It can be hard to write a book that successfully bridges the gap between a personal story and the political issues that informs it. Such is the case with Nice Jewish Boys, a mildly engrossing story of two boys who come out to their families during high school. Unfortunately there was nothing unexpected or challenging in the book and it follows a very well know narrative of this genre. While it was not hard to feel empathy for the boys who are faced with very real challenges the dialogue seems pedantic and and common and it never really gets beyond that. If the author is young and this is a first book I look forward to reading more complex stories with characters that are deep and real.

Thank you Netgallery for allowing me to review this book for an honest opinion.

While the concept of this book is great, the actual book itself falls short.

Yes, i think we need a gay YA Jewish story. No, i do not think this book is it.
The author really needs to do more research to make this story believable. Maybe even talk with young gay teens? I think there is a lot to be carved out of this story. This just seemed like plot points. The author needs to take it a step further.
I didn't believe the characters, most of the plot, the suicide, and definitely not the religion aspect of the story.

While I was very enthusiastic about the idea of a YA book with observant queer Jewish representation, the execution unfortunately was not quite there. There were serious pacing and character development issues and some major scenes of dialogue came across as misplaced and excessively didactic. While there is still room to write stories about queer tragedies like parental rejection, expulsion and suicide attempts, they are not given sufficient emotional depth in this book to feel like a new story.

This book was really frustrating. It felt like a lecture on how to be nice to your gay son even if you understand nothing. I was reading highlights out to Leon (my husband), and he asked if the person writing it had ever been a teenage boy. I ask if she had ever met a gay teenager.
The two main characters cry ALL THE TIME. Avishai is meant to be depressed, so that makes sense, but Noah is meant to be over six foot tall and masculine. And he also cries all the time.
There is an utterly cringe worthy scene where they explain to his father – who is a US Congressman, no less that “if you call anyone … a name that you would feel in any way offended or insulted being called, then my expert advice to you would be to think twice before calling them that." Yep, don’t call your kid queer. I’m just nitpicking, because the premise of the book is great - two teenage boys who attend a Jewish private school come out. But it’s written in a really melodramatic, overwrought manner.
When I finished the book I discovered that it was written for NaNoWriMo when the author was 15, which explained a lot. I would absolutely recommend that she keeps writing, under all the melodrama I think she showed a strong, confident authorial voice.

I don't really want my star rating to put everyone off from reading this. It didn't work for me but it could work for someone else. The main reason I gave it 2 stars is because I just really wasn't in the target audience. It's clearly written with religious queer teenagers in mind, and since I have never been religious I really couldn't relate to the characters' experiences and I had difficulties with understanding them.

Even though I couldn't quite connect with the story, I found it engaging enough to read in one sitting. The main characters, Avishai and Noah, are deeply religious. Being Jewish is an important part of their identity, and they have decided to wait till marriage before having sex. They have to find a way to reconcile their sexuality with their religious views, and the prospect of being cut off from the religious community is extremely distressing to them. Despite all of the struggles they are also learning to be proud of their sexuality, and the validity of their relationship is never questioned, which I found really sweet and positive. Even though this describes a very different queer experience from my own, I can appreciate the overall message of hope.

The writing itself comes across as pretty rough and inexperienced, but what it does have is a lot of raw emotion, and I can see that this could be an important book for someone who is dealing with the same things as Avishai and Noah. It needs to be recommended with a trigger warning though: there is a suicide attempt described from the main character's point of view.