This book felt so comforting to read, like a warm gay hug. The characters felt so complete and real, like queer and trans people that I’ve met in real life, and the lack of quotes with the dialogue worked very well actually; I never got confused about when someone was speaking. This was such a creative book, and unlike anything I’ve read before with its narrator being an older queer woman basically stalking (?) the two main characters, Bernie and Leah. I was unsure how the narrator pulled this off and knew so much about their journey, other than the few times she admitted that she lost track of them, but it was still interesting narratively. Sometimes I would forget about this other main character until she came in with an “I” statement and threw me off, since she’s kind of always hovering in the background in a way that she’s not always visible and apparent to the reader, much like her hidden presence in relation to Bernie and Leah. The generational differences in the queerness between the narrator, Bernie, and Leah was also commented upon by the narrator at times, mostly with envy at how their queer relationship was easier in many ways, not quite as taboo as it was for the narrator and her partner. Even though the story of the narrator and her “housemate,” or partner, was only revealed to the reader in brief snippets, these still felt so raw, heartbreaking, and essential to the story. It was so satisfying how everything connected and fell into place every time the narrator would make direct contact with Bernie and Leah.
The narrator’s perspective on Leah and Bernie’s relationship and dynamics with a whole life of queer experience behind her helped break up the story with some analysis of characters’ thoughts and actions from an impartial, or at least outsider POV, which I don’t often see in novels. I don’t know much about photography, but the descriptions of it in the book were very cool and kept my interest, so I’m sure they’re even cooler to someone who knows about photography. I also liked that there was lots of dialogue talking about more socially unrespectable behaviors, like nose and skin picking, but in a way that wasn’t shameful, just honest. There were also some nasty thought processes and descriptions, but I liked and appreciated those too. The conversations around class were especially poignant in comparing Bernie’s lack of money and two jobs to Leah and her friend group, who all came from wealthy backgrounds and could pursue higher education, startups, passion projects, etc., and it was interesting how the narrator pointed out how money and fame played into Bernie and Leah’s relationship, especially when Bernie started to have money of her own and didn’t depend upon Leah as much financially. Overall, this felt like a nuanced look into the lives of a messy group of queer and trans 20-somethings figuring out what they want from their relationships. I understand why people have been loving this book so much, and I know I’ll be thinking about it for a long time. This is the type of book that I need to sit with before starting a new one since it was full of so much goodness that I want to sort through.

I loved Housemates! It gets what it means to be a young person in this moment—it gets it exactly right, without making it feel bleak or eye-roll-y. The framing device worked wonderfully for me. Without it I think it would have been a fairly basic road trip story, but with the older narrator it becomes this poetic ode to love and art. I wish there was more about the narrator in the description!
The way this book describes bodies is also pretty singular. Extremely candid and specific, yet non-judgemental. I’ll be interested to see what reviewers make of that aspect.
Anyway this feels like it will be an It Girl book. Everyone should be talking about it.

4 stars

There's nothing like a creeper figure disguised as a mentor to haunt one's life even from the great beyond, and this book is a great reminder of how the ghosts of our past can control our futures and how - ultimately - we can take back that control, especially with a good friend along for the ride.

Bernie and Leah become housemates in a scenario that folks who dwell in certain regions will find hilarious and relatable, and they both come with their own baggage. Readers get insight into a former professor of Bernie's, and none of it is good (IMO!). Though any reasonable bystander wants Bernie to pry that little mollusk off, that won't be possible until the completion of a borderline epic modern quest. Leah, a fellow artist, accompanies Bernie on this journey, and what ensues is a revelatory, identity-based boon of self-discovery that really speaks to this moment.

Some of Bernie's thoughts and experiences are particularly heartbreaking to read, but they also reveal an intensely believable coming of age narrative that one hopes will end in a little more kindness to the subject at hand.

Readers who enjoy watching characters search for themselves and for meaning in these strange times will enjoy this effort from Eisenberg, who is now absolutely on my radar.

I could not put this down!! The story and shift between narrators felt very immersive and raw, and I loved the queer + fat representation this book provides. I really enjoyed reading the adventures of Bernie and Leah, and all their flaws and relatability. Emma Copley Eisenberg has truly written a remarkable novel! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

Rounded up from 2.5 stars.

Housemates follows Leah and Bernie as they embark on a three week long road trip. Oddly, the story is told from the point of view of a third party semi omniscient narrator in a way that just did not work for me. The writing was hard for me to get through for such a short book and it felt like there was a wall between the reader and the characters in this story. I do think that there is audience that will love this book, but it just wasn't for me.

Housemates comes out May 28th, 2024. Thank you to NetGalley for an Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for my honest review.

This is a perfect book. Being a fat queer woman from Philly, this book changed me and my view of myself. The shifting of point of view and narrator was exquisite. The story unfolded at a perfect pace that kept me satisfied and also needing more. I read it all in one sitting.

I was not a fan of this writing style. It felt very technical and I couldn’t connect with anyone because there just seemed to be such little emotion. Prose does not fully develop characters/relationships and I feel like this could have benefited from more dialogue. This is another book that is definitely going to find its audience (and has already seemed to from other reviews) but it’s execution was just not for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House for the ARC!

This book was entertaining and engaging. I wish we had more time with the older woman. I also had no idea it was loosely based off a real person until after reading the acknowledgements. Overall I enjoyed it but I don't feel the description is accurate to the book. I also love books that take place in communal housing and the unique interactions that come along with that.

I really love this beautiful book, I read it in just over 24 hours. The prose is lovely, well-crafted and smart, and the plot feels fresh and unique. The story feels written with love and care, even when the characters are annoying or unlikeable, and there´s a great generosity of spirit on these pages. This book is one I can imagine recommending to readers who want contemporary malaise with characters who actually do something--these housemates take risks, make choices, blow up their lives and face the consequences. Too, they´re young--students, baristas, organizers. I really appreciate how much of a role setting played in this story, and the ways the characters interpreted their own presence and belonging, what lengths they´d go to in order to build a community, a home. The sex writing is also great. This is a great fit for people who (like me) love books like SIRENS & MUSES and even the OG queer roadtrip novel, THE PRICE OF SALT, but it´s a journey (ahem) all its own.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review! This book was well-written and I could appreciate some of the stylistic choices the author made, however, it wasn’t for me. If you’re part of the art community or are very interested in photography, this book may be for you, but for me personally, it was a little long-winded and fell a little flat. While this book wasn't for me, I could see how others would love it.

Reading Housemates by Emma Copley Eisenberg was a real treat. I loved Leah and Bernie's road trip, with its joy and humanity, along with their using art to document life in rural Pennsylvania. The focus on large format photography was an interesting and engaging aspect of the story. The housemates capture a certain time and culture of queer people in the U.S. in the recent past. The narrator didn't work for me but didn't diminish my enjoyment of the book. Housemates will linger with me for a long time.

Thank you to Net Galley for the opportunity to read this ARC!

I was super interested in this ARC from the get-go because of the cover art and synopsis.

One of the main things I noticed was that the quotation marks are MIA. I mean, stylistically, I can kind of see the vision but as a reader, it was frustrating.

There was also just a lot of information and/or thoughts that spanned across several pages and I found myself having to reread or skim over some of the more trivial details.

HOUSEMATES by Emma Copley Eisenberg was not at all what I expected--the novel is far more complex and distinctly "queer" than the book's description suggests. The first part of the book, where an older artist watches Bernie and Leah, giving the reader an impression of two lovers that is then revealed to be an assumption, a not-yet-truth, is such a playful exploration of point-of-view and how we "read" what see through our own lens. It's a perfect introduction to "seeing" and perspective as Bernie and Leah embark upon their roadtrip and project.

After the first part, the narrator didn't quite work for me. I wasn't sure what her purpose as the narrator was, even though the parallels between her story with her deceased lover "The Housemate" and the story of Leah and Bernie. It definitely added a layer of identity and acted as layered lens through which she viewed everything. It's worth a second read. Does the narrator of HOUSEMATES "queer" the role of narrator? How many different ways do we have of seeing Leah and of seeing Bernie--and of seeing Leah & Bernie--do we have in these pages?

Overall, HOUSEMATES is a fascinating read, a grounded look at what "living" can mean today. The people living in the house as Bernie moves in are very complex and well written. I especially appreciated the exploration of privilege and activism and the idea of "safety" through the specific housemates.

Very raw and impressive, the entirety of the book felt genuine. I didn’t know about Berenice Abbott and Elizabeth McCausland and their Changing New York series before reading it, but Housemates was firmly planted around 2016. The omnipresent narrator didn’t quite work for me and I’m not sure if it was meant to echo the real people who inspired the story, but it didn’t add enough to be worth it. Parts were overwhelming and it seemed like nearly every possible issue had to be addressed, but the overall story was subtle and I think it’s the type of book that can linger and the more you think about it, the more it grows. I appreciated how large the cast of characters was while still managing to make them seem unique and real. Overall, I enjoyed the experience of reading it.

I enjoyed reading this book, although some parts worked better for me than others. I enjoyed the setting and felt that Philadelphia and Pennsylvania were characters in their own rights. I enjoyed a lot of the prose, and the way complex ideas were explored. There was a diverse but real-feeling and complex cast of characters which led to a lot of great exploration about how society’s view and treatment of us can impact how we move through the world.

There was a great exploration of art, artists, and the creative process. I especially loved the descriptions of Bernie and Leah working and would have loved to be able to experience their finished work. I also loved them as main characters and enjoyed seeing their relationship with each other and themselves develop as the story progressed.

I didn’t realize it was based off of real artists Bernice Abbott and Elizabeth McCausland until reading other reviews, but this definitely lends an additional layer to all of this, and I appreciate learning about these historic queer figures.

The narrative framing threw me off a bit, the book opens with an older queer woman artist who’s lost her partner. We hear her describing her life and her initial encounter with Bernie and Leah. There’s then an abrupt shift where she is somehow able to see inside their house and minds and becomes the narrator for the rest of the book which follows Leah and Bernie’s stories as they become housemates and then embark on a road trip. I’m not sure that this totally worked for me but it was an interesting way of setting things up for sure. There’s also a section where Leah can similarly inexplicably see Bernie’s memories and again, I’m not sure if this worked for me.

Finally, I got the sense of the author as someone who is very socially conscious and cares a lot about social justice and representation, but that maybe also spends a lot of time on ‘the text sharing website’. It read a bit like the author felt they had to address every single issue, rural vs urban, opioid crisis, covid, class, fatphobia, homophobia, abuse of power/me too, racism, zionism, trump, and it just all felt a bit too much. At times it felt like it was shoehorned in vs arising naturally. I appreciate it’s well intentioned but I think it could have been edited down a bit which would have made it more impactful.

Overall I enjoyed the experience of reading this and would recommend it to anyone interested in queer stories, art, road trips, and co-housing.

Housemate by Emma Copley Eisenberg is an intriguing and thought provoking read. It is a beautiful and sensual look at life, love and art. It is a story written about a time in life where Covid, BLM, LGBTQ + and much more were under turbulent strike. the story is about our main characters Leah and Bernie who go on a road trip together to make art and most hidden to find themselves. These are two lovably flawed post grad students that are easy to relate to. Just as well, the side characters are complex and interesting, which is an all time favorite of mine. This boo brings forward a lot representation from different gender identities, races/ethnicities, socioeconomically backgrounds, etc. It is the type of story that more than anything makes you think and wonder about the world we live in today and just how much societies norms affect us. It is a story of heart but also humour which is wonderful and brings light to the book. It was a great balance of fun, funny, adventure, thought, and sensuality.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group and Netgalley for an advance copy of Housemates by Emma Copley Eisenberg.

Adored this novel. It was real and it was raw. It was topical and relevant and these are the types of books that need to be published more frequently.

I found this to be well-written and wonderfully captivating. The author has the ability to make the character's come alive and make their feelings overwhelm the reader. Brilliant paced and told with a sensitive style.

Housemates is a loose, contemporary reimagining of Berenice Abbott and Elizabeth McCausland's artistic partnership for their Changing New York series. But in this case, the series is Changing Pennsylvania and our protagonists are Bernie, the photographer, and Leah, the writer.

We follow Bernie and Leah through the eyes of an older photographer navigating a delayed period of depression some years after the loss of her partner, referred to only as "The Housemate." The narrator's life is a faded echo of the women she observes. Her own history is transposed against their present – a photographer, a writer, a love weighed unevenly.

The story spans the 2016 election to the pandemic years of COVID-19. Movements surge and recede from the foreground: MeToo, Black Lives Matter, Queer rights, Israeli-Palestinian tension. Despite moments of sharp commentary on wealth, race, and gender politics, I found myself curiously adrift, much like the narrator. Leah and Bernie’s world is our world, but there were rooms in Housemates I couldn't enter—always an outsider peering in.

Despite my frustration, there was something about this story that carried me through to the end. Like the narrator, I didn’t want to say farewell to Bernie and Leah just yet. I wanted to stay with them, to be a little closer to the heart of things. Maybe this distancing effect was part of Eisenberg’s commentary on the nature of art and the people that consume it. We can obsess over the details, analyze the artist’s intentions, yet in the end, there will always be something out of our reach. We remain outside, looking in.

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I finished HOUSEMATES a few days ago and haven't been able to stop thinking about it. I don't think I've come across a book quite like this in a long time. It was not at all what I expected, but left such an impression on me. First of all, this is a must read for photographers, or fans of photography. When I realized that the main characters were a spin (I feel like this is the wrong word but I don't know how else to describe this genius melding of fiction and non-fiction) on the famous photographer Berenice Abbott and her relationship with critic Elizabeth McCausland I was utterly delighted. Eisenberg ingeniously brings them into the 21st century (2016 and beyond, specifically and aptly), creating not Changing New York but instead, Changing Philadelphia.

I only know about Abbott's work from art history classes, but I feel like I learned so much about her, and McCausland, through this re-telling. The book is deeply rooted in today, with the usual background noise of elections and pandemics. There is also the melding of art and social justice, body image, and running themes that I loved like Nan Goldin and INTO THE WOODS (two of my favorite things). It's also, quite simply, a road trip book and a love story. It's a beautiful debut novel that I loved being immersed in, and was sad when it was over.. I wish I could have stepped into the pages and saw Bernie's photographs, and also follow Bernie and Leah more to see what else life has in store for them. It's a fascinating way to tell a story, for many different reasons (including an omniscient narrator who is also a character in the book - but can we believe what she is telling us?) and I can't wait to hear what other readers think of it.