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marie_gg's review against another edition
5.0
Great story of two young Orthodox Jews falling in love
joangittel's review against another edition
my book group read this, i didn't get through it.
booksandchicks's review against another edition
3.0
Love her as an author and how she shares the inside world of Judaism. I think I liked Ladies Auxillary better, but I was interested to hear more about the inside world and culture of Judaism. A good read.
kdferrin's review against another edition
2.0
I really wish Goodreads had a 10 star system instead of five. This book is probably closer to 2 3/4 stars. It was interesting but plot wise it was a bit scattered and left a bit to be desired.
Read this if you are interested in a look at how people fit their personal beliefs/faith into their every day lives and how the demands of the world can affect both beliefs and actions. Through the characters in her book [a:Tova Mirvis|56785|Tova Mirvis|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1383849283p2/56785.jpg] looks at questions such as: Why should I be religious? What does it mean to be religious? How devout does one have to be to be religious?
Once again I was struck with the similarities to my own religion despite the great differences in doctrine. This book speaks to the truth that even in what seems to be the most strict and conforming religions (such as Mormonism and Orthodox Judaism) individual members represent a wide spectrum of belief and orthodoxy.
Read this if you are interested in a look at how people fit their personal beliefs/faith into their every day lives and how the demands of the world can affect both beliefs and actions. Through the characters in her book [a:Tova Mirvis|56785|Tova Mirvis|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1383849283p2/56785.jpg] looks at questions such as: Why should I be religious? What does it mean to be religious? How devout does one have to be to be religious?
Once again I was struck with the similarities to my own religion despite the great differences in doctrine. This book speaks to the truth that even in what seems to be the most strict and conforming religions (such as Mormonism and Orthodox Judaism) individual members represent a wide spectrum of belief and orthodoxy.
meli65's review
3.0
I was looking for a nice light book for vacation and got it. This tells the story of two Orthodox families -- one very conservative, one more secular -- whose children marry. I've always been interested in Orthodox Judaism so there were a lot of great details for me. A pleasant read.
thehlb's review against another edition
4.0
Chose to read this after enjoying The Ladies Auxiliary. Can't decide which I like better. The plot is not particularly fulfilling, but I found it interesting and relateable.
em_reads_books's review against another edition
4.0
This book has so much subtlety and complexity for such a short story. It wrestles with some big questions through a pretty narrow little story, just a couple of years in the life of two families. One thing that jumped out at me especially was how I could see every character's point of view - usually I'm rooting for someone to come out ahead and get their happy ending, but here I could see where just about everyone was coming from and how they all needed each other to get to that happy ending. I kinda chalk that up to it being in large part a story about "how do we live our lives in relation to God?" - there's no right or wrong answer to that, everyone has to get there on their own, and as a nonreligious reader I have no opinion of my own to interfere. (I do wish we'd gotten a little more of Ilana's story - she was just starting to wrap her own head around what she believed, and her little moments of rebellion stood out among the more mature and traditional characters!)
I also enjoyed this as a counterpart to the romance novels where two characters court/date/marry each other swiftly and it's a total fantasy of that working out just fine. The first third of this book is the whirlwind romance, and the rest is messy reality, but you still get the sense that love is going to get them through and things will work out in the end. It was a lovely balance of heavy subjects weighing on people who are generally happy and going to be okay.
I also enjoyed this as a counterpart to the romance novels where two characters court/date/marry each other swiftly and it's a total fantasy of that working out just fine. The first third of this book is the whirlwind romance, and the rest is messy reality, but you still get the sense that love is going to get them through and things will work out in the end. It was a lovely balance of heavy subjects weighing on people who are generally happy and going to be okay.