Scan barcode
A review by richardpapenapologist
The Orchard by David Hopen
2.0
This is such a blatant rip-off of The Secret History that I’m honestly shocked anyone let it be published. I would’ve probably liked this a bit more if I knew more about Judaism — the book doesn’t hold your hand whatsoever in that regard. That’s fine, maybe it’s just not written for me, but it didn’t help.
There are a few things about this that I genuinely liked. Ari and Evan were interesting to pose as two sides of the same coin, and if we weren’t constantly reminded of it by the (mostly pointless) set of side characters, I would’ve enjoyed reading about their relationship far more. The author seems to have forgotten how effective subtlety can be here. I found Ari by far the most interesting character, with Evan second, although his dialogue so often crossed the boundary into unrealistic for a teenager that he ended up annoying me most of the time.
As for the rest: if anyone call explain to me the point of Oliver’s inclusion in this book, I’d be grateful. Noah and Amir were slightly less pointless. I think. I’m still not sure.
This author cannot write women, let’s put that out there. Sophia was so poorly written it was painful, and none of the female characters here were much better. It was clear that, with Ari and Sophia, the author was aiming for a dynamic similar to Richard and Camilla in TSH (I don’t think comparisons with TSH are ever fair to the book being compared to it, but put the name on your book’s jacket and you can only expect it) but didn’t actually understand Sophia well enough to portray her through Ari’s lens. In the end he settles for Sophia blatantly telling Ari that he has misunderstood her. Subtlety was not a strength in this book.
I actually quite enjoyed the plot itself. I related to Ari, his struggle with and loss of his faith, his feeling totally out of depth around his new friends, who hold these extravagant and increasingly insane parties. I could actually believe that the teenage cast of this book were so hellbent on throwing their lives away for the sake of alcohol and drugs — they’re teenagers. I enjoyed Evan’s insane stunts, even if the thinking behind them was unintelligible at some times and just annoying at others.
I really, really wanted this book to work for me. But here we are!
There are a few things about this that I genuinely liked. Ari and Evan were interesting to pose as two sides of the same coin, and if we weren’t constantly reminded of it by the (mostly pointless) set of side characters, I would’ve enjoyed reading about their relationship far more. The author seems to have forgotten how effective subtlety can be here. I found Ari by far the most interesting character, with Evan second, although his dialogue so often crossed the boundary into unrealistic for a teenager that he ended up annoying me most of the time.
As for the rest: if anyone call explain to me the point of Oliver’s inclusion in this book, I’d be grateful. Noah and Amir were slightly less pointless. I think. I’m still not sure.
This author cannot write women, let’s put that out there. Sophia was so poorly written it was painful, and none of the female characters here were much better. It was clear that, with Ari and Sophia, the author was aiming for a dynamic similar to Richard and Camilla in TSH (I don’t think comparisons with TSH are ever fair to the book being compared to it, but put the name on your book’s jacket and you can only expect it) but didn’t actually understand Sophia well enough to portray her through Ari’s lens. In the end he settles for Sophia blatantly telling Ari that he has misunderstood her. Subtlety was not a strength in this book.
I actually quite enjoyed the plot itself. I related to Ari, his struggle with and loss of his faith, his feeling totally out of depth around his new friends, who hold these extravagant and increasingly insane parties. I could actually believe that the teenage cast of this book were so hellbent on throwing their lives away for the sake of alcohol and drugs — they’re teenagers. I enjoyed Evan’s insane stunts, even if the thinking behind them was unintelligible at some times and just annoying at others.
I really, really wanted this book to work for me. But here we are!