Reviews tagging 'Antisemitism'

When the Angels Left the Old Country by Sacha Lamb

54 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Antisemitism, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Bullying and Religious bigotry

sashajwolf's review

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, and Classism

mayab56's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Loved it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Antisemitism, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Xenophobia, Trafficking, and War

radiating_jackalope's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny 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? Yes

5.0

This book is about hope, friendships developing into more than that, navigating foreign land, dealing with, discrimination, being bold and solving several crimes. All in all, I loved the blending of Ashkenazi folklore, fantasy and historical fiction. In addition, the story features a demon and an angel, and both have a far more complex personality than “bad demon” and the “good angel”. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia and Antisemitism

Moderate: Violence

ivi_reads_books's review against another edition

emotional funny mysterious sad 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? N/A

3.5

When Angels Left the Old Country by Sacha Lamb is an utterly charming story about a demon and an angel teaming up to find a Jewish girl who emigrated from a small shtetl in Russia to NYC. Set in the pre-WWI era, their journey is filled with mystery, friendship, and unexpected twists.

The demon, who has a physical disability and is quite short, cleverly uses these traits to their advantage. The book beautifully portrays the immigrant experience, Judaism, and the bonds of friendship while also touching on themes of anti-Semitism.

A heartwarming and thought-provoking read that’s as endearing as it is meaningful. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Antisemitism and Death of parent

Minor: Confinement and Violence

honeybunxo's review

adventurous emotional lighthearted slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Antisemitism

starlitpage's review

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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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Antisemitism, Death of parent, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation

Minor: Sexism

kal1namal1na's review

adventurous funny 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? Yes

4.5

Reads halfway between Good Omens and a Rick Riordan Presents title - funny and sweet about people coming together and finding themselves and loving one another. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gun violence and Antisemitism

Minor: Homophobia

al3xa's review

adventurous hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia

Moderate: Gun violence and Antisemitism

kys_chai_and_books's review

adventurous emotional funny tense 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism

A wonderfully queer and wonderfully Jewish text that speaks to immigrant experiences during the height of the industrial revolution. Fans of Good Omens and fans of Talmudic texts alike will love this book and its characters.