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maddibleu's reviews
709 reviews
Magical Meet Cute by Jean Meltzer
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.0
****Found out after I read this book that the author is a big Zionist!***** I'm very disappointed to have spent time and money on an author who thinks like that, especially when this book is about looking at an entire group of people and the negative stereotypes and history that hurt them.
I really struggled with this book. I loved it off the bat and felt that the writing was pretty good and main character Faye was strong and likable. As the book went on though, it kind of went off the rails. I knew that it would have an aspect of anti-semitism, but sooo much of the story revolved around what racists say about Jewish people — all the negative stereotypes were repeated again and again while neo-nazi’s papered the town with anti-semitic flyers.
Rather than celebrate Jewish culture, it was just a fight against negative stereotypes — or more accurately, a conversation over and over about stereotypes.
The romance itself wasn’t very good. I really wouldn’t consider this a romance. Faye spent most of the book wondering — unseriously — if she created a golem out of clay one night when she was dancing around naked and burying clay statues in the dirt. The next day, she hits a guy with her bike, and boom — amnesia.
She brings the man home with her, not yet thinking that he’s a golem, but somewhat joking about it with her friends.
As time go on, “Greg”’s entire personality is built around the books he reads from her bookshelf. This is mentioned multiple times, and Greg pushes back against the idea that he’s just regurgitating platitudes from books, but there’s really no additional character building. He really is just this blank slate that gets filled up.
Faye spends most of the time wondering if this man is a Nazi.... which really isn't conducive to a relationship building up between them (plus it's kinda unethical to come onto a man with amnesia knowing he might have a family already?) And even Greg spends most of his plot trying to figure out if he's a Nazi... it's not fun.
Low and behold, his real name IS Greg at the end of the book, and after she accidentally hits him with her car, he suddenly remembers everything and dips — finally coming back at the end to claim that he loves her. Even when she practically attacks him with a Jewitch ceremony (making him eat paper and throwing mud and flowers at him), he just shrugs through it and says, “you do you because you’ve faced a lot of trauma.” I got so tired of hearing about her “broken pieces” and trauma.
Overall this book was a really big disappointment. Being in the character's mind was both boring and exhausting. The story was very circular, and the romance and interesting parts got lost under the constant "Is he a Nazi?" "Am I a Nazi?" and constant discussion of negative Jewish sterotypes. There was no real celebration of positive Jewish customs and culture. This book was bad.
I really struggled with this book. I loved it off the bat and felt that the writing was pretty good and main character Faye was strong and likable. As the book went on though, it kind of went off the rails. I knew that it would have an aspect of anti-semitism, but sooo much of the story revolved around what racists say about Jewish people — all the negative stereotypes were repeated again and again while neo-nazi’s papered the town with anti-semitic flyers.
Rather than celebrate Jewish culture, it was just a fight against negative stereotypes — or more accurately, a conversation over and over about stereotypes.
The romance itself wasn’t very good. I really wouldn’t consider this a romance. Faye spent most of the book wondering — unseriously — if she created a golem out of clay one night when she was dancing around naked and burying clay statues in the dirt. The next day, she hits a guy with her bike, and boom — amnesia.
She brings the man home with her, not yet thinking that he’s a golem, but somewhat joking about it with her friends.
As time go on, “Greg”’s entire personality is built around the books he reads from her bookshelf. This is mentioned multiple times, and Greg pushes back against the idea that he’s just regurgitating platitudes from books, but there’s really no additional character building. He really is just this blank slate that gets filled up.
Faye spends most of the time wondering if this man is a Nazi.... which really isn't conducive to a relationship building up between them (plus it's kinda unethical to come onto a man with amnesia knowing he might have a family already?) And even Greg spends most of his plot trying to figure out if he's a Nazi... it's not fun.
Low and behold, his real name IS Greg at the end of the book, and after she accidentally hits him with her car, he suddenly remembers everything and dips — finally coming back at the end to claim that he loves her. Even when she practically attacks him with a Jewitch ceremony (making him eat paper and throwing mud and flowers at him), he just shrugs through it and says, “you do you because you’ve faced a lot of trauma.” I got so tired of hearing about her “broken pieces” and trauma.
Overall this book was a really big disappointment. Being in the character's mind was both boring and exhausting. The story was very circular, and the romance and interesting parts got lost under the constant "Is he a Nazi?" "Am I a Nazi?" and constant discussion of negative Jewish sterotypes. There was no real celebration of positive Jewish customs and culture. This book was bad.