Reviews with content warning for Ableism - The Matzah Ball

This book was a hot mess of tangentially related tropes with a half baked execution. It feels like the author wanted to write something that would appeal to Booktok but didn’t try that hard to make it good. The author also shoots for representation but lands on stereotypes. The gay best friend feels like he has no life or personality outside of the fmc. The fmc’s father is a “world famous” rabbi. Her mother is a reproductive endocrinologist focused on Jewish babies but whose career is only ever mentioned in contrast to her duties as a housewife which are detailed throughout the story. The fmc’s chronic illness (chronic fatigue syndrome) is more of a plot device than a disability. And while the author doesn’t seek to cure it by the end of the plot, she does make the mmc save the fmc with accommodations the fmc didn’t ask for and had no input in that aren’t really thought through all the way. The mmc’s role as the fmc’s savior extends to taking care of her so they can marry and have kids. Then at the end the fmc loses all interest in Christmas, her main personality trait, because a man showed her the meaning of Hanukkah. The side characters exist to further the main characters’ development by explaining the point to them and none of the characters except the fmc feel fully realized. The pacing is inconsistent and tends to drag due to the author’s tendency to pause and explain every piece of Jewish culture and customs she mentions. The author overexplains the characters’ Jewishness like she’s holding the reader’s hand and assumes she’s writing for the lowest common denominator rather than the average person. I also find it worth noting that this book includes many mentions of Israel and the author is a Zionist. This book is the Jewish version of the kind of Christian story where a woman is living a “sinful” life away from Christianity and a man saves her by teaching her the true meaning of Christmas (Jesus).

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clarke's review against another edition

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1.0

I was so excited for this book, looking forward to reading the chronic illness representation. A fictional character with ME?! I couldn't believe my luck. Unfortunately, the majority of the chronic illness content felt like it was there to educate others, not so fellow chronically ill and disabled people could finally see themselves represented. There were some moments of representation, but

the whole 'love interest saviour' and running miles in a ball gown by 'just pushing through' was grim, undermines the entire message, and is not how any of it works. Why mention ME, PEM, and flare ups if you’re just gonna do a marathon with ease at the end? (Also why have the (valid) rant about CFS being a shit name for ME to then only refer to it as CFS thereafter?). She goes from hiding her illness, not daring to use a wheelchair even though it would help, and causing flare ups to not appear weak to saying 'fuck em' in a wheelchair whilst confidently giving out orders in about 5 seconds. That is NOT how it feels irl - I've been using a wheelchair for about a year and I'm still not comfortable with it, the weakness, flare ups, etc.

Although I will say that the part about pacing being difficult even after years was accurate.

From the other reviews I have read by Jewish people, there was a similar representation issue there (more educating/explaining things to non-Jewish people than representing Jewish people eg explaining that the holocaust was Bad and other basic shit). Some other reviews also had issue with how their faith was represented and the whole 'closet' Christmas fan stuff, which I think are important to read to appreciate perspectives outside of your/my own. This book also unfortunately makes light of the IOF killing people - something other reviewers are much more educated on and I suggest you read their reviews as they helped me understand more deeply.

This could've been good, great even, but I cannot overlook the above. I am begging for good chronic illness rep (especially ME/fatigue based) but even aside from that, I felt the rest of the plot was fairly flimsy and neither of them are very professional. The big 'betrayal' at summer camp reveal was also glossed over very easily when it was the crux of them not trusting each other for at least half the book. Everyone pushing them to get married when they'd only just seen each other after 18y was also weird as fuck and I'd be extremely uncomfortable?? Idk, in summary it wasn't great representation nor a great story, and makes light of atrocities so yknow.

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foldingthepage_kayleigh's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Loved this hilarious read! I found both Rachel and Jacob so relatable in their own ways, which makes you want to root for them so much. It’s also been great to learn more about Hanukkah and other Jewish traditions throughout the book.

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lost_windsock's review

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medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This book was pretty fun. I really liked the concept of this high profile Christmas author secretly being a famous rabbi's daughter. The fact that she loved the magic of Christmas so much and had to hide it from her family as a really interesting character background. Also the fact that she and Jacob had that complicated history, both thinking the other had broken their trust and their heart, was a fun set-up for a second-chance romance. This book was dropping in Jewish culture, and it felt like a really well-sculpted representation of a loving Jewish community. This book had great flow, great characters and an interesting plot, and I really enjoyed it!

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kyrstin_p1989's review

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted reflective fast-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

4.0

Very cute romance story that is traditional and non-traditional at the same time. I appreciated that the story centers around Hanukkah while exhibiting all the tell-tale signs of a typical Hallmark Christmas movie. The themes of this book are lovely and withstand the test of time and the differences between faiths. The love story is a frenemies to lovers with a bit of miscommunication trope thrown in. All in all, I thought it was a good holiday rom-com to read during Hanukkah.

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meezan's review against another edition

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Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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tjazz's review

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funny reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

The MC is unsufferable with so much internalized ableism it hurts. She refuses to let go of a 20 year grudge and shuts out literally everyone in her life to her own detrement and as a disabled reader I wanted to shake the sugar out of her constantly.
I was so in love with the premise and it had so many problems

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amberinpieces's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing 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

4.25

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