A review by ashmash
Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots by Deborah Feldman

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3.0

The pacing slightly ruined this memoir. The first half is introspective and you learn a lot about Deborah Feldman and her life in the Hasidic community. From her marriage onwards the pace of the book changes dramatically and it feels like she was writing this with the fear of surpassing a page limit she had been set. If you’re wondering how she managed to escape this fundamentalist group, you won’t find it here. She skims over that completely. Multiple plot points get forgotten and you’re left with more questions than answers. The start of the book establishes that she reunites with her mother after leaving her life as a Hasidic housewife behind. She mentions how this happens even though this was teased at the beginning and would’ve been a pretty major part of her experience adjusting to the outside world. 
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