Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Orchard by David Hopen

9 reviews

emilyacres's review

dark emotional mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Death of parent, Abortion, Drug use, Death, Drug abuse, Cancer, Suicide, Sexual content, Violence, Toxic friendship, Mental illness, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

basementofbooks's review

challenging emotional reflective sad slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Toxic friendship, Mental illness, Drug abuse, Alcohol, Murder, and Drug use

Moderate: Death and Death of parent

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Pregnancy, and Abortion

smallredboy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I read nearly half of this book in one sitting. Incredibly entrenching read, fascinating thoughts that quarrel with God in every possible way imaginable. The characters were alive, albeit some of the cast sometimes got mixed up in my head, but I loved Aryeh's point-of-view and how simply odd he was, as so was Evan. I think Evan Stark may be one of my favorite characters in fiction in a while. I love a tortured genius.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Grief

bootsmom3's review

challenging dark reflective sad tense slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Drug use, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, and Murder

Minor: Abortion and Pregnancy

erinsbookshelves's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Grief, Medical content, Toxic relationship, and Vomit

Minor: Car accident

roxiw's review against another edition

dark reflective slow-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

3.0

It seemed to me like half the book was dedicated to describing teenage exploits and the other half to hard-to-follow philosophical analysis. I think it would be more enjoyable to someone who feels connected to Judaism (or maybe any religion).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use and Child death

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Grief, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, and Medical content

Minor: Abortion and Vomit

booknerdnative's review against another edition

dark reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Mental illness, Grief, and Death

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Animal death

sfbookgirl's review

challenging emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

There is a lot to unpack within The Orchard. I really enjoyed learning more about Jewish Orthodox traditions and the profound ideas expressed by David Hopen. Despite being Jewish, I had to look up a decent amount of terminology. I found this was a great opportunity to learn more about my religion and traditional practices. Some of the philosophical ideas went a bit over my head, and I personally found the book to be longer than I would have liked, but it’s quite an enriching and challenging read. 

 

The Orchard is about Ari Eden who lives an ultra-Orthodox life in Brooklyn. The summer before his senior year in high school, his family moves to Miami for his father’s job. There, Ari becomes friends with four boys who challenge Ari’s thoughts about life and provide him with new experiences that involve girls, drinking, and drugs. Finding himself in a new crowd, Ari grapples with understanding who he really is, and how his identity is shaped by those he surrounds himself with.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Toxic relationship, and Violence

jstor's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Drug use

Moderate: Grief and Toxic relationship