I received this book via NetGalley and I am so thankful.
This is a road trip novel about two girls Leah and Bernie, both are artists. Bernie is a photographer and Leah is a writer. They meet as Housemates and go on a road trip to photograph and write about what they see. The details are so well done and not overly descriptive. The way she talked about photography and writing drew me in. Along with Bernie and Leah as characters. They could be annoying and unlikeable at times but I couldn’t help love them.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the eARC of Housemates by Emma Copley Eisenberg – available May 28, 2024.

Housemates TL;DR:
🎨 Artistic Exploration and Friendship
🔭 Search for Identity and Meaning
📝 Mixed Execution and Evocative Prose

When Leah advertises for a new housemate in West Philadelphia, Bernie responds, sparking a unique and undefinable friendship rooted in their shared passion for art. Leah, a writer, and Bernie, a photographer, embark on a road trip after Bernie inherits a complex legacy from her former professor. Their journey through rural Pennsylvania becomes a quest to capture America's essence through words and images, bringing them face-to-face with a diverse array of individuals. Housemates is a heartfelt coming-of-age tale exploring youth, freedom, and the transformative power of art and love.

Eisenberg's exploration of themes like friendship, community, and purpose were intriguing, yet I couldn't help but notice the uneven execution. The introspective style felt like a slog, leaving me yearning for a more engaging narrative. Confusing, too, was the novel's narrator whose purpose and perspective kept shifting as the story moved along.

However, Eisenberg's evocative prose breathed life into the characters' artistic pursuits and budding romance, while also delving into themes of friendship, community, and the search for meaning. Despite pacing issues and a large cast, Housemates offers a unique exploration of contemporary life that will surely find an audience to resonate with.

Favorite book of 2024 so far and honestly, it's going to be hard to top this one. A story centering on the relationship of Leah and Bernie, two artists in different genres who start out as housemates and then become something more. And all told through the lens of a queer elder, who saw the beginnings of their budding collaboration and romance, while reflecting on how far visible queerness has come and yet, how much further we have to go. All the while witnessing Bernie come into her own power through rectifying with the tainted memory of her problematic mentor, Daniel Dunn.

As someone who is an artist and has been in a few relationships with their queer collaborators, this book perfectly reflects the nuance of being involved with a fellow artist. But I think the thing that really pulled me in and held be tight was the fat + queer representation in the book and how I felt seen more so than any other book I've ever read.

Also, I really LOVED the shout outs to Nan Goldin and her body of work.

I cannot recommend this book enough and honestly, will fight anyone who doesn't unabashedly love it.

Thank you NetGalley & Hogarth for the ARC!

Oh did I enjoy this book so much. This is the type of literary fiction novel I devour. Leah (writer) and Bernie (photographer) are on a road trip capturing rural Pennsylvania. Every moment of this book I felt like I was there with them. The details are so well done and not overly description. It truly felt like I was watching a movie-that’s the best way I can describe it.

It was a melancholy read for me which I tend to really like — it’s the same feeling I had reading Normal People which is one of my favorite books. (It also does not use quotations, like that book which doesn’t bother me but I know can be an issue for some).

It celebrates life, love, queerness, bodies and art. It’s heartwarming and heartbreaking and all the emotions in between.

The only issue I had was trying to tie together the narrator and their connection / story to the greater plot. It was an interesting POV but I wasn’t entirely sure why we were hearing it through them, however it didn’t necessarily take anything away from the story.

Thank you NetGalley & Hogarth publishing for the e-ARC!

This book is a beautiful exploration of connection, art and cohabitation. Bernie and Leah’s journey to Daniel Dunn’s home in rural Pennsylvania is the perfect backdrop for their own personal growth. Daniel was Bernie’s photography professor and he, to her surprise, leaves an inheritance to her. Bernie and Leah decide to use this as an opportunity to document, through photos and written word, the American landscape and experience. I highly recommend this book and how it encapsulates identity and sexuality in current day America.

I wanted to like this book more than I did. I really struggled with the lack of quotation marks more than I want to admit.

the choice to use an omnipotent narrator strips a lot of the emotion out of story for me. in life, there are often these shifts that lead people to where they are meant to be, but in the moment it's hard to see that for what it is. i don't want to be told when these moments occur and wanted to feel them shift. it's like when someone explains a piece of art to you when you wanted to experience it for yourself, which is ironic because housemates is rife with commentary on what art means. i did appreciate discussions of how people who have bigger bodies are perceived though.

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing me with this arc! it turned out the writing style was not for me. I love the cover and the premise however, so while it wasn't for me, it might be for you!

"Housemates" by Emma Copley Eisenberg was so unbelievably close to being a 5 star for me. This story follows housemates, Leah and Bernie, as they go on a road trip in an effort to refuel their passion in art, all funded by grant money. But it is so much more than that. Eisenberg made an interesting choice deciding to take the reader on this journey over the course of three parts with the addition of an omnipresent narrator.

My biggest issue with this novel came forward in the acknowledgements and I haven't decided how I feel about it. As it turns out, this novel is deeply rooted in the lives of Elizabeth McClausland, art critic/writer, and Berenice Abbott, photographer, and her "Changing New York" art series. I almost feel duped because I thought Eisenberg's novel came solely from her ideas/thoughts instead of being a modernized imagining. However, it was partly my fault that I wasn't aware of the muses or their work. On one hand, I'm glad I can go deepdive into the history behind the story. On the other, I just wish Eisenberg had included an Author's Note at the beginning of the book; I'm sure I'm not the only person unaware of the influences. I will say, the choice of the narrator made all the more sense after the revelation of the real life influences.

This was the first novel featuring the pandemic that didn't make me cringe. Same thing goes for the social justice elements. It was all done in a way that was informative, without being too real or satirical. The way Eisenberg was able to feature human emotion was phenomenal. I wrote down no less than ten quotes, when I don't normally write down any. This is the type of novel that just gets better the more time you spend away from it. The defining characteristic of a great novel.

I know I'll be trying to get my hands on a physical copy as soon as it is published. I need to reread it with the insight the acknowledgements gave me.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the eARC.

I didn't like the way this book started out with basically stalking. And the lack of quotation marks is harder for me to read than it used to be.

Thanks to NetGalley and publisher for the opportunity to read and review.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

Unfortunately I couldn't get into this one. The writing style and omnipotent narrator were not for me. I thought the stalker-ish vibes of the first few chapters were very off putting. This might be a good read for others but unfortunately it was not for me.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

This lands around 3.5 stars for me. Emma Copley Eisenberg’s writing is beautiful and tender. Housemates is based on Abbott and McCauseland, a queer couple who were known for their Changing New York project. Housemates, however, starts in 2018 and is a modern take on a roadtrip novel following housemates Bernie and Leah as they photograph Pennsylvania and share their work during the start of the pandemic.

Some aspects of this really work for me- and honestly I imagine this book lends itself to deeper study. Every now and then I read something and wish I were back in college English courses with the time and peers to really dig in, and this is one of those novels.

For a more casual read, the pace of the plot can be a little tediously slow. I like character driven novels, but at times I struggled to maintain engagement. I will also warn that readers who struggle with dialogue without quotation will find that here, as well. My last note is that the omnipotent narrator is a little confusing and unclear in purpose at times. I was unaware of the historical reference of the characters while reading and I think it makes more sense given that inspiration but can imagine others will struggle with this as well.

I do think this is a beautiful novel with a lot to say about queerness and art. I may just not have been the ideal reader, or I may just not have read it in the right setting to fully appreciate it.

I love a gay road trip book and this one did not disappoint! I'm so impressed with the way Bernie and Leah were written, their characters had depth, complexity, and felt so real. I loved how their relationship progressed, and I had a lot of fun learning about large format photography while reading. I will admit, I was not very keen on the third person narration that was interspersed throughout. I feel as though the story could have flowed more without these interruptions.

I liked this book, although I did find reading it to be hard work. The third person omniscient narrator added an interesting element to me, but other structural and grammatical choices made it a demanding read. You can see the arc of the story from the outset, but it remains an interesting journey.

I loved that it did not shy away from the bodies of these characters, the physicality grounded the story in contrast to the more philosophical sections. You spend a significant amount of time exploring the interiority of the main characters of the book, and this makes them very dynamic and real. The choice of large format photography was compelling and the real life individuals behind Bernie and Leah made for a fun rabbit hole after I finished the book. I found the tone and pacing similar to Brandon Taylor’s The Late Americans.

I've never read anything like Housemates--from its incredible cover to the found family roadtrip that shapes this story. I first saw Housemates on BookTok, and I'm so glad I did. Eisenberg is truly unmatched!

Really looking forward to seeing this book on shelves next month.

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for the ARC!

I loved the overall message of this book! From the unapologetic queerness and fatness to the social justice aspects, to the raw human moments. I do feel that it droned a little and at times was cringey because the characters are all very “hipster” in that “fatally cool” way. Otherwise I enjoyed the story and really appreciate being able to read it early!

If you're queer and from Philly, this book will know you too well. I loved everything about this novel. Gorgeous writing, perfect complex characters, all vibes.

3.5⭐️
Thanks Netgalley for the arc! I enjoyed this story, but did not fully resonate with the author’s writing style. It was very hard to get through the middle for me. I also enjoyed the narration, but I thought it could’ve been expanded on why the voice was through that character! It all wrapped up really quickly for me, and I wanted more!

I really wanted to like this! I was interested in it as an exploration of the meaning of place and home, and I found the photography element really interesting, even if I was initially put off by the realization that Bernie and Leah were, sort of, meant to be contemporary versions of Berenice Abbott and Elizabeth McCausland. But I really just didn't enjoy the writing itself. I found the third-person narrator distracting, and her narrative didn't really add anything to Bernie and Leah's. I really dislike it when contemporary novels use cutesy phrases like "the everything website" instead of Amazon, and I found it more annoying than charming when Eisenberg would describe existing songs or movies but then just...not name them. The "Dancing On My Own" example of this genuinely almost caused me to stop reading. I was eventually charmed by Bernie and Leah's burgeoning relationship, but the side characters were all so two-dimensional and weirdly cliche, they might as well have just been like Queer Person A and Queer Person B.

Also, I wish there had been quotation marks!!

While the plot moved along, I found this novel a little lackluster. I felt a little distant from the characters, and I was unable to connect with them. This might be because of the unknown narrator- maybe I would have felt a little different if either Bernie or Leah was the narrator. I became a little bored while reading and like there was a separation.

The sense of community is really strong in this book. I loved reading about all the roommates and some of my favorite scenes were the interactions between all of them. This is one place where the narration kind of works- a sly fly-on-the-wall type of narrator. The art appreciation is also very strong. I liked reading about photography.

This book will find the right audience, but for me, it kind of fell flat. 3 stars.