Cruz waterfront, the novel crafts a world that feels both familiar and slightly off-kilter and delves deep into the complexities of female relationships and identity in our hyper-connected world. The relationship between neighbors Mitty and Lena forms the core of the story, and in their burgeoning friendship, we examine desire, envy, and the personas we adopt to fit in. I found the story's pacing somewhat challenging, as it doesn't follow a typical plot-driven structure. The narrative takes on a dreamlike quality at times, particularly in its final act. This approach, however, aligns with the themes of memory and identity that Gatwood explores throughout the book. Whoever You Are, Honey prompted me to question the nature of authenticity in our digital age. I find myself frequently replaying the book's final scenes in my mind, pondering their implications and the questions they raise. Even as I speculate about what might have truly transpired, I find I prefer the open-ended nature of the conclusion, allowing the story to continue evolving in my imagination long after I closed the book.

In Whoever You Are, Honey, I found a refreshing and candid exploration of identity and womanhood that struck a deep chord with me. Gatwood's poetry is both fierce and intimate, often blending personal experiences with broader societal critiques that resonate well with contemporary issues. Her use of vivid imagery and emotive language creates memorable moments that linger in the mind.
However, I felt that some poems leaned toward abstraction at times, making them less accessible and slightly harder to connect with on an emotional level. While the themes are powerful, a few pieces seemed repetitive, which slightly diminished their overall impact.
Gatwood's unique voice and insightful observations about life, love, and self-acceptance make it a compelling read that offers both reflection and empowerment.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC, and to Madison at The Dial Press for the gorgeous gifted final copy!

Full Rating: 3.5 stars rounded up

Whoever You Are, Honey by Olivia Gatwood sets out to explore the pressures of femininity through a contemporary lens shaped by the cultural milieu of Silicon Valley. With a subtle undercurrent of AI-related tension, the novel touches on themes of identity, technology, and societal expectations, all of which are encapsulated in Gatwood’s intriguing epigraph: “I love you, alive girl. - Jeff Bezos in a text to his mistress.” This epigraph, a startling introduction, primes readers for a journey through the complex and often unsettling intersections of human connection and digital reality.

The narrative is deeply introspective, focusing on the internal landscapes of the characters, particularly Mitty and Lena. Gatwood’s writing is contemplative, drawing readers into the quiet, melancholic musings of her protagonists as they navigate the suffocating pressures of societal norms and the creeping influence of technology on their lives. The exploration of how women’s identities are shaped—and often constrained—by these forces is a central theme, with the novel delving into the nuanced ways that loneliness, belonging, and the struggle for self-understanding manifest in a world dominated by digital realities and skewed power dynamics. While this is certainly an interesting starting point for a character study, based on the synopsis and marketing, I was expecting much more plot and much less stream-of-consciousness from this book compared to what it delivered.

Despite the potential richness of these themes, the novel struggles to fully engage. Based on her traditional background as a poet, Gatwood fell short of my expectations for delivering lyrical and poignant prose. The characters, while crafted with care, lack the depth and distinction needed to truly resonate. Both Mitty and Lena, whose perspectives alternate throughout the narrative, often blur into one another, making it difficult to differentiate their voices or fully invest in their individual stories. This blending of character voices may be an intentional choice to underscore the universality of their experiences, but it ultimately detracts from the novel’s impact and left me grasping for a stronger connection.

The novel’s setting in Silicon Valley provides a fertile backdrop for exploring the erosion of authentic experiences in the face of relentless technological progress and gentrification. However, Gatwood’s critique of these forces feels somewhat superficial, failing to delve deeply enough into the implications of an increasingly AI-driven world. The tech elements of the narrative are introduced with promise but remain underdeveloped, leaving a sense of unfulfilled potential.

Whoever You Are, Honey attempts to grapple with significant and timely issues but ultimately falls short of delivering the incisive, emotionally resonant narrative that its premise suggests. While Gatwood’s exploration of identity, technology, and societal expectations offers moments of insight, the novel’s lack of character differentiation and its missed opportunities for deeper narrative exploration leave it feeling somewhat flat. For readers drawn to introspective literary fiction with a focus on contemporary issues, this novel may still offer something of value, but it may not fully satisfy those expecting the poetic depth and narrative tension hinted at in its initial pitches. I do think my dissatisfaction with this book was due to my expectations being very different from what was actually delivered, and I am already considering revisiting it in the future with a different set of expectations to see if my experience with it changes.

📖 Recommended For: Readers who enjoy introspective literary fiction, those intrigued by the intersection of technology and identity, fans of character-driven narratives, and admirers of works that critique societal norms through a contemporary lens.

🔑 Key Themes: Pressures of Femininity, Identity and Technology, Loneliness and Belonging, Societal Expectations, The Influence of Silicon Valley.

Content / Trigger Warnings: Vomit (minor), Murder (minor), Gun Violence (minor), Abandonment (minor), Mental Illness (minor), Sexual Content (severe), Animal Death (moderate), Self Harm (moderate), Gore (moderate), Grief (minor), Injury (moderate), Blood (moderate), Toxic Relationship (minor).

Thank you NetGalley and Random House [The Dial Press] for a copy of "Whoever You Are, Honey" by Olivia Gatwood in exchange for an honest review. This was unique experience! Filled with themes like identity, friendship, technology, self-perception, and patriarchy, I believe that it is covered well and Gatwood had an incredible execution. We all have the desire to be accepted and loved, and this novel definitely discusses the idea of loneliness and the patriarchy. It is something I would find myself recommending repeatedly. Highly rated, I would reread again, and will keep it on my bookshelf.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC! Book started out interesting and I wanted to see where it was going; however, the plot kind of sizzled out with no real explanation at the end, leaving the reader unsatisfied.

Wow, I am not even sure where to start with this book. Whoever You Are, Honey by Olivia Gatwood was so unique and different. I absolutely love the way that she writes. It was very poetic! I did enjoy Lena and Mitty's friendship but I was left with so many questions in the end. I wanted to know more about the tech murder. I also felt like I wanted to learn more about Lena and Sebastian. Leaving it to interpretation if she was filled with wires or not made me really kind of care less... Anyway, I found this book to be so unique and different, but would have loved for a more complete ending. Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for this eARC.

Mitty lives with an older friend of her mother’s, Bethel. They’re at the end of a long line of impressive beach-front homes built by the Silicone Valley rich. Theirs is a rundown shack of a house, though, the bane of the neighborhood, the eyesore. Mitty has lived here for ten years with her head down, her shoulders hunched, a dishwasher at the local pub. She carries the cross of a mistake she made when she was eighteen, a time in her life that brings her shame and self-disgust. And Bethel does little to make Mitty feel any better about herself.
The big glass “dollhouse” next door has stood empty for years. But finally, an attractive, enigmatic young couple moves in. And since they don’t believe in shades, Mitty can’t help but be captivated by the lives the two live, especially the sex they enjoy with one another. She and Bethel assume the beautiful young lady wants nothing to do with the hags that live next door in the shack. But they’re wrong. When Lena knocks on the door, she enters their world lonely and hungry for the layers of life, the colors, the cluttered world they live in. Soon, they spent time with Lena and her husband, Sebastian. Once the film of glamour and entitlement is lifted from their eyes, they both begin to see how Lena is treated. So when she asks for Mitty’s help, she has no choice but to say yes, even though the friendship mirrors what went so wrong in her life years before.
This is a story of three damaged women; one beautiful stage on the beaches of Santa Cruz. A character study of how women are raised to trust only their beauty, or lack thereof, of the shallow expectations of the basest of men. And the strength it takes to free yourself of those limitations.
Thanks so much to Random House Publishing Group for an ARC in exchange for my honest review. The publishing date is July 9, 2024.

This book was everything I wanted it to be’ first of all that cover?? Amazing 10/10. To start the writing is so wonderful. It hooked me immediately and made the story just flow. I also enjoyed the characters and how all of their secrets unfolded to the audience. It’s a weird book but in the way I love. For me this is a book to go into knowing very little about it and just letting the story happen to you. I am very interested in whatever Olivia Gatwood writes next because this was wonderful.

I think I love Olivia Gatwood...

I read Atwood's poetry collection a few years back and when I saw she was coming out with a debut novel, my jaw dropped and it was a beautiful moment. I had already checked in past years to see if she was going to publish any more poetry collections, so to have been surprised by a NOVEL was actually amazing.

In this novel we follow Mitty and Lena, two seemingly very different women that come into each other's lives after Lena and her boyfriend move in next door. Both women struggle with their pasts in different ways. Mitty finds it painful to revisit her past, wincing every time her mind flashes back to the incident that forced her to flee her hometown in Arizona. Lena can't seem to make sense of her past. She can't quite seem to conjure vivid memories that hold any weight, and this ultimately leads to her questioning her reality...what kind of person can't remember more than just picturesque vignettes?
As we get to know Mitty and Lena—and they get to know each other—Mitty comes to terms with the sins of her past while Lena starts to suspect her seemingly perfect boyfriend.

Let me just say that the main reason as to why I enjoyed this so much was the impeccable writing. OLIVIA GATWOOD, GIVE ME MORE NOVELS (and poetry, or really anything, I don't care)!!!!!!

The character development was truly top notch. Mitty and Lena both felt so dynamic and palpable

The plot was super intriguing from the jump. There was almost a sinister tone that kept me on my toes. A young man working for an unnamed tech company was murdered. Set in Santa Cruz, Mitty is familiar withe the ever growing and ever powerful Silicon Valley and all its Tech Dudes with their start-ups and their money. This murder has been the talk of the town as people hypothesize as to what danger loomed so large that a man was killed for it. This plot point acts as an important backdrop for Lena's doubts surrounding her identity and her boyfriend, and how those two things might not be exclusive.

The reason I can't give this book 5 stars, however, is that the ending did not do this novel justice. In my opinion, this story was wayyyyyy too juicy and well-constructed to end the way it did. Maybe that's a bit harsh and I shouldn't give so much importance to the ending of a book, but when I tell ya'll that I was scratching my head and shaking my leg as I read this, just itching to find out what was going to happen, well, I hope you can understand why I was hoping for a bit more of a bang at the end.

I seriously cannot wait for any future Olivia Gatwood publication!!!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Spoilers! Read at your own risk.

After fleeing her childhood home in Arizona, Mitty finds herself spending her 20s in Santa Cruz with Bethel, a septugenarian family friend and housemate. Utterly stuck, Mitty's days anxiously blend into each other as she waits tables, then goes back to Bethel where they sit and watch reruns. But when another young woman and her tech bro husband move into their quickly gentrifying beach community, Mitty finds that she and Lena have more and less in common than she could have ever expected.

It's really hard to talk about this book without spoilers, but I'll do my best. I feel like this book was /almost/ there, but never quite made it.

Another book that's adjacent to this topic came out earlier this year, so i have to compare it to Annie Bot. Before I go too deep, I think Whoever You Are, Honey was a better novel. Both were incredibly uncomfortable in their treatment of sex and control bordering on abuse. While Annie was alone, Lena had Mitty and Bethel. I thought Gatwood's use of a generational lens was deft--where Mitty clearly saw something wasn't right from the way that Lena didn't eat to the way she went (for lack of a better word) on autopilot at times, Bethel saw two young women, both Lena and Mitty, without direction or sense of self.

Mitty is afraid she can't go home and Lena is terrified she isn't real. Mitty goes home, and Lena heads out on her own, but in the end, the conclusion feels unsatisfying, and that's even without mentioning the mentioned but dropped tech CEO murder plot.

Of the books exploring this theme that I've read this year, I like this one the best. But I know the genre has more to offer and more than gratuitous sex scenes and underbaked social commentary.

Olivia Gatwood's debut novel, Whoever You Are, Honey is an intriguing exploration of femininity, identity, friendship, and artificial intelligence. I knew very little about this book going in. Only that it was marketed as a thriller. After reading, it definitely didn't feel like that.

I was immediately lured in by the premise of a wealthy community, a mysterious couple next door, and the idea of a possible fembot. But what I found was a story with deeper meaning and suspense bubbling under the surface. It was definitely more literary with speculative elements thrown in. My feelings for the characters didn't change much over the course of the story. Instantly liking Mitty and Bethel as the quirky pair living amongst the tech elite, determined not to be bought out of the neighborhood. Mitty's background was intriguing to learn about including her rocky relationship with her mother. The new neighbors, Lena and Sebastian, don't appear to be different from any other couple, until Mitty and Lena strike up an unlikely friendship. As Mitty learns more about Lena and her fractured sense of self, she realizes their marriage is far from perfect. But it also causes her to reexamine her own unsettling past. In the end I felt sorry for Lena and her lack of understanding around her life, purpose, and identity. The way she identified was always through the lens of others, in particular, Sebastian.

I would have liked more unsettling scenes and a quicker pace. The ending was interesting but I would have preferred more of a conclusion with Lena's character. I was hopeful that Mitty would reconnect with her mother.

3/5⭐️⭐️⭐️

For readers who enjoy beautiful prose, slow-burning storylines, upmarket fiction.

"you're perfect, you're exactly what i've always wanted."

what does it mean to be perfect? and what does it mean to be human? what does it mean when you can't identify which parts of you are authentic and which are manufactured?

in her hauntingly relatable novel whoever you are, honey, olivia gatwood explores themes of loneliness and desire, and how the two are so deeply intertwined.

is a life really a life if you can't remember your past? is not remembering better than running from the past you don't want to remember? lina and mitty are each on a journey of self-discovery, searching for the answer.

•••
maybe i'm biased because i've followed olivia's poetry for years, but whoever you are, honey will undoubtedly make its way into my top books of 2024. i received an ARC from The Dial Press and originally rated the novel four stars. but after hearing olivia speak about the novel, her influences, and her process, i couldn't help but increase the rating to five.

i haven't stopped thinking about whoever you are, honey since i finished reading it. i wholeheartedly recommend this novel to every female who has found herself struggling to form an identity outside of the male gaze.

I thought the premise of Whoever You Are, Honey sounded really interesting and the synopsis definitely pulled me in. However the execution didn’t work for me and I decided to DNF at 40%. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the free book to review.

This is deeply boring. It’s like a stream of consciousness of this women with a past that obviously contains something traumatic and a set of new neighbors who pique her interest. But there’s just so much detail about nothing I cannot drag myself through any more.

Whoever You Are, Honey is a story with a twist, but the twist isn't the point. You may figure it out early on, but then you realize that it's only part of the larger story. Ultimately, it's a story about understanding and forgiving yourself.

Mitty is a young woman living a senior-citizen-life with actual senior citizen and longtime Santa Cruz resident Bethel. When Sebastian and Lena move in next door, Mitty begins a friendship with Lena and both women slowly reveal themselves to the other. The story moves quickly and really draws you in.

An intriguing mix of genre with a gap left for the reader to make their own conclusions. Olivia Gatwood's first trip into the world of novels centers around a group of people who seem to have nothing in common, only to find they are more alike than any of them would admit. The community Gatwood builds could be anywhere. There are neighborhoods being torn down and rebuilt as we speak that could be Santa Cruz' twins. As you mix the differing classes, whether financial, racial or ageist, ugly truths tend to surface. These women will learn to accept and then lean on each other as the story moves into more personal, individual tales of their journeys.
The story did tend to "lose" me a couple of times when I wasn't paying as close attention as I should have. This is not a book to breeze through, but it's definitely worth reading.