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3.59 AVERAGE
3.59 AVERAGE
challenging
funny
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
funny
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Would not have thought I would use words like “smutty,” and “salacious” to describe a novel with a Hasidic Jewish MC, but that’s exactly the paradox presented by Felina Berliner’s debut novel, Shmutz!
Raizl is caught between the traditions of her ultra-Orthodox family and pulls towards modern life. She’s balancing arranged marriage dates while attending college courses and working part time–breaking so many norms from her community. While her family is cautiously supportive of her educational pursuits, what they don’t know is that Raizl has been using her class supplied laptop to fall down a rabbit role of online porn. When she’s not hidden under the bedsheets watching, the images she sees in porn fill her waking hours and quickly become an obsession.
While Shmutz is filled with racy scenes, this novel is about so much more than porn. It’s about breaking free from convention, exploring sexual identity, and feeling pulled between a love of G-d and “selfish” desires.
Felina Berliner, thank you for giving us this filth!
If you’re going to pick this up, I would highly recommend getting a print version. There’s a glossary of Yiddish words used throughout the text that is really helpful to flip back and forth between! Also, that cover? Never going to look at hamantaschen the same way again 😅😅.
Raizl is caught between the traditions of her ultra-Orthodox family and pulls towards modern life. She’s balancing arranged marriage dates while attending college courses and working part time–breaking so many norms from her community. While her family is cautiously supportive of her educational pursuits, what they don’t know is that Raizl has been using her class supplied laptop to fall down a rabbit role of online porn. When she’s not hidden under the bedsheets watching, the images she sees in porn fill her waking hours and quickly become an obsession.
While Shmutz is filled with racy scenes, this novel is about so much more than porn. It’s about breaking free from convention, exploring sexual identity, and feeling pulled between a love of G-d and “selfish” desires.
Felina Berliner, thank you for giving us this filth!
If you’re going to pick this up, I would highly recommend getting a print version. There’s a glossary of Yiddish words used throughout the text that is really helpful to flip back and forth between! Also, that cover? Never going to look at hamantaschen the same way again 😅😅.
if you want a conclusive opinionated ending, this book is not for you. if you want a jarringly traumatic portrayal of organised religion, this book is not for you.
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
funny
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was a hard read. At the end I wanted to cry for Raizl's sake. My thoughts are very scatters and I might update this review later but this is what I'm thinking right after finishing. I don't know if a book like this can be spoiled so read at your own risk, I guess.
There is a sense of dread throughout the book that comes to fruition in the end. The way Raizl thinks about marriage feels like an attempt at forcing herself into a role she has no desire to inhabit. To the point where it feels like self-destructive. Raizl imagines herself as the glass being crushed under her husband's shoe at the wedding.
The very end is quite abrupt and I'm not sure what I'm supposed to make of the book. I feel like we were on a journey with Raizl and then it leads nowhere. Through her own internal thoughts she still feels conflicted about her purpose in life, even as she's half-way through the wedding ceremony.
I just feel sad for her and ending a book on such a note feels awkward.
Side note: I saw a review that called this book a light-hearted romance with spicy self-discovery. That is not what this book is at all. I don't know if anything changed in the writing from the time the arc was released to a finished copy existed but this book is neither light-hearted nor a romance. The "spicy self-discovery" is Raizl being curious about the world and exploring that through porn.
There is a sense of dread throughout the book that comes to fruition in the end. The way Raizl thinks about marriage feels like an attempt at forcing herself into a role she has no desire to inhabit. To the point where it feels like self-destructive. Raizl imagines herself as the glass being crushed under her husband's shoe at the wedding.
The very end is quite abrupt and I'm not sure what I'm supposed to make of the book. I feel like we were on a journey with Raizl and then it leads nowhere. Through her own internal thoughts she still feels conflicted about her purpose in life, even as she's half-way through the wedding ceremony.
I just feel sad for her and ending a book on such a note feels awkward.
Side note: I saw a review that called this book a light-hearted romance with spicy self-discovery. That is not what this book is at all. I don't know if anything changed in the writing from the time the arc was released to a finished copy existed but this book is neither light-hearted nor a romance. The "spicy self-discovery" is Raizl being curious about the world and exploring that through porn.
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Raizl is a young Hasidic woman who expects to get married and fulfill her family's expectations like many other Hasidic women her age. But her addiction to porn and adventures in her college classes make her worry that she won't ever be able to find a good marriage match or stay true to her family and their religion.
As someone who is Jewish, I am always excited about Jewish media that isn't centered on the Holocaust and the cover did the selling itself, without even reading the summary. But to be completely honest I'm not sure how I feel about this book. And not that there shouldn't be books out there just for Jewish readers, but this book would also be hard to recommend to a non-Jew, even with the glossary in the back I think. Between the Yiddish and the Jewish culture, there's a lot that would mean flipping back and forth throughout the entire book. I did also find it funny how Raizl's reaction to the English words for genitalia was the reverse of how I felt about reading the Yiddish words.
I liked that it challenged religion and sexuality and a women's place in a strict and traditional religion. I also liked that it didn't end with Raizl running away and leaving Judaism behind. There are lots of things to be critical of in Hasidism, but I feel like so many stories end with people shunning Judaism, it was a nice change of pace for Raizl to stay in the end. But that doesn't change that it also didn't seem like Raizl was truly happy in the end or had a solid resolution to her conflict and it was more of a settling or coming to terms than being at ease with herself.
There were also some plot points that I think would have been a lot more interesting to have touched on more, like Yossi's brief moment with dressing up for Purim or how racism is pretty prevalent in the Jewish community. I know those weren't the focus of the book, but they drew my attention more than Raizl's "addiction" to porn.
Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for for making this title available in exchange for an honest review!
As someone who is Jewish, I am always excited about Jewish media that isn't centered on the Holocaust and the cover did the selling itself, without even reading the summary. But to be completely honest I'm not sure how I feel about this book. And not that there shouldn't be books out there just for Jewish readers, but this book would also be hard to recommend to a non-Jew, even with the glossary in the back I think. Between the Yiddish and the Jewish culture, there's a lot that would mean flipping back and forth throughout the entire book. I did also find it funny how Raizl's reaction to the English words for genitalia was the reverse of how I felt about reading the Yiddish words.
I liked that it challenged religion and sexuality and a women's place in a strict and traditional religion. I also liked that it didn't end with Raizl running away and leaving Judaism behind. There are lots of things to be critical of in Hasidism, but I feel like so many stories end with people shunning Judaism, it was a nice change of pace for Raizl to stay in the end. But that doesn't change that it also didn't seem like Raizl was truly happy in the end or had a solid resolution to her conflict and it was more of a settling or coming to terms than being at ease with herself.
There were also some plot points that I think would have been a lot more interesting to have touched on more, like Yossi's brief moment with dressing up for Purim or how racism is pretty prevalent in the Jewish community. I know those weren't the focus of the book, but they drew my attention more than Raizl's "addiction" to porn.
Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for for making this title available in exchange for an honest review!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content
Moderate: Death, Antisemitism, Grief
Minor: Racism, Abortion
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Thank you to Atria Books for sending me a ARC of this book to read and review! When I first heard about this book I was greatly intrigued and interested in how the narrative was going to be focused. I thought Raizl was a really dynamic and complex character. One of the parts that stood out to me most was her choices and her inner struggle to decide to adhere to her faith or her desire. I also loved seeing all the Yiddish on the page and how it was used in tandem with the overall structure of the book. However, I don't think this necessarily brought out anything positive about the Hasidic community which is hard because the media already portrays it so harshly. I liked the brevity of the this book up until the end. I was so confused when there was nothing left and I feel like Raizl's whole journey was forgotten in the last chapter. This book was intense and provocative, but it also felt like it was lacking something, either warmth or connection, I'm not entirely sure. While the concept did stand out to me, I think at some points it just felt overwhelming.
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes