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4.19 AVERAGE
4.19 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Violence, Antisemitism, Murder
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Grief, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Suicide, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
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:
No
I absolutely flew through this, I found it so engaging! I love historical YA in general and would love to see more of it, and it was so interesting to read about Jewish history that I didn't know a lot about, in combination with a thriller/mystery setting. Highly recommend!
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Had a lot of potential, ultimately it didn’t deliver. The pacing would jump from being dead slow for chapters at a time, speed up super quick for a few pages, and then return to the slow pace. It wasn’t done in a natural shift either It felt like right when action started happening, it was abruptly cut off. It was strange to say the least. And the writing felt very dry overall? Which made it really hard to get into the story and connect with the characters, especially Alter and Yakov. Alter felt like character traits rather than a developed character, and Yakov had barely any substance to him. The book never showed us how strong their friendship was, just told. Which really made me think why Alter cared so deeply about him. The one character exception though was Frankie. He was very interesting and developed. But also bizarre since he obviously had more time and care put into him than the main character himself. I will say the reveal of who’s been behind the murders is heartbreaking and handled well. The threat was very real. And when the book focused on the slow possession of Alter’s body, or his relationship with Frankie, was where the book really shined. There was good things in this book, but overall, pretty disappointing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Sexual violence, Violence, Antisemitism
Moderate: Rape, Murder
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
PLEASE CHECK TWS! They're at the bottom of this review. This book deals with very intense and potentially VERY triggering material.
It feels weird to say this about a book filled with so much violence and horror and tragedy, but truly this book felt like a hug. It felt like returning home in a sense. Jewish books always seem to fill me with this powerful feeling, one of familiarity and comfort and acknowledgement, no matter how dark the material may be. It made me feel seen. The way that this book casually sprinkles in Yiddish/Hebrew vernacular throughout conversation was just everything to me. Growing up in a Jewish household and around a Jewish community, I was surrounded by people who communicated this way. And to see that reflected in this book - even though it's such a simple choice - meant more to me than I can express. (And don't worry, goyim, there's a glossary in the back.)
This book takes the suffering and the pain and the oppression of the Jewish people and turns it into a physical expression of revenge, throwing it back into the face of the oppressor. It is a story that greatly reflects the Jewish anger and resentment that comes from the world deciding to cast us as the villain.
I felt thrown under a limelight, reduced to a role I had never wanted but that I had been born to play. Half a myth and half a human being... that was all I was, a stage actor, a cutout, Shylock, and Fagin and Judas all rolled into one.
But it is also a story of love, and of community. It is a story about purity, and humanity, and resilience.
If you're Jewish, read this book. I just know you'll feel as loved by this book as I do.
If you're not Jewish, read this book. It's even more important that you see and understand the pain we've experienced as an entire community, regardless of where we've come from.
TW: explicit anti-semitism (slurs, violence, murder, hate crime, etc.), there is a pretty jarring grooming/pedophilic rape plot line (in the past, off-page, but one character does talk about it in-depth), grief, grief of parent, death (the MC works at a Chevra Kadisha, so this is a large theme), schizophrenia/psychosis (MC is possessed and has a hard time discerning reality from memory), suicide mention, self harm, kidnapping, violence, blood, murder, gun violence, homophobia, alcohol consumption, animal death (off-page, but a lot of time is spent in butcher factories), fire/fire injury, drug use (non-consensual)
It feels weird to say this about a book filled with so much violence and horror and tragedy, but truly this book felt like a hug. It felt like returning home in a sense. Jewish books always seem to fill me with this powerful feeling, one of familiarity and comfort and acknowledgement, no matter how dark the material may be. It made me feel seen. The way that this book casually sprinkles in Yiddish/Hebrew vernacular throughout conversation was just everything to me. Growing up in a Jewish household and around a Jewish community, I was surrounded by people who communicated this way. And to see that reflected in this book - even though it's such a simple choice - meant more to me than I can express. (And don't worry, goyim, there's a glossary in the back.)
This book takes the suffering and the pain and the oppression of the Jewish people and turns it into a physical expression of revenge, throwing it back into the face of the oppressor. It is a story that greatly reflects the Jewish anger and resentment that comes from the world deciding to cast us as the villain.
I felt thrown under a limelight, reduced to a role I had never wanted but that I had been born to play. Half a myth and half a human being... that was all I was, a stage actor, a cutout, Shylock, and Fagin and Judas all rolled into one.
But it is also a story of love, and of community. It is a story about purity, and humanity, and resilience.
If you're Jewish, read this book. I just know you'll feel as loved by this book as I do.
If you're not Jewish, read this book. It's even more important that you see and understand the pain we've experienced as an entire community, regardless of where we've come from.
TW:
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced