✨ Book Review: Make Your Way Home by Carrie R. Moore ✨

This book is a heartfelt, soul-stirring journey about healing, hope, and the winding path back to yourself. Carrie R. Moore weaves a story that feels both deeply personal and universally relatable — touching on grief, resilience, and the power of second chances.

The characters are raw and real, carrying scars you can almost feel. Moore’s writing is tender yet unflinching, pulling you into each moment with grace. If you’ve ever felt lost, or needed a reminder that coming home isn’t always about a place — but about peace — this one will hit you right in the heart. 💛

📚 Perfect for fans of emotional, character-driven fiction with a redemptive arc.

Make Your Way Home by Carrie R. Moore is a collection of short stories that explore what it means to find a sense of home. The stories follow Black characters dealing with family, history, and personal struggles. Each story is full of emotion in real places like Florida swamps and North Carolina towns. She writes about topics like pregnancy, ancestral trauma, and identity in a way that feels honest and deep. This book shows how the past and present are always connected, and how people carry their stories with them wherever they go. It would be a great read for those who enjoy thoughtful and reflective written short stories.

This is a beautiful collection of short stories. I don’t know why more people don’t read short story collections, but this is one that you should not miss. If you like stories about family and home, specifically Black family and what people are willing to do to have a place they can call home, then you should read this.

See full review on The Atlanta Journal-Constitution website:

Family and Nature Point the Way Home in Stories Rooted in the South

"The concept of home means different things to different folks. For some, it’s where they’re from or where they live. For others, home isn’t a physical location but is defined by family. For the characters in Atlanta native Carrie R. Moore’s moody, evocative debut collection of stories “Make Your Way Home, it is a complicated combination of geography and genealogy that tethers the past to the present.

Nobody feels the pull of history more than Ever, a man who returns to Austin, Texas, for his twin sister’s wedding in the opening story, “When We Go, We Go Downstream.” As Ever watches his disparate family gather to celebrate his sister’s nuptials, he reflects on the legend of a “marriage curse” passed down by his enslaved ancestor Elijah. As wedding complications escalate, Ever’s melancholy mushrooms, leaving him to wonder if either he or his sister will buck the trend like their grandfather — the only descendant of Elijah’s with a successful long-term union..."

https://www.ajc.com/arts-entertainment/2025/07/family-and-nature-point-the-way-home-in-stories-rooted-in-the-south/

This is such a stunning debut. Carrie Moore writes with such gentleness, treating her characters with such softness in their descriptions. The product of years of research (with citations, slay!!!) - this collection reads so well. Gorgeous imagery and deeply grounded stories even when they slip into dreaminess or curses or the fantastical. Carrie is generous to readers with this collection.

I literally never stopped being impressed the entire collection. Sometimes I sat down and couldn't get up, swimming in story after story. Other stories took me several days to sit with.

So many favorites for me, but here a few:
When We Go We Go Downstream (a perfectly paced opener)
All Skin Is Clothing (older sister core)
Surfacing (I LOVED THIS ONE)
Naturale (tragic and lovely)
Morning by Morning (DAMN)
Gather Here Again (damn x2)

I dove into this book with high hopes and wasn't disappointed. Give me Southern-themed short stories or a full-length novel and I'm glued to the pages. Moore writes with heart and intimate knowledge of not only the South, but humanity. Each story gave a glimpse of everyday people rising, falling, and finding their footing with each courageous step. I would recommend this book to others.

Thank you Net Galley and Tin House Books for allowing me to read the galley.

This was such a haunting exploration of what “home” really means—and how that meaning shifts. The writing carried an eerie undercurrent of suspense and that tension kept me hooked.

I loved how the South wasn’t just a setting, but a living, breathing part of the story. The culture, the landscape, the unspoken rules—they all felt like characters in their own right, shaping the lives and choices of everyone in the book. My favorite stories were All Skin Is Clothing, Surfacing, Morning By Morning, How Does Your Garden Grow.

The stunning cover art alone made me interested in being able to read.

A painfully raw collection of 11 Black stories that take you on a journey through the American South.
The characters are authentic, descriptive and personal featuring characters that struggle to find love and belonging.
Being Black in the south while attempting to fully love the skin you’re in? Difficult and extremely multilayered but captivating.

Most of these stories grip firmly at your heart strings and feel close to home, like you know these characters like family.
With this being Carrie R. Moore’s debut collection of stories, it is well done.

This is a book that I would buy, recommend and reread in the future.

I loved so many of these stories! There are some that were really touching and I loved the nature of not necessarily getting a clean happy ending but rather real snippets of life stories. As a white person, I appreciate the windows into others' experiences, heritage, and struggles.
The four star instead of five is only because some stories I thought were a little drawn out, but most of them were a great length with just the right amount of detail to pull me into loving the characters. I did skip around a bit and skipped a couple of the stories that really didn't interest me, but at some point I might go back to check them out when I'm in the right mood for them!
If you want to skip around in them my 2 favorites were "When We Go, We Go Downstream" and "Surfacing". I also think the story "All Skin Is Clothing" could be a great read for a younger audience as well!

4.5/5 These stories were soo good! The writing was good, the characters in each story were great. My problem with short stories are they never feel like enough, and ofc while I would wanted more from each, the characters did feel developed in such a short time with each and I loved reading about their journeys. Each were captivating, beautiful, and real.

Make Your Way Home by Carrie R. Moore is a book that really stays with you. I went into it expecting a couple good stories and what I got was so much more complex The main character’s journey really felt real. She's dealing with her past and trying to figure out who she is now. It's about more than where you come from; it's about who you are. The author writes so well about the emotions, every moment felt important. I loved those charactes, The feeling of relationships, whether it's with family, friends, or love. Nothing happens quickly. The setting itself felt important, too! It has a good feel with the love and loss. Overall, this is a great read. I'm so glad I read it. Thank you to Tin House Books, Carrie R Moore and NetGalley for this Advanced copy in exchange for my honest review this releases July 15th 2025.

I really enjoyed this, but felt the execution was a bit lacking. I felt the writing was a tiny bit clunky in certain chapters and it caused me to struggle to get through them. Overall, I liked the story, just had some technical issues.

I was drawn to this book from the title and cover, both are very beautiful. I love short story collections and although I went into this blind, I had high hopes for it. Unfortunately, the stories were a little bland and boring to where I felt like I was forcing myself to get through them. I really wanted to finish but I had to mark this as a DNF for now. It could be me. I might not be in the right headspace for it. I’ll try to revisit it again later.

Thanks to Netgalley and Tin House Publishers for the arc!

This was an ARC read for me. New author with a debut collection. I like the various historical mini short stories. This was a good change of reading from my norm. I love reading fiction rooted in history. I especially liked the story of the preteen pregnant along side her mom. I would have enjoyed a full novel of that.

Thank you Netgalley and author for the opportunity to read these stories.

Thank you NetGalley for access to this collection prior to its publication! I wholeheartedly loved this book, the perspectives taken, and the lessons learned. This is the first book I have read in while that really brought tears to my eyes throughout the book due to the beautiful craftsmanship & storytelling the author dedicates in each story.

This book is a collection of very different stories told about living in the South. These stories touched on various topics. The stories are told from the point of view of both men and women. This was a new to me author. I look forward to seeing what she does next.

Make Your Way Home is a collection of 11 stories surrounding characters living in the South or who have roots in the South. Each of the stories detailed things that happen to these characters pertaining to their homes.
Some are facing rejection from family members or trying to fit in with people who they don’t really fit in with. I found the stories to be very relatable at times with the themes of belonging and acceptance. These stories definitely made think about my own past and how it has shaped me into the person I am today.

Thank you to Tin House and NetGalley for the ARC. All
opinions are my own!

Make Your Way Home by Carrie R. Moore is one of those quietly powerful books that stays with you long after you’ve turned the last page. I picked it up expecting a heartfelt story, and what I got was so much deeper—a beautifully layered exploration of identity, healing, and finding your place in the world.

The main character’s journey felt incredibly real to me. There’s a rawness in how she navigates her past and confronts the pain she thought she had buried. It’s not just about going back to a physical place—it’s about reckoning with who you were, who you’ve become, and who you want to be. Moore writes with such emotional clarity that even the quiet moments felt meaningful.

What I loved most was the balance between vulnerability and strength. The main character isn’t perfect—she makes mistakes, she’s guarded, she doubts herself—but that made her feel all the more human. And the way the relationships in the book unfold, whether it’s with family, friends, or love interests, felt tender and authentic. Nothing felt rushed or overly dramatized. It’s a slow burn, in the best way.

There’s also a strong sense of place in this novel. The setting felt alive and important—almost like a character in its own right. You can feel the weight of returning somewhere that holds both love and loss, and the complicated emotions that come with it.

Overall, Make Your Way Home is a quiet triumph. It doesn’t scream for your attention, but it absolutely earns it. If you enjoy character-driven stories with emotional depth and a strong sense of self-discovery, this book is a gem. It reminded me that sometimes, going home isn’t about the destination—it’s about reclaiming parts of yourself you didn’t know you’d lost.

The story flowed well and the characters were well developed. I recommend this book and look forward to more from this author.


****Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest review****

Unbelievably excellent. This writing is so layered, so much, so beautiful. I can’t wait until it’s out in the world and people can read it and love it as much as I do. So incredible.