Reviews with content warning for Death - When the Angels Left the Old Country

Reviews tagging 'Death'

When the Angels Left the Old Country by Sacha Lamb

23 reviews

coolfoolmoon's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I’m not Christian anymore, in fact a lot of times I think I want to be Jewish, but for a long time I believed soulmates existed. At 11 I realized (had to be told) I was gay and went through the torment of thinking why would god damn me to hell when I haven't even lived a life yet? Why would god curse me? I figured God wouldn’t've cursed me, maybe it was humans who were wrong. God made me gay and made me a soulmate and theres someone out there who's like me in more ways than other people and their soulmates are alike. So until I was, mm, 21 I was thinking surely I’ll meet that person someday and I’ll just get it, everything will click, life is complete because this is the person God sent for me.

Well, it was a Jewish woman on tiktok, the girl who wanted to nuke the moon, who said “Soulmates are stupid. i love you on purpose.” Fuck! Blew up my belief!

And I think this book reinforces both ideas for me. I’m so sad, I’m like God, send me mine please, send me the person who is my soulmate and I will love them on purpose, even if we are complete opposites and all we do is argue and get into mischief. And then I’m like oh I’m so happy. They chose each other every time, against the odds, literally, cosmically and internally. It’s so beautiful. I'm so sad and so happy.

It's been a long time since I read a book, finished the last page and had to fight myself from rereading it. I may reread it later in the year. Or every January! It’s so beautiful!

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starlitpage's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful medium-paced

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

3.5

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netflixismyroommate's review

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challenging emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book assumes, in a beautiful and affirming way, the same level of knowledge about and familiarity with Judaism that is often assumed of Christianity (in the US at least). The entire time I was reading the book I felt seen and like I was in community with people who share my history and experience. And months later I still feel this when thinking about When the Angels Left the Old Country.

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talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional 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? It's complicated

4.0

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inkwellimps's review

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adventurous funny hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book is SO GOOD. It really exceeded all my expectations. The dynamic between Little Ash and the Angel has wormed its way so far into my brain it's unreal. I'm also fond of Rose as a character too--she grounds the two in their adventure, but she is also unhinged. She has a drive and boldness that compliments the other two very well. It's the little things with the characters--the way the Angel is agender and stays that way, the way names are played with, the way each of them have animal features and how Little Ash's feet hurt him. I am fascinated by the place the Angel begins in and how it develops its own identity to become more present in the world and

grows closer to Little Ash as a result

. I love how the two always rely upon each other as the stakes are raised. I'm also very fond of this sort of take on an angel and a demon that are both not very powerful and relatively sheltered. The sense that these two are a part of a close community rings true throughout the entirety of the book, from the shtetl, to the ship, to New York City-- it never feels as though they've left their community behind even though they are on a journey-- staying grounded by the search for Essie and by the majority of the human cast being literal family. As the angel and the demon of the shtetl migrate and progress in their journey it never feels isolating, which is nice.

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