This book was nothing like I expected -- After all the fantastic reviews, I was thinking there is new Chaim Potok. David Hopen is a great new voice however, the story was too fantastical for me to appreciate. I do think it would make a GREAT BOOK CLUB BOOK - people are either going to love it or hate it and the discussion would be intense. The protagonist, Ari Eden's transition from the "Black Hats" in Brooklyn to a Hebrew Day School in South Florida, with a leaning toward secular Judaism, is a jump as big as the Grand Canyon. What's unrealistic to me is Ari does it pretty seamlessly with the help of his across the street neighborhood and the star basketball player's crew. I'm glad I read it, just need an explanation of why everyone else loved it. Thank you to the author, Ecco publishing and Netgalley for the ARC.

Growing up in Orthodox Brooklyn, Ari Eden is a devout Jew who does not break rules. His days are devoted to study and religion, but as an only child and with no great friendships, it’s a lonely adolescence. When his father’s company folds, they relocate to a wealthy Florida neighborhood where they find a new Jewish community and high school, and Ari’s life turns upside down. They move in across the street from Noah, the golden boy of the senior class, and Noah takes Ari under his wing.
These characters were written with such heart and soul. I was immediately invested in Ari’s life. I felt the depth of his awkwardness in trying to adjust to his new life and fell in love with Noah and his generosity towards the new kid. The friendships, the teachers and Rabbi, were all so nuanced and real. There was a lightness with an underlying sadness, and then all of the emotions let loose in the end (as my husband patted my shoulder and asked if I was okay).
This is a beautifully heartfelt and heart wrenching debut.
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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

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, first 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 deep 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.

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.

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.

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.

As The Orchard begins, the narrator is a junior at an Orthodox religious high school in a middle-class section of Brooklyn, whose father, for work related reasons, relocates the family to Miami. There, the protagonist transfers to a “Modern” (much more secular) religious school of the same faith, in an ultra- wealthy suburb. The narrator, Aryeh/Ari Eden, is soon “adopted” by a clique of high-achieving but very pampered students, and his previously very circumscribed world, where religious study was considered a righteous life’s pursuit, is blown open. Ari, whose strict previous education focused almost entirely on studying and analyzing religious writings, becomes painfully aware of his deficiencies in math, science, literature, and philosophy, and is determined to catch up.


Themes of conflict and contrast fill every page: the adolescents’ need for security vs. the desire for freedom, demanding parents vs. absentee parents; meeting goals set by others vs. searching for what they find meaningful; teachers who demand conformity vs. a principal who encourages exploration; sufficiency vs. excess; the need to be a part of a community vs. the desire to be an individual; first intense love vs. a lasting loving relationship; whether morality is intuitive or created by black and white laws; religious faith vs. assorted philosophical premises; the desire to “know” God vs. the lack of concrete answers; the yearning to set secular goals vs. the uncertainty of a life of purpose.

The students, through classwork, small group seminars, and personal conversations, explore all these themes, often invoking religious texts and those by well-known philosophers. This precocious group is impatient to understand, as they raise questions, disagree, and arrive at very few answers. While it occasionally feels difficult to follow their heated discussions on these topics, it seems that this may have been deliberate on the author’s part - to have the reader actually sense the confusion that these students are grappling with. The reader can see that these are children trying to think as adults, contemplating such heavy issues as morality, longing, suffering and guilt, with as yet only a limited number of major life experiences to inform their thinking. The students, however, have no perspective along these lines, and apparently very little adult guidance or support to assist. As they get closer to high school graduation, their anxiety to reduce uncertainties and find answers propels them toward increasingly risky behavior in their search. The steam engine is hurtling forward, and the reader, like the protagonist, senses the danger but is at once fearful about staying onboard, but also powerless to get off the train.

While the specific religion that forms the backdrop for this novel is Judaism, a reader might easily consider that other religions, especially those with orthodox or very strict sub-sects, could be easily substituted. The Hebrew references may not be familiar even to most Jews, and could just as easily be Latin for a story about very devout Roman- Catholics. The general meaning can either be inferred by the reader or passed over with no real loss. The intent of including such sections seems geared more toward showing how much “specialty” religious knowledge these students have been exposed to, vs. sensing that it may not be especially helpful in a secular world.


The author’s writing is exceptional, especially so for a first novel. The story and descriptions make the reader truly “feel” what the students are experiencing. As the subjects become increasingly anxious, the reader’s anxiety rises with them. It is at times painful to feel their confusion, isolation, and at other times frightening to hear them blur boundaries and anticipate where their thinking may take them. As someone who has lived in this environment, and observed this demographic, I know this is a very realistic story, extremely well told. For parents who in recent decades have seen their children enter adulthood, this book may make them breathe a sigh of relief. For younger parents, with younger children, this book should be considered a primer on possible minefields ahead.

This was a brilliant coming of age story written about a young Jewish man that is struggling with not only who he is, but how his religion fits into his life. The religion aspect brought this to another level than being just another coming of age story.

✨B͟o͟o͟k͟ ͟R͟e͟v͟i͟e͟w✨#105
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I’m going to lay out as little plot as possible for you, because I don’t want to spoil anything. I’ll start simply with this: When Orthodox Ari Eden’s family uproots from his highly structured Brooklyn home and moves to a wealthy Jewish Miami suburb his life as he knows it ends, and a turbulent coming of age begins. Ari who was ‘sick of enduring relentless Chekovian boredom, sitting alone in libraries, mourning what I’d never know: torturous love, great voyages, nostos” is soon to be shown a world of wealth, privilege and intellectualism that is both seductive and challenging.
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And yes, the book will inevitably call to mind, Tartt’s, ‘ A Secret History’, and for once, the comparison is apt. I loved this book. To me it’s everything I want in a good story: A curious protagonist that immediately draws you in, conflict both external and internal, a plot that gallops like a great mystery, and a world unfamiliar yet immediately both immersive and rich. (Thanks in part to a steady lookup of Jewish vocabulary in Wikipedia!)
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I marvel at author David Hopen’s ability to frame multiple philosophical debates from various viewpoints, and am blown away this a debut. It’s heady, and hopeful and sad and romantic and packs a wallop in the last twenty five pages that’s subtly telegraphed early on and executed with visionary precision.
One of the best of 2020

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.⁣
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I think David Hopen is an excellent writer; I will happily grab anything he writes in future and will expect to enjoy it way more than I did this debut. If he had shortened The Orchard (and given it a different title) I would have given it more stars, but the tortured and prolonged ending just didn't sit well with me despite my being impressed by Hopen's writing throughout. I'm not a fan of philosophy or religion, but somehow I loved reading this combination of the two; doubtless because the characters are so sharp and well defined, I loved getting to know these kids and seeing orthodox Jewish culture contrasted in Brooklyn and Miami. I felt like Hopen was striving for rarefied aesthetic, but having lost the aesthetic portion mid-way through, after the characters and plot were rendered beautyless, I lost interest/the plot. At that point I felt my patience with divine madness and divine intoxication and whatever other themes had been taken for granted. But still, I want to stress that I'll give Hopen another chance!

I’m not sure what drew me to The Orchard when NetGalley offered it to me. Perhaps it was the coming-of-age story, perhaps it was the fish-out-of-water story, perhaps it was because I wanted to read about a religion other than my own. I received an Advanced Reader’s Copy in exchange for my honest opinion. The Orchard will be released to the general public on November 17, 2020.

From the publisher:

“A commanding debut and a poignant coming-of-age story about a devout Jewish high school student whose plunge into the secularized world threatens everything he knows of himself

Ari Eden’s life has always been governed by strict rules. In ultra-Orthodox Brooklyn, his days are dedicated to intense study and religious rituals, and adolescence feels profoundly lonely. So when his family announces that they are moving to a glitzy Miami suburb, Ari seizes his unexpected chance for reinvention.

Enrolling in an opulent Jewish academy, Ari is stunned by his peers’ dizzying wealth, ambition, and shameless pursuit of life’s pleasures. When the academy’s golden boy, Noah, takes Ari under his wing, Ari finds himself entangled in the school’s most exclusive and wayward group. These friends are magnetic and defiant—especially Evan, the brooding genius of the bunch, still living in the shadow of his mother’s death.

Influenced by their charismatic rabbi, the group begins testing their religion in unconventional ways. Soon Ari and his friends are pushing moral boundaries and careening toward a perilous future—one in which the traditions of their faith are repurposed to mysterious, tragic ends.”

I had a really hard time getting into The Orchard. I’m not Jewish, and there is so much terminology with which I am unfamiliar, I had to make educated guesses on what certain words meant, or spend extra time looking them up. I disagree with other reviewers who say you don’t have to be Jewish to love this story. I think this story was written for a particular audience, and as a Roman Catholic, middle-aged woman, I’m not it. And I don’t know if it was because of that, but I didn’t realize until I was 10% into the book, when someone mentions texting, that the book takes places in the modern day; I honestly thought it was written about the 1950s or so, based on Ari’s strict Orthodox upbringing.

Maybe I wasn’t in the mood for teen angst, but I never really found myself immersed in the book. I thought it implausible that Ari would fall so easily into the gang of “cool people” just because he lived next door to Noah. In my high school world, especially senior year, it would be very hard to break into that exclusive circle of friends who had been together for years. And the interest from Sophie, the smartest, most popular, prettiest girl (and class president) seemed disingenuous.

And I don’t think any of my distance to the book had anything to do with the Jewish faith discussed in the book. As an adult, I re-read Catcher in the Rye and The Outsiders and found the kids to be a bunch of whiny kids, so clearly, I am not the target audience (although when I was a teen, I loved those same books).

About half way through the book, Hopen throws us into the deep end of Jewish culture, belief, and philosophy, and I just couldn’t get into it. Philosophizing is not for me. Like I said, maybe I wasn’t in a teen angst mood when I read it, but as an adult, I couldn’t connect with Ari or any of his friends, which is surprising. Evan’s mother died and he’s sort of in a tailspin, and the same thing happened to me in high school (my dad died freshman year), but I couldn’t feel sorry for his self-destructive path. I got angry at him for acting out, so I guess that’s a sign of good writing if it extracts such strong feelings from the reader.

I tried, I really did, but I just didn’t enjoy this book. I’ll keep expanding my outlook and reading about other cultures, but The Orchard just didn’t do it for me. If you are of the Jewish faith and are looking for a YA book that discusses being an Orthodox Jew versus a more modern interpretation of the faith, this might be the book for you.

4.5 / 5 🌟

This is a dense and pensive coming-of-age novel. Although Orthodox Judaism is at the foundation of this story, the well-educated, wealthy, and popular teenagers who test their boundaries are the true driving force.

Ari Eden has been raised in a very strict Orthodox family. When his father decides to move them from Brooklyn to an opulent suburb of Miami, Ari sees this as his chance to start fresh, to actually make something of himself.

To Ari’s surprise, the Jewish Academy’s star athlete, Noah, befriends him and welcomes Ari into the inner circle. Ari finds this group to be charismatic and ambitious, but also defiant. But Ari is not accustomed to having a circle of friends and being included, so soon following the rituals and traditions are set aside for earthly pleasures.

This group of young men are true intellects, especially Evan who has suffered a great loss recently. The head Rabbi of the academy pulls the group together for weekly group sessions. Here they begin to delve into the deep and mysterious questions and mores of religion. But they begin to twist ideologies and philosophies to meet their own purposes.

This was an amazing debut novel, and though the main characters were all high school seniors, it didn’t have the feel of a typical young adult novel. As I alluded to, this is a heady read. There is a lot of philosophical discourse, but it’s fascinating. Hopen’s writing is natural, fluid, and witty. These kids are brilliant young people, but they are privileged, with their lavish parties, drugs, and Ivy League school applications. The tension rises throughout the book as they take more and more risks until the stakes become too great.

Thank you to @eccobooks @davidahopen @netgalley for an advance copy for review.

The Orchard is available today!

A coming of age story of a young Jewish man who moves from Brooklyn to a community in Florida. His new group of posh friends depict different levels of observance and faith. A complex novel with philosophy, Judaism and spirituality as part of the boy's high school experience. There is a love triangle full of angst and some predictable storylines but otherwise a very good read.

Copy provided by the publisher and NetGalley

The protagonist of David Hopen's first novel, The Orchard, is 17-year-old Aryeh Eden, a Brooklyn boy raised in a Hasidic household where daily life revolves around strict observance of Orthodox Judaic tradition. When his father's job change forces Aryeh and his parents to relocate to Florida, the teen enrolls in a yeshiva (an Orthodox Jewish school) that is far more worldly than the one he left behind in New York. He becomes an unlikely member of the school's in-crowd, who lead him into increasingly dangerous situations, culminating in tragedy.

The first half of the novel, in which the now-adult Aryeh provides a first-person account of his formative years, is pure set-up. He introduces the audience to the heavily constrained world of Torah Temimah ("The Torah is Perfect"), a school he says is "single sexed, with a black-and-white dress code, thirty boys per grade and a reputation for functioning as an academic travesty." Later, he relates his culture shock at the new, academically challenging school in Florida, his first unsupervised coed party and his first love. Aryeh also reflects on his blossoming friendships with the four most popular boys in the neighborhood, including the mysterious Evan Stark. His love-hate relationship with Evan provides the primary tension throughout the novel, with similarities between the two (both are far more intellectual than their peers, both fall for the same girl, etc.) leading to a not-so-friendly rivalry. Even the similarity of the boys' names — Eden and Evan — is a subtle nod to how they're two sides of the same coin, a sort of yin and yang.

At about the halfway mark, the tone of the narrative changes, moving beyond a basic coming-of-age story to a fascinating exploration of how people — Jews in particular — experience the presence of God. The plot hinges on an ongoing private seminar held for the boys by Rabbi Bloom, the school's principal, during which they discuss how various philosophers viewed humanity's relationship with God. The most pivotal moment in the novel comes with a discussion of the legend of Pardes, the "paradisal orchard of Torah knowledge" (see Beyond the Book). An ensuing debate sends the five students on a trajectory that will alter the course of their lives forever.

As a coming-of-age saga, the book is entertaining, with an interesting protagonist, well-drawn characters and vividly described situations that may be uncomfortably familiar to those of us glad our youthful mistakes are behind us. What sets it apart, though, is its philosophical framing. The quest for knowledge leads to the plot's crisis, not teenage hijinks as one might expect in a typical book of this genre. This aspect transforms the novel from simply a well-written but forgettable tale into one that settles in the mind and heart, requiring rumination long after turning the last page. I suspect that many readers will want to revisit key chapters after finishing the book, and will want to find others with whom to discuss it (I know that was my reaction, at least).

As remarkable and thought-provoking as The Orchard is, there are still aspects of it I found challenging. First and foremost, countless Hebrew and Yiddish words are used throughout the narrative with no context to help with their meaning. While this may be intended for an audience familiar with these languages and Orthodox Judaism, I found my reading constantly interrupted by having to look up words, and I highly recommend reading the book on an e-reader with a comprehensive dictionary search capability to those who don't have knowledge of the vocabulary. I also felt the set-up went on for too long, and that the party scenes were more numerous and lengthy than necessary. The meat of the book occurs so late — past the halfway point in a relatively long novel — that I was getting bored by all the teenage angst (been there, done that, no desire to relive it) and almost abandoned it. Fortunately, the second half of the narrative is worth the effort — in spades.

The Orchard is an outstanding debut, and I look forward to Hopen's future efforts. The book will most likely appeal to readers who enjoy novels with depth, those they have to think about for a time after they've finished them — it compares well to Donna Tartt's debut, The Secret History. It would also make an excellent choice for book groups that tackle weightier works.

Overall, this book was really satisfying. I won't do it the injustice of comparing it to The Secret History or anything else, because it well and truly stands on its own.

Our narrator, Ari, is a fascinating character, having grown up in a strictly Jewish neighborhood and even more strict household. When a group of less-devout teens take him under their wing, we watch him grapple with his faith. In fact, we watch all of them grapple with their faith in different ways -- and it overwhelms the group to the point that something terrible happens. Or many terrible things.

The characters are layered and the story is well thought-out. My one gripe is that it's potentially too long. There are a *lot* of scenes that don't need to be there, and a *lot* of heady philosophical discussions. The latter should really be pared down, because it becomes easy to want to skim them, making it easy to miss the key references that tie the story together and make it brilliant. Still, it is really brilliant.

I recommend reading on Kindle if you're not familiar with yiddish/Jewish terminology -- I learned so much!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this review copy of The Orchard by David Hopen.

The Orchard is the fish out of water and coming of age novel of high school senior Ari Eden. After his family moves to Florida Ari finds himself liberated from his strict Orthodox schooling in Brooklyn and attending a more liberal (but academically rigorous) high school. Ari slowly finds himself captivated and forever changed by his new group of friends and their casual acquaintance with the religion he’s devoted his entire life to.

Ari is a well fleshed out character with all the contradictions of a teenage boy. He is snappy of dialogue but also equally tongue-tied and blushing. He inwardly bemoans how poorly he is treated by one girl only to the same thing to another. And despite his wild intelligence and skepticism finds himself pulled in by the charisma of school bad boy genius Evan Stark.

There are many philosophical and religious discussions that make this book a challenge to read (especially if you have a tiny raccoon brain like me). And I think most readers who know very little about Jewish Orthodoxy will be fascinated by the glimpse into this world. Just so you know, I used the dictionary function on my Kindle A LOT. While much of the plot is about the excess of these young people they are also serious students with huge expectations heaped upon them and everything from grades, the SAT, school elections and college acceptance letters continue to nip at their heels. As the year comes to a conclusion cracks start to show with devastating consequences.

This is a very moving and immersive novel. I highly recommend it to fiction lovers of all ages and look forward to more novels by this debut author!

The Orchard is an interesting YA book about a group of rich entitled Jewish teenagers in Florida. I almost put it down at first because I am not familiar with all the Jewish traditions and customs it talks about and felt kind of lost However, I stuck with it and am glad I did. The characters are well written with about half being incredibly unlikable. The main character Ari is different from the others as he does not come from extreme wealth. It is a really well-written story and I found myself engaged throughout. I found the religious parts fascinating. The situations that the group finds themselves in seemed a bit far-fetched to me, but I do not live a life of luxury so perhaps that is what it actually is like. All in all, it is a good read that I think most people will really enjoy.

I'd like to preface this review by saying that I am sure a lot of people will love this book, and it was gorgeously written. I adored the first couple of chapters and couldn't wait to see what was going to happen.

And then...only awful things happened. With awful people. The main character had such a subdued affect that I couldn't relate to him and couldn't understand why he was just going along with these things. There is excellent discourse about faith and philosophy, but it is buried under characters who discuss faith and philosophy with such condescension and pettiness that I couldn't stomach their points of view.

I am currently in a state of mind that I can't bear to read hopeless or depressive situations. Someday I may revisit this book when I am in a better headspace, and I hope I'll be able to appreciate the beautiful prose and deep discussion at that time. Until then, this book is just not for me!

The Orchard is a coming-of-age story of Ari Eden who grew up in a strict, devout Jewish community suddenly found himself in an opulent Jewish neighbourhood and friends who engages themselves in life’s pleasures. Ari and his friends began testing their religious ways, pushing moral boundaries and journeying into a tragic future.


I got mixed feelings about this book. But let me start with what I like about it. I like about learning Jewish culture, beliefs and traditions, their practices in home and school interest me being an outsider. His transition from an Orthodox Jewish to modern practices, getting by and fitting in a society very much different from what he grew up in. I like how the author uses Jewish terms which he doesn’t it and let readers find it out themselves ( no footnotes!). I like the discussion on the senior year of high school, the friendships formed and their experiences in taking AP courses, exams and the stress of college applications, I for one experiencing it now with daughter who’s a senior and my son before ( but IB curriculum instead). I like that it gets me reading it because I know there is more to the story and something tragic is about to happen. I like Ari’s character, the pains of being a teenager and despite his strong beliefs growing up gets influenced and starts questioning his values.

What I don’t like about the book is too much discussions on the Jewish philosophy and faith though interesting but find it too long. A lot has been happening in the beginning and last part of the book but not much in the middle. I expected more interaction of Ari with his parents. I don’t like his happiness and validation are very much dependent on his status and school of choice, which I believe should not define you as a person.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this well-written debut novel. Thank you to NetGalley and Ecco for giving out this eARC. The Orchard out on November 17.

A young man who has lived his entire life isolated in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Brooklyn is uprooted when his father loses his job and moves the family to Florida. There, he begins relationships with other Jewish teens who are not altogether pious and gets into quite a bit of trouble as he also comes of age.

Raised Catholic with a twelve-year education by priests and nuns, I requested The Orchard in the hopes of broadening my knowledge of Judaism and boy did this deliver!

Ari Eden has spent 17 years shrouded in his Jewish culture with zero wiggle room for the modern world around him. That all changes when he and his family move to Miami, Florida. Upon arrival of his new home, he meets a group of friends who essentially become the catalyst for his ventures in exploring many avenues and vices of the 21st Century.

A story that flip flops between the pains of being a teenager and the meaning of being devout in religion and to self.

The Orchard, a debut novel by David Hopen is a slow burn that builds into an explosive tale of carefully- constructed characters who face decisions that will test their faith, friendships, and family.

Thanks to NetGalley, Ecco and Harper Collins Publishers for sharing this read in exchange for an honest review.

I was fascinated by this debut book. A coming of age story about a devout Brooklyn Orthodox Jewish senior who moved with is family to Florida shows how Ari, in order to fit into the more liberal Jewish high school he attends seems to lose a part of himself. He is deeply religious and is shocked by what almost seems like shallow religious beliefs of his classmates. Its also the first time Ari has attended school with girls. I loved being able to look in at the daily life of an orthodox family, but I had trouble feeling sympathy for Ari. Perhaps it is because the story is told by him as an adult looking back on his high school years, but he evokes no sympathy. I found the middle of the book dragged, but, oh, that ending! That is where the action is. Its well worth the wait.