A review by kristenreadswhat
Shmutz by Felicia Berliner

4.0

Jewish queer MC + coming of age!

Raizl expects to find a husband through arranged marriage.

However, her addiction to porn may stand in her way.

When she dives deeper into her addiction, her life begins to fall apart.

Read if you love...

✨NYC

✨coming of age

✨exploring porn & sexuality

✨Jewish food

✨learning more about the Hasidic Jewish community

The Hasidic Jewish community is so incredibly fascinating to me and I have loved finding books that have Hasidic representation. This book has been on my TBR for so long because it's one of Rae's favorite books, and I can't believe I waited this long to read it.

As someone who is ace, Raizl's obsession with porn was so fascinating. And initially I debated DNFing because I just didn't want to hear the constant talk & descriptions of what was happening in what she was watching.

However, the premise of the book pulled me in and I'm so glad I kept reading. Raizl fears she won't find a husband through arranged marriage because of her addiction to porn. Along with the fact while never completely stated as bisexual, she is queer and does explore this on page.

The addiction to porn & being queer are not acceptable within being Hasidic, which just made an interesting dynamic as she tried to figure out who she is as a person while trying to keep things a secret and her life starting to unravel from all of this.

On top of all of this, Raizl is in therapy to work through her addiction to porn & the on page conversations with her therapist were fascinating. 

All that to say, I recommend this one!

📍New York

✨Representation: Hasidic Jewish queer MC

‼️Content: addiction; sexual assault; sexism; religious bigotry; misogyny; antisemitism