1960s Georgia. Doris is 17. Her world is small. Her future is limited. She’s black, pregnant, and wanting something else for her life than what is presented to her. With few options, she turns to a trusted teacher, Mrs. Lucas, who agrees to help Doris get an abortion. What follows is a weekend that opens young Doris’s eyes to a world she was taught to be sinful: where women love women, young folks fight for equality, and choices aren’t as few and far between as she was raised to believe.

Thank you to @netgalley and @randomhouse for the advance copy.

THESE HEATHENS is out today!

As Roxanne Gay said, this book is "deliciously Black and queer." Not sure if anyone needs to know more about the book than that, but I'll tell you a bit more anyway and why I loved it so much! Doris is a young Black woman who is pregnant and does not want her baby. Living in a very small Georgia town in the 1960s, she really doesn't have a lot of options. Thankfully, a teacher is there to help her. What follows is a great story of a young naive girl finding herself in the larger world of Atlanta. It is a great view of an age when women, especially Black women, didn't have a lot of options or freedoms. I loved how those around her saw the possibilities in Doris and helped her find herself! Need an uplifting humorous read? This is the one for you!

These Heathens, set over a weekend in 1960s Georgia, packs so much into a novel. It touches upon abortion, Jim Crow South, religion, LGBTQIAP+ topics and much more. What really made this book a standout for me was the voice of the main protagonist Doris, who narrates. She is a 17-year-old Black young woman, who has dropped out of school to help care for her family when her mother becomes ill. Going to an Atlanta suburb with her teacher opens her eyes to what else is available to her, away from her home of Millen, Georgia. The appearance of several historical figures was also well done as Doris bumps into them while in Atlanta.
Mia McKenzie is a new author to me, but I really enjoyed her writing, and I feel like this novel will be a breakout hit.
I highly recommend this to readers who love historical fiction that covers difficult topics with a unique voice. Sensitive readers should research triggers in this book.
Many thanks to #RandomHouse for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review, as well as #AnneBogel Modern Mrs. Darcy Summer Reading Guide, for putting this on my radar.

Doris is a pregnant teen in search of an abortion in the midst of the Civil Rights movement. When she journeys to Atlanta, she encounters a cast of characters—a who’s who of the Civil Rights movement—as she confronts her own understanding of sex, sexuality, faith, Black liberation, and her destiny. Mia McKenzie’s THESE HEATHENS is a thoughtful meditation on what it meant for Black women to explore their bodies, loves, and futures, and the limits of their choices.

This is my second McKenzie novel, and without a doubt, my favorite so far. What I love about her writing is how she tackles difficult, often heavy subject matter—with humor, insight, and so much heart. I laughed way more than I expected to, and completely fell for Doris— her tenacity, curiosity, and unapologetic honesty made her one of the most memorable protagonists I’ve read in a while.

Though it’s deeply character driven and touches on topics like reproductive rights, faith, and identity within the Black queer community, These Heathens never feels weighed down. McKenzie’s quick wit, sharp storytelling, and layered characters keep things moving. I flew through this book (it’s fantastic both in print and audio, which is narrated by one of my favorites—Bahni Turpin).

It was not at all what I expected, and I mean that in the best possible way. It’s both tender and sharp, thoughtful and laugh-out-loud funny. I’ll be thinking about Doris and her story for a long time and I can’t wait to read more from McKenzie.

4.5 🌟

I wasn't sure what to expect from Mia McKenzie's These Heathens, but wow - I loved this book! It's a coming-of-age tale that explores themes of abortion, civil rights, and the Black queer community. Even with these heavy topics, it doesn't feel bogged down and heavy. McKenzie has a way of writing that makes you feel like you're right there with Doris as she grapples with what she wants out of life and how that aligns with or diverges from the religious mold she was taught. It's simply a beautiful story.

I'm only sad it wasn't longer. I would absolutely read a sequel that revisits Doris as an adult.

Recommended for readers of historical fiction who enjoy Black LGBT+ representation.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC.

Doris is a 17 year old in small town Georgia in the 1960s who finds herself pregnant and needs a solution. She recruits the help of her former teacher, and ends up in Atlanta, right in the middle of a completely different world than the one she lives in. She meets other black people unlike the people she's known her whole life. They have money, they're right in the middle of the civil rights movement, and some of them are queer, which is probably the most surprising. She finds out these people aren't so different from her and starts to consider that world is much bigger and more interesting than her hometown and maybe she could be a part of that bigger world.

I think this book did an amazing of job of creating a really strong character in Doris. She had a distinct and realistic voice, and I was immediately rooting for her. It was also a great portrayal of how seeing others like you do things you never dreamed were possible can make you believe you might be able to achieve more. The ending was maybe a little cheesy and neatly tied with a bow, but I think it still works for a young/new adult age range. Would definitely recommend. Thanks to Netgalley and Random House for the eARC for review!

These Heathens is sharp, funny, and quietly powerful. Mia McKenzie captures that dizzying moment when your world suddenly cracks open — for Doris, it’s one weekend in 1960 Atlanta filled with queer joy, civil rights activism, and people who live boldly in ways she’s never seen. The writing balances humor and tenderness while exploring tough questions about autonomy, identity, and the weight of expectations. A coming-of-age story that feels both intimate and electric.

As a piece of YA fiction, I thought this was a really great read. I whipped through it because it's super digestible, but also because McKenzie hooked me from the beginning. I would have enjoyed reading this a lot in high school, rather than a lot of the already mandated Jim Crow fiction.

I will say, I was much more interested in the story of Cate and Sylvia, but I am biased towards queer women and their stories.

Overall, I enjoyed!

A layered, thought-provoking, and delightful book set in the midst of 1960s queer, feminist, and Black history. I loved Mia McKenzie's SKYE FALLING, and while this book was completely different in many ways, it has a similarly warm and engaging narrative voice and cheeky sense of humor. Who knew a book about a teenager trying to get an abortion in 1960 could be such fun?

When seventeen year old Doris Steele becomes pregnant, she knows she can’t see the town midwife to take care of it. Instead she turns to her favorite teacher, who brings her to Atlanta and introduces her to a weekend she’s never experienced.

Taking place over a single weekend, this is a short story but with a powerful punch. Anyone who enjoys coming of age stories will like this one. It includes a lot about black women’s reproductive and queer rights, in a time when they lacked most rights. Doris is introduced to a new urban and activist world and becomes all the better for it. I loved how fiction blended with history, as many important historical figures and events are woven into the story.

“Almost nothing in this world belongs to us, but our desires are ours and we ought not have to explain them to everybody all the damn time.”

These Heathens comes out 6/17.

I was a big fan of Mia McKenzie's 2021 Skye Falling, so I was thrilled to come across her newest, These Heathens, (publication day June 15, 2025)!

Told from the perspective of Doris, a seventeen-year old pregnant Black girl in 1960 rural Georgia who had to leave school at fifteen to take care of her mother and younger brothers, we find out right away that Doris is pregnant and she is determined not to be. She is a churchgoer and obedient girl who loved school but doesn't waste time pining for what she can't have, but she knows deep down that she does not want to be pregnant. So she goes to see her former English teacher, Mrs. Lucas, to see if there's any way she can help.

Mrs. Lucas sets up a plan where they will go to Atlanta, and a lifelong friend, Mrs. Broussard, will pay for it with a Black doctor she knows. So they set off on the train for the weekend to go get it done. Doris has never been to Atlanta, so she's a little starstruck by Mrs. Broussard's big house and the people she meets--a pregnant Coretta Scott King stops by when they get there, along with her fictional famous cousin, singer Julia Avery, who happens to have gone to Spelman at the same time as Mrs. Lucas and Mrs. Broussard.

So much is packed into this weekend--new boys for Doris to meet, along with going to a Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) Conference when the doctor is running late Saturday morning. She meets some bodyguards who are protecting people from the Klan, and overhears a meeting between the Klan and the Nation of Islam that she shouldn't.

Plus, she saw something on Friday night between Mrs. Lucas and Julia Avery that makes her question everything she learned in church about relations between two women. And Mrs. Broussard is having a party on Saturday night, famous for Atlanta Black homosexuals since her husband is out of town. It also turns out that Mrs. Broussard didn't actually know a doctor who could perform Doris's abortion, so now she has to go back to Millen still pregnant and she doesn't know how she can do that after all that she has seen this weekend. After a chance meeting with Dr. King himself, an unexpected person comes to her rescue.

I really enjoyed it and was amazed at how much McKenzie packed into such a short novel that occurs over a single weekend. Doris describes herself as "buxom," in a positive way, so I will consider it fat-positive as well. I liked the weaving of real people in history into the fictional narrative, and was excited to read that the story is based on the life of McKenzie's own grandmother. McKenzie is a great storyteller--she wove humor in liberally, to this story centering one Black girl's decision to take charge of her own life, surrounded by the civil rights movement and circumstances that were not easy, while also including the stories of the queer people who have always existed.

I thought this book was a totally sweet work on historical fiction. It was very intro to civil rights movement and queer communities at the time. I do wish it had been a little more complex or nuanced in that area. I liked the premise and the characters and was happy I read it. Also, it reads so fast I flew through it.

Doris, a pregnant 17 year old, goes to Mrs. Lucas, a teacher in small town Millen, Georgia, for help and finds a whole wider world when Mrs. Lucas takes her to Atlanta. It's the 1960s but the civil rights movement has not come to Millen. In Atlanta, she is introduced to Coretta Scott King and to the students at SNCC. She's shocked by so much, but most especially by the open love of women for other women. This is written in Doris' vibrant voice which gives heft to the story. Know that Doris keeps a secret and that you might find yourself wondering if you missed something. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. This would be a good one for the YA crossover crowd as an introduction to the period. It's also a good read for those who remember it.

Doris is a singularly unique voice and character. Part coming of age novel, part historical and political manifesto, this novel was an interesting and entertaining read. An exploration of obligations and desires, and it all takes place over one fateful weekend in Atlanta in 1960.

"Dear Lord, please forgive me for the sins I’ve committed. And for the one I’m still planning to commit tomorrow. Amen.

Where do you get an abortion in 1960 Georgia, especially if the town midwife goes to the same church as your parents? For seventeen-year-old Doris Steele, the answer is Atlanta, where her favorite teacher, Mrs. Lucas, calls upon her brash, wealthy childhood best friend, Sylvia, for help. While waiting to hear from the doctor who has agreed to do the procedure, Doris spends the weekend scandalized by, but drawn to, the people who move in and out of Sylvia's celebrities whom Doris has seen in the pages of Jet and Ebony, political leaders like Coretta Scott King and Diane Nash, women who dance close together, atheists! And even more shocking? Mrs. Lucas seems right at home.

From the guests at a queer kickback to the student activists at a SNCC conference, Doris suddenly finds herself surrounded by so many people who seem to know exactly who or what they want. Doris knows she doesn’t want a baby, but what does she want? Will this trip help her find out?"

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the free ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed herein are my own.

These Heathens by Mia McKenzie tells the story of a 17 year old Black girl, Doris, from rural Georgia, set in 1960. Doris Steele is a smart young woman who enjoyed school but needed to leave two years earlier to help take care of her ailing mother and look after the family. Doris goes to her favorite teacher, Mrs. Lucas, when she needs help. This results in Doris going to Atlanta for the weekend.

Most of the novel takes place during that weekend. This novel is deep on character development and light on action but it works because we get to witness the opening of Doris’ mind and mindset as she experiences certain things that are far from her structured upbringing. I really enjoyed her perspective and her growth as a character. Readers who enjoy a slow burn and /or historical fiction will like the novel.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and Random House for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC.

When I saw that Mia McKenzie was coming out with another book, I requested it from Netgalley immediately. Her last book, Skye Falling, was such a surprise win for me, I knew I wanted to read whatever she put out next.

In These Heathens, McKenzie switches from contemporary to historical fiction with a much younger narrator, and yet, our main character still felt fresh and unique. Seventeen-year-old Doris Steele is pregnant and does not want to be. But in 1960 rural Georgia (or 2025 Georgia?), she has very limited options. She seeks the help of her favorite teacher Mrs. Lucas, who agrees to take her to Atlanta and enlist the assistance of an old friend, one of Atlanta's black elite, who can help set up and fund an abortion for Doris. What Doris finds in Atlanta surprises her in more ways than one, and she discovers that one weekend can change your whole life.

Just as in Skye Falling, I adored our main character's narrative voice in this. She's funny, smart, open-minded despite her upbringing, and just someone I'd like to be around. Through much of the story, Doris acts as an outside observer, as she is immersed in a queer community and the civil rights movement for the first time. This distance kept things a little surface level for me at times, and I wished we'd gotten a little deeper into some characters and situations, but I still found her coming-of-age story compelling and endearing. At a time when women's choices, particularly Black women's choices, were frustratingly limited, it was a joy to watch Doris see possibilities opening for her future. I just wish we'd gotten to see a little more of that future, honestly.

Mia McKenzie's These Heathens is a bold, genre-defying novel that blends elements of mystery, family drama, and social commentary into a powerful narrative about abortion, identity, and Civil Rights. Known for her incisive voice and commitment to truth-telling, McKenzie delivers a story that is both emotionally resonant and unapologetically political. McKenzie’s writing is razor-sharp, blending dark humor with emotional depth. She excels at crafting complex characters—flawed, compelling, and utterly human.

Doris’ journey and story will stick with you even after the last page. She made a lot of growth in just one weekend! I enjoyed her inner monologue, humor, and her zest for creating a life of no obligation to anyone but HERSELF!

These Heathens is a fearless and ferocious novel that refuses to look away from the ugly truths of being a black woman America, while also making space for love, resistance, and complicated forms of healing. It’s a must-read for fans of literary fiction with bite, and for anyone who values storytelling that speaks truth to power. This story w

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC.

Pre-Read Notes:

I have no idea what to expect going in I chose this one for cover and title, as I sometimes do and have always done. What a delight waited for me here, from the first brilliant sentence.

"One thing needs clearing up right off: Reverend King was not the father." p1

Final Review

(thoughts & recs) This book grabbed me right at the opening line. I just knew with that (quoted above), I was in for an entertaining read. I was definitely right. I adore the protagonist, a 16-year-old girl who finds herself pregnant, needing help, and with extended family members she hardly knows, in Atlanta and looking for solutions.

But it's not just the story of a teenage girl dealing with an unwanted pregnancy, it's about all the ways she discovers who she is and where she belongs by taking that journey. A gorgeous, fraught story of coming of age-- now a favorite example in a favorite genre for me. This character is scared but dignified. She speaks her mind but is not immune to growth. She is blunt and unrehearsed but she is deep down a romantic. What a brilliant journey she took me on.

This book manages to handle multiple issues of social justice with style and a forthrightness, through the fmc, that I really admire. I like when speakers speak plainly and writers write plainly. I love when I know exactly what a writer is trying to say. And I got that from this book. A stimulating and thought-provoking read.

I recommend THESE HEATHENS to anyone interested in racial history of the US, especially its southern states, fans of historical fiction, readers who want to read more diversely, readers of feminist women's fiction, and to fans of unexpected coming of age dramas.

My 2 Favorite Things:

✔️ I love the narrating character, how much she finds everything repulsive and yet how quiet and acquiescent she seemed. Her development comes from encountering other characters, each of whom she measure against her Christian values, all while she seeks an abortion, illegal in most southern states at the time of this telling. The irony is thick like butter.

✔️ This book deftly juggles multiple important themes, like civil rights conflict for Black people and queer people in the sixties, women's reproductive rights, and colorism. Wow I'm just stunned by this book.

Notes:

1. content notes: racism, racial violence, white supremacy, KKK, N-word, animal cruelty (reference to), anti-queer religious statements, pregnancy, abortion, marriage of convenience

Thank you to the author Mia McKenzie, publisher Random House, and NetGalley for an accessible digital arc of THESE HEATHENS. All views are mine.

I really enjoyed reading about Atlanta in the 60s. I felt this was well written. I don’t have too much reasoning on why I have it 3 stars. I think the pacing was a bit off perhaps? A lot was packed into one weekend.