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Homebound
Six hundred years. Five interlocking lives. One computer game.
And the many paths that can lead us home.
It’s 1983 and Becks can’t wait to get the hell out of Cincinnati. In the meantime, she has work to do: her uncle, the only person who understood her, has left her a half-finished game to complete.
What Becks is coding will outlast her by centuries and shape the lives of a scientist, an astronaut and a desperate sea captain in ways she cannot imagine. It will connect these four pioneering women across time, vast oceans and far-distant planets and introduce them to a remarkable robot destined to gather together this disparate crew and bring them home.
Homebound is a coming out and coming-of-age story, a wild and precarious sea adventure, a space odyssey. As it slips through time, loss, creativity, found family, it journeys deep into humanity’s future and capacity for love.
And the many paths that can lead us home.
It’s 1983 and Becks can’t wait to get the hell out of Cincinnati. In the meantime, she has work to do: her uncle, the only person who understood her, has left her a half-finished game to complete.
What Becks is coding will outlast her by centuries and shape the lives of a scientist, an astronaut and a desperate sea captain in ways she cannot imagine. It will connect these four pioneering women across time, vast oceans and far-distant planets and introduce them to a remarkable robot destined to gather together this disparate crew and bring them home.
Homebound is a coming out and coming-of-age story, a wild and precarious sea adventure, a space odyssey. As it slips through time, loss, creativity, found family, it journeys deep into humanity’s future and capacity for love.
320 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 5, 2026
161 people are currently reading
33089 people want to read
About the author
Portia Elan
6 books118 followersPortia Elan studied history at Stanford University and earned an MFA from the University of Victoria before returning to California, where she has worked as a waitress, bookseller, teacher, and public librarian. She was a 2016 Lambda Literary Fellow and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her wife and an abundance of cats.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 202 reviews
arc-netgelley
February 23, 2026eeeeee got the ARC approved for Homebound, so interested in this one !!
October 2, 2025
full review tk closer to pub day but a fantastic debut novel featuring a video game that connects the lives of people across multiple generations…this will completely blow readers away.
August 22, 2025
A masterpiece that left me feeling at the same time like I'm about to cry and like someone saw I'm about to cry and covered me in a blanket and handed me a cup of warm tea. Homebound is the sort of book that I didn't only read - it became a part of me, and I'm so incredibly grateful for that.
November 16, 2025
This is a wonderful book. Technically a literary sci-fi, but really more of a genre-bending story. It’s set across nostalgic 1980s scenes, the not-too-distant 2080s, the centuries that follow, and finally a far distant future nearly 600 years later which strangely feels nostalgic and reads almost like a medieval fantasy.
It’s an ambitious epic, written incredibly well, and clearly well thought out and executed. There are four main characters, but it never feels like too many. I grew very attached to all of them that is a sign of how strong the character writing is. These different POVs and multiple timelines gradually weave together to make sense of the whole, all while asking profound questions about where human civilisation is headed and what it means to exist. When the planet is destroyed, your home gone, and the future uncertain, what do we live for?
Some of the technical elements went over my head (coding, AI and other technological references ) but that didn’t stop me from enjoying the story. It’s not a five-star read for me, only because I didn’t feel the deep emotional impact I expected from such an epic. Still, the ending left a gentle warmth in my heart. That was lovely.
I’d recommend this to people who enjoy:
- Kazuo Ishiguro’s books or other literary sci-fi focused on human connection and love
- Adventure stories
- Books set in the 1980s
- Found family themes
It’s an ambitious epic, written incredibly well, and clearly well thought out and executed. There are four main characters, but it never feels like too many. I grew very attached to all of them that is a sign of how strong the character writing is. These different POVs and multiple timelines gradually weave together to make sense of the whole, all while asking profound questions about where human civilisation is headed and what it means to exist. When the planet is destroyed, your home gone, and the future uncertain, what do we live for?
Some of the technical elements went over my head (coding, AI and other technological references ) but that didn’t stop me from enjoying the story. It’s not a five-star read for me, only because I didn’t feel the deep emotional impact I expected from such an epic. Still, the ending left a gentle warmth in my heart. That was lovely.
I’d recommend this to people who enjoy:
- Kazuo Ishiguro’s books or other literary sci-fi focused on human connection and love
- Adventure stories
- Books set in the 1980s
- Found family themes
May 6, 2026
A convoluted mess of multiple timelines and POVs, Homebound was most definitely a difficult book to read. Between the six-hundred-year time jumps and the complex worlds that I had to build in my head, it took quite a lot of energy to work through this novel. You see, while this queer, genre-bending tale of literary science fiction was an ambitious epic that asked some truly profound questions about loneliness, grief, friendship, and belonging, it was also rather slow going. On top of that, while the mixed media format added another element to this thought-provoking read, it didn’t quite hit the mark for me as it flattened the characters out instead of adding depth to their personas. Maybe it just comes down to the fact that I’m not the right kind of reader for this book. After all, despite the few things I loved such as the found family vibe and the 1980s nostalgia, it was incredibly hard to get lost in the words as the threads tying the multiple plot lines together were tenuous at best. Ultimately, even though I found the themes strong and poignant, this book sadly didn’t win me over by the end. If, however, you love inventive novels that are somewhat reminiscent of Kazuo Ishiguro or Emily St. John Mandel, maybe give it a try. After all, it seems I’m a serious outlier for this debut novel. Rating of 2.5 stars (upgraded).
SYNOPSIS:
It’s 1983 and Becks can’t wait to get the hell out of Cincinnati. She’s nineteen, blasting her Walkman, and hiding from the fact that her beloved uncle, the only person who understood her, is dead. But she has work to do: he left her a half-finished game to complete—one last collaboration to find her way out of loneliness.
Little does she know, what Becks is making will echo far into the future and shape the lives of a scientist, a sentient automaton, and a flinty sea captain in ways she cannot imagine. All are bound together by their search for connection—and by a futuristic traveler on a mysterious mission through space.
Thank you Portia Elan and Scribner Books for my complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.
PUB DATE: May 5, 2026
Content warning: addiction, death, homophobia, violence, terminal illness, mention of: death of a parent
SYNOPSIS:
It’s 1983 and Becks can’t wait to get the hell out of Cincinnati. She’s nineteen, blasting her Walkman, and hiding from the fact that her beloved uncle, the only person who understood her, is dead. But she has work to do: he left her a half-finished game to complete—one last collaboration to find her way out of loneliness.
Little does she know, what Becks is making will echo far into the future and shape the lives of a scientist, a sentient automaton, and a flinty sea captain in ways she cannot imagine. All are bound together by their search for connection—and by a futuristic traveler on a mysterious mission through space.
Thank you Portia Elan and Scribner Books for my complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.
PUB DATE: May 5, 2026
Content warning: addiction, death, homophobia, violence, terminal illness, mention of: death of a parent
December 8, 2025
DNF at 110 pages. Maybe I am becoming a book grinch but this was another colossal disappointment (the third in a row for me). Tomorrow x3 this is not.
Too many characters, too many timelines and convoluted storylines and I didn't care about any of it. I know you should always take publishers' comparisons with a pinch of salt but to compare this to Tomorrow x3 is an insult. The characters here are paper thin and strangely unlikeable, leaving you rooting for no one - particularly as you've no clue what you're even meant to be rooting for (at least for the first 100 pages anyway).
This will undoubtedly sell well to the exact market they're aiming for, but I can't in good conscience recommend it.
Too many characters, too many timelines and convoluted storylines and I didn't care about any of it. I know you should always take publishers' comparisons with a pinch of salt but to compare this to Tomorrow x3 is an insult. The characters here are paper thin and strangely unlikeable, leaving you rooting for no one - particularly as you've no clue what you're even meant to be rooting for (at least for the first 100 pages anyway).
This will undoubtedly sell well to the exact market they're aiming for, but I can't in good conscience recommend it.
March 31, 2026
Look, I’m not a people person. I’m a shy, socially anxious, awkward introvert. But this book about people finding connection across a sweeping timeline warmed my heart and had me in a tearful state pretty much the whole way through.
Homebound is an absolutely gorgeous debut novel. Words can’t describe how much I cared for all the characters, how real and alive they were, jumping right of the pages and into my heart. It was certainly ambitious, to write a bunch of timelines that are connected by a small thread, but it works out so well. Homebound is well-written, well-executed, and a total delight to read.
I think when a book leaves you emotional, that’s a good thing. Homebound delivered on that. I’m not just tearful, I’m also hopeful, and happy, and that’s hard to get in today’s world.
You don’t have to like sci-fi, or computer games, to enjoy Homebound. This story is about connection and love, something we can all relate to and appreciate. I can’t wait to see what else author Portia Elan comes up with.
Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Canada for providing the ARC of this book. This review is my honest and voluntary opinion.
Homebound is an absolutely gorgeous debut novel. Words can’t describe how much I cared for all the characters, how real and alive they were, jumping right of the pages and into my heart. It was certainly ambitious, to write a bunch of timelines that are connected by a small thread, but it works out so well. Homebound is well-written, well-executed, and a total delight to read.
I think when a book leaves you emotional, that’s a good thing. Homebound delivered on that. I’m not just tearful, I’m also hopeful, and happy, and that’s hard to get in today’s world.
You don’t have to like sci-fi, or computer games, to enjoy Homebound. This story is about connection and love, something we can all relate to and appreciate. I can’t wait to see what else author Portia Elan comes up with.
Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Canada for providing the ARC of this book. This review is my honest and voluntary opinion.
March 23, 2026
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review. This book was so confusing and convoluted in my opinion I was definitely not a huge fan. For starters this book had way too many povs and only one of them was interesting in my opinion. Of the entire book revolved around the 1983 plot line I would have devoured this. The other povs were super boring in my opinion and the switch back and forth made it near impossible to care about what was going on. Second off the video game aspect didn’t play as huge a role in this as I would have assumed? I’m really confused as to where the tomorrow x3 comparison is coming from because this was nothing like that. I really wouldn’t recommend this but it seems other people are really enjoying this so it could 100% be a me problem.
November 1, 2025
In Homebound, we follow three main timelines in 1983, 2090-2093, and 2586 (+ a play log of a game in 2093 and a few moment’s from Chaya, the robot’s perspective over time). The 1983 and 2586 timelines are written in first and third person prose while the 2090-2093 timeline is written in a series of emails. I loved each of these narratives and the relatively short chapters kept the pace feeling high (yet gentle as this book as little “action” in) so that I was compelled to pick up and keep reading this book throughout. One of the many reasons that this book so fun to read is the fact that you are always trying to piece together how these narratives fit together. This mystery of sorts is well-balanced as it doesn’t remain very difficult to piece together for long, which prevents you becoming frustrated by any unnecessarily prolonged confusion.
The book is very character-focused, which I love, while still being able to weave in world building of the dystopian future. The world building is done subtly and never felt like it was on-the-nose. This is my favourite way to understand a sci-fi world: gradually being drip fed by the narrative.
One core theme of the book is how we remember those we loved and lost by telling stories. Although the last few pages did lay out this idea a bit more obviously than I felt it needed to, with the more subtle portrayal of this idea which shone throughout the rest of this book being more effective in my opinion, I liked how this theme was presented. Particularly in the story told through the game and Root and Yesiko’s relationship.
Queerness is also a big theme which runs through this book, and the way in which the experience of queer love and the struggles that came with being queer (particularly in the 1980s for both men and women) is beautifully done.
I love books which involve games and look at game making, or any sort of story telling medium for that matter (e.g. also film or books), and enjoyed reading the sections where the game was played. It was very interesting to think about how the game interweaved with the various narratives in the book, whether because the game was written by or played by the characters. The stories that were told directly through the game were also compelling and I felt invested in each of the characters the game character was helping, which is very impressive especially considering how few pages were spent in each scenario.
I often struggle with robot characters, but I really liked Chaya. I think robot characters can just feel like they are thrown into sci-fi books without a clear purpose and thus aren’t done well, but Chaya being a robot was deeply embedded in the plot and how their character worked. It also gave them interesting flaws that helped drive the plot as well as explore the theme of story-telling.
On that point, I loved all of the characters in this book and found them all to be incredibly vivid and compelling whether they were a main perspective character or not. It was also so refreshing to have an older female perspective (Yesiko in 2586) where her age is important for her character, as it would be with anyone, but is not in any way the focus of her character.
This book reminded me a lot of Emily St. John Mandel’s books, particularly ‘The Glass Hotel’ and ‘Sea of Tranquility’ in the structure of the narrative and character/theme-driven sci-fi. I am incredibly excited to see what Portia Elan writes next!
My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC.
The book is very character-focused, which I love, while still being able to weave in world building of the dystopian future. The world building is done subtly and never felt like it was on-the-nose. This is my favourite way to understand a sci-fi world: gradually being drip fed by the narrative.
One core theme of the book is how we remember those we loved and lost by telling stories. Although the last few pages did lay out this idea a bit more obviously than I felt it needed to, with the more subtle portrayal of this idea which shone throughout the rest of this book being more effective in my opinion, I liked how this theme was presented. Particularly in the story told through the game and Root and Yesiko’s relationship.
Queerness is also a big theme which runs through this book, and the way in which the experience of queer love and the struggles that came with being queer (particularly in the 1980s for both men and women) is beautifully done.
I love books which involve games and look at game making, or any sort of story telling medium for that matter (e.g. also film or books), and enjoyed reading the sections where the game was played. It was very interesting to think about how the game interweaved with the various narratives in the book, whether because the game was written by or played by the characters. The stories that were told directly through the game were also compelling and I felt invested in each of the characters the game character was helping, which is very impressive especially considering how few pages were spent in each scenario.
I often struggle with robot characters, but I really liked Chaya. I think robot characters can just feel like they are thrown into sci-fi books without a clear purpose and thus aren’t done well, but Chaya being a robot was deeply embedded in the plot and how their character worked. It also gave them interesting flaws that helped drive the plot as well as explore the theme of story-telling.
On that point, I loved all of the characters in this book and found them all to be incredibly vivid and compelling whether they were a main perspective character or not. It was also so refreshing to have an older female perspective (Yesiko in 2586) where her age is important for her character, as it would be with anyone, but is not in any way the focus of her character.
This book reminded me a lot of Emily St. John Mandel’s books, particularly ‘The Glass Hotel’ and ‘Sea of Tranquility’ in the structure of the narrative and character/theme-driven sci-fi. I am incredibly excited to see what Portia Elan writes next!
My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC.
May 7, 2026
Gifted 💌: Thank you Simon and Schuster Canada for the free ARC 💙
3.75 ⭐️ !!
This was such a heartwarming, quietly powerful read 🫶🏼 💌
It follows three strong women in different timelines, and slowly we start to see how their stories weave together.
In the 1980s, we meet Bex, who is grieving the loss of her late uncle. Their relationship was so special ..full of memories, and moments where he teaches her coding as she grows up. That emotional core really grounded the story for me.
Then we jump to the 2580s with Jesiko, a sea captain in a world where people travel by boat. She takes on passengers who bring along a robot, and they’re on a mission to find a lost astronaut… which immediately had me intrigued.
And in another timeline, we follow Doctor Portman, who is working to solve the crisis of global warming 🌍
At first, you know these stories are connected somehow, but the “how” isn’t revealed right away and honestly, that was one of my favorite parts. I loved piecing everything together and slowly realizing how these lives intertwine. It felt so satisfying when it all clicked into place.
The way these stories come together was honestly beautiful 🤍 it made the whole journey feel meaningful and intentional.
Overall, such a solid and impressive debut! Definitely one I’d recommend if you like character driven stories with layered timelines and a touch of sci-fi ✨
3.75 ⭐️ !!
This was such a heartwarming, quietly powerful read 🫶🏼 💌
It follows three strong women in different timelines, and slowly we start to see how their stories weave together.
In the 1980s, we meet Bex, who is grieving the loss of her late uncle. Their relationship was so special ..full of memories, and moments where he teaches her coding as she grows up. That emotional core really grounded the story for me.
Then we jump to the 2580s with Jesiko, a sea captain in a world where people travel by boat. She takes on passengers who bring along a robot, and they’re on a mission to find a lost astronaut… which immediately had me intrigued.
And in another timeline, we follow Doctor Portman, who is working to solve the crisis of global warming 🌍
At first, you know these stories are connected somehow, but the “how” isn’t revealed right away and honestly, that was one of my favorite parts. I loved piecing everything together and slowly realizing how these lives intertwine. It felt so satisfying when it all clicked into place.
The way these stories come together was honestly beautiful 🤍 it made the whole journey feel meaningful and intentional.
Overall, such a solid and impressive debut! Definitely one I’d recommend if you like character driven stories with layered timelines and a touch of sci-fi ✨
March 5, 2026
this book tries to do far too much and spends far too little time actually developing each of its three storylines for me to actually care about any of them. sure they're interconnected but it's so loosely that it feels like you're reading three entirely different, mid stories. the teenage grief of a newly realized gay girl in the 80s just really has nothing to do with a ship voyage carrying a robot with delusions of space travel.
November 19, 2025
This warmed the cockles of my heart.
I love a novel that spans time and space, but in which all the characters are connected. In this case, by a video game, but also by a sense of love, friendship and common humanity. All good sci-fi and speculative fiction examines what it means to be a human and the importance of the emotional connections we make.
The first strand of the story begins in the 1980s snd is a sweet story of grief and coming out. Rebecca inherits a half-finished computer game which her uncle began, and which she will finish. The most futuristic strand of the novel is set in the 2580s, in a sunken world of water and islands, where captain Yesiko transports three passengers - two teenagers and a robot - in search of a lost astronaut and a long-forgotten story.
The novel was made up of first person and third person narrative, emails and computer game excerpts. All the pieces of the puzzle cleverly interconnect and intersect, coming together beautifully towards the end. The structure of the book was a perfect metaphor for how story, myth and history unite us.
It reminded me of Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr and Sea of Tranquility by Emily St John Mandel - other books which criss-cross backwards and forwards through time.
Overall, this was short and sweet, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I love a novel that spans time and space, but in which all the characters are connected. In this case, by a video game, but also by a sense of love, friendship and common humanity. All good sci-fi and speculative fiction examines what it means to be a human and the importance of the emotional connections we make.
The first strand of the story begins in the 1980s snd is a sweet story of grief and coming out. Rebecca inherits a half-finished computer game which her uncle began, and which she will finish. The most futuristic strand of the novel is set in the 2580s, in a sunken world of water and islands, where captain Yesiko transports three passengers - two teenagers and a robot - in search of a lost astronaut and a long-forgotten story.
The novel was made up of first person and third person narrative, emails and computer game excerpts. All the pieces of the puzzle cleverly interconnect and intersect, coming together beautifully towards the end. The structure of the book was a perfect metaphor for how story, myth and history unite us.
It reminded me of Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr and Sea of Tranquility by Emily St John Mandel - other books which criss-cross backwards and forwards through time.
Overall, this was short and sweet, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
May 6, 2026
it’s laughable to me that they tried to use tomorrowx3 as a comp title for this when it’s so much closer to cloud cuckoo land by anthony doerr. the only real connection it has to TTT is the video game element, otherwise it’s all weird structure and reaching through time and watching the earth change and die in human hands. this book does not have quite the same depth or complexity as CCL, but i cannot discard the similarities, and i think it’s why i did like parts of it so much. two sides of a similar coin.
that said, i struggled through this. it’s a short book, and at times it moves fairly quickly, but it took me a long time to sink into the story and truly care about the characters. the first half was slow going, and for a while there i didn’t think i’d actually finish this. it wasn’t until part two that i felt interested enough to really commit. somewhere along the way i decided to bump it to four stars because i do see the vision, and parts of this are so smart and cool and interesting — and the final puzzle piece with the actual game that portia coded (? made? created?) was fanTASTIC — but truthfully the book hovered at 3/3.5 for most of the beginning.
i wanted to like this more than i did, and i think my critiques of it will always hold me back from loving this as much as i loved CCL, but by the end i really did love the characters, and i think the way it all connected was quite beautiful…i just wanted a bit more from it.
overall, i applaud the author for this work because it does a wonderful job exploring our AI future while also sitting with our late-1900s past. there’s some really great exploration in here about humanity, about technology, about why we need to archive ourselves and our stories. i cared most about becks, which is a shame because for being such a central part of the story…we barely got to see her character explored firsthand. so much of the characters in this are secondhand - living their lives in the past or off the page, waiting to be remembered by the narrative. i think i would’ve liked for her story to be more front and center - because she IS the story in many ways - but i do think the author managed to say a lot with very few words.
the homebound excerpts were also some of my favorite parts. i loved the plot of the game but also it’s fantastically unique writing, to use (and i don’t know the proper term here so let’s just use—) code and the style of a video game to tell a story…it was wonderfully executed when it was on the page.
i think books like this are often the most frustrating for me as a reader because it has all the makings of a book that would drive me insane forever, and yet something is holding it back. characters? length? execution? all of these things. i think if it were about 100 pages longer and we spent less time focusing on babylon, i would’ve been more satisfied with it. i had the hardest time getting through yesiko’s chapters because they felt the most sci-fi to me, and it was winding in a way that did not compel me. part of why CCL is so wonderful is that even though you don’t know how everything connects, you’re settled in the present watching the characters live, whereas this one i felt like i was frantically trying to get back to the povs i was missing.
mixed feelings! i wanted a lot more from it! but also it was really good at times! and i loved the interactive video game elements online! the lighthouse game at the end in particular almost made me cry!!!!
that said, i struggled through this. it’s a short book, and at times it moves fairly quickly, but it took me a long time to sink into the story and truly care about the characters. the first half was slow going, and for a while there i didn’t think i’d actually finish this. it wasn’t until part two that i felt interested enough to really commit. somewhere along the way i decided to bump it to four stars because i do see the vision, and parts of this are so smart and cool and interesting — and the final puzzle piece with the actual game that portia coded (? made? created?) was fanTASTIC — but truthfully the book hovered at 3/3.5 for most of the beginning.
i wanted to like this more than i did, and i think my critiques of it will always hold me back from loving this as much as i loved CCL, but by the end i really did love the characters, and i think the way it all connected was quite beautiful…i just wanted a bit more from it.
overall, i applaud the author for this work because it does a wonderful job exploring our AI future while also sitting with our late-1900s past. there’s some really great exploration in here about humanity, about technology, about why we need to archive ourselves and our stories. i cared most about becks, which is a shame because for being such a central part of the story…we barely got to see her character explored firsthand. so much of the characters in this are secondhand - living their lives in the past or off the page, waiting to be remembered by the narrative. i think i would’ve liked for her story to be more front and center - because she IS the story in many ways - but i do think the author managed to say a lot with very few words.
the homebound excerpts were also some of my favorite parts. i loved the plot of the game but also it’s fantastically unique writing, to use (and i don’t know the proper term here so let’s just use—) code and the style of a video game to tell a story…it was wonderfully executed when it was on the page.
i think books like this are often the most frustrating for me as a reader because it has all the makings of a book that would drive me insane forever, and yet something is holding it back. characters? length? execution? all of these things. i think if it were about 100 pages longer and we spent less time focusing on babylon, i would’ve been more satisfied with it. i had the hardest time getting through yesiko’s chapters because they felt the most sci-fi to me, and it was winding in a way that did not compel me. part of why CCL is so wonderful is that even though you don’t know how everything connects, you’re settled in the present watching the characters live, whereas this one i felt like i was frantically trying to get back to the povs i was missing.
mixed feelings! i wanted a lot more from it! but also it was really good at times! and i loved the interactive video game elements online! the lighthouse game at the end in particular almost made me cry!!!!
May 5, 2026
Finished in time for this to officially release. This one may be the biggest disappointment of 2026.
Tomorrow, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow this is not. Bring me back to a week ago when I hadn’t purchased it from BOTM.
There are so many things that don’t work for this one — multiple and scattered timelines, confusing plotting, and lagging entertainment. Who knew all of whatever the author is getting at could be so … boring.
Across these timelines — one in the past (my “favorite”), near distant future, and far future — we as readers are meant to understand and care for whatever is happening. It can’t be farther from the truth. It’s hard to do when you’re constantly thrown about the timelines and when there is so little that connects them outside of a game called Homebound. This game is so one dimensional (literally and figuratively) that it’s hard to believe it could have survived for centuries. It could not in our own reality — a choose your own adventure like the Oregon Trail will never be as popular the Mario series, but the author wants you to pretend!
Speaking of pretend, be prepared to do that as the book ends and most of these storylines are left incomplete. Kind of crazy to do when you’ve got so many balls in the air (and you just leave them there.) It could have been avoided had we just focused on one timeline, like the past, which led to the creation of the titular game, than giving us these mediocre stories. There’s other problems here — Bezos/Musk like character, dead gay uncle as a catalyst to change your life, coming out in the last handful of pages — that add insult to injury.
If this description sparked any interest, either reread Tomorrow (x3) or pick up Richard Powers’s Playground or Overstory. You won’t regret it.
Tomorrow, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow this is not. Bring me back to a week ago when I hadn’t purchased it from BOTM.
There are so many things that don’t work for this one — multiple and scattered timelines, confusing plotting, and lagging entertainment. Who knew all of whatever the author is getting at could be so … boring.
Across these timelines — one in the past (my “favorite”), near distant future, and far future — we as readers are meant to understand and care for whatever is happening. It can’t be farther from the truth. It’s hard to do when you’re constantly thrown about the timelines and when there is so little that connects them outside of a game called Homebound. This game is so one dimensional (literally and figuratively) that it’s hard to believe it could have survived for centuries. It could not in our own reality — a choose your own adventure like the Oregon Trail will never be as popular the Mario series, but the author wants you to pretend!
Speaking of pretend, be prepared to do that as the book ends and most of these storylines are left incomplete. Kind of crazy to do when you’ve got so many balls in the air (and you just leave them there.) It could have been avoided had we just focused on one timeline, like the past, which led to the creation of the titular game, than giving us these mediocre stories. There’s other problems here — Bezos/Musk like character, dead gay uncle as a catalyst to change your life, coming out in the last handful of pages — that add insult to injury.
If this description sparked any interest, either reread Tomorrow (x3) or pick up Richard Powers’s Playground or Overstory. You won’t regret it.
December 30, 2025
*I received an ARC of this book from Scribner in exchange for an honest review*
This book had a lot of potential to be a really solid sci-fi novel, but it missed a few big marks for me. The overall message about finding your purpose and the importance of community was profound and was the shining light of this book. However, besides Becks, I found the character development extremely lacking. Some of the other characters and their relationships to each other needed more fleshing out. Especially towards the end of the novel, I found myself doubting some of the choices Yesiko was making because we didn’t have enough time to see her develop attachments to Shula, Tov, and Chaya. I liked the multiple storylines, but those, too, needed more time to reveal how they all connected. I don’t think we got enough of a solid through line from Becks’s time to Yeskio’s time. I’m still giving this book 3 stars because I did enjoy it towards the end, but it was slow going with little satisfaction from the start.
This book had a lot of potential to be a really solid sci-fi novel, but it missed a few big marks for me. The overall message about finding your purpose and the importance of community was profound and was the shining light of this book. However, besides Becks, I found the character development extremely lacking. Some of the other characters and their relationships to each other needed more fleshing out. Especially towards the end of the novel, I found myself doubting some of the choices Yesiko was making because we didn’t have enough time to see her develop attachments to Shula, Tov, and Chaya. I liked the multiple storylines, but those, too, needed more time to reveal how they all connected. I don’t think we got enough of a solid through line from Becks’s time to Yeskio’s time. I’m still giving this book 3 stars because I did enjoy it towards the end, but it was slow going with little satisfaction from the start.
Did Not Finish
January 1, 2026DNF. Not for me. I'm so bored.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC.
This book had “my cup of tea” written all over it. What an incredible debut.
This will appeal to fans of the time-spanning, interconnected structure of Sea of Tranquillity by Emily St John Mandel, as well as the introspective, quietly dramatic cli-fi of Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy. Do not let the computer game element lead you to expect something like Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin. It is quite different. In fact, I preferred this. I found the characters in Tomorrow x3 a little insipid, although I did enjoy it overall. Here, the speculative sci-fi elements and the willingness to let the reader sit in uncertainty really worked for me. If that does not sound like your thing, I would still recommend giving Homebound a try. It may be unlike anything you have read before, and that can be part of the appeal.
For readers already firmly on the speculative sci-fi train, the story moves between timelines and uses a variety of narrative devices, including legend and prayer, epistolary sections, and game excerpts. This could easily have felt disjointed, but it is handled with confidence and kept me engaged throughout.
The characters are eccentric and compelling, and the settings are vivid and often bleak. We get confused teenagers, idealistic robots, and a ragtag crew sailing the seas of the future. Towards the end it also reminded me of the movie AI: Artificial Intelligence. This is not especially plot-driven sci-fi. It is much more focused on people: connection, coming of age, love, found family, and the way stories echo across time and space and mean something different to each interpreter.
I am really looking forward to what Portia Elan does next. Five stars from me, although I appreciate this one may not be for everyone.
This book had “my cup of tea” written all over it. What an incredible debut.
This will appeal to fans of the time-spanning, interconnected structure of Sea of Tranquillity by Emily St John Mandel, as well as the introspective, quietly dramatic cli-fi of Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy. Do not let the computer game element lead you to expect something like Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin. It is quite different. In fact, I preferred this. I found the characters in Tomorrow x3 a little insipid, although I did enjoy it overall. Here, the speculative sci-fi elements and the willingness to let the reader sit in uncertainty really worked for me. If that does not sound like your thing, I would still recommend giving Homebound a try. It may be unlike anything you have read before, and that can be part of the appeal.
For readers already firmly on the speculative sci-fi train, the story moves between timelines and uses a variety of narrative devices, including legend and prayer, epistolary sections, and game excerpts. This could easily have felt disjointed, but it is handled with confidence and kept me engaged throughout.
The characters are eccentric and compelling, and the settings are vivid and often bleak. We get confused teenagers, idealistic robots, and a ragtag crew sailing the seas of the future. Towards the end it also reminded me of the movie AI: Artificial Intelligence. This is not especially plot-driven sci-fi. It is much more focused on people: connection, coming of age, love, found family, and the way stories echo across time and space and mean something different to each interpreter.
I am really looking forward to what Portia Elan does next. Five stars from me, although I appreciate this one may not be for everyone.
March 27, 2026
4.5 rounded up
Homebound by Portia Elan
✅ #gifted for review by @simonschusterca
Pub date: May 5, 2026
A bit of a slow amble through time and the five lives impacted by the existential implications of grief and love imbued in one text-based computer game made in the 80s.
There’s definitely something disorienting about the way we’re jumping through time here, but once I let go and had faith eventually it would come together I was able to focus on the endearing intricacies of each character.
The young computer nerd discovering her sexuality and dealing with the death and secrets of her beloved uncle in a very atmospheric 80s.
The aging indebted sea captain trying to find a way to save her one last crew member in a post-apocalyptic water world.
The AI, only one of its kind, designed to monitor and protect the environment but moving far beyond its programming.
The scientist whose research is getting cannibalized by late stage capitalism and the small ways she attempts to resist.
And California Solo, the game character trying to save a ship full of innocents in a strange portal filled with choices that seem simple but are anything but.
What it all means, how it all connects, comes together in an almost seamless way. I did feel like it was building to something more profound that it didn’t quite reach for me, I wasn’t left completely satisfied in the end but still the experience of reading this was so quietly beautiful I found myself drawing it out, not wanting it to end. So maybe my expectations were heightened. I loved the different ways and modes of storytelling Elan incorporated here and for a debut it really is something special.
4.5⭐️
Highly recommend for fans of sci-fi, quiet character driven stories that span centuries.
Thank you @simonschusterca for sending me the ARC for review! Excited to hype this as it rolls out!
Homebound by Portia Elan
✅ #gifted for review by @simonschusterca
Pub date: May 5, 2026
A bit of a slow amble through time and the five lives impacted by the existential implications of grief and love imbued in one text-based computer game made in the 80s.
There’s definitely something disorienting about the way we’re jumping through time here, but once I let go and had faith eventually it would come together I was able to focus on the endearing intricacies of each character.
The young computer nerd discovering her sexuality and dealing with the death and secrets of her beloved uncle in a very atmospheric 80s.
The aging indebted sea captain trying to find a way to save her one last crew member in a post-apocalyptic water world.
The AI, only one of its kind, designed to monitor and protect the environment but moving far beyond its programming.
The scientist whose research is getting cannibalized by late stage capitalism and the small ways she attempts to resist.
And California Solo, the game character trying to save a ship full of innocents in a strange portal filled with choices that seem simple but are anything but.
What it all means, how it all connects, comes together in an almost seamless way. I did feel like it was building to something more profound that it didn’t quite reach for me, I wasn’t left completely satisfied in the end but still the experience of reading this was so quietly beautiful I found myself drawing it out, not wanting it to end. So maybe my expectations were heightened. I loved the different ways and modes of storytelling Elan incorporated here and for a debut it really is something special.
4.5⭐️
Highly recommend for fans of sci-fi, quiet character driven stories that span centuries.
Thank you @simonschusterca for sending me the ARC for review! Excited to hype this as it rolls out!
March 24, 2026
felt very unfinished.
too many POVs that really never connected at the end. felt more like reading 3 stories stories spliced together
very confused on some of the choices
too many POVs that really never connected at the end. felt more like reading 3 stories stories spliced together
very confused on some of the choices
April 12, 2026
Thank you to #Scribner and #NetGalley for the digital ARC of #Homebound. The opinions expressed here are entirely my own.
This book has a LOT going. There are multiple characters to keep track. The character's stories weave thru multiple timelines - from 1980s Ohio to a largely flooded earth in 2596. There are multiple themes (LGBTQ+, climate change, artificial intelligence) and multiple formats - some chapters are email correspondence and others are scenes from a text based computer game.
At its heart, this book is about belonging and acceptance- finding your place and your people in a world that often feels harsh and impossible. By letting others in, we can truly be ourselves and don't have to be alone. It also illustrates how we hold on to those we love through our memories and stories.
Overall, I liked the book, but really struggled to keep track of the all the different POVs and timeframes. Some of the threads connecting the stories were tenuous at best. This is an impressive debut novel, but I think it would be better as a separate stories (a trilogy even) that goes deeper on a specific character/timeline and makes stronger connections to the other characters/timelines/stories.
This book has a LOT going. There are multiple characters to keep track. The character's stories weave thru multiple timelines - from 1980s Ohio to a largely flooded earth in 2596. There are multiple themes (LGBTQ+, climate change, artificial intelligence) and multiple formats - some chapters are email correspondence and others are scenes from a text based computer game.
At its heart, this book is about belonging and acceptance- finding your place and your people in a world that often feels harsh and impossible. By letting others in, we can truly be ourselves and don't have to be alone. It also illustrates how we hold on to those we love through our memories and stories.
Overall, I liked the book, but really struggled to keep track of the all the different POVs and timeframes. Some of the threads connecting the stories were tenuous at best. This is an impressive debut novel, but I think it would be better as a separate stories (a trilogy even) that goes deeper on a specific character/timeline and makes stronger connections to the other characters/timelines/stories.
January 22, 2026
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC of this book.
Homebound is a queer, mixed media, literary cli-fi about relationships and connections.
Elan’s writing evokes a sense of yearning as the characters traverse loneliness, and find meaning and purpose through space, time and oceans to find their way home.
Jam packed with nostalgia and scientific potential, Homebound examines how we pass life lessons through folktales, creation myths, and superstitious legends. Root puts it best when he says ‘We keep the stories, and the stories keep us.’
Our characters are distinct, emphasised through the mixed media and style of each of their POVs.
Becks’ story is told as if she was speaking to her recently deceased uncle Ben, who sparked her love for games and coding. They share more connections than she realised while he was alive, and he posthumously collaborates with her on the video game that impacts the rest of the characters lives in the near and distant future.
Yesiko is a scavenger and smuggler on the oceans of the distant 2500’s. Desperate to keep her home (the ship Babylon) and her family (Root, her ailing crewmate and mentor with an interesting and increasing connection to the ship) safe in a post climate collapse world.
We experience Tamar’s story through her email correspondence with her colleagues and friends, and articles. She is a bioscientist touched by Becks’ game, and whose work will impact our characters in the future timelines.
Chaya is an AmAye, a robot with a biomechanical neural network who is searching for answers about their purpose, where they came from, and what it means to be seemingly unique and alone in a vast universe.
Often with multi POV books you encounter a voice you like less, however Homebound presents the reader with enough of a puzzle to pull you in and propel you through the story, the game playthrough sections are a really nice addition to this. As the threads start weaving together, you want to journey on to see the full picture.
While this book might not be for readers looking for a fast paced adventure, Homebound is a beautiful examination of what it means to be human and finding your place in the world.
Homebound is a queer, mixed media, literary cli-fi about relationships and connections.
Elan’s writing evokes a sense of yearning as the characters traverse loneliness, and find meaning and purpose through space, time and oceans to find their way home.
Jam packed with nostalgia and scientific potential, Homebound examines how we pass life lessons through folktales, creation myths, and superstitious legends. Root puts it best when he says ‘We keep the stories, and the stories keep us.’
Our characters are distinct, emphasised through the mixed media and style of each of their POVs.
Becks’ story is told as if she was speaking to her recently deceased uncle Ben, who sparked her love for games and coding. They share more connections than she realised while he was alive, and he posthumously collaborates with her on the video game that impacts the rest of the characters lives in the near and distant future.
Yesiko is a scavenger and smuggler on the oceans of the distant 2500’s. Desperate to keep her home (the ship Babylon) and her family (Root, her ailing crewmate and mentor with an interesting and increasing connection to the ship) safe in a post climate collapse world.
We experience Tamar’s story through her email correspondence with her colleagues and friends, and articles. She is a bioscientist touched by Becks’ game, and whose work will impact our characters in the future timelines.
Chaya is an AmAye, a robot with a biomechanical neural network who is searching for answers about their purpose, where they came from, and what it means to be seemingly unique and alone in a vast universe.
Often with multi POV books you encounter a voice you like less, however Homebound presents the reader with enough of a puzzle to pull you in and propel you through the story, the game playthrough sections are a really nice addition to this. As the threads start weaving together, you want to journey on to see the full picture.
While this book might not be for readers looking for a fast paced adventure, Homebound is a beautiful examination of what it means to be human and finding your place in the world.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Thank you to NetGallery and Random House UK for this ARC
And of course Portia Elan!
This review contains NO spoilers! And all that is said is my honest and non-biased opinion.
I am not going to give spoilers or massive details of what happens in this book. That would be silly and counterproductive!
Release date for this book is 7th May 2026
Rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Overall this book was a good read, the plot idea was great and writing structure was good.
However, I do think there were way too many timelines. I really wish we had the main story in the 1980s and then briefly mentioning the others would have given possibility for another book or novellas maybe.
I must say I absolutely loved the different formats. Also the touching issues of death, grief, acceptance and finding your people, really had me in tears.
Ultimately an emotional book with amazing potential, maybe it is just me that found it hard to read?
Thank you so much again to NetGallery, Random House UK and Portia Elan
And of course Portia Elan!
This review contains NO spoilers! And all that is said is my honest and non-biased opinion.
I am not going to give spoilers or massive details of what happens in this book. That would be silly and counterproductive!
Release date for this book is 7th May 2026
Rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Overall this book was a good read, the plot idea was great and writing structure was good.
However, I do think there were way too many timelines. I really wish we had the main story in the 1980s and then briefly mentioning the others would have given possibility for another book or novellas maybe.
I must say I absolutely loved the different formats. Also the touching issues of death, grief, acceptance and finding your people, really had me in tears.
Ultimately an emotional book with amazing potential, maybe it is just me that found it hard to read?
Thank you so much again to NetGallery, Random House UK and Portia Elan
December 11, 2025
I think I enjoyed this? It’s a lovely multi-timeline novel exploring family, identity, the environment and our place in the world. It’s quite sci-fi in places which isn’t usually to my taste, but it was engaging and well written.
I found the 2500s timeline was a bit too heavily focused on for my liking, as if we’re being honest, nothing really happens. They go on a quest which doesn’t turn out to reveal anything, so I felt like I was investing in no big pay-off, no big reveal, no revelation about the characters. A nice enough book, but I think I wanted more plot from such a high-concept story.
I found the 2500s timeline was a bit too heavily focused on for my liking, as if we’re being honest, nothing really happens. They go on a quest which doesn’t turn out to reveal anything, so I felt like I was investing in no big pay-off, no big reveal, no revelation about the characters. A nice enough book, but I think I wanted more plot from such a high-concept story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 27, 2025
If Tomorrow, Tomorrow and Tomorrow crossed paths with Murderbot and Firefly and the result had Ministry of Time vibes, then you must read Homebound. Told over three different timelines that later merge, these characters will root deep within you as one questions how humanity connects, even beyond the boundaries of time.
March 2, 2026
Firstly thank you to the publishers & Netgalley for an early copy of Homebound in exchange for an honest review.
I have mixed feelings but I did enjoy Homebound overall. It’s a unique storyline spanning lots of different timelines & characters but showing how everything is connected, even in the smallest ways. It’s a heartbreaking, but also heartwarming & touching read. However, it’s quite hard/complicated to get through & really took a lot of patience and persistence.
While I liked some of the characters and enjoyed the uniqueness of the different settings, timelines & different formatting of the chapters (giving it another dimension rather than just a different chapter per timeframe), I think everything together in such detail/depth made it way too over complicated, trying to work out how the timelines connected/related, who all the characters are/their different storylines and especially at the start with what was actually going on. The difference between the first couple of chapters/timelines made me think I had started a completely new book. It either needed an extra 50-100 pages or to be made less detailed.
I think a bit of context around who characters are before they’re introduced (for example you hear from Dr. Portman throughout the whole book, but only find out who she is/how she fits in, in the last few chapters and the link connecting her to the other timelines was brushed over in a few hints and 2 sentences) & why the world was flooded/what happened between the timelines would have helped massively rather than the context solely being around Chaya. Additionally, the descriptions of Babylon were so in depth & if you don’t know boats or the culture discussed, it’s very confusing.
Overall, the thought & meaning behind Homebound was touching & memorable, making it a read I possibly would recommend to the right person but only to someone I know would appreciate it and with the caveat that to do it justice, you really do need to have patience and persist with it. Because of it’s complexity it’s definitely not for everyone or those looking for fun/quick reads and it still was more complicated than it needed to be
I have mixed feelings but I did enjoy Homebound overall. It’s a unique storyline spanning lots of different timelines & characters but showing how everything is connected, even in the smallest ways. It’s a heartbreaking, but also heartwarming & touching read. However, it’s quite hard/complicated to get through & really took a lot of patience and persistence.
While I liked some of the characters and enjoyed the uniqueness of the different settings, timelines & different formatting of the chapters (giving it another dimension rather than just a different chapter per timeframe), I think everything together in such detail/depth made it way too over complicated, trying to work out how the timelines connected/related, who all the characters are/their different storylines and especially at the start with what was actually going on. The difference between the first couple of chapters/timelines made me think I had started a completely new book. It either needed an extra 50-100 pages or to be made less detailed.
I think a bit of context around who characters are before they’re introduced (for example you hear from Dr. Portman throughout the whole book, but only find out who she is/how she fits in, in the last few chapters and the link connecting her to the other timelines was brushed over in a few hints and 2 sentences) & why the world was flooded/what happened between the timelines would have helped massively rather than the context solely being around Chaya. Additionally, the descriptions of Babylon were so in depth & if you don’t know boats or the culture discussed, it’s very confusing.
Overall, the thought & meaning behind Homebound was touching & memorable, making it a read I possibly would recommend to the right person but only to someone I know would appreciate it and with the caveat that to do it justice, you really do need to have patience and persist with it. Because of it’s complexity it’s definitely not for everyone or those looking for fun/quick reads and it still was more complicated than it needed to be
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 7, 2026
gosh what a book ! i easily could have kept reading if this had been longer (which really isn't like me, <300 pages is my go-to)! it made me sad for the future but also i found it so touching and in some ways i felt hopeful how connection and our relationships with each other are so strong. the jumping through different time periods works so well too, Elan does a fantastic job at a non-linear narrative without it becoming confusing or disjointed. & the characters! so compelling.
at first i wasn't sure if the different points in time would work for this story and i can see why other people might find it a bit convoluted but i personally didn't find this at all. five stars for me but can see why others might not like. but 1000% worth giving a go. intrigued to see more reviews after the book comes out and also excited to see other things Elan writes ! :)
at first i wasn't sure if the different points in time would work for this story and i can see why other people might find it a bit convoluted but i personally didn't find this at all. five stars for me but can see why others might not like. but 1000% worth giving a go. intrigued to see more reviews after the book comes out and also excited to see other things Elan writes ! :)
April 3, 2026
a really cool, mind bending, reality hopping story!
The story starts in the 1980s with walkmans and cassettes and takes us a hundred years in the future to the 2080-90s, with the creation and evolution of AI Ayes (robots) developing consciousness. We then continue to jump to 2300-2590, the world has flooded, dystopian-esque, pirate sailing the seas while also piloting the universe!
A humanity driven plot that has you introspectively examining your life and choices you continue to make. Good reflection on global warming and the idea of investing time and resources to saving the earth in contrast to funding an escape route to a new planet.
The story starts in the 1980s with walkmans and cassettes and takes us a hundred years in the future to the 2080-90s, with the creation and evolution of AI Ayes (robots) developing consciousness. We then continue to jump to 2300-2590, the world has flooded, dystopian-esque, pirate sailing the seas while also piloting the universe!
A humanity driven plot that has you introspectively examining your life and choices you continue to make. Good reflection on global warming and the idea of investing time and resources to saving the earth in contrast to funding an escape route to a new planet.
May 5, 2026
Thank you to Scribner and NetGally for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
I loved 'Homebound.' I'm not always a SciFi fan; however, this one kept me interested and invested. I appreciated both the timeline jumping and use of multiple perspectives. While I related most to the 1983 storyline, I found the future timelines (including the gaming scenario) equally engaging.
I especially enjoyed the constant question of "what is real?" We were asked to consider when stories become historic fact. It forces a contemplation of memory and how truths are constructed.
I look forward to more books by Portia Elan.
I loved 'Homebound.' I'm not always a SciFi fan; however, this one kept me interested and invested. I appreciated both the timeline jumping and use of multiple perspectives. While I related most to the 1983 storyline, I found the future timelines (including the gaming scenario) equally engaging.
I especially enjoyed the constant question of "what is real?" We were asked to consider when stories become historic fact. It forces a contemplation of memory and how truths are constructed.
I look forward to more books by Portia Elan.
December 2, 2025
3.5 stars!
a beautifully written and hopeful story, but i really struggled to connect with one of the three timelines and wish more time had been spent with my favourite time (the 1980s story)
[gifted ARC but all opinions my own!]
a beautifully written and hopeful story, but i really struggled to connect with one of the three timelines and wish more time had been spent with my favourite time (the 1980s story)
[gifted ARC but all opinions my own!]
February 26, 2026
2.25 stars rounded down. Too literary for me, it swaps timelines and I never really felt like much happened in either one other than a lot of literary description. I never felt connected to the characters, and it felt a bit of a slog for me.
However if you like your books to be more speculative, literary and spanning different timelines, you’ll probably enjoy this more.
I received a free ARC copy of this book via the publishers and NetGalley, in return for an unbiased review.
However if you like your books to be more speculative, literary and spanning different timelines, you’ll probably enjoy this more.
I received a free ARC copy of this book via the publishers and NetGalley, in return for an unbiased review.
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