devoured this novel in every free moment I had. A powerful piece of historical fiction, it blends real names and accurate dates into a deeply personal, emotional journey.

Seventeen-year-old Doris Steele lives in rural Georgia in 1960, raising her younger siblings and caring for her sick mother since she dropped out of school at fifteen. She finds herself pregnant with a baby that she is too young and broke to keep, and with ultra-religious parents and no one to turn to, she seeks out her former teacher, Mrs. Lucas. The two take a weekend trip to Atlanta, where a wealthy friend, Mrs. Broussard, has offered to pay for Doris’s abortion and care for her during recovery.

Though meant to be brief, the trip ends up leaving a lasting impact. In Atlanta, Doris is exposed to a world that turns everything she thought she knew upside down. She sees Black wealth, independence, strength, and joy. She meets women who live boldly—defying modesty, embracing queerness, and challenging gender roles. She learns about the civil rights movement, attends a nonviolent protest workshop, and meets activists, celebrities, and Martin Luther King himself. And for the first time, Doris dares to imagine a different life—one bigger and freer than the one waiting for her back home.

What I loved most was being inside Doris’s mind as she slowly unlearned so much of what she’d been taught—about sin, womanhood, race, and love. The fact that her character is based on the author’s grandmother made her journey even more poignant. I was moved by the quiet power of female solidarity. The abortion scene was painfully graphic and hard to read, but it felt raw and necessary. I wish Doris had a happier ending, but the one she got felt honest—and that stayed with me just as much.

Amazing novel!

Huge thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the ARC.

A beautiful, short historical fiction novel about freedom, choice, queerness, and identity. This story follows our main character who is a 17 year old black girl from a rural, working class Georgia town in the 1960’s. She realizes she’s reluctantly pregnant and is seeking an abortion. Her teacher at school vows to help her, and takes her to Atlanta for the procedure and for a weekend filled with “these heathens.” Her upbringing is extremely strict and religious, and this weekend in Atlanta opens her up to the ongoing Civil Rights movement and the layered complexity of differing factions within it. It also opens her up to the thriving underground queer community in Atlanta at the time. This weekend makes her question everything- her political beliefs, faith, freedom, choice, a woman’s role in society, desire, queerness, and class.

This book really packs a punch in just under 200 pages. As a historical fiction lover, I really enjoyed the way the story explores what queer community looked like during this time period, and its exploration of the intersection of class, race, gender, and sexuality.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the ARC!

**These Heathens** by Mia McKenzie is a sharp, beautifully written novel that pulls you in from the first page. McKenzie masterfully explores family, identity, and the complicated ways we love and hurt each other, all while keeping the story moving with wit and emotional depth. The characters feel real and raw, and the prose is both thoughtful and biting. It’s the kind of book you’ll want to talk about as soon as you finish. Highly recommend for readers who love smart, character-driven fiction!

Absolutely fantastic! Not only was this book well researched but also put things in a new perspective. It's just a small detail in this book but there is mention of those who may not be for integration. I had never really thought of things from that perspective. What about those who would lose their jobs due to integration and what kind of shift it could have. I love when a small detail in a book can open up a wider conversation. I've brought it up to so many people and they all have the same reaction I did.
These Heathens explores what it really means to find your true self and how your entire life can change due to the events of one weekend. Following Doris as she is trying get an abortion in the south while also witnessing other forms of 'sin' happening around was such a fun journey and how a 17 year old might handle these kind of situations was very relatable even today.

Thank you Netgalley and Random House Publishing for early access in exchange for an honest review.

This was great. A coming of age story that takes place over the course of one weekend, in which a pious woman has her eyes opened to the civil right movement. Doris was hilarious and I loved her voice. The side characters were great too- I would have loved even more about the teacher and her “friend”!

These Heathens, by Mia McKenzie, is set in 1960s Georgia and is told in the voice of our main protagonist, Doris, a pregnant teenager from Rural Georgia who is brought to Atlanta by her favorite teacher to have an abortion.

In Atlanta, Doris is met with a cast of characters that are unlike anyone she’s ever met in her small town of Mullen. Women who love other women, wealthy Black families and people who are taking part in the civil rights movement, not just watching from the sidelines. This story was truly a coming of age for Doris. One weekend in Atlanta opened her whole world up to different experiences that she would have never imagined being from rural Georgia.

Overall, this short novel is a must read for lovers of historical fiction especially those that are interested in women’s fiction, civil rights, or coming of age stories.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Thank you to @netgalley for the digital copy!

This was a single day read, and given how unreliable my focus has been, that’s saying something! I loved Skye Falling and was very excited to give These Heathens a try, though it took longer than expected. Doris is a great narrator and her story is full of heart and community and the power of women supporting each other, especially Black women. I loved so much of Doris’ growth and how the weekend in Atlanta had such a lasting impact on her and her future. This is such a great book, and I’m excited to see what else we’ll get from Mia McKenzie.

In These Heathens, Doris takes a weekend trip to Atlanta to end her unwanted pregnancy and discovers herself and a slew of characters in this thought-provoking, hilarious take on what it was to be Black in the 1960s.

Readers will encounter many famous names and characters, who help Doris make life-altering decisions. These people help her to see it is okay to want, to dream, despite what the world and our families tell us.

I enjoyed the book overall and found so many parts funny. Without the trip to Atlanta and meeting different people, Doris would have remained where she was. This book is about opening ourselves up to new experiences. They can change our lives for the better, or at minimum, show us there is more to the world than our little bubble.

This was a surprisingly light hearted book, given its subject matter, and I appreciated it all the more for that. It was an interesting look inside some components of the civil rights movement that I didn’t know much about, and I really appreciated the book’s uncompromising take on how positive the right to abortion is for women’s lives. And I loved the inside look at black queer women of the time. Some plot points occasionally felt a bit underdeveloped or skimmed over, but this was offset by how great the characters were. A fascinating and quick read for me.

In These Heathens, we follow a 17 year old girl named Doris Steele, living in 1960s Georgia who needs an abortion. Doris asks her teacher Mrs. Lucas to help her and they take off for Atlanta. I won’t give away much more because I think this is one of those books where it's best to go in with as little knowledge as possible.

First and foremost this book is hilarious. I laughed out loud damn near the entire time. There is even a queer kickback lol.

At first I wondered whether this would be a five star based on the authors execution and the way they explore abortion. As I was thinking about it I came to see that even though I was annoyed with the heavy handedness of it, it was necessary to discuss the positive changes that Doris would receive because of her decision. It needed to be heavy handed so that Doris could know that having a choice is something that she is allowed to have.

Also, I think this was a great way to get a glimpse at what was happening during the civil rights movement without it being too heavy. My favorite part I think was how Doris came to her feelings on religion. As she grew up in the church being surrounded by who she called heathens and reflecting on her abortion how her thoughts changed. We are able to see this through a Black lens which made it even better.

This is my first five star read of the year and it was perfection.

"These Heathens" follows a teenage girl from rural Georgia, Doris, as she travels to Atlanta to seek an abortion in the 1960s. In Atlanta, she meets more affluent African Americans, queer individuals, and professional women who are all involved in various levels of activism. The experiences are lifechanging for Doris, and her hopes and dreams for her own life begin to shift and expand.

I loved the way that the author incorporated so many famous figures, Atlanta neighborhoods, and historical actions (SNCC, sit-ins, etc.) into the book. The witty inner monologues from Doris were so well crafted, and it helped the reader recognize how much Doris was a product of her time and place. This book was absolutely captivating, and I finished this in a day. I just wished this book were ~50 pages longer, so some of the storylines could be further developed.

Set in Atlanta in the 60s, we follow Doris as she discovers the world of black activism all while trying to find an abortion provider. The author put a note at the end that the story was based on the life of her grandmother and I just want to know, which parts? There were so many "behind the scenes" moments that I'm curious to know what was fact and what was fiction. Either way, such a compelling read that really draws you into that world.

Doris Steele hated having to drop out of school when her mother got sick, but who else would take care of her? Her brothers were too young, her father had to work, and despite knowing nearly everyone in their rural Georgia town, everyone has plenty of their own business to tend to. Doris accepted this as part of life, but when she realized she'd gotten pregnant, something had to change.

After asking her favorite teacher, Mrs. Lucas, for help, Doris finds herself swept away to Atlanta for the weekend in hopes of getting an abortion that her hometown wouldn't find out about. For being just a few hours from home, 1960s Atlanta feels like a different world. As Doris reels through a crash course on the civil rights movement, wealthy living, and women who love other women as a semi-open secret, she begins to wonder if there's more for her than her small town can hold.

It's very satisfying to have the focus squarely on women throughout These Heathens, especially as it's so common to center on men in civil rights era stories . McKenzie really nailed Doris' voice; it's honest and immediately recognizable. Doris' growth through the short span of the novel is paced to feel very believable. Doris is very religious, and as she interacts with the titular heathens, McKenzie lets us in on Doris' mind coming to grips with the conflicts of what the Bible says and what is presented in front of her eyes. There are a few fun historical beats that are well place and don't leave a sense of being cheesy or shoehorned in as a lesson.

A stunning look at one young woman’s journey through teen pregnancy. This book is harrowing and thoroughly researched.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of These Heathens by Mia McKenzie. I was hooked from the start. Doris is a vivid, fully developed character whose voice drives the novel with raw honesty. Her choice to get an abortion is handled with care and depth, showing her finding both her voice and her autonomy in a world that offers her little beyond being a housewife.

The other women in this book are equally compelling, with layered, realistic relationships. I loved seeing queer stories in historical fiction, the side of history we so rarely get to read. McKenzie gives these erased voices space and weight, making this a necessary, powerful addition to the genre.

Excellent from beginning to end. *These Heathens* pulled me in within the first pages and held my attention; I didn’t want to stop reading this and stayed up waaaaaay too late one night to just keep turning the pages.

A shorter book that will make you think, this is a coming of age historical fiction set in 1960 in the South and the story addresses civil rights, queer identity, and religion told in the voice of a young Black woman, Doris, who is 17 years old and in need of an abortion.

This was my first time reading Ms McKenzie’s work and I will definitely read more. Strongly recommended.



Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for the DRC

My only complaint about this book is that I would have liked to read 200 more pages. There were so many fascinating elements to the story and I haven't read anything like it before. Relevant historical fiction.

Thanks to Random House and Netgalley for this advance copy!

This is an incredible novel of a black woman in 1960s Georgia who wants an abortion. Her search for an abortion takes her to Atlanta for a wild weekend, where she ends up in the path of the Kings, the Klan, and a variety of queer people striving to live. I loved how real Doris felt, how unsure she was about her life, but how sure she was about her needs and choices. Doris is handling so much in her life and while she might have been mature in all parts of her life, she shows incredible maturity in knowing what she doesn't want. The other characters float in and out of the story at just the right time. At times it felt like too many characters, but the author does a great job of keeping the story going at a good pace. This novel apologized for nothing and is better for it.

I really enjoyed These Heathens. The beginning was a little slow, but once Doris got to Atlanta, things moved more quickly and the pacing settled. Weaving the real people into the plot worked well, and I really enjoyed a side of wealthy Black Atlantans that we don’t read much about. This was a pretty quick read, too. I would recommend!

A short but sweet historical novel that addresses broad social issues of the 1960s while confining itself to the events of a single weekend in the life of Doris, a “nice church girl” from rural Georgia who visits Atlanta in pursuit of an abortion.

When Doris Steele discovers she’s pregnant, she immediately knows she must “get rid of it,” as sinful as that would be. She seeks the help of her favorite teacher Mrs Lucas, though she hasn’t been in school for two years due to family obligations. Doris and Mrs Lucas travel to Atlanta where a friend of Mrs Lucas has promised to use her connections to help Doris receive an abortion.

In Atlanta, confronted with the realities of the civil rights movement, of other Black people living lives very different than her own, of homosexuality, in comparison to her old-fashioned religious upbringing , Doris starts to see the contradictions inherent in the way she was taught that “through god all things are possible.” If that were true, why do her own options feel so limited?

The author uses the contrast between the young activists that Doris meets and the older, rich friends of her teacher to illustrate the different perspectives that came into conflict during the civil rights movement. Because this novel is categorized as “new adult” in genre, I can forgive some of the heavy-handedness in the way the author is conveying this important period of history through the eyes of a naïve teenager, but it did all feel rather conveniently packaged into one very eventful weekend. For instance, Doris just happens to literally bump into Martin Luther King, Jr at a party. However, the novel deftly addresses some of the most important questions of the time— can non-violence effect change or is armed resistance necessary? And what is the role of women in a social movement, in an entire world, dominated by men?

Throughout Doris’s weekend in Atlanta, she encounters so many individuals who expand her worldview and she even receives a job offer, but her unwanted pregnancy looms large. None of the dazzling possibilities the future holds are relevant if she has to go back to her hometown and have this baby.

I think this would be a great book for a younger reader and while I didn’t take quite as much from it as I had hoped, it was a very charming and well-structured coming-of-age novel that offers a unique perspective on an important period of history. Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the opportunity to be an early reader of this title, available now!