This just wasn't for me. I like the premise but it wasn't what I thought it would or could be. I feel like the book wanted to make a commentary on AI and trad wife content that's progressing in our society but ultimately doesn't hit the mark.

Solid read for me! The writing was descriptive without being too flowery or purple. The characters were easy to connect with while also being imperfect. Had no idea this was a sapphic book which was a nice surprise. I saw one of the plot turns coming, but that didn't affect my read. It took on larger themes —Al, technology, class—while still keeping the story relatively small and contained (in terms of plot). The ending didn't quite make the landing or have the impact I wanted or that I thought it could have, but it wasn't a hugely disappointing ending or anything.

3.5 rounding up. Exquisitely, if sometimes over, written. I came to know Olivia Haywood through her poetry, and I'm not a typical poetry fan so that's saying something. You can tell she's a poet reading this, but I men's it mostly as a compliment.

Mitty was such an interesting character to me, and her and Bethel's friendship turned found family relationship was really compelling. I think moreso than being a straightforward sci-fi or even a very close look at AI etc. this is just so much a book about shame and the way it controls us. A deep character study, definitely of Mitty and towards the end, Lena as well.

I like that you don't get any clear cut answers with this one. I felt like I knew where things were headed from the jump, and there was something weirdly satisfying about never being told explicitly if I was right or not.

For such a short book, I will say I found it a bit repetitive and the looming secret of Mitty's past isn't as big and bad as I was waiting for it to be. Those bits kept me from fully loving this one, but I'm excited to see Olivia Gatwood write more novels. I think she's got a sharp voice and I can't wait to see what she has to say.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an advance copy in exchange for honest feedback

Thank you to Penguin Randomhouse Canada and Netgalley for an e-ARC! Here are my thoughts.

Lena and Sebastian are new to Santa Cruz. Sebastian is highly successful in the tech industry and Lena is following along with his dreams. Soon, she becomes friends with her strange neighbor Mitty and Lena starts recognizing that some things in her life aren’t adding up.

It is hard to believe that this novel is a debut. The pacing, setting and character dynamics felt like that of a seasoned pro. The four main characters felt like people you may run into in life. Each had complex backgrounds which directly influenced their choices and patterns. Very satisfying to read. The author provided some glimpses into the past to so that readers could understand the characters even more.

I really liked the unlikely friendship between Lena and Mitty, and it was hard to tell what that relationship would evolve into. This added to the unique strangeness to the novel which had me wanting to find out what happens next. There are some dark moments and some scenes that will stick with me, but they felt like they were perfectly placed amidst the calm, sunny Santa Cruz backdrop.

Overall, this book was a pleasant surprise. I will be keeping an eye out for Olivia Gatwood’s next book because she balances the realistically strange with the glamorous quite seamlessly.

This is not a book I would typically seek out due to some of its themes. I was glad I was proven wrong when I agreed to read it. Check it out.

Love weird and all the ugly ways we humans think and this was just that. So unapologetic. Strange. Hard to read at times. A little confusing. Very into it!

I recieved an egalley of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Gatwood's writing is beautiful, and I think this book had potential, but so much of it was unexplored. This is particularly true of the AI/Stepford Wife element. I feel like she barely scratched the surface, both in terms of plot and analysis. Character-driven novels without much plot don't typically bother me, but this book didn't offer much of anything - none of the characters did much reflecting or growing.

3.5 stars.

I became a fan of Olivia Gatwood years ago, through her spoken word poetry online. When I found out that she was releasing a book, I was immediately interested.

As to be expected with Gatwood, the prose was gorgeous. She is able to articulate such specific emotions and experiences in a way that feels so disarming. My favorite aspect of the book was Mitty's relationships with other women. Her dynamic with Bethel was complex and quite touching. Mitty's growing curiosity of Lena was fascinating, especially seeing it paralleled to her relationship with Esme. I really enjoyed the themes of loneliness/otherness. Throughout the story, we see Mitty feel so separated from those around her and exist mainly as a spectator, rather than an active participant. It's interesting seeing how that plays a part in Mitty's struggle to interact with other women and have that typical closeness that many female friendships have.

While I do ultimately like this story and how it ended, I do wish there were more climatic moments, particularly in regards to Lena's arc. I do feel like her storyline ended up being anticlimactic and I was left disappointed that it didn't go farther. I also wish that the sci-fi elements were more present in the story. Since the AI aspect has such a huge influence on the plot, I do wish we got to learn more about it. There were so many questions left unanswered and I do understand that it was purposely done. However, it feels a bit unsatisfying, especially considering how much time was put in setting up all of these questions.

All in all, I did really enjoy my time reading this book. There are going to be certain moments that I will think about for a while. I look forward to whatever Olivia Gatwood writes next.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Random House for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publishing Company for this Advanced Readers Copy of Whoever You Are, Honey by Olivia Gatwood!

At no point in this book could I have predicted where it would end. So much of the book was spent exploring the nuances of inhabiting a female body in the world, but there was an important (if brief) discussion of artificial intelligence and tech culture in the Bay Area, too. I was left wanting more from the ending (some answers, perhaps) but in the end the book was both intriguing and thought-provoking.

I can't think of any specific "read this if you liked this" recs off the top of my head, but it did make me want to rewatch the movie Ex Machina.

Thank you to the Dial Press for the opportunity to read and review!

I did enjoy this book, I just didn’t fall in love with it. I did really enjoy the concept and the writing. I would gladly pick up more from this author and recommend to people interested in weird girl lit fic.

Whoever You Are, Honey is both a literary reflection on women's treatment in society and a slow-moving mystery told through character study. The stories of the two protagonists, Lena and Mitty, intersect but don't exactly align. Lena, girlfriend to tech founder Sebastian, moves into Mitty's neighborhood and the two become friends over a shared curiosity of the other. As the story progresses, Lena starts to suspect that the gaps in her memory are because she is, in fact, a sentient AI; her boyfriend's treatment of her would certainly suggest as much. Mitty has her own secrets hidden in her past and revealed piecemeal over the course of the book.

If you're coming to this book for science fiction, you might be disappointed. Artificial intelligence is merely a backdrop to the literary themes explored in the book. Contrary to how its advertised, I wouldn't call this book a thriller, either, especially but not only, because it's a lot less plot-focused than character-focused. However, if you enjoy a quiet, slow mystery, feminist themes, and strong character work, this might be up your alley.

This book is beautifully written and flows in a way that keeps the reader engaged. I like the themes of female friendship and empowerment but felt they could have been explored more deeply and specifically. It's classified as sci-fi and it does go a bit off the rails at the end, but it really lives more in the realm of lit fic in my opinion.

This was beautifully written! Really stunning, to the point where several moments caused me to pause and really take in what I had just read, The story itself leans about 90% of the time into the "girl realizes she isn't totally alive" trope, which worked well for me. I eat that sh*t up. But occasionally the pacing felt weird, and I'd fall out of the narrative, momentarily.
Overall, an ambitious little novel, which felt poetic in nature. I like it more than most of the AI novels I've picked up, recently.
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A literary fiction novel that nearly reads like a thriller. Mitty, in her late twenties rooms with elderly Bethel, who has developed a few quirks over her life, but is really the only friend Mitty has. Until lonely seeming Lena moves in with her boyfriend in the "Dollhouse" next door. Lots of secrets to uncover in this little book. But it's not only about secrets - it's also about friendship, accepting mistakes and forgiving yourself, and learning about oneself.

I really enjoyed this novel. Bethel and Mitty had a sweet, if sometimes strained, relationship. In the end, it made me feel a little like I was missing something like that in my own life. The things going on in Lena's life - her boyfriend's tech career, etc - I felt it left a little too much to the imagination, maybe a little too much left unsaid by the end of the book. In all, I felt it was a creative novel with excellent characters you can grow to care about, written with nice prose that sometimes felt like you were floating on a 1960s dream. Definitely one I'll be picking up a physical copy of.

Although well written, Whoever You Are, Honey, by Olivia Gatwood was not my favorite read. The premise was a good one but I just couldn’t get behind the characters. Mitty and her elderly roommate Bethel live in the worst house on the best block. Their home is in shambles and the houses all around them are giant, glass mansions of the tech elite. They have nothing in common with their new neighbors Sebastian and Lena. Sebastian is a tech guy and his wife beauty is distracting. Lena though, has concerns about her perfect life. Memory loss and Sebastian’s control issues has her very worried. Mitty has her own concerns and secrets. The two become friends though and things become even stranger. They bond over their past and what the future will be. Perfection, desirability, friends, lines get distorted, views get blurry. It might just be me but this wasn’t a fit for me. It almost seemed like it was trying to be dystopian. It lost me at places and at points it did not seem to make much sense. But I always love the chance to read any book and read books that are from authors to me. Overall this was a 3 star read for me, it just fell flat. I want to thank Netgalley, Olivia Gatwood and Random House Publishing-Random House for my copy, for an honest review. It was my pleasure to read and review this book.

This was a strange but entertaining story. I'm still not sure what happened at the end, which i love and hate at the same time. The characters were interesting and realisticly mutlilayered.

Whoever You Are, Honey by Olivia Gatwood is a dark, thought-provoking debut that explores how women construct their identities in the shadows of love, friendship, and technology. Gatwood’s writing is captivating, and she nails the tension of living under the scrutiny of both people and algorithms. However, while the novel touches on compelling themes of power and desirability in a hyper-digital world, it doesn’t break much new ground. Interesting and well-written, but it ultimately left me wanting a bit more depth and insight.

This is one of those books that you slowly come to realize is actually a real life horror story in the making. Set in the very not so distant future, this explores what it's like being a woman in an age where reality is becoming virtual and digital is becoming all encompassing. I really enjoyed it, and it has left me with a lot to think about.