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A review by hekate24
The Orchard by David Hopen
4.0
2021 Popsugar Reading Challenge: A dark academia book.
Yep, not doing the Read Harder challenge this year. For whatever reason the Popsugar reading challenge spoke more to me this time around.
So, this was a pretty good first read of the year! There are definitely some things I would change. The women in this book are definitely the kind of tropes that seemingly only exist in a Bildungsroman centered around a young man, particularly the tragically beautiful and unobtainable Sophia. It almost made me smile at how apparently universal this fictional creation is, but then it would make me scowl at how often the book relegated all of them to the sidelines when big important stuff was happening. Likewise it had some fascinating stuff that never quite gelled. First and foremost is everything to do with Rabbi Bloom’s pedagogy. Evan’s charisma also never really translates which is close to a fatal error given the premise of the book.
All that aside ... clearly I enjoyed it. These are flaws I’ve let sink other books to three or even two stars, and yet this one is getting four stars. Maybe because I was thinking of this through the dark academia lens thanks to the reading challenge. And the world of this school - and it’s social scene - come across so vibrantly and vividly. Even if the characters didn’t always work for, the community it portrayed did. The vague sense of dread also really worked. I was always curious to see what would be around the next corner because things never quite went how I expected.
Also I’m not Jewish but I remember that weird mix of intense spirituality and alienation that can come with one’s teenage years and can’t really be repeated as a (supposedly) wiser adult. Unlike other readers I actually could buy that a bunch of perpetually intoxicated teens would eagerly discuss the nature of the divine together, sometimes in very dense ways. I certainly did a lot of that in youth group. Despite some of the narrative corner cutting, I did buy the themes underpinning this novel.
So, all in all a job well done and I’m curious to see what this author does next.
Yep, not doing the Read Harder challenge this year. For whatever reason the Popsugar reading challenge spoke more to me this time around.
So, this was a pretty good first read of the year! There are definitely some things I would change. The women in this book are definitely the kind of tropes that seemingly only exist in a Bildungsroman centered around a young man, particularly the tragically beautiful and unobtainable Sophia. It almost made me smile at how apparently universal this fictional creation is, but then it would make me scowl at how often the book relegated all of them to the sidelines when big important stuff was happening.
Spoiler
I think it was even more frustrating that the book seemed to .. kind of realize it? The part where Sophia started yelling that Ari put her on a pedestal was pretty fascinating. But it was too little too late. Kayla had a lot of potential, too, as did Rebecca. And yet none of them warranted a mention in the epilogue.All that aside ... clearly I enjoyed it. These are flaws I’ve let sink other books to three or even two stars, and yet this one is getting four stars. Maybe because I was thinking of this through the dark academia lens thanks to the reading challenge. And the world of this school - and it’s social scene - come across so vibrantly and vividly. Even if the characters didn’t always work for, the community it portrayed did. The vague sense of dread also really worked. I was always curious to see what would be around the next corner because things never quite went how I expected.
Also I’m not Jewish but I remember that weird mix of intense spirituality and alienation that can come with one’s teenage years and can’t really be repeated as a (supposedly) wiser adult. Unlike other readers I actually could buy that a bunch of perpetually intoxicated teens would eagerly discuss the nature of the divine together, sometimes in very dense ways. I certainly did a lot of that in youth group. Despite some of the narrative corner cutting, I did buy the themes underpinning this novel.
So, all in all a job well done and I’m curious to see what this author does next.