Whoever You Are, Honey
Olivia Gatwood
(Author)
21,000+ Reviews
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Description
What happens when what was once considered dystopia is now reality?This darkly brilliant debut novel explores how women shape themselves beneath the gaze of love, friendship, and the algorithm--"a fever dream for the AI age" (People). "This book reads like a thriller, but it's also a tender and searching exploration of what it means to inhabit a female body."--Kelly Link, author of The Book of Love Mitty can't quite make out the expression on Lena's face, but she doesn't look distressed. She looks like nothing at all. She looks like the beginning, before thoughts, a white hallway with no doors, a room so long your voice disappears before it can echo. On the Santa Cruz, California, waterfront, every house is a flawless glass monolith. Except for one. In a dilapidated bungalow, Mitty and her elderly roommate, Bethel, are the oddball pair who represent the last vestiges of a free-spirited town taken over by the tech elite. But their lives are about to be forever changed when a new couple, Sebastian and Lena, move in next door. Sebastian is a renowned tech founder and Lena is his spellbindingly perfect girlfriend. But Lena has secrets; she feels uneasy about her oddly spotty memory and is growing increasingly wary of the way Sebastian controls their relationship. Mitty is also hiding something, and the way Lena appears to float through her luxurious life draws Mitty inexorably into her orbit. As the two women begin to form a close friendship, they are finally forced to face their pasts--and the urgent truths that could change everything. Showcasing Olivia Gatwood's talent as an essential author for our hyper-digital age, Whoever You Are, Honey is a gripping, seductive, and prescient novel that dissects relationships between women and examines how striving for perfection and desirability plays out in spaces where technology and power intersect.
Product Details
Price
$28.00
$26.04
Publisher
Dial Press
Publish Date
July 09, 2024
Pages
320
Dimensions
5.75 X 8.35 X 1.02 inches | 0.88 pounds
Language
English
Type
Hardcover
EAN/UPC
9780593230442
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About the Author
Olivia Gatwood is the author of two poetry collections, New American Best Friend and Life of the Party, and the co-writer of Adele's music video for "I Drink Wine." She has received international recognition for her poetry, writing workshops, and work as a Title IX Compliant educator in sexual assault prevention and recovery. Her performances have been featured on HBO, MTV, VH1, the BBC, and more. Her poems have appeared in The Poetry Foundation, Lambda Literary, and The Missouri Review. Originally from Albuquerque, she lives in Los Angeles.
Reviews
"The twin themes of women's loneliness and desire are the timeless beating hearts of Olivia Gatwood's debut novel, propped up by of-the-moment ruminations on queerness and artificial intelligence."--Vogue, "The Best Books of 2024 So Far" "This debut, written with traces of Steinbeck and The Stepford Wives, is a meditative novel about femininity, friendship, and aging. . . . An erotic thriller."--The New York Times Book Review "[An] evocative work of speculative literary fiction . . . Its prescience continues to be more apparent with each new headline out of Silicon Valley."--Elle, "Best New Books of Summer 2024" "A literary page-turner exploring questions of technology, gender, obedience and intimacies amongst women . . ."--Chicago Review of Books "Perfect for sweltering summer days that stretch into steamy nights, Olivia Gatwood's Whoever You Are, Honey feels like a fever dream for the AI age."--People "Whoever You Are, Honey is a sensual, detail-rich, utterly immersive novel. So propulsive and atmospheric, and at times creepy, I never wanted to put it down and longed for its company when not turning the pages. . . ."--Jenny Mustard, YouTuber and author of Okay Days "Whoever You Are, Honey reads like a thriller, but it's also a tender and searching exploration of what it means to inhabit a female body."--Kelly Link, author of The Book of Love "Here's a novel about the vastness of feeling and friendship--their unruliness a brilliant counterpoint to the glazed screens and aspirations of the modern world."--Anna Metcalfe, author of Chrysalis "Sharp, captivating, and apt--an intimate, pitch-perfect fable of the time, I immediately went back to the start."--Yrsa Daley-Ward, author of The Terrible "As lush and hypnotic as a dreampop album, this is an intoxicating debut about two women, each carrying a dark secret, who desire more than they've been allowed to want."--Leigh Stein, author of Self Care "Whoever You Are, Honey looks directly into the deep, dark depths of what makes us alive--and what sustains that life."--Gabrielle Korn, author of Yours for the Taking "Whoever You Are, Honey is a gripping, heartfelt novel--a moving exploration of unconventional friendships and the desire to be accepted and loved, not in spite of but because of our flaws."--Kate Folk, author of Out There "Whoever You Are, Honey is a brilliantly written exposé of the ubiquity and entanglement of the male and technological gazes, and the culture of loneliness and despondency they create."--Ling Ling Huang, author of Natural Beauty "Whoever You Are, Honey makes the familiar new; the everyday is made sensuous, rich, and jewel-bright."--Claudia Cravens, author of Lucky Red "The Stepford Wives for a new generation is finally here in this gripping, immersive, and uncanny novel."--Jenny Fran Davis, author of Dykette
