The Orchard audiobook

you know those books where you immediately know its going to be a 5 star read from the first page? yeah, this is one of those books. i mean, just read this prologue. i cannot even begin to describe my obsession with pretentious students seeking to find meaning via questionable moral means. my soul lives and breathes dark academia; and although the theme of this is more coming-of-age, rather than crime like most dark academia books, this is still a story that has me wishing i was privileged enough to attend some elite school and insert myself in a small detached group of likeminded colleagues where i can wear tweed and debate scholarly subjects (in this case, jewish theology). this is such an ambitious novel for a debut and i think it has paid off rather extraordinarily. at the end of this, i feel learned, debauched, enlightened, bereft, and full of longing. which is exactly what i want from this kind of novel. this is a good read for those still seeking that ‘the secret history’ high.↠ 5 stars

Looking back as an adult on his teenage years Aryeh (Ari) Eden, sets the stage for the novel : “ As a teenager, I felt this neatly encapsulated suffocation of my childhood, the trackless wasteland of tightening circles I inhabited. I felt sometimes as if I existed alone, outside the external world, bearing no true relation to anyone or anything, as if the invisible harnesses that tethered humans to their surroundings had, in my case, come undone.” His life changes drastically from the quiet, secluded, Orthodox Jewish life in Brooklyn when his family moves to Miami, and Ari’s life does indeed come undone. We first see him in Brooklyn where studying the Torah came before any other learning and endeavor, where Aryeh Eden feels alone, spending time at the library, “ This was what I became: a contemplative boy surrounded always by lonely, rigorous books.” Raised in this sheltered community in Brooklyn, not thinking about college, not even knowing what the SAT was, never having had a drink, never having smoked pot, and never having kissed a girl, it was hard to see how Ari will fit in or be accepted by the circle of kids at his new school. Yet, in this circle where drinking and doing drugs are every day things, he is accepted and he goes their way. For a while I kept thinking, he was in with just a bad bunch of kids, but slowly I realized that these bad kids carried burdens of their own and in spite of their behavior, I felt for them. This had a YA feel throughout even though Ari is looking back and telling the story as an adult, but I felt something deeper here, something about morality, about right and wrong, about finding who you are. It becomes more than just a story filled with an abundance of teenage angst over relationships, over grades, over college acceptances. However, I had a hard time getting into the philosophical discussions between Ari and Evan, a brilliant and grieving boy. I had trouble getting into the group discussions led by Rabbi Bloom, head of the school who has singled out these boys for discussions on Jewish thought. It maybe was just too heady for me and because I just couldn’t relate, I feel as if I’ve missed something important. I didn’t miss that there are tragic consequences of this deep thought and deep philosophical questions, on the one hand . On the other hand, I saw the tragic consequences of teenage boys shaped by the burdens they carry, or perhaps the act of a disturbed, grieving, and charismatic young man, pulling his peers into dangerous places . I was very much taken in by Ari and his struggle over who he is, and I always enjoy this kind of introspective narrative. This has been compared to The Secret History, which I haven’t read, but in some ways it reminded me of The Goldfinch in tone, in Ari’s search for himself and this story, too, felt profound and sad. In spite of the things that didn’t work for me, I was always interested in Ari’s story and how things would end up for him. I received an advanced copy of this book from Ecco/Harper Collins through Edelweiss.

Well! This was promising, breathtaking, gripping and emotional! Such a riveting, moving, powerful, addictive coming of age story! I don’t want to compare this book with the other novels! Especially with Secret History! Each stories may have some resemblances but they are both unique perspectives, approaches to the lives of young generations! I could honestly say: I loved Aryeh Eden ( Ari) from the beginning. It reminded me of my quirky, rebellious, isolated, “I’m not from this universe” teenage self! I loved the way he breaks his walls and changes himself by surrounded with a bunch of popular also sad, broken friends. Ari was living in a secluded, devout life in Jewish Brooklyn community. He never kissed a girl. He never put a drug in his mouth or he never tasted alcohol. He buried his head into his books, living in library, enjoying quietness and peace. But his father’s promotion force them to move Florida which will change his entire life pattern and his shy, quiet characteristics because he doesn’t just move into a new city, new school environment with rich, cool, popular, mischievous teenagers, he just moved to the entire different planet! He finds his freedom, experiencing new things, posh, fast, luxurious cars, girls, parties, risk taker, reckless friends! He becomes part of a group with the help of golden boy Noah and he finds himself in a rivalry between he and Evan who is walking at the dangerous path and dragging everyone with him. He’s carrying a compelling burden on his shoulders which slowly diminishes his life energy. For being part of the group, Ari also gets stuck at this dangerous path, estranging his family. The complex rivalry between he and Evan also gets the attention of Rabbi who runs the school. I enjoyed the realistic characterization and detailed, well-researched, objective approach to the life in Jewish community. This is genuine self-discovery story of a young man’s questioning the morals, learning the facts of life by getting out of his protective cocoon and walking at the edge of the cliff. It’s about friendship, trust, risks, culture, wisdom. Rabbi Bloom’s philosophical lessons were intense and a little confusing and complex for me. Some Hebrew phrases, discussions took so much of my mental energy to understand most parts correctly( I have to admit I was mostly lost in thoughts) but overall the storyline about the young man’s evolving life, relations with his peers, adjusting to new environment, dysfunctional family dynamics stole my heart and gripped my attention from the beginning. My final decision: this is one of my best and illuminating fiction readings of the year. Special thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins Publishers / Ecco for sharing this unique arc with me in exchange my honest opinions.

I really loved this book. A reader doesn’t need to be Jewish to enjoy the intimate nuanced- the conscience-ridden and carefully wrought, candor, humor, or the tragic underlying vulnerability and subtle power....but it helps being Jewish for the cultural flavors.We meet 17-year-old Aryeh Eden. “This is what I became: a contemplative boy surrounded always by lonely, rigorous books”. “Such was the way I received some semblance of an education. I stood out in English classes, if only because an alarming number of my classmates flirted with illiteracy. Their parents were content with whatever school managed to teach— astonishingly little— and actually preferred their children study Talmud exclusively”. Leaving Brooklyn didn’t make Aryeh (Ari), Eden sad....“on the contrary, the exhilarating prospect of trading my dreary, uneventful life for something new was, at long last, within reach. what was saddening was the realization that, in time, we stand in emptied houses to learn we’ve never made a mark”. Ari - about to enter his senior year of high school - in a new town very different from where he came from- Zion Hills in Florida....( a secular Jewish Community)...Behavior that would have been unfathomable in Brooklyn, was perfectly normal in Florida. Ari didn’t quite understand how faith functioned in the quasi-secular world. Noah and Oliver, for instance, despite that they attended a yeshiva high school, had not yet worn yarmulkes in Ari’s presence. Ari wondered which of the families maintained kosher homes or observed Shabbat. He was starting to see the value of adhering to ancient rituals without sacrificing participation in the modern world. ( he would be attending school with ‘girls’ for the first time). “Ever been clubbing?Ari hadn’t.... but if given enough time, Oliver was sure he could make a degenerate out of Ari. ( the readers will see)....yes? no? Welcome to Ari’s new lifestyle .... “Sophia and Remi threw themselves into a red Porsche while we loaded into Noah’s Audi. I nearly laughed at the absurdity of the scene: two sports cars, each likely worth more than my house; a cast of wealthy strangers; me, tzitzit thrown over my T-shirt, lagging behind, fleeing from a beach, a real beach”. Ari..... “I had fallen into a group in which I didn’t belong, lied to my parents, neglected a morning of tefillin, drunk myself into oblivion, shattered shomer negiah and, potentially, been slipped some drugDrunk. After some deliberation, I emerged from Shabbat resolved to separate myself from these strange events, to regain a state of stasis. I had moved from Brooklyn with a desire to start anew, yes, but not like this”. Ari was about to have his first SAT tutor session. His school counselor, Mrs. Sallinger sent him to see Mr. Bearman. Ari extended his right hand. He waved his hand away. “Personal sanitation policy”. NOTE.... a monthago I wouldn’t have barely noticed that ‘sanitation’ sentence.This book was written before the outbreak of the coronavirus....The dialogue continues as....“This is Donna. She’s just finishing, Bearman explained, reaching for hand sanitizer and lathering meticulously. Want some?” “No, thank you”.“No, really, I—““I must insist, he said, dousing my hands with Purell”. Bearman was 33 years old. He went to Berkeley, dropped out of three different law schools on three different occasions. He took the SAT three times, every year, for the last nine years and had never scored outside the 98th percentile. He demanded cash from his clients and he didn’t report his income. “Sue me”, Bearman says to Ari, on his first visit for tutoring. Bearman took home $130,000 a year, enough to get his mother off his back about burning out of law school and never marrying. Ari didn’t have much of a math background from the religious- (Torah driven- education), in Brooklyn. But... he was smart —And his new school counselor in Florida saw his. ( which was why Mrs Sallinger sent him to see the famous-tutor-Bearman). Bearman gave Ari a practice test to take home.“Next week we’ll go from there” “Capeesh?” “Capeesh, I said stupidly. But is that all we can do today—?”“Yeah, you have to get out now. My next client shoes my ear off and I’d like to grab a burrito before he shows up”. The characters give this novel its heart and soul....We meet Aryed Eden’s new friends... Noah, ( who became Ari’s first true friend he ever had), Rebecca, Oliver, Amir, Evan, Sophia, ( who called Ari, Hamlet- and was Ari’s love interest), Remi, Kayla, Donny,... etc. > ...his teachers … Rabbi Feldman, Rabbi Bloom, ....the basketball coach named Rocky, Bearman, his SAT tutor,and parents of the kids: Eddie and Cynthia Harris,( Noah’s parents and Ari’s next door neighbors). During the high holidays, Yom Kippur, while sitting in shul, the Shofar sounded long, defiantblasts. Ari tried thinking about guilt, teshuva, the destruction of the Temple, all the suffering in the world: genocide, poverty, terrorism, human rights violations. Instead, all he could think of was Macbeth, hearing the horns of war a final time, ‘crying’, “My way of life is fall’n into the sere”. One night, after many months of being in their new home, new school, new neighbors new friends, Ari’s father asks him —“if we—are better off in this place?”... in Zion Hills? Ari said yes to his father... yet he tried to contort his voice so that it sounded convincing. All the kids at Ari’s new school had distinct personalities....and their own ‘coming-of-age’ issues. Noah, was the star athlete. Sophia was a gifted musician Evan was the great brilliant thinker. Ari, was “supposed to be the other thinker”, Evan tells him. ( little news to Ari, having been not only an only child, but an organic-loner).School in Florida stretched not only Ari’s secular - math- education but also his social skills. I really enjoyed the characters in this novel very much.On the surface, or at least for a while, the story had a charming lightness - with mild sadness below the surface .... but then....it got quite emotional: VERY... brought me to tears ... and it became very thought provoking. “Who alone suffers, suffers most i’ th’ mind, Leaving free things and happy shows behind” — Shakespeare, King LearWonderful heartfelt & heartbreaking debut. I love discovering David Hopen. I’ll ‘gladly’ read his next book. Thank you, HarperCollins Publishing. This novel will be available in November.

In the spirit of celebrating Judaism, I'm going to start this review with a teeny tiny dvar torah. So Jews call themselves Am Israel after Jacob changed his name to Israel. Israel has two meanings: it means straight to God and it means to grapple with God, as Jacob fought with God's messenger. It seems like an essential part of believing in God in Judaism is the doubt and the questions, the eternal fight with God. In fact, I'd suggest that it is through such fighting that we are able to reach God. We say that those who lose the derech and find it again are more righteous which implies that the fighting with God is valuable when it results in returning to God afterwards. David Hopen has written a book that continues this beautiful tradition of fighting with God. In other words, The Orchard  was intense. Underneath the YA veneer, there's a lot going on. Suffice to say that this book pretty much stomped all over my heart. I've already started rereading it because I just want to experience it again.  So this is the story of Aryeh, a sheltered Ultra-Orthodox teenager from Brooklyn. His family moves to Miami and as is expected, he becomes friends with four other teenagers who introduce him to a new world of women, drugs, drinking and no religious compliance.Through this classic coming-of-age, Hopen discusses the common themes of growing up. The anxiety about the future, fears about success, the attempts at dating the prettiest girl in school, SATs, etc. All of this is well written and enjoyable to read but really, this is just the tip of the iceberg. Behind this coming-of-age narrative, there's this tension, this reckoning with God. I've never considered how Jewish the entire dark academia aesthetic is but wow, it is. Thick books, mysticism, heated intellectual discussions and this sense of academic curiosity that borders on desperation all play a role here. This book juggles between the coming of age story and the Jewish dark academia but it works. In fact, it is by combining these two stories that Hopen creates meaning. This book invites us to compare the two worlds while it continues to challenge both of them. Aryeh's teen years are weighed down by religious reckoning while the religious reckoning is framed by very normal teen drama. All of this is overshadowed by this desperation. Hopen questions what draws people to religious faith and knowledge (since in Judaism, these tend to go together). His fury at God (as represented in Evan and Aryeh), this idea that existential angst, loneliness, grief and God can feed into each other. This fear that the answers cannot be found, that no book will ever provide Evan what he's looking for, it will not be solved by drugs and it won't be solved by a visit to the synagogue. That unanswered question, can it ever be solved? Is faith achieved by accepting that some questions will forever remain unanswered? In many ways, Looking For Alaska's "how do we get out of the labyrinth" echoed through my head while reading this. There's something remarkably similar about the two books- a new kid, unhappy in his prior life, meets a gang of friends, smokes and drinks, talks philosophy. Tragedies. Parental teachers. A shocking end. And, of course, this undertone of being trapped within life, spiritual and mundane. Underneath the philosophy, there are deep underlying questions about Modern Orthodoxy as a denomination. How do we draw the line between a life of faith and a life of knowledge? What is too much spirituality? What is too much material world? Can Jewish texts still guide us, even as we set foot in the secular world? Modern Orthodoxy attempts to find a middle ground where there might be none. It challenges Jews to take part in the Western world and in the Jewish one, to insist on being both. My religious friends argue that it is possible to have the best of both ways but I'm still not convinced. There's an instability, a cigarette on Shabbat, seeing an immodest woman on TV, accepting that nothing happens after you break Shabbat. Through this book, Hopen seems to argue that a life of misery can arise from all, in the most depressing of ways. Modern Orthodoxy provides a path but it is not necessarily stable or right for all, although Rabbi Bloom makes it work. Last week, I told a group of Haredim that I'm not sure I would convert into Judaism if I suddenly learned that I'm not Jewish. They were intrigued and it led to a long conversation where I admitted that Judaism feels mine. It is because Judaism feels mine that I allow myself to criticize it brutally, to beat it up, to mock it. I let myself belittle Judaism because I am part of it, because I know that no matter what I do, I'm gonna be Jewish the next day. This reminded me of this book because it felt like Aryeh's arguments with his father also hinge on this question of forming a relationship to Judaism. Aryeh seems to be a bit of a follower without any strong religious pull of his own. I found myself relating to this lack of deep-rooted connection. And my god, what is happiness? Is it found by leading the halacha life, by assuming the ethical ground and following the Jewish path of justice and mitzvot (Shimon)? Is it found in the questioning, in the chase after morals (Evan and ultimately, Aryeh)? Is it found in success (Amir)? In material prospects (Oliver)? How do we face the challenges of the Orthodox life? The Jewish tradition of fighting God? Judaism says, "Who is a hero? One who overcomes his needs (yitzro)". Needs can be both interpreted as real life needs but also as a deeper sense of self, the ability to overcome who we are. It is Aryeh who constantly fails at overcoming his needs. We can compare him to Evan and see that their journeys are ultimately mirroring, both of them are unable to overcome their needs. They chase after the same woman, changing themselves in their attempts to reach their goals. In this sense, Evan is truly the anti-hero of this story, his desperation for answers blinds him into never overcoming his needs. Grief, both Aryeh's and Evan's serves as a tool for spiritual reckoning. A connection with God that is built out of this loss. I can definitely continue analyzing this book but I also very much have to study so this will be the end of this. I started reading this book with high expectations and still finished it blown away. Definitely recommended for anyone who likes combining YA with Jewish thought! What I'm Taking With Me- And don't even get me started on the ending of this book because we will be here all night, I just - I wonder if David Hopen shared this with his Jewish community. - I've always dreamed of being the type of person that is a Dr. and a Rabbi, like that feels like the absolute peak of intellectualism (also, no more gendered prefixes).- This book is perhaps the first book I've read that gets all of the Hebrew right. All of it! My ebook didn't even flip the letters around. Finally. - I miss studying Torah. ----------------------------------------------Earlier today I learned that Ashkenazi Jews invented bagels. I thought it would be the most exciting Jewish experience I'd have today. Then I read the end of this book. I don't think I'm ever going to get over that ending. Review to come!

It has finally happened. After more than 20 years of books being compared to THE SECRET HISTORY that are, in actuality, not like THE SECRET HISTORY at all, we finally have a winner. In fact, not only is this the most similar book you will ever find, the other books it is most similar to are the works of Chaim Potok. (I suspect I am not the only one who had a passionate devotion to all of these in my teens and twneties.)Here we have the detached, lonely first person narrator in a new academic environment, taken in by a group of charismatic friends who are his greatest sources of joy and torment. Here is the dark, brooding, too-intelligent-for-this-world foil. Here is the always-unattainable, always-vague love interest. Here is study and a search for meaning from ancient texts that turns into a dangerous obsession. It almost sounds too tidy. (There are times when the character parallels are so neat that it's annoying.) But fortunately there are many ways in which THE ORCHARD is drastically different. Our hero, Ari, was raised in an Orthodox Jewish community in Brooklyn. When his father gets a new job he is whisked away to a community of wealthy Jews in Florida, attending a school where the academic standards and the household incomes are vastly higher than what he's always known. Ari is quickly adopted by Noah, an athletic golden boy, and his friends. They are smart and ambitious, they are vastly privileged, and they seem different from Ari in every way. He yearns to belong and as he spends more time with them, he starts to set aside the principles of his faith, distancing him from his family. He finds himself in a sort of competition with Evan, the smartest, the most charming, and the most troubled. Not only is he a rival for the attention of the Rabbi who runs the school, but for the romantic affection of Sophia Winter, the of course beautiful and of course sad piano prodigy.The good news is that what you love in THE SECRET HISTORY you will love here. The bad news is, that if you've found you've aged out of THE SECRET HISTORY, this will treat you the same way. I tried to reread it a year ago and had to stop about halfway through. The book was the same, but I was different and I couldn't summon the same depth of feeling I'd once had. Here while I enjoyed THE ORCHARD very much, I found myself pestered by the same kinds of problems. Sophia, in particular, so empty and so perfect, had me frustrated that she is a type and not a person. That said, THE ORCHARD is much better at setting up its third act, and it has a significantly more satisfying ending. All that off-page business in TSH always frustrated me. Reading this on an e-reader is ideal. Hopen throws us into the deep end of Jewish culture, belief, and philosophy. Especially in the first half, I was regularly clicking on a word (the definition wasn't useful, but the Wikipedia entry my Kindle pulled up almost always answered my question). Some people will find this frustrating. I don't, I would've found the constant explaining tiresome. The depths Hopen takes us to in his thought is also much appreciated and an improvement on TSH. For a similar book to work, you need a particularly robust world of thought and morality to enter, and what better than the centuries of Jewish scholarship we get to explore here? Despite my frustrations with the book, the setting and culture is a real strength, even if the characters can feel a bit flat.

The Orchard by David Hopen was a very powerful and emotional coming of age debut novel. I listened to the audiobook on Overdrive that was narrated by Micky Shiloah. The audiobook was rather long but I quickly became engrossed in the story and felt compelled to keep listening. It was very thought provoking and riveting. I found it hard to believe that this was David Hopen’s first novel. He portrayed well developed and complex characters coupled with life changing decisions and experiences a young seventeen year old boy was forced to face head on. Aryeh or Ari, the curious protagonist of The Orchard, told his story as a grown man looking back at his impressionable years and experiences that shaped him into the man he became. I felt a strong connection with this book maybe because I teach in a Jewish day school. Although I am not overly religious myself, I teach among those that are orthodox and observant. Having witnessed their commitment to their religious beliefs and practices I was curious about this book.Aryeh or Ari, as he came to be called, grew up in a devout Jewish neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York. He lived a lonely life there where learning, strict rules and the religion of the Ultra-Orthodox took precedence. Aryeh had a group of friends but he felt unfulfilled with the life he was leading. Then one day he learned that his Abba (father) had lost his job and had decided to move their family to Florida where he had secured a new job. Aryeh was excited to leave his old neighborhood, the all boy’s school he attended, his friends and all the expectations that went along with the life he led. He never looked back. Aryeh just looked forward and felt a new sense of hope.Aryeh, now known as Ari, arrived in a suburb of Miami where he and his mother and father now lived. Ari attended an opulent Jewish Academy. Ari immediately noticed and was in awe of the excessive wealth all around him. Ari’s next door neighbor, Noah, took Ari under his wing and Ari soon found himself immersed within the most popular crowd in his new school. These new friends accepted Ari but also tempted him with things that were beyond his realm of understanding and experience. Ari was confronted by the lure of women, drugs, alcohol, the ambition to attend college, SAT scores and his future. These were beyond his realm of experience. Up until this point, Ari, had led a very sheltered life with no expectations other than what was laid out by the Rabbis. One of the boys that Ari became friends with was Evan. Evan was extremely bright, much like Ari. The two were forced upon each other by their beloved principal. They both were intrigued by the many literature selections the principal suggested they both read. They had many intense debates and discussions over these readings and philosophies that were presented. The main distinction between the two boys was that Evan had a dark side. After losing his mother to a life threatening disease he became somewhat disturbed and stopped caring what happened to himself or others. Evan pulled himself and his friends into dangerous places with life changing consequences. During Ari’s new life and his new experiences, he kept questioning and searching for meaning to his life and guidance to which paths he should follow.The Orchard by David Hopen was an intense book that explored what it meant to fit in or belong, that it was acceptable to have your own individual thoughts about life and its experiences and that it was permitted to question one’s own faith in G-d. I have read other books where Jewish men or women began to question their faith and life choices as they lived within the confines of a Ultra-Orthodox community. This was the first book that I had read about an adolescent that had to make those choices. Ari was conflicted by conformity vs individualism. In the opulent neighborhood of Miami, Ari would be have to decide whether to choose a secular world that was so foreign to everything he had been taught or choose to return to life he had led as a child led by conformity. His transformation and conclusions took many years and experiences to lead him to his rightful place. I look forward to reading other books by David Hopen. I highly recommend this book.

QUICK TAKE: simply put, The Orchard is…STUNNING. This coming-of-age story is centered around an Orthodox Jewish teen who experiences a spiritual crisis when he and his family relocate to a wealthy enclave in Florida, and is already being compared to Donna Tart’s #TheSecretHistory. It’s not an easy read, but it challenged me and I found it thought-provoking and riveting with a climax that left me speechless. I can’t wait for more of you to discover what is sure to be one of the most-talked about books of the fall.⁣⁣

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, Ecco, via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.“…some find God while trying to lose Him…others lose God while trying to find Him.”I have a terrible weakness for dark academia novels, which I didn’t even realize was a thing until very recently. I read the O.G. of the genre, The Secret History, for the first time at the beginning of this year. I can’t believe I waited so long to read it, but it immediately became an instant favorite. I also adore any book that delves deeply into religion or philosophy or, even better, the intersection of both. David Hopen managed to combine both the academic setting and the religious contemplation that I love so much in his debut(!!) novel, The Orchard.“God is someone—something—we’ll always need. He is the adversary against which we rage and the comfort for which we yearn.”My knee-jerk response to this story when I started getting into it was to affix a label to it. The Secret History: Jewish Orthodox Edition. But that would be doing Hopen’s book a huge disservice, as it was much more deliberate and original than such a label could convey. This is the tale of Ari Eden, a teenage Jew raised in a deeply Orthodox small community in Brooklyn, and how radically his life changes when his family moves to a much richer and more laid back Jewish community in Florida. We see the internal struggle between upbringing and peer pressure, personal integrity and curiosity. And through it all, the narrative is deeply tied up in questions of God’s identity, of how best to experience His presence. I found the dichotomy better this search and more normal teenaged angst fascinating. “There are ways to find strength within faith, even when faith is shattered, even when faith reduces, at best, to doubt.”Ari and the group of friends into which he somehow stumbles did remind me very much of The Secret History. That dynamic, as well as their group’s special relationship with an educational authority figure, were half of where I found similarities between that novel and this one. The other big correlation was the group’s pursuit of divine knowledge by, pardon the wordplay, unorthodox means. But the trappings of an exclusive Jewish Orthodox high school versus a nameless Ivy League were pretty radically different, though this was the least YA cast of teenagers in tone of writing I’ve ever come across. The religiosity of both school and extracurricular life is very unusual for an outsider. I was raised in a deeply Christian household, and yet I was blown away by how radically every aspect of life was dictated by beliefs, and how easily some members of the community ignored those dictates while others took them very much to heart. I learned an incredible amount about a culture I thought I knew. Another big difference between Ari and Richard, the perspective character in The Secret History, is that Ari struck me as far more three-dimensional. I believe Richard was intentionally crafted to seem almost flat in comparison to those around him, so that is in no way a slight. I just found Ari more sympathetic and compelling in his own right.“Do you know what they want out of me? Harmless perfection. Normal extraordinariness.”If you loved The Secret History but thought it could use more Talmud and philosophical discussions about God, The Orchard is the book for you. But despite my inability to discuss one without the other, I do truly believe that two novels, though both exquisite, are worlds apart. Hopen’s debut is a gorgeously written, lovingly crafted work of art that I believe will find a devoted, and hopefully huge, following. It stretched my mind in the best of ways.You can find this review and more at Novel Notions.

This is not going to be a book for everyone. But if you like The Secret History, Dead Poet's Society, Gilmore Girls: The Yale Years, philosophical musings on life and death and morality and the existence of God, then have I got a book for you Watch my review: https://youtu.be/knkR_969Iuc

"I felt, all at once, emotionally bludgeoned. For stability, I envisioned myself as one of Fitzgerald's characters--neurasthenic, desirous, self-enclosed--for whom unhappiness somehow deepens nobility. The thought was less redemptive than anticipated."Every review of The Orchard is probably going to mention the fact that The Secret History serves as an inspiration for David Hopen's first novel. It's unavoidable and I'm assuming intentional on Hopen's part. Both books mention "fatal flaws" on their first page. Both follow a group of young people whose ringleader's growing instability and obsession with Kabbalistic-like insights leads to trouble. Both feature an outsider narrator who is simultaneously at a remove from the group and in the thick of it. Many, many books have been written that seek to replicate what makes The Secret History special. The Orchard comes close to reaching the high bar set by Donna Tartt's debut novel, and I think it does so by deftly replicating the best of that book, and by decidedly being its own story. One of the great strengths of this novel is the way culture shock is portrayed, as Ari moves from an Orthodox Jewish community in Brooklyn to a neighborhood of wealthy, less observant Jews in Florida. The rest of the story and its themes stem from this shift: what it means to "belong," to be an individual, to have a crisis of faith, to be obsessed with the exploration of these themes. And it's about a lot more. It definitely has some flaws, although none of them fatal. Some stretches of the book, particularly in the middle, are not quite on par with the rest of the novel, when it comes to both the writing and the plot. Most of the novel, however, is denser, complicated, bewitching in its dark exploration of human relationships, of human frailty and instability. Hopen, like Tartt, is able to create this kind of hazy unreality to what is happening, a tone that really does feel like an adult recalling his adolescence years later. Another potential flaw of the book is the emptiness or flatness of some of the characters. Ari's love interest Sophia never feels as captivating to the reader as she is to Ari. But I think this flatness, the hollowness some of the characters inhabit can be seen as purposeful, as a reflection of the world the characters inhabit. Think Bret Easton Ellis "Lite" maybe. Not quite that level of nihilism, but there is a certain level of coldness and detachment that pervades many scenes throughout. When the writing and the plot are this strong, that detachment feels at one with the rest of the story. Again, it has that kind of hazy, dream-like quality overall, a quality that's hard for me to articulate, and may simply be the interpretation I brought to the reading. Maybe I've done a subpar job describing what appealed to me so much about The Orchard. In the end, it's just my kind of book: the story of one young man and the dizzying effect of a certain time in his life.

Hoping Hopen writes some more. Can he keep up the intensity?

"The Orchard" by David Hopen was a very complex story!In this coming-of-age story the main character is Ari Eden who is 17 years old and lives in Brooklyn, N.Y. He describes himself as 'existing alone' even when with family and friends. Clearly he's living an uneventful life abiding strict religious rules at a rundown high school within an Orthodox Jewish community. But, Ari doesn't know life can be any different for him, he's never thought about it, he's always lived as he does now. When his family moves to Miami, F.L to an affluent Modern Orthodox Jewish community and high school he is shocked by the vast differences in lifestyles between the two. Yes, Ari's life is going to change drastically, in oh-so-many ways!Ari is excited about the opportunity to meet new people, create a new persona, make a new start. But, when faced with this challenge, he fails as he knew he would. He has always felt alone and different. Now Ari understands he will remain this way and acknowledges it as a fact of his life. Ari's new house is across the street from golden boy Noah Harris, who is also entering his senior year of high school. Noah introduces Ari to his group of friends who begin to welcome him. This clique of rich, intelligent, wild-partying, hard-drinking and drug-taking-kids also takes advantage of Ari's inexperience and quiet, accommodating demeanor. He can't believe all that is happening around him and tries desperately to avoid their bad behavior, holding his own for as long as he can. But peer pressure is a ghastly battle that Ari fights and mostly loses! Ari's new group of friends and his new high school exposes Ari to many different experiences. He begins to blossom in his new learning environment which gives him the confidence to pursue a higher education, something he has never thought about before. He has thoughts of love, something new to Ari who has never even kissed a girl before. Yes, Ari gains greatly but he also loses greatly through this coming-of-age story. His journey is intellectually stimulating, emotionally intense and tragically devastating. I did find this book to be somewhat cumbersome for me in two areas: 1.) There was a language barrier for me. I'm not familiar with Judaism or the vocabulary associated with Yiddish and Hebrew. My Kindle didn't recognized most of the words I attempted to reference and I had no plan or desire to have a dictionary at my side the entire time I was reading this book. 2.) The philosophical discussions were way over-the-top for me. I found myself buzzing through most of the Evan & Ari discussions and portions of the Talmudic study group discussions with Rabbi Bloom. With that said, this was a book I wanted to continue reading. I was so unsure how this story would end and I loved that, but when I arrived there, I wanted more! More about Ari, for sure! It's not because I felt the story was lacking depth. No way! I just liked the main character that much and wanted more of him! I'm still thinking about this book and still wanting more over a week later! I hope to see more from this author and I definitely recommend this book!#TheOrchard #NetGalley___________________________Thank you to NetGalley, HarperCollins Publishers and Ecco for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book is an amazing combination of The Chosen, Prep, and a dash of the Secret History. As someone who grew up going to Jewish day school (including a modern orthodox one) much of the characters discussions and general atmosphere rings very true, and it is somewhat strange and thrilling to see parts of your childhood reflected back at you (including three of your favorite novels). Three things keep this book from me giving it five stars:1. The female characters in this book are very thinly drawn and primarily serve only as love interests for the four male characters. Gender in Modern Orthodoxy and traditional judaism is very much a subject of discussion and complicated and this book flattens that out to an extreme extent2. While some of the discussion topics and books read by the main characters would definitely be discussed in a jewish day school all of the main characters are far too intellectual to really be believed. Yes its a novel and somewhat necessary for these things to be exaggerated but it definitely sticks out.3. The climax and last 60 pages of the book with its mysticism and explicit call back to the pardes legend feel tacked on and part of a different book and not necessary for character development. I understand why Hopen put it there but in terms of high school realism the first incident with the boat and its aftermath serves almost the same purpose as the explicit pardes re-telling.I look forward to seeing Hopen continue to develop his writing style and to hopefully develop more realistic and compelling female characters and discussions of gender.

What an amazing book from a debut author - one of my only regrets is that I did not read this book earlier. Though written as adult contemporary fiction, the book starts a cast of characters that are starting their senior year at a private modern Orthodox Jewish school, and this sets the tone of the book from the prologue all the way through to the epilogue. We follow Ari (short for Aryeh) as his father, because of employment issues, decides to move the family out of their close knit traditional Hasidic Jewish community in Brooklyn, to a modern Orthodox community in Miami, Florida, where Ari (happy to be away from his Brooklyn friends) becomes part of a new world of Jewish kids his age, where the orthodox and secular traditions of their lives do not have any blurs, and one where Ari is severely challenged as he balances coming of age and his devotion to his Jewish beliefs and identities. As Ari progresses in the story, Hopen exposes the reader to a world of modern Orthodox Jews of wealth, their disregard for the more traditional world that Ari comes from, and the belief that they are truly the kings of the world. While not Jewish myself, I enjoyed the book partially because I could see parts of myself in Ari being the more religiously observant in comparison to my peers, but also because both in 20218 and 2021, I have taught at summer boarding schools at universities where students with similar lifestyles as the characters in the book attend, and reading the book I noticed many of the same mannerisms and outlooks that were displayed by the characters. The book takes place over the course of one year - the senior year for Ari as he finds himself in this new world, trying to decide on love and where he wants to go to college, and maintaining that spiritual connection between himself and his Judaic faith. It is a heavy book, one that draws from both its Jewish identity and a semi-adherence to dark academia, because there are parallels to "Teh Secret History" by Donna Tart, and also other books where a cohort of students band together. However, what truly sets this book apart is the Jewish narratives in this book, and I can see why this book is a finalist for a Jewish literature award. While an intense read at times, I highly recommend this book not only to have a diverse story on your shelf, but also a profoundly powerful story of growing up between worlds and trying to find your most authentic self.