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!

This review has been posted to Goodreads and Storygraph on September 16th, 2024. Links provided.

I usually like to start these reviews with a persuasive first paragraph that summarizes the book. But to be honest, I really don’t know what I would even write if I tried to do that for Housemates.

I am going to try and provide my opinions as politely as possible but unfortunately, I really did not like this book. There were countless times that I truly contemplated just giving up, but I felt like I owed it to the author and publisher for giving me the opportunity to read an ARC and I didn’t feel I could give an honest review without finishing the book. While I know there is an audience out there that will enjoy and appreciate this book, I just struggled too much with the writing style, characters’ personalities, and plot to find any positive takeaways. After I finished the book I went back to NetGalley to look at the summary and I truly wondered if the person who wrote the summary and I read the same book. There were multiple times throughout the story that I either had to question who the author was even talking about or I had to roll my eyes at what felt like very pretentious characters. Also, I was honestly bored. From the beginning, I could not relate to any of the characters on a deeper level and so I just really had no motivation to care what happened one way or another. I am sad that this was my experience because I was originally really excited to read the book based off the summary. Hopefully, I am in the minority and more people will like this book than dislike it.

Thank you to Random House Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read to an ARC of Housemates in return for my honest review.

While Housemates contains a narrative with great potential, the book itself is unfortunately muddled by a frustrated framing device and puzzling choices about which moments and characters to focus on.

This introspective and engaging novel about two queer women traversing the PA landscape initially piqued my interest because I live in PA and Emma’s local.

Bernie (a photographer) and Leah (a writer) meet when they’re housemates. After Bernie’s famous photography mentor dies and leaves her his studio in rural PA, the pair set off across PA to chronicle their trip through photos/writing. I really liked the discussions about art and its impact on society. Emma's commentary about body image and the representation of a plus-sized character was illuminating as well. I"m also inspired to check out large format photography!

In life, people take the beauty in the everyday for granted. I adored how this book celebrated it, and created an engaging storyline around the idea. I was also thrilled to find out it was inspired by real-life lesbian photographer Berenice Abbott. I'm definitely going to read more about her.

There was a lot I really loved about this book, but also parts that didn't quite hit right for me. I loved the setting and character and sense of exploration woven throughout. Emma Copley Eisenberg's prose is beautiful, though at times meandering. This is a great fiction debut.

This was probably just not a good match for me. Literary fiction can be hit or miss for me as they usually require close attention and deep thought, things I’m maybe not good at. I think this was probably deep and meaningful to those who get this but I do not.

The point of view is a bit confusing to me. The narrator is a character who seems to be following (only sometimes literally) the main characters Bernie a Leah, two artists who become housemates. The narrator (is named eventually) is a photographer who is grieving the loss of her own “housemate,” not named but was a teacher. In her grief she becomes obsessed with the story of Bernie and Leah.

Bernie, a protege of a now disgraced famous photographer, moves into a house full of queer people. Leah, a writer, suggests a road trip across Pennsylvania to Bernie, partly to collect her inheritance from said famous photographer, part for a collaboration of photos and stories that will eventually bring success to the two.

The way this story told is very impersonal. The dialogue (with no quotation marks) is really stiff and emotionless. The way all the characters talk to each other is so odd, which might just be an artist thing, but doesn’t sound natural.

However I can admire some of the messages explored in this book. Leah’s journey in particular felt meaningful to me, from being nonbinary, fat, feeling under appreciated. Overall feeling like an object rather than a person. The plight of an artist is not anything I can relate to but I can appreciate it. Some commentary on social issues, grief, and poverty too, though I may have liked that explored more.

Overall I’d say this is… confusing. It was not entertaining, as I don’t believe it was meant to be, but it also wasn’t interesting enough for me to put in the effort to understand it on a deeper level. There is the weird narrator who is but isn’t part of the story, the dry dialogue, the jumping forward and backward in time. The technical aspects of photography and art in general. Like I said in the beginning, probably just not a good match for me, someone who (wants to be but sadly…) is not an intellectual or an artist. However I’m confident this will work for some people like it didn’t for me! 2.25 stars

I really wanted to love Housemates. The concept was right up my alley but sadly this one didn't work for me. The pacing was odd, as was the narration. Unfortunately, I didn't finish this one.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed the artistic aspect of the main characters but I couldn't engage much with them for me to care about what happened to them. I didn't really understand the point of the dual pov narration and felt like the descriptions were way too detailed to my liking. It was okay, definitely not what I was expecting.

This was such a fabulous read - I loved the queer road trip, the conversations about art, and the adaptation of two historical female artists.

This is a much beloved new release and I see why... there is great queer representation with a focus on the body and art and relationships.. and all that is messy between those things. I found that by the end of the book I was going to miss Leah and Bernie. Although much of what you know about them is told from the perspective of an outside narrator who is desperate for involvement in their story, you also see some really tender and vulnerable moments that really set the tone for the novel.

This is the kind of book that makes you want to go on a road trip, fall in love and make a bunch of mistakes in your 20s. And honestly even after that age too. I think this work grows on you and I would recommend to read it slowly. Let the lives soak in and get blurred with yours a little bit.

Thank you NetGalley and Hogarth for the ARC.

I tried two different times and got to about 38%, but I just couldn't get involved with the characters. This is unusual for me, but when it happens, I realize it's just not a book for me. I think I needed their individual personalities to connect a little more earlier in the story.

This is the only place I'm publicly sharing this review.

this one was hyped up a lot for me before it came into my hands, so it definitely had a lot to live up to. and it really did! i think this is one of very few recent books i can think of that intersperses queer pop culture in a way that doesn't feel premature and cringey, which is a feat. i really loved both the main characters, and even though photography is not an art form that i'm that well versed in, i came away with an appreciation for it.

This was beautifully written and I loved the queer representation. However, I just couldn’t connect to the characters. I felt like they were lacking depth unfortunately.

2.5 rounded up to 3 stars. This was a big letdown for me after hearing so many great things about it pre-release! This novel follows a home of roommates, two of which embark on a roadtrip to one's former disgraced professor's home who has left her a collection of her art upon his death. They turn the road trip into an art project with one contributing journalistic writing and the other photography along the way. This was an interesting commentary on art, how we create and consume it and who deserves to get to create art and whose we should consume yet it fell flat for me. The chapters were much too long, the plot felt slow, and I did not feel connected to the characters. I do believe many people will enjoy this book as there were such beautiful sentences I highlighted several that took my breath away and there was great commentary on gender, weight, and art in our society but these were not enough to make up for the unenjoyable reading experience for me.