Mitty lives a fairly quiet life with her elderly housemate, Bethel, in Santa Cruz. Over the past decade they've watched as tech bros snatch up all of the local properties, while there own slowly sinks toward decrepitude. But Mitty and Bethel carry on as they ever have, watching local access cable together and fielding the occasional call from Mitty's mother.

But Mitty's life starts to shift when the neighboring home is purchased by a wealthy tech founder and his beautiful -- but slightly odd -- girlfriend, Lena. Despite concerns from Bethel, Mitty begins to form a friendship with Lena. The two women may not have much in common on the surface, but Mitty is haunted by a past she wishes she could forget, and Lena from one she can't remember.

This book is an interesting character study of these two women. There is very little in the way of plot, but the reader will be intrigued to know what sent Mitty into exile a decade earlier and what lies at the root of Lena's quirks. However, readers need to be prepared not to receive all of the answers to their questions.

This is one of those books that is difficult for me to say whether or not I liked it. It was an interesting read, very slow at times, but with well-drawn characters. It is definitely more of a lit fic book than a mystery or sci-fi.

And confession, I picked this book for its cover. That is one gorgeous cover.

This review week be posted to Goodreads and Instagram (@goodquietkitty) on July 14, 2024.

I understand what the story was trying to do but it just didn't get there. I thought the twists were obvious and I was bored most of the time. Personally I think this would have been better if the story only focused on Lena and how she navigated her new reality.

3.75/5
Whoever You Are, Honey by Olivia Gatwood is a tale of friendship and secrets with a touch of mystery and sci-fi.

Mitty has been living with her elderly roommate, Bethel, since her mom dropped her off a decade ago. They're an eclectic pair plodding along in their eclectic home. Mitty is curious as always when she notices new neighbors moving in.

In their beautiful beach community of Santa Cruz, tech moguls come and go, but something seems different with Sebastian and Lena. Mitty can't help but be drawn to Sebastian's seemingly perfect girlfriend. It's not long before the unlikely pair become friends, sharing secrets they haven't dared to share with anyone else.

Whoever You Are, Honey is a book of secrets. Why is Mitty living with Bethel? What is Mitty hiding from? And what's with the new neighbors?? It was an interesting read, but I wanted more. I don't want to give away anything, but I find Sebastian and Lena's story so intriguing. I'd also love to know more about Pax - his back story, his relationship with his business partner, and how he ended up where he did. I have so many questions!

Read this if you like:
•  MCs with a dark, questionable past
•  Dual timelines
•  Books with a little sci-fi twist
•  Books that delve into female friendship

Available today! Many thanks to The Dial Press for the digital ARC!

The setting is a dystopian landscape, high technology and as AI infiltrates our world, so too do emotions and relationships. The themes explored here are how are we connected and what does our past represent? It is a more female-centered version of the TV show "Her." That said, I did find it a bit hard to follow. I re-read sections often as it was difficult to remember the "rules" of the universe. Mitty and Bethel are roommates, the new couple next door is Sebastian and Lena. Over a slow burn, we realize more about their past and their memories. It was tough to grasp that the author is making parallels between how women alter themselves to best suit culture and society with how AI does this by algorithm. Really interesting descriptions like, "her hair was the color of oysters." (girl- what). And commentary like "Do women have to like each other to be friends?" (wow- no...?)
Thanks to NetGalley and Dial Press for the ARC.

I enjoyed this book! The writing style is very interesting and ominous. Felt as though the first half didn’t have much going on, almost like there’s almost too much happening to make sense of what was really occurring but enough for it keep me interested to figure out the endgame. The ending left more to be desired and was too rushed. When everything came together towards the end, it was like the buildup took up 90% of the book and then 5% of the characters trying to digest what happened and then the rest was just the wrap up for the entire book.

🎬 Read this if you like:
Made for Love
Dead to Me
⏰ Best time to read:
After a trip to Santa Cruz, or, if you’ve forgotten where you came from, anytime
📝 Themes:
Female Friendship, Big Tech Gentrification, AI, Coastal California, LGBTQ+, Dual Timelines, Adult Coming-Of-Age
👍 What I liked:
Santa Cruz, CA (where the book is set) is my favorite place in the world. Santa Cruz is like its own character in the book, and Gatwood nails it.
❓ Synopsis: Mitty and Bethel are roommates living in a ramshackle home on the Santa Cruz coast. Their neighbors are usually vacationers, but a new couple with tech money from AI moves in next door. Mitty and stay-at-home girlfriend Lena become friendly and, together, they learn to face their pasts and the things that brought them to Santa Cruz in the first place.
📣 Review: Gatwood’s love letter to Santa Cruz is a lyrical warning against the rise of tech. The kooks irrevocably changed San Francisco and are threatening to do the same to Santa Cruz, but how much has tech changed us as human beings? And why do we now hide the things that make us most human? When do we become tech ourselves? These questions and the relationships in this book captivated me. Gatwood’s character-driven novel also has one of the most beautiful conclusions I’ve read.

Like so many others I was instantly in love with this cover and I’m so glad I did because this book is a beautiful masterpiece. I will say if you go into this wanting high Sci-fi elements personally I think you will be disappointed. To me this made me think Black Mirror lite. This really focuses on women’s relationships with both themselves other females. We switch povs between Mitty who living with an older woman in a beach town that has been over run with the techie elite living in minimalist glass houses and Lena who lives across the street with her controlling boyfriend. I fell in love with these women as they start their journey of self discovery. This story had me feeling horrified and heartbroken at the same time. I will say if you like solid answers this book might disappoint you but I enjoyed that a lot is left up to your imagination. I this the Weird Girl book girlies will eat this one up!!! Thank you to NetGally and the Publishers for the advanced copy for review.

Whoever You Are, Honey by Olivia Gatwood is an intriguing debut novel.
The writing is excellent, and while not exactly a page-turner, the book kept me interested.
I thoroughly enjoyed and was hooked for the entirety of this story and can only commend the author on writing a superb book.

Thank You NetGalley and Random House | The Dial Press for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

For 10 years Mitty has lived with her elderly roommate, Bethel, on the Santa Cruz waterfront. They’re the oddball pair in a dilapidated bungalow, the last vestiges of a town taken over by the tech elite. A new couple, Lena and Sebastian, move in next door and, as Mitty and Lena form a close friendship they are both forced to face their pasts.

This book is rather strange and unusual as is the cover but I was totally immersed in it. We know from early on that both Mitty and Lena have secrets and their pasts are slowly revealed. The writing was lovely and the characters were interesting but, other than Lena and Mitty, not fully developed. I found I wanted to know more about Bethel than Mitty. And that ending ... once again I'm left scratching my head. Still, it was enjoyable and I'll be on the lookout for future novels by Olivia Gatwood.

I actually didn't notice until after I started reading that this book is classified as science fiction, a genre I rarely read, but obviously I need to start thinking outside the box! I didn't get much of a sci-fi vibe from it in any case.

My thanks to Madison Dettlinger, Penguin Random House, via Netgalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this novel. All opinions expressed are my own.
Publication Date: July 9, 2024

Whoever You Are, Honey by Olivia Gatwood is the story of Mitty, a young woman made a victim of the worst thing she feels she’s ever done, who lives lightly in Santa Cruz with a mysterious family friend amid multimillion dollar homes that often remain empty. One day while engaging in her practice of looking in other people’s windows, she encounters Lena through the glass. Lena, a perfect looking oddball and her techpreneur boyfriend, Sebastian have fled the bustle of San Francisco following some unpleasantness and mystery. The enmeshing of Mitty and Lena’s lives reveal a dark examination of technological progress, feminine identity and loneliness. Gatwood, primarily known to me as a poet, crafts beautiful sentences that are perfectly paced for each moment. The author crafts a dangerous narrative with characters with beating hearts and humid bodies who need to know with their whole hearts that the world is a forgiving place as long as you find a way to move through it. Whoever You Are, Honey is a thrilling read for fans of looking in people’s windows and for readers who feel one or two steps outside of time.
Thank you to Random House/Dial Press and NetGalley for an e-ARC of this title!

"Whoever You Are, Honey" is an entrancingly dark tale that weaves a story of unexpected companionship and unsettling transformation. Mitty, a troubled young woman, finds solace living with Bethel, her mother’s elderly friend, in a quaint house by the sea.

Their serene life is disrupted when the dazzling and affluent couple, Sebastian and Lena, move into the ultramodern mansion next door. The narrative explores the stark contrast between Mitty’s introspective world and the glamorous facade of her new neighbors, unraveling a dystopian journey of self-discovery for both Mitty and Lena.

Perfect for readers intrigued by the uncanny and profound, this novel offers a uniquely strange yet compelling experience. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Random House | The Dial Press for this eARC! I had been seeing bits and pieces about this book, and it's so relevant in this digital age, especially regarding AI. This was such a fascinating book, with eery/sci-fi elements mixed with Stepford Wives vibes. I really enjoyed this book! I can't wait to read more fiction from Olivia!

I’ll start by saying this book is written beautifully and flows in a way that keeps you wanting to read more. The actual content of the book is what’s problematic and didn’t work for me. It’s labeled as Sci-Fi and I wouldn’t call it that at all. It’s barely Sci-Fi adjacent. If Lena was changed a bit, this could’ve been a beautiful contemporary fiction about female empowerment.

Bethel and Mitty are roommates/chosen family and we aren’t sure how they got to be this way. The story of their past is told through flashbacks from Mittys pov, although these focus on an ex named Esme, and eventually we find out how Mitty’s mom met Bethel. I’d rather have had this part told outright because I didn’t feel like there was a great payoff in holding that information to the end. I also didn’t care about Esme or that relationship, and the “big awful thing” Mitty did to end up with Bethel seemed silly.

Now we get to Sebastian and Lena. Sebastian was the more interesting of the two, but this is supposed to be female centric so it makes sense he wasn’t explored more. Lena is lonely and looking for friends so she gravitates to Mitty once she meets her. The “twist” wasn’t a twist for me at all, it was blatantly obvious from the get go, and I actually was more shocked to find out other readers didn’t realize Lena’s situation just from reading the synopsis. Even this though once it was revealed, was wrapped up in a few pages and left open which was completely unsatisfying and made me care even less than I did before.

The most interesting storyline was the murder of Sebastian’s friend and tech co-founder, Pax, and that is barely given a second thought past the funeral scene.

Overall the writing quality here is wonderful, the story is lacking. I’d try this author again in a few books should she release more. Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The tenderness and solidarity of womanhood in different contexts and configurations, and the horrors of men in every single one!
"We have to reassure them of their own mortality, while also allowing them to briefly believe that what they're eating is real. And in order to do that? We have to give it blood."
I love this book, I love the exploration of self and identity and what it means to be you in a world where we're constantly consuming content and are so plugged into the opinions of others. It was The Curse meets Annie Bot meets Ex Machina meets Stepford Wives, and so gorgeously written. The prose in this book is just so lovely, you can really tell it was written by a poet.

I'm not sure what to make of this. It's sort of sci fi, it's a mystery of sorts, it's AI and so on but the characters-Mitty, Beryl, Lena and Sebastian- are interesting, This highlights the tension between old and new and the ways that tech can broaden that gap. Or narrow it. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. For fans of literary fiction.

The Santa Cruz waterfront is perfect. All of the houses are beautiful and flawless, just like the couples inside. All of the house, except for one. MItty and Bethal have managed to live secluded for years after a traumatic youth. Now, they have strong Big Edie and Little Edit vibes in their bungalow. They are the last hints at a life before tech.

Lena and Sebastian move in next door. Lena is beautiful, almost floating through life. Sebastian is a tech founder, just like all of the others. Lena is growing a little tired of Sebastian and his control issues, plus, she has a odd spotty memory of her youth. She meets Mitty and the two women form a close bond that helps the other with their healing.

All the while, let us not forget this is in the heart of Silicon Valley. Tech rules everything and not everything is as it seems.
----

That's all I can say. Not everything is as it seems. :)

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Whoever You Are, Honey is a beautifully written book that as soon as I started reading it, I felt like I’d known these characters my entire life.

In this story we follow Mitty who’s living with her family friend Bethel in a small seaside neighborhood in Santa Cruz.. While Mitty is running from her past, Bethel seems stuck in hers. Once new neighbors move in and the captivating Lena is dropped into their lives, these characters will question what it means to be and does the path behind us define us.

Whoever You Are, Honey by Olivia Gatwood is a measured character study that explores the relationships between women. This is a recommended debut novel that flirts with being a thriller and science fiction dystopian.

After some incident when she was eighteen, Mitty left Arizona for to stay with an old friend of her mother's, Bethel in her dilapidated oceanfront home in Santa Cruz. She hasn't been home since. Mitty is now in her late twenties while Bethel is in her late seventies. A new couple has just moved into the house next door, Lena and Sebastian. Sebastian is a renowned tech founder and Lena is his perfect girlfriend. Mitty observed the couple after they moved in and soon she and Lena meet and begin to spend time together, forming a friendship.

The narrative revolves around Mitty and Lena, their friendship and the secrets they both have. Mitty is hiding a secret and is hesitant to make friends because of it. Lena is uncomfortable with her uneven memory and the control Sebastian has over her. The plot is rather slow paced, basic, and Lena's secret is very predictable early on. I kept reading because the quality of the writing is excellent. I was expecting the pace, tension and action to increase and wanted to know Mitty's secret.

Whoever You Are, Honey would have benefited from more action, progression in the plot and the inclusion of more science fiction elements to build up tension while keeping the poetic language. What we have is beautiful, lyrical language about loneliness, friendship, memories, and seeking perfection. The inclusion of AI is very basic has been done before and with much more intensity, credibility, and caution. This wasn't a good fit for me. Thanks to Dial Press for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley . My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

The review will be published on Edelweiss, X, Barnes & Noble and Amazon.

Whoever You Are, Honey is a bit of a difficult novel to explain.

In this story, we follow Mitty, a young woman who lives in a house with her elderly roommate Bethel. They’ve formed a good friendship and quiet life over the last 10 years in the last house that hasn’t been taken over my tech-bros. Their world is about to change though when a young couple moves into the house next door. Sebastian is a tech founder and his girlfriend Lena just floats along in their lifestyle. She starts to become weary of her surroundings, her memory is spotty and she doesn’t like the way Sebastian closely controls their lives. As Mitty and Lena become friends, they start to confront their troubled backgrounds and make sense of the world they’re living in.

I had a tough time with this one. This story is a slow burn and very much a character study. The plot is thin and it’s more about the characters themselves. I wanted a bit more story for this one. in the end, it felt like it didn’t amount to very much and it ended fairly abruptly without much being answered. I heard this book is being adapted, but I think it is going to a tough adaptation.

I didn’t hate what we are given here, but I just wanted much more than the author gives.

Thank you to Random House Publishing and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

2.5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for this ARC.

Mitty and Bethel live in a run-down house on the beach in Santa Cruz, California. They are one of the few original houses on the block, flanked by newer, more contemporary homes for the Silicon Valley tech giants.

Through the story, readers are taken back to Mitty’s beginning and the reasons for her departure from Arizona. Mitty is several decades younger than Bethel, and Bethel provides a safe place for Mitty. At the same time, we meet Lena and Sebastian. They have moved into the glass house on the street. He works in the tech industry and we learn that his close friend was murdered.

I was confused reading Whoever You Are, Honey. There are multiple storylines in the novel, and I thought there was going to be some connection between them all. Mitty and Lena develop a friendship, and it appears that she is finding herself in a situation similar to why she left Arizona. I thought the murder of Sebastian’s friend was going to reveal something about Sebastian. The ending didn’t bring ideas together and left me feeling more perplexed. I appreciate Olivia Gatwood’s poetry, but this book was a miss for me.