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A review by dodwyer
The Orchard by David Hopen
2.0
Every character in this book was extremely unlikeable and felt pretty two dimensional to me. I felt like the characters weren't developed enough for me to really feel like they had individualized personalities beyond one or two basic traits, which ultimately meant that I found myself feeling pretty disengaged from the story, despite its many twists and turns.
The philosophical conversations were too intense/heady for me to get invested into, and my lack of familiarity with Orthodox Judaism meant that a lot of it was unaccessible to me. Maybe this book just wasn't written for me as I'm sure a lot of cultural and religious references went over my head that would make the book more enjoyable, as some other reviewers have pointed out.
Although there were some moments and quotes that I genuinely enjoyed, by the last third of the book my primary emotion was exhaustion and confusion.
The philosophical conversations were too intense/heady for me to get invested into, and my lack of familiarity with Orthodox Judaism meant that a lot of it was unaccessible to me. Maybe this book just wasn't written for me as I'm sure a lot of cultural and religious references went over my head that would make the book more enjoyable, as some other reviewers have pointed out.
Although there were some moments and quotes that I genuinely enjoyed, by the last third of the book my primary emotion was exhaustion and confusion.