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3.58 AVERAGE
3.58 AVERAGE
emotional
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexism, Sexual content
Raizl is such a horny little freak!!!! I love her. Wishing her all the best as she continues on in her life and on her path of self discovery.
I loved this book so much. Shame, sex, religion, and new horizons. This book was such a visceral experience for me and such a great depiction of how difficult it can be to experience inner turmoil and have feelings that go against all you are taught to believe. The Yiddish, the porn, the characters… it was all fabulous ….
And I hope Raizl ends up happy in the end (Baruch Hashem)
And I hope Raizl ends up happy in the end (Baruch Hashem)
medium-paced
She carried it off! I didn't think Berliner would be able to keep this novel moving and working but she succeeded. The voice of the protagonist and her friend Sam, her world, her inner world, her impressions and attempts to cope in the strange secualr world are so well done. I just wanted to reach in and give her a (chaste) hug.
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Jewish queer MC + coming of age!
Raizl expects to find a husband through arranged marriage.
However, her addiction to porn may stand in her way.
When she dives deeper into her addiction, her life begins to fall apart.
Read if you love...
✨NYC
✨coming of age
✨exploring porn & sexuality
✨Jewish food
✨learning more about the Hasidic Jewish community
The Hasidic Jewish community is so incredibly fascinating to me and I have loved finding books that have Hasidic representation. This book has been on my TBR for so long because it's one of Rae's favorite books, and I can't believe I waited this long to read it.
As someone who is ace, Raizl's obsession with porn was so fascinating. And initially I debated DNFing because I just didn't want to hear the constant talk & descriptions of what was happening in what she was watching.
However, the premise of the book pulled me in and I'm so glad I kept reading. Raizl fears she won't find a husband through arranged marriage because of her addiction to porn. Along with the fact while never completely stated as bisexual, she is queer and does explore this on page.
The addiction to porn & being queer are not acceptable within being Hasidic, which just made an interesting dynamic as she tried to figure out who she is as a person while trying to keep things a secret and her life starting to unravel from all of this.
On top of all of this, Raizl is in therapy to work through her addiction to porn & the on page conversations with her therapist were fascinating.
All that to say, I recommend this one!
📍New York
✨Representation: Hasidic Jewish queer MC
‼️Content: addiction; sexual assault; sexism; religious bigotry; misogyny; antisemitism
Raizl is a young Hasidic woman struggling with desire and duty. She’s waiting for her arranged marriage to be sorted out and has developed a secret porn addiction that is affecting every aspect of her life. I liked that this story didn’t follow a predictable arc and really showed how conflicted Raizl was — she loved her family and her culture but also wanted more — and I thought the ending was open-ended enough to be believable.
And 4000 stars for the cover - it’s perfect.
* Thanks to Atria Books for the NetGalley review copy. Shmutz publishes July 19th.
And 4000 stars for the cover - it’s perfect.
* Thanks to Atria Books for the NetGalley review copy. Shmutz publishes July 19th.
I received an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. It was several weeks or months after my request that I was approved, 1 of the reasons the review is so close to pub date. The cover of the book drew me in, but this is not a cute fluffy book.
My Jewish background helped me understand both some of the Yiddish words and the tradition and culture, but Schmutz is about a Chasedic girl named Raizl. Think ultra Orthodox and very old fashioned clothing and gender roles. Raizl has a head for numbers and has been given permission to study accounting at college, at least until the matchmaker finds her a husband, because she is 18 1/2 years old. Because Raizl was given a laptop with her full ride to fictional Cohen College, she discovers the internet and porn. She has started therapy because of this secret addiction that is causing her to fear a match for arranged marriage. The more interesting aspect of the book to me was her interactions at secular college with the friends she's made, who accept her because they are "goth", although the friendship with Sam felt transactional in nature. We learn a lot about Raizl's porn videos, more than I really needed described. The thing she probably didn't discern is the human trafficking that goes on and in pornography, you don't know if there's consent or crime taking place with younger looking "actors". I wish this had been addressed in some way. There's also very uncomfortable scene with her therapist, in which the patient was being inappropriate.
There's also an uncomfortable scene where a Black student states that Jews are racists, or Anti Black. Not because there isn't truth, but our Raizl is very naive in the world despite her secret porn addiction. Nor would it be untrue to say it goes both ways at times, when there's ignorance and lack of understanding. The Chasedic community doesn't even consider "regular" Jews to really be Jews, we are goyim to them. And yet Raizl experiments with eating bacon, wearing jeans and somewhat sheer v neck sweater. She contemplates leaving her family but gets scared off and goes back, then accepts a match and gets engaged to a man who seems the best she can do, although he lays down the law, no computer in the home. So she gets to work to support his rabbinical studies but only for that reason.
She does do something to tie her to the modern world secretly which was a nice touch. The writer does do her best to sell the idea of a romantic arranged marriage wedding but....no, sorry.
3/5☆ TW for graphic explanations of porn, including S&M, a scene that's a touch problematic w consent.
My Jewish background helped me understand both some of the Yiddish words and the tradition and culture, but Schmutz is about a Chasedic girl named Raizl. Think ultra Orthodox and very old fashioned clothing and gender roles. Raizl has a head for numbers and has been given permission to study accounting at college, at least until the matchmaker finds her a husband, because she is 18 1/2 years old. Because Raizl was given a laptop with her full ride to fictional Cohen College, she discovers the internet and porn. She has started therapy because of this secret addiction that is causing her to fear a match for arranged marriage. The more interesting aspect of the book to me was her interactions at secular college with the friends she's made, who accept her because they are "goth", although the friendship with Sam felt transactional in nature. We learn a lot about Raizl's porn videos, more than I really needed described. The thing she probably didn't discern is the human trafficking that goes on and in pornography, you don't know if there's consent or crime taking place with younger looking "actors". I wish this had been addressed in some way. There's also very uncomfortable scene with her therapist, in which the patient was being inappropriate.
There's also an uncomfortable scene where a Black student states that Jews are racists, or Anti Black. Not because there isn't truth, but our Raizl is very naive in the world despite her secret porn addiction. Nor would it be untrue to say it goes both ways at times, when there's ignorance and lack of understanding. The Chasedic community doesn't even consider "regular" Jews to really be Jews, we are goyim to them. And yet Raizl experiments with eating bacon, wearing jeans and somewhat sheer v neck sweater. She contemplates leaving her family but gets scared off and goes back, then accepts a match and gets engaged to a man who seems the best she can do, although he lays down the law, no computer in the home. So she gets to work to support his rabbinical studies but only for that reason.
She does do something to tie her to the modern world secretly which was a nice touch. The writer does do her best to sell the idea of a romantic arranged marriage wedding but....no, sorry.
3/5☆ TW for graphic explanations of porn, including S&M, a scene that's a touch problematic w consent.