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readergonewilde's review against another edition
hopeful
lighthearted
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Abandonment, Ableism, Alcohol, Antisemitism, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Genocide, and Pregnancy
sydneyj's review against another edition
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Antisemitism, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Cancer, and Abandonment
linesiunderline's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The Matzah Ball was a really sweet, gently humorous read with strong rep for chronic disability. It was completely pleasant, start to finish, and for audiobook fans, the narration was on point.
I think this is about as clean / PG as an adult romance can be and still be considered a romance. This book makes Kerry Winfrey’s romances look racy. I’m good with a bit of open door action in my romances, so I did find myself wondering at the 2/3 mark if this couple was actually going to kiss in the book. I would have liked more evidence of their spark on the page.
Charming, comforting and heartfelt, I could easily picture this one as a sparkly holiday movie. Recommended for anyone who doesn’t mind low steam romance.
I think this is about as clean / PG as an adult romance can be and still be considered a romance. This book makes Kerry Winfrey’s romances look racy. I’m good with a bit of open door action in my romances, so I did find myself wondering at the 2/3 mark if this couple was actually going to kiss in the book. I would have liked more evidence of their spark on the page.
Charming, comforting and heartfelt, I could easily picture this one as a sparkly holiday movie. Recommended for anyone who doesn’t mind low steam romance.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Ableism, Bullying, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death of parent, and Grief
Moderate: Alcohol, Suicide, and Xenophobia
foreverinastory's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
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
4.0
This was so much fun, I really loved this one!!
Rep: white Jewish cishet female MC with chronic fatigue syndrome, white Jewish cishet male MC with depression and past instances of suicidal ideation, adopted Black gay Jewish male side character, Jewish lesbian WLW side couple, Jewish male side character who uses a wheelchair, Jewish side characters.
CWs: Ableism, abandonment, alcohol, chronic illness, grief, mental illness (depression). Moderate: past mentions of bullying, past mentions of terminal cancer, cursing, death, death of parent (past), pregnancy of side character discussed and talk of babies, past mention of suicidal thoughts. Brief: mention of IDF and joking of being a Mossad agent--genocide and colonisation of Palestinian people.
Rep: white Jewish cishet female MC with chronic fatigue syndrome, white Jewish cishet male MC with depression and past instances of suicidal ideation, adopted Black gay Jewish male side character, Jewish lesbian WLW side couple, Jewish male side character who uses a wheelchair, Jewish side characters.
CWs: Ableism, abandonment, alcohol, chronic illness, grief, mental illness (depression). Moderate: past mentions of bullying, past mentions of terminal cancer, cursing, death, death of parent (past), pregnancy of side character discussed and talk of babies, past mention of suicidal thoughts. Brief: mention of IDF and joking of being a Mossad agent--genocide and colonisation of Palestinian people.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Ableism, Alcohol, Chronic illness, Grief, and Mental illness
Moderate: Bullying, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, and Terminal illness
Minor: Colonisation and Genocide
courtneyfalling's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
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
4.0
I was so positively surprised by this book! I don't normally rate romances so high, but I really loved Rachel and Jacob and Rachel + Jacob together. Rachel's ME/CFS and chronic illness experience is really well-handled*, I liked how this book balanced lighthearted Jewish representation with slightly heavier moments of reflection on religious weight and generational trauma (but keep in mind that I am a non-Jewish, chronically ill reader), and there's so much witty banter and clever campy (literally) backstory. And like, Rachel's obsessive and hidden love of Christmas? Golden plot device... this whole concept is so carefully constructed and it's as hilarious as it was heartfelt. And even the side characters felt real and whole! Also, I'm a perpetual hater of third act conflicts, but this one felt deserved, the logical culmination of Rachel and Jacob's personalities.
*The caveat here to the third act conflict and the chronic illness representation is that Rachel runs to the Matzah Ball and breaks in flamboyantly through the windows, and I was waiting to see Rachel's crash the following week, or another acknowledgement of limited energy levels and accompanying flares since that had been such a prominent theme through the book. And the ending offered only a quick, all-hopeful wrap-up, which, okay, fine, but I was cringing the entire time that Rachel was running and the toll never got mentioned again. And there's like a very quick reference to Rachel finding an obstetrician, but like, getting pregnant and parenting while disabled is a huge decision and I feel like this merited more attention or weight!
Edit: Moving down to 4 stars after a book club with friends! Some valid critiques and more obvious gaps the second time around.
*
Edit: Moving down to 4 stars after a book club with friends! Some valid critiques and more obvious gaps the second time around.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent and Chronic illness
Moderate: Ableism and Cancer
Minor: Antisemitism and Genocide
imds's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism
Minor: Cancer and Death of parent
meganpbennett's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
The Matzah Ball is an interesting, own-voices romance novel, and it has a diverse cast of characters who usually don't grace romance novels: Jewish people and those living with a chronic illness. It's a peak into the lives of people who aren't like me, and that's just plain wonderful. It's sparkly, it's bright, it's everything you could possibly want in a holiday romance novel. If you don't look behind the curtain.
I really didn't like Jacob. He's a walking collection of all of the tropes I don't like in romance novels and he doesn't have enough character development to make up for his behavior. Frankly, I don't know what Rachel sees in the man. He's a bully and a dick.
There are other aspects of the book that I didn't like, but I'm not able to articulate well. There's a remarkably over the top removal of agency that's passed off as a grand gesture; Rachel is pushed to "out herself" by writing an own-voices holiday romance novel, despite not being ready to do so; Rachel and Jacob are still acting like 12 year olds at camp and still holding grudges over what happened; the book is so littered with vocabulary words that a glossary would have helped the Gentile readership.
I really didn't like Jacob. He's a walking collection of all of the tropes I don't like in romance novels and he doesn't have enough character development to make up for his behavior. Frankly, I don't know what Rachel sees in the man. He's a bully and a dick.
There are other aspects of the book that I didn't like, but I'm not able to articulate well. There's a remarkably over the top removal of agency that's passed off as a grand gesture; Rachel is pushed to "out herself" by writing an own-voices holiday romance novel, despite not being ready to do so; Rachel and Jacob are still acting like 12 year olds at camp and still holding grudges over what happened; the book is so littered with vocabulary words that a glossary would have helped the Gentile readership.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Cancer, Ableism, and Bullying
Moderate: Death of parent and Grief
samschub214's review against another edition
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Antisemitism, Ableism, Abandonment, and Cancer
tierraramia's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
This book was very informative about religious practice but I can't recommend it because the one Black character is portrayed with gay stereotypes and the usher who uses a wheel chair is treated so condescendingly. Which was extra weird because so much of the book was about chronic illness and ableism!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism
stevie's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Ableism, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death of parent, and Grief
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and War
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