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wwsimon93's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
ajaguar's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
sashadarcy's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.0
lilylikesbooks's review against another edition
2.0
Good start, lost steam. These boys are exhausting
wanderaven's review against another edition
4.0
What everyone else says is true (I'm just adding my voice to the chorus): comparisons to The Secret History are apt and deserved. We've the philosophical wanderings, the intentional cruelties - large and small, literary references, and morbid teenagers feeding off of one another's trauma.
I read The Secret History literally decades after publication and so perhaps time and its popularity built against any success of it being a favourite for me. Don't get me wrong - I liked it very much but, having read The Goldfinch first, I couldn't tear my heart away from the first love. So while I liked TSH and acknowledge The Orchard's comparisons to be worthy, it should be clear that it stands on its own merits.
I loved the Jewish setting. I loved the uncommon nod to teenagers/young adults having the depth and cleverness that sometimes makes them fascinating and lovely creatures and sometimes makes them self destructive monsters.
Be prepared for languishness, questions, frustrations, great writing. I unfortunately found one of the twists at the end something I saw, to the final detail, early on. This didn't detract, and I have to wonder if I was just lucky, or if others might suspect its arrival.
In a flush of election-influenced stress and weakness, I requested a flurry of ARCs from publishers, which is when HarperCollins allowed me this one, and is why I'm reviewing a couple weeks after publication. I'm happy to have received it because, while a number of book people I trust have recommended it, it's unlikely I would've otherwise gotten to it as quickly as I did, and I'm happy to have experienced such a fantastic reading experience to close out the year.
While a number of the base elements are superficially like TSH, the same solid piers also shore up this debut: lush, beautiful writing and strong storytelling.
I read The Secret History literally decades after publication and so perhaps time and its popularity built against any success of it being a favourite for me. Don't get me wrong - I liked it very much but, having read The Goldfinch first, I couldn't tear my heart away from the first love. So while I liked TSH and acknowledge The Orchard's comparisons to be worthy, it should be clear that it stands on its own merits.
I loved the Jewish setting. I loved the uncommon nod to teenagers/young adults having the depth and cleverness that sometimes makes them fascinating and lovely creatures and sometimes makes them self destructive monsters.
Be prepared for languishness, questions, frustrations, great writing. I unfortunately found one of the twists at the end something I saw, to the final detail, early on. This didn't detract, and I have to wonder if I was just lucky, or if others might suspect its arrival.
In a flush of election-influenced stress and weakness, I requested a flurry of ARCs from publishers, which is when HarperCollins allowed me this one, and is why I'm reviewing a couple weeks after publication. I'm happy to have received it because, while a number of book people I trust have recommended it, it's unlikely I would've otherwise gotten to it as quickly as I did, and I'm happy to have experienced such a fantastic reading experience to close out the year.
While a number of the base elements are superficially like TSH, the same solid piers also shore up this debut: lush, beautiful writing and strong storytelling.
b00kbab3's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
ave_reviews's review against another edition
5.0
Describing the plot of David Hopen's debut novel, it's easy to summarize as "a Jewish Secret History" -- Aryeh "Ari" Eden moves with his family from a devout community in Brooklyn to a secular community in Florida, where he is taken in by a popular and intellectual group of peers. To say his faith is tested is a vast understatement of the world-shaking experience (not untouched by drugs and alcohol) Ari has during his year at the elite Kol Neshama Academy.
But The Orchard is a coming of age epic unlike anything I've ever read, despite its Tartt-esque roots. It is a dark, curious exploration of what it means to belong, to be worthy, to be exceptional. The brilliant incorporation of philosophy, classics, and Talmudic teachings gave me so much to think about, including about my own journey with Jewish culture and religion.
Hopen is clearly an incredible mind, and while his plot occasionally gets lost in the narrator's extensive philosophical musings, this is a life-changing book in every sense.
But The Orchard is a coming of age epic unlike anything I've ever read, despite its Tartt-esque roots. It is a dark, curious exploration of what it means to belong, to be worthy, to be exceptional. The brilliant incorporation of philosophy, classics, and Talmudic teachings gave me so much to think about, including about my own journey with Jewish culture and religion.
Hopen is clearly an incredible mind, and while his plot occasionally gets lost in the narrator's extensive philosophical musings, this is a life-changing book in every sense.
tomhill's review against another edition
5.0
"I felt, all at once, emotionally bludgeoned. For stability, I envisioned myself as one of Fitzgerald's characters--neurasthenic, desirous, self-enclosed--for whom unhappiness somehow deepens nobility. The thought was less redemptive than anticipated."
Every review of The Orchard is probably going to mention the fact that The Secret History serves as an inspiration for David Hopen's first novel. It's unavoidable and I'm assuming intentional on Hopen's part. Both books mention "fatal flaws" on their first page. Both follow a group of young people whose ringleader's growing instability and obsession with Kabbalistic-like insights leads to trouble. Both feature an outsider narrator who is simultaneously at a remove from the group and in the thick of it. Many, many books have been written that seek to replicate what makes The Secret History special. The Orchard comes close to reaching the high bar set by Donna Tartt's debut novel, and I think it does so by deftly replicating the best of that book, and by decidedly being its own story. One of the great strengths of this novel is the way culture shock is portrayed, as Ari moves from an Orthodox Jewish community in Brooklyn to a neighborhood of wealthy, less observant Jews in Florida. The rest of the story and its themes stem from this shift: what it means to "belong," to be an individual, to have a crisis of faith, to be obsessed with the exploration of these themes. And it's about a lot more. It definitely has some flaws, although none of them fatal. Some stretches of the book, particularly in the middle, are not quite on par with the rest of the novel, when it comes to both the writing and the plot. Most of the novel, however, is denser, complicated, bewitching in its dark exploration of human relationships, of human frailty and instability. Hopen, like Tartt, is able to create this kind of hazy unreality to what is happening, a tone that really does feel like an adult recalling his adolescence years later. Another potential flaw of the book is the emptiness or flatness of some of the characters. Ari's love interest Sophia never feels as captivating to the reader as she is to Ari. But I think this flatness, the hollowness some of the characters inhabit can be seen as purposeful, as a reflection of the world the characters inhabit. Think Bret Easton Ellis "Lite" maybe. Not quite that level of nihilism, but there is a certain level of coldness and detachment that pervades many scenes throughout. When the writing and the plot are this strong, that detachment feels at one with the rest of the story. Again, it has that kind of hazy, dream-like quality overall, a quality that's hard for me to articulate, and may simply be the interpretation I brought to the reading. Maybe I've done a subpar job describing what appealed to me so much about The Orchard. In the end, it's just my kind of book: the story of one young man and the dizzying effect of a certain time in his life.
Every review of The Orchard is probably going to mention the fact that The Secret History serves as an inspiration for David Hopen's first novel. It's unavoidable and I'm assuming intentional on Hopen's part. Both books mention "fatal flaws" on their first page. Both follow a group of young people whose ringleader's growing instability and obsession with Kabbalistic-like insights leads to trouble. Both feature an outsider narrator who is simultaneously at a remove from the group and in the thick of it. Many, many books have been written that seek to replicate what makes The Secret History special. The Orchard comes close to reaching the high bar set by Donna Tartt's debut novel, and I think it does so by deftly replicating the best of that book, and by decidedly being its own story. One of the great strengths of this novel is the way culture shock is portrayed, as Ari moves from an Orthodox Jewish community in Brooklyn to a neighborhood of wealthy, less observant Jews in Florida. The rest of the story and its themes stem from this shift: what it means to "belong," to be an individual, to have a crisis of faith, to be obsessed with the exploration of these themes. And it's about a lot more. It definitely has some flaws, although none of them fatal. Some stretches of the book, particularly in the middle, are not quite on par with the rest of the novel, when it comes to both the writing and the plot. Most of the novel, however, is denser, complicated, bewitching in its dark exploration of human relationships, of human frailty and instability. Hopen, like Tartt, is able to create this kind of hazy unreality to what is happening, a tone that really does feel like an adult recalling his adolescence years later. Another potential flaw of the book is the emptiness or flatness of some of the characters. Ari's love interest Sophia never feels as captivating to the reader as she is to Ari. But I think this flatness, the hollowness some of the characters inhabit can be seen as purposeful, as a reflection of the world the characters inhabit. Think Bret Easton Ellis "Lite" maybe. Not quite that level of nihilism, but there is a certain level of coldness and detachment that pervades many scenes throughout. When the writing and the plot are this strong, that detachment feels at one with the rest of the story. Again, it has that kind of hazy, dream-like quality overall, a quality that's hard for me to articulate, and may simply be the interpretation I brought to the reading. Maybe I've done a subpar job describing what appealed to me so much about The Orchard. In the end, it's just my kind of book: the story of one young man and the dizzying effect of a certain time in his life.
bridgetdavis's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0