Bookishly Jewish

Monstrosity has long been used by mainstream society to demonize, ostracize or raise fear towards anything viewed as “other”. However, there has recently been a rising awareness of monstrosity and “otherness” as a source of power and strength. In Aden Polydoros’s YA, second world fantasy, Bone Weaver, we are greeted with monstrosity in many different forms and often the lines of good and bad do not fall where society would have you believe they do.

From the very first page we are greeted with a scene that many of us would find horrific, only to learn it is in fact one of cozy domesticity. The main character, Toma, was rescued as a child by Upyr’s – bodies that have arisen from the dead and usually gorge themselves on living flesh. Toma’s parents have learned to control their hunger for human flesh and are raising an upyr child – Toma’s sister Galina. This isolated little family is turned upside down when Galina is kidnapped by monster hunters looking to bring their prize to the leader of an uprising. From the uprising’s point of view, a monster is being taken for experimentation and culling but from Toma’s vantage point a sweet loving child is about to be horrifically tortured.

As Toma sets off towards the big city to rescue Galina she joins forces with the recently dethroned Tsar, Mikhail, whose magic has been stolen by the leader of the uprising. Rounding out the not-so-merry trio is Vanya, who has been branded as a witch and a murderer after using his hidden magic to save his people from slaughter by the ruling class. Vanya is part of an ethnic minority known as the Strannik who have long been used as scape goats by the ruling class and are victimized on the regular when inept leaders need something to distract the populace with. Any magic possessed by a Strannik like Vanya is deemed unclean witchcraft as opposed to the heroic powers of the ruling class and Tsar despite there not being much difference between them that readers can distinguish other than their parentage.

In this the reader will easily find a parable to Judaism and the history of Jewish persecution as well as a view inside true monstrosity that is often presented as heroism – the persecution of minorities by people in power who are then deem themselves heroes for killing the “unclean” and “infidel” among us. Vanya represents a bucking of that system. A question that begs to be answered – why is his magic any more unclean than Mikhail’s simply because his parents were not the elite ruling class? When children are run down in the streets by the purported heroes and keepers of the peace simply because they are different and therefore present a convenient way to diffuse rising political tensions, how can anyone tell monster from hero anymore?

As the trio journeys together, Mikhail is repeatedly exposed to the injustice and hypocrisy that has taken place under his rule and often in his name. Toma discovers more about her past and the Strannik while Vanya staunchly refuses to be seen as anything less than what he is – a person with magic, same as anyone else, not an unclean witch or a hero. Because those are titles that aught to be earned rather than inherited.

The setting of this secondary world that is populated by creatures from Eastern European and Slavic folklore In this too, readers are forced to reexamine our preconceptions as the creatures show compassion and understanding when it is offered to them – usually by Toma who approaches them without the prejudices that Mikhail and Vanya have grown up with. The ending felt overly optimistic to me – can one enlightened Tsar change centuries of baked-in prejudice? – but I am hopeful that it is the set up for a sequel in which we get to watch this change happen in real time. Because winning a war is easy compared to dealing with the ensuing aftermath and moral grayness across party lines.I would love to see how these characters take on that challenge.

Note: Bookishlyjewish received a free e-arc, no strings attached, despite initially being turned down by the publisher on NetGalley. No hard feelings, those arc review sites usually run on metrics we never meet and everyone has always been very kind when we get the guts to ask in person.

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E Broderick is a writer and speculative fiction enthusiast. When not writing she enjoys epic games of trivial pursuit and baking. She currently lives in the U.S. but is eagerly awaiting the day a sentient spaceship offers to take her traveling around the galaxy.

Many Diaspora Jews debate about whether or not to return to the lands from which their ancestors fled or were banished. For those that do return, often their trips constitute a “grave tour” because cemeteries are the only thing left of once vibrant Jewish communities. R.M. Romero’s YA novel-in-verse, The Ghosts of Rose Hill, has an interesting twist on this narrative. The protagonist, Ilana, is sent by her parents to spend the summer in Prague with her paternal Aunt in the hopes that she will focus on her studies and give up her desire to to be a violinist. Instead, she finds herself enmeshed with ghosts, an antisemitic water spirit and the very first love of her life.

Ilana’s Aunt lives on the base of a hill that contains a much neglected Jewish cemetery. Since Ilana is Jewish and her Aunt is not, Ilana is allowed to undertake restorations despite her Aunt’s reservations about ghosts. While caring for the gravestones, Ilana does indeed encounter a ghost – a young Jewish boy named Benjamin. However, Benjamin isn’t the only denizen of the spirit world interested in Ilana. A mysterious man with no shadow gifts her a violin so that she can play, despite her parents wishes.

Benjamin and Ilana fall for each other as only two teens experiencing first love and first heartache can. As Ilana discovers more and more about Benjamin’s past and the man with no shadow, she is thrust into the middle of a nightmare that has haunted the Jewish children of Prague for centuries.

The story read to me like a fairy tale retelling and verse was the perfect format for a story so dependent on music. Each sentence conveys far more meaning than the simple summation of its words. Ilana is a compelling heroine and the story is all the more poignant for knowing that Benjamin was already dead before Ilana met him. It is a tale of growing up and facing harsh realities while still clinging to the innocence of youth and the spark within us all that leads us to create art.

Ilana is a biracial jew and the story of her mother’s family heritage was particularly compelling. The verse in those sections took on a distinct quality, much as Jews from different parts of the world have distinct customs. Yet some customs unify us all – including the importance of caring for the dead. Referred to as Chesed shel Emet it is believed to be the only truly selfless good deed one can ever do in this world. Ilana takes that truth, and the many truths about herself that she discovers along the way, into her battle for Benjamin’s soul. Readers will be swept away on that journey with her.

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E Broderick is a writer and speculative fiction enthusiast. When not writing she enjoys epic games of trivial pursuit and baking. She currently lives in the U.S. but is eagerly awaiting the day a sentient spaceship offers to take her traveling around the galaxy.

While we do not usually gravitate towards Holocaust narratives, when we heard about Danica Davidson and Eva Mozes Kor we could not pass up the opportunity to interview Danica. Unfortunately, Eva passed away before the release of their joint book, I Will Protect You, and therefore could not be interviewed. This made the book that tells her story all the more precious. We were impressed to see Danica working to make Eva’s dream a reality. Below are some of the highlights from our conversation.

BookishlyJewish: How did you meet Eva Kor and get involved in this project?
Danica: Eva gave a speech at a college about an hour from where I live. I had learned about it through my temple newsletter, and I had never met someone who’d survived Auschwitz as a child. I was also reading a lot of Jewish-themed books and seeing Jewish speakers because I’d recently experienced antisemitism while working as a journalist and was trying to do something about it. So I was hoping I could interview Eva for a magazine.

I introduced myself to her after her speech and mentioned I’d written and published sixteen kids’ books. I was just trying to let her know I was a professional author and not wasting her time. But her whole expression changed as soon as I said that. She exclaimed that she wanted to write a kids’ book, because she said you need to reach kids about the Holocaust and antisemitism before 12 for it to do any good. Holocaust education in America usually starts at 12 or older (or not at all) and Eva said it’s not working because the prejudices are already set in there. We started talking about how we could do a kids’ book together.

BookishlyJewish: What was it like working together? Any special memories you would like to share?
Danica: It started with me interviewing her. I also read and sampled kids’ books that dealt with the Holocaust and other difficult subjects to see how they accomplished it. Then I’d bat ideas off Eva. After I had a good sense of her story and what she wanted, I started writing it and sending her chapters one at a time. The rough draft spilled out in a fever dream in three weeks. Eva was ecstatic.

One thing that might surprise people is that Eva had a great sense of humor and could be really colorful in how she talked. She described moving to America as being like moving to the moon. She also was full of energy and never seemed to stop working, even when she was tired. She would get up at the crack of dawn (or something like that) and be right to work. Sometimes she would call me in the evenings to discuss the chapters I’d sent her, but I’d already be tired for the day and want to talk about it the next day when I was refreshed. But she would still be ready to work.

Eva and I got really close when we worked together. It broke my heart when she died unexpectedly just fifteen days after we accepted Little, Brown’s offer on the completed manuscript. She knew our book would be published, but I wish she were here to see it.

BookishlyJewish: This is obviously a difficult topic. How did you and Eva decide on an approach for younger readers?
Danica: Eva knew she wanted to reach kids, but she wasn’t sure how to go about it. That’s why she hadn’t written a children’s book on her own. She was really good at visiting elementary schools and talking to kids, but writing is different.

The biggest thing that makes this work as a kid’s book is the fact she was a kid herself when she survived Auschwitz. So it’s written from a child’s point-of-view, and I’m used to writing in kids’ voices.

I told her I thought the book would be the best for kids if it read like a novel, had short chapters, kept a fast pace, explained some of the bigger picture stuff. She agreed and agreed. Most of my ideas she liked.

When I was in elementary school, my dad taught me about the Holocaust, and then I would go to school and tell the other kids. So I guess that’s how I got my start as a Holocaust educator. But what’s really helpful is that I remember how my dad explained it to me so that I would understand. I used those memories to get the right tone for this. There isn’t anything in this book (besides what happened to Eva) that I didn’t know about in elementary school, either from my dad or from books I read.

BookishlyJewish: Who is the ideal audience for this book? What do you hope they take away from reading it?
Danica: The book is middle grade and aimed for ages eight through twelve. It can be read by older people, too, and I hear from adults who read it and say they learned a lot. Parents might want to read it with their kids, especially if it’s the kid’s introduction to the Holocaust.

There is so much ignorance out there about the Holocaust, from people not knowing what Auschwitz is to people comparing anything they don’t like to Hitler, so this book aims to teach people what the Holocaust actually was. It also goes into the history of antisemitism, so people will not only have a better understanding of how we got to the Holocaust, but also be able to recognize antisemitism as it manifests today. I hope readers will check out more Holocaust books, because no one book can capture such a huge subject.

I also hope it helps young people better recognize extremism and propaganda in whatever forms they take.

BookishlyJewish: What has been the audience’s response to the book?
Danica: Well, besides the handful of people trying to ban it, censor it and get it cancelled in our current system of attacking kids’ books, the response has been really positive. I hear from parents who say they’re reading it to their kids and the kids are completely engrossed. I hear from people who say, “They don’t teach this in schools!” I’ve even heard people say this book has changed their lives.

BookishlyJewish: Do you have any particular favorite Jewish author or book?
Danica: That’s really difficult to pick! But since it’s on topic, David A. Adler and Sonia Levitin were two writers who had a big impact on me in elementary school with their Holocaust books. Adler’s We Remember the Holocaust was a book I got from the Scholastic Book Fair at my school, and it respectfully and honestly tells kids about what happened in the Holocaust as a whole. It meant a lot to me that he endorsed Eva’s and my book.

Levitin’s book Journey to America is fiction, but it’s inspired her family escaping Nazi Germany. It was narrated by a girl like me and pulled me into her world.

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Bio: Danica Davidson is the author of almost twenty books for middle grade and young adult readers, ranging from serious nonfiction to Minecrafter adventure novels to manga how-to-draw books. Please visit her website at www.danicadavidson.com for more information on her books, writing advice for kids, lesson plans and more.

Forgive me for showing up to the party a little late on this one. I first read Rosie Danan’s The Intimacy Experiment a year ago, with full intentions to review it immediately after, but this story so completely shattered my expectations that I was afraid I wouldn’t do it justice. Today, I put on my big girl panties and reviewed it anyway. Because that’s what I think Naomi, the ex-porn star turned sex educator featured in the book, would tell me to do.

Naomi has turned her background in sex work into a full fledged career, running a website that focuses on making intimacy satisfying for all involved – especially women – through open communication and sex tutorials. The business has taken off, but Naomi still yearns for a more personal venue in which to teach about modern intimacy in a live setting. She attends a conference for educators, but the only one willing to take her seriously is Ethan, the Rabbi of a dying reform Synagogue. He is hoping that Naomi’s classes will bring new members to the congregation.

The unlikely duo prove to be an entertaining teaching team and the class does indeed bring new blood into the Synagogue. Somewhere along the way Naomi and Ethan put their lessons to good use by dating each other and Naomi discovers a renewed interest in her Jewish background. The hitch? As with all things Jewish, it is Synagogue politics. There are those on the board that don’t deem it appropriate for their Rabbi to be dating a former sex-worker, no matter how many new members she brings to the Synagogue and how popular she and the Rabbi are.

A small side note for those who think a Rabbi love interest makes for boring stuff – Ethan will lay it out fully in the book way better than I can, but reform Rabbi’s do not all abstain from sex prior to marriage. This is a high heat book. There is explicit sex on the page. You probably don’t want to be reading it on the train or in your office.

Many wonderful Jewish writers have been putting out stunning romances for years. I have reviewed some of them here! But to see any observant Jewish character, much less a Rabbi, as a main character in a romance book from a big five (or four, I keep losing count) publisher was groundbreaking for me. So was the book itself, in the ways it tackles prejudices against sex workers, Rabbi’s, and women who enjoy sex in general. I hope I have done it justice, and more importantly that it paves the way for many more books to come and for Jewish writers to get more recognition for the work they have been doing all along.

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E Broderick is a writer and speculative fiction enthusiast. When not writing she enjoys epic games of trivial pursuit and baking. She currently lives in the U.S. but is eagerly awaiting the day a sentient spaceship offers to take her traveling around the galaxy.

Ever wonder what life would be like if destiny was mapped for you? If the possibilities of your life were in fact presented to you as a fait accompli rather than the results of your personal choices? Would this be liberating or terrifying? That is the central question faced by Edie, the main character of Hannah Orenstein’s Meant to Be Mine.

Edie, a stylist living in Manhattan, has kept herself out of romantic relationships, not because she was focusing on her career, but because her grandmother Gloria has successfully predicted the matches of everyone in her family. With Grandma Gloria’s prophecy informing her of the date that she will meet her one true romance, there is no need to shop around. In fact, it almost seems cruel to the suitors that are obviously not “the one”. However, as the fateful day and its aftermath unfold, Edie grows nervous that maybe Gloria’s rumored abilities have lead her astray – causing her to say goodbye to worthy mates in the past and pointing her in the wrong direction in the present.

Can she save her future?

At this point in the review I usually dive into a nice description of the love interest, but I would like to divert from that to focus on the MC, because the book diverts from what I think of as a typical romance structure. While it does follow a couple, there are many other love interests, both past and present, that appear and we are not always rooting for the one most frequently seen on the page. Similarly, while I can promise you there is a happy ending in store for Edie, it may not take the form you are expecting.

Which is a lesson the reader learns right along with the characters.

The book has several references to cultural and reform Judaism, but this is not the crux of the story and Edie is open to dating both Jews and non-Jews. The romance is closed door – meaning there is no graphic sex depicted on the page and it is safe for reading on the commute or in public spaces.

I enjoyed spending some time reflecting with Edie and pondering the what -ifs. Because sometimes the mystery is worth more than the sure thing.

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E Broderick is a writer and speculative fiction enthusiast. When not writing she enjoys epic games of trivial pursuit and baking. She currently lives in the U.S. but is eagerly awaiting the day a sentient spaceship offers to take her traveling around the galaxy.

I am a city girl. I love city life. The convenient public transportation, the ease of obtaining kosher food, the wide array of entertainment and museums that I rarely partake in but find joy in knowing they are there. So when Adina, protagonist of Meredith Schorr’s contemporary romance As Seen On TV, bemoans that dating in a big city is nothing like the quaint small town life she views on the Hallmark channel, I rolled my eyes. Delightfully, so did Adina’s mother.

However, Adina’s Mom is a paragon of virtue and still supports her daughter as Adina journeys to the small town of Pleasant Hollow to chase a story she hopes will help her break out as a journalist. Adina, a lifelong Hallmark romance fan, has pitched an article about the small town being usurped by a big bad developer. Except, upon arrival, she discovers that small town living isn’t always that great and the Pleasant Hollow residents are either apathetic or welcoming to the development that might bring more opportunity and variety to the town.

I actually did feel sorry for Adina as her dreams of pie eating contests and snowball fights were crushed, especially since this spelled disaster for her journalism career, but I couldn’t help my glee when it turned out the only date-able guy in Pleasant Hollow was Finn, project manager for the development that turns out to be not so big and bad after all. As Adina and Finn reminisced about their favorite city establishments, I found myself rooting for the couple.

A pivotal scene in the romance occurs over Rosh Hashana dinner and fans of casual Judaism will be pleased to note that Adina’s religion is sprinkled throughout the book in a way that is organic and real. I was thrilled to see Adina find her way both as a reporter and as a couple with Finn, although the writer in me cringed at both her epic self-sharing in her articles and her subsequent decision to read the comments. Luckily she had a nice group of family, both found and biologic, to lean on. Friends she made despite living in the big city instead of a quaint small town.

Note: I received an arc through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

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E Broderick is a writer and speculative fiction enthusiast. When not writing she enjoys epic games of trivial pursuit and baking. She currently lives in the U.S. but is eagerly awaiting the day a sentient spaceship offers to take her traveling around the galaxy.

Ashkenazi Jewish tradition has been more commonly featured in mainstream media involving Jewish representation than Sephardic customs. However Sephardic traditions are rich, and deep, and laden with meaning. Much like The Flying Camel, a collection of essays by Jewish women with North African and Middle Eastern heritage edited by Loolwa Khazzoom.

I went in with the mindset of a guest, eager to see what my hosts chose to share with me. In these pages I found essays by women of many different cultures and opinions, all eloquent and powerful. There were stories of intersectionality, of being marginalized, of wondering where one truly belongs. The writers ran the full gamut of religious observance. Some included anecdotes and experiences from ancestral home countries while others wrote entirely from a diaspora perspective.

Getting all these women into a room at the same time would be a delight. After reading their reflections I suspect many would disagree with each other on one topic or another, yet all would staunchly support the right of the other to be heard. They would be as varied and unique as the stars in the sky, a constellation of perspectives from which to learn.

The Sephardiot and Mizrahiot (these are the preferred terms from the introduction to the book) featured in these pages are courageous and brave as they speak about an identity that confuses so many because it does not fit into the nice box that mainstream media has constructed surrounding Jewish, Arab or feminine narratives. In fact, it is an identity that is often willfully ignored or suppressed. Readers should approach this book seeking to hear a new voice. To learn about systemic repression and misrepresentation among Jews, and about how to listen. I can think of no better teachers than the women who wrote these essays.

E Broderick is a writer and speculative fiction enthusiast. When not writing she enjoys epic games of trivial pursuit and baking. She currently lives in the U.S. but is eagerly awaiting the day a sentient spaceship offers to take her traveling around the galaxy.

The Unfinished Corner is a remarkably Jewish children’s fantasy adventure, standing out in its genre for its depth and thoughtfulness. Just before her Bat Mitzvah, Miriam travels to Yenne Velt, the Yiddish “elsewhere,” which is also the realm of Lilith and her demon offspring. With her are three friends and a rabbi, who reveals himself as a helpful angel. He tells the children that during creation, a tiny corner was left unfinished, so the world is falling into imbalance. This of course is a famous kabalistic concept. 

In Yenne Velt, they travel the Desert of Zin, where they find the stranded generation who died out before reaching the Promised Land. Miriam, sister of Moses, greets them there and they ride the giant lion of Judah Ma’alachiel. Continuing their adventures through midrashim and folklore, they find Ishtar, who used the name of God to escape a relationship with one of the Nephilim and became the evening star. She gives Miriam’s Yeshiva friend Avi the tsohar, legendary light of creation, and tells him, “If you’re going to finish the universe, you should have something that was there at the start.” These obscure characters and tales are unusual for modern adaptations, a delightful journey into the rich depths of Jewish legend. The art is also colorful and evocative. 

When their journey takes them to the historic synagogues of Prague, reproduced beautifully in the comic, Avi voices one of the great questions of folklore and asks the golem why it didn’t stop the Nazis. The Golem of Prague is a better-known legend from a more modern time but fits well into the lore. In another example of well-known legend, the children meet Lilith, who rehabilitates her sexist legend by revealing how she’s truly been cursed.  

All their adventures show Miriam’s friends displaying different talents. With her understanding of the hypocrisy of how men judge women’s beauty, Judith outwits Azazel while celebrating Miriam’s “big nose and curly hair and freckles” in a teaching moment for young readers. David, who’s Black and speaks Farsi, uses his music skills to charm other demons and blow the shofar. Judith comes from the Latin world and Avi appears to be on the spectrum. Each child enriches their journey by knowing different Jewish legends. After these adventures, Miriam understands she should confess her fears: “The grownup thing…the Jewish thing…is to trust your friends.” As she returns for her Bat Mitzvah, she insists she’ll keep striving to repair the world. 

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I’m a little late on my review of The Lost Ryu by Emi Watanabe Cohen, because when the package arrived it was promptly stolen by a friend. Apparently she’s got a thing for dragons. And frankly who doesn’t? The majestic fire breathers are delightful in any shape or form, which is why readers will immediately understand why main character Kohei is so sad that large dragons, or Ryu, disappeared right around the time of World War II.

Kohei’s interest in dragons is not purely nostalgic. While small Ryu, like Kohei’s own personal dragon, still exist, the larger ones are nowhere to be found. Yet somehow Kohei still remembers them, and this memory is the last time in which he saw his grandfather smile. When grandfather’s health takes a turn for the worse, Kohei is convinced that solving the mystery of lost Ryu will help heal him.

Joining Kohei on this mission is his new neighbor, Isolde recently arrived from America. The pair team up and devise a plan to hatch a new dragon, jointly parented by Kohei’s Ryu and Isolde’s Ryu – a yiddish speaking dragon. For Isolde, the existence of an East-West dragon (these are the words used by the dragons in the book to describe the new hatchling) represents confirmation that she herself is not alone in being part Jewish and part Japanese.

As expected, things do not go according to plan. Kohei uncovers some heavy hitting truth about his father, his family, the War, and his own tricky memories. As this unfolds I was reminded of how malleable my own childhood memories are. How I cherry pick the ones I care to hold onto. How this is sometimes a gift.

As the story wraps up the reader is left with a greater understanding of World War II (albeit with dragons) in a way that is still appropriate for younger readers. Grump certainly enjoyed it. As for me? I was sold the moment the Yiddish speaking dragon appeared.

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E Broderick is a writer and speculative fiction enthusiast. When not writing she enjoys epic games of trivial pursuit and baking. She currently lives in the U.S. but is eagerly awaiting the day a sentient spaceship offers to take her traveling around the galaxy.

A common writing exercise is to rewrite the same exact scene several times, each from a different viewpoint. By flipping the POV character, the writer is forced to look at the world through a different lens. To pick out the details that would otherwise go unnoticed. In Rachel Lynn Solomon’s latest YA romance, See You Yesterday, we have a variation on this theme. The viewpoint character, Barrett Bloom, does not change. Instead, she relives her first day of college over and over in a time loop, taking the reader deeper and deeper into the story.

Now, as far as first days go, Barrett’s is a total disaster. I literally sobbed in relief when I realized this quirky, sarcastic, lovable freshman was about to get a second chance. Especially when it is revealed that the only other person stuck in time is Miles – a physics student who instantly won me over with his science puns. (The same can’t be said for him and Barrett. This is definitely not a story of love at first sight).

As Miles and Barrett try to find a solution to their time loop dilemma by researching in the library (Miles’s idea) and living life to its fullest (Barrett’s idea) we learn more about Barrett’s past and why college is so crucial to her. I won’t spoil it, but if you are like me and have a difficult time processing sex being used as a weapon to shame women – there may be a few pages you want to skip. Solomon handles this plot point deftly and the story feels both real and raw.

Miles, on the other hand, turns out to be much more than just a physics nerd (although let’s face it, that is my favorite about him). He is the son of a physics professor and a Jewish studies professor and is fiercely proud of both parts of his heritage. In fact, he finds a way for Barrett to celebrate Shabbat despite the fact that they are perpetually stuck repeating a weekday. Perhaps in the most Jewish thing ever, the Shabbat scene is a pivotal moment in Miles and Barrett’s relationship.

The banter between Miles and Barrett is glorious, but my favorite part about their relationship is the fact that Solomon has allowed her characters to have realistic bodies. Barrett navigates some insecurity surrounding her weight and Miles has ears that take some time to love. But it doesn’t matter. Because time is literally unlimited for these two.

As usual, the book is a masterclass in craft. It not only shows the development of romance over time, it also spirals down into every single nook, cranny, character and plot point that occurred in this one single day and milks them for they are worth. There is no stone left un-turned, no relationship unexamined, and in a delightful moment – no puppy left un-adopted. My heart was bursting and my smile wide when I clicked through to the last page (at one am, because I couldn’t go to sleep until I finished).

Note: I received an e-arc from the author because she was kindly allowing Jewish reviewers to request them through her social media

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E Broderick is a writer and speculative fiction enthusiast. When not writing she enjoys epic games of trivial pursuit and baking. She currently lives in the U.S. but is eagerly awaiting the day a sentient spaceship offers to take her traveling around the galaxy.