Emma Copley Eisenberg’s debut novel Housemates follows Bernie, a photographer, and Leah, a writer, as they navigate friendship, art, and self-discovery while traveling across America. I love queer road trip movies and have yet to read a book set up that way so I was really excited to read this. It’s a physical/literal journey as well as an emotional one, for both the characters and the reader. Art is central and present throughout the novel which I loved. The characters are complex and their stories are nuanced, and I would recommend it to everyone who loves art and wants to read a spin on the classic road trip story.

I feel like everyone loved this but me. i just could not get on board with the plot, the characters, basically everything. thanks netgalley & the publisher for the arc in exchange for an honest review

Unfortunately I was unable to download this book before the archive date, so I'm not able to leave a review. I look forward to reading and reviewing books by this author in the future.

I just did not mesh well with this one. There were moments where I enjoyed the writing but the plot was very meandering, and I didn't connect with the characters. It's disappointing when I had heard such great things about it but I think this is very much a subjective dislike and I wouldn't dissuade anyone from it if they're interested.

Bernie replies to Leah's ad for a new housemate in Philedelphia, moving into a home full of fellow queers. The two form a strong bond over their mutual love of art and desire to capture the world around them; Leah, through her writing, and Bernie, through photography. After the sudden death of Bernie's former renowned yet currently disgraced photography professor Daniel Dunn, he leaves her with a complicated inheritance. Bernie and Leah decide to take a spontaneous road trip to his home in rural Pennsylvania. Along the way, they begin to make multiple stops to document rural America through photography and written language.

In the first few chapters of this book, I wasn't sure whether I was completely sold on the plot or writing style, but by the end I really fell in love with Bernie and Leah and their dedication to the arts and capturing the small "shimmers" around them. I think this may be one of the top books I have read this year, and recommend it to anyone who enjoys queer novels and literary fiction.

Everything everyone says about this book is true.

It’s an incredibly nostalgic and fun read about art and queerness and love and family and I am so insanely glad si read it.

On paper this book ticks so many boxes for me (queer main characters, my home city of Philly as a setting, young artists, and intergenerational friendships), but unfortunately, the prose wasn't for me. I felt lost in the descriptive language and confused by the all-knowing narrator. However, I know this is a favorite for fellow local readers and I am sure many folks will enjoy! For that reason, I won't be posting my review publicly.

DNF @ 35%, I was going to keep going on this until other reviews didn’t convince me it was going to get any better. High points were the lesbian haunted house concept and low points were not knowing who any of the characters were like ever… I could not tell the main characters apart they were so interchangeable in my head

A DNF for me, unfortunately. I keep trying to return, but it feels too rooted in “modern culture”. Trying a bit too hard to match a certain social scene than developing itself.

I've seen a lot of mixed reviews for this book, and for good reason. It is really compelling for a variety of reasons, but also has one fairly strong detraction, which is its strange hyper-attention on the body of one of the main characters. Leah is described in so many ways, but at almost every opportunity there is reference made to her body, her weight, her size in relation to other characters, even the shape of her fingers. It is relevant to the character in that her size informs the way she interacts with the world, but I just don't think it was necessary to fixate it on it to the degree that the author did. It was also strange because the author made several mentions to fatphobia (possibly as an attempt to counteract her stylistic choices being perceived negatively) but it was so over the top that it was hard to move past.

That being said (and really my strongest impression of the book), I did think this was an interesting portrayal of a younger queer community of artists, and the ways in which making truly impactful art is almost always an intersection between luck and skill. I thought the characters were distinct, and the omniscient but fully tangible narrator was an interesting choice as well. Overall the writing was strong (minus the deployment of every known synonym for fat), and the story was well executed. I think enjoyment will be dependent on how much the issue discussed above affects your reading experience.

I was so excited to start this book after hearing really great things about it on tiktok but after reading the first 50 pages or so I was unable to finish it. This has nothing to do with the writer/writing themselves, as the prose was interesting, it just wasn't for me.

Nostalgic in the best of ways. Wonderfully written, this book tells the story of a group of housemates and their way of living together that is at times humorous, tender, and so relatable. I particularly enjoyed the build between Bernie and Leah's relationship during their road trip, and the mixing in of their passions- photography and writing. This read was an intimate queer portrayal of a slice of life. Highly recommend for all collections and queer literary fans. The audiobook is absolutely excellent as well.

This multilayered sapphic road trip novel is a delightful surprise that plays with the themes of queer ancestry, embodiment, American politics, photography, and the artistic life. Bernie and Leah’s drive across Pennsylvania is inspired by a real-life historical trip taken by photographer Bernice Abbott and art critic Elizabeth McCausland, but Bernie and Leah are ultra-modern and grounded in the concerns of the frantic present. The characters’ journey toward both relational intimacy and artistic collaboration guides the trajectory of this enthralling debut novel.

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

Struggled quite a lot with lenghty descriptions and with the style used to report dialogues between the characters. Also, it is not stated that it is inspired by the true story of two women who took a similar adventure in the 30s, which I think would have made me engage better with the book

I loved the surprisingly haunting elements of this book. This was sweet, slow, and hot and humid. I loved the patience in this book, the journey, and the destination.

This was a surprisingly good book and a strange one too. It's pitched as a road trip novel but not much of it takes place on the road, and the trip doesn't extend beyond Pennsylvania. I enjoyed reading and found it very absorbing - I loved reading about the ritual of large format photography and how Bernie's narrative describes Leah's fatness (with really positive and sensual words) which I never see!

This was sweet- did not make a huge impact on me personally, but could see myself recommending this one to patrons.

I just couldn't get into this book no matter how much I tried. I just fundamentally did not click with the writing style and found that difficult to overcome. I was really excited for this one, but I think it just wasn't a fit for me.

What a lovely, quiet novel. Eisenberg's prose was absolutely stunning and fit the themes of the story, particularly the characters' conversations about art, so well. I do feel that the characters were lacking a bit of depth-hence missing a 5 star rating-but at times the story felt larger than the characters themselves. Also really appreciated the tidbits about queer culture; they felt natural and lended themselves to the story. Overall, I would recommend this novel! And it's a great road-trip read.

Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC!