Twins Tally and Max are headed off on an exchange trip to Israel during winter break during their senior year. Tally hopes it will help distract Max from the recent car crash that injured him and killed the drunk driver and get him back on track for their college plans. Over the course of the trip, though, Tally finds she can’t coerce Max into acting the way she thinks he should, and she has problems of her own to deal with. Tally must confront her anxiety, her sexual identity, and her place within the Jewish community.

I think a lot of people will be able to relate to Tally and her attempts to act like everything is fine, burying her problems under the surface; I know I did! This #OwnVoices book gives Jewish teenagers a chance to see themselves reflected in fiction. It was a cute story but may be better geared toward the actual YA age range than adults who read YA. I enjoyed watching Tally grow closer to the other people on the trip.

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me an audio ARC of this book.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an advanced audio copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.

Once more with chutzpah is the story of Tally and her twin, Max, going on a student exchange trip to Israel. They're Jewish teens who struggle with feeling "Jewish enough" and what it actually means to be Jewish. Something happened back home about six months ago, and Tally and Max are both still healing and grieving from that time. Tally hopes this trip to Israel will pull Max out of his depression and make him magically well enough to submit all of his college applications.

This story was a truly heartfelt story about family, identity, friendship, first love, mental health, and grief. I related a lot to Tally's descriptions of anxiety, and I think those sections were done really well. I won't speak to the sections about Jewish/queer rep since those aren't identities I claim.
Haley Neil did a great job of making the stakes all feel so high-- I remember how it felt to be in love for the first time as a teen and to be alone, away from home. Those are big emotions and I truly felt like Haley described those scenes how I would have when I was 18. I'm incredibly impressed with her writing skills.

It's also worth mentioning that a lot of changes were made in this title from February 2021 til now. Haley Neil listened to critiques about her original plotline of a teen going on a Birthright trip and change the premise to be a school/temple trip instead. This inherently changes a lot of the context of the story and removes the Israeli propaganda element of the scenario. Haley also did a good job talking about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and how it's very complex, but Israel is currently doing wrong by Palestinians. I truly think Haley did a great job of listening to very valid criticisms and making this a story that represents her experience without discrediting the experiences of others. Obviously, take my review with a grain of salt since I am not Israeli, Jewish, or Palestinian.

The narrator for this title was fabulous and I would love to listen to more audiobooks narrated by her.

Thanks to NetGalley for the audiobook at no cost to me ahead of release time!

I read this book via audiobook, and the narrator was solidly mediocre — I’m certainly not an expert, but there’s some weird pronunciation of Hebrew words in here. Perhaps a pronunciation guide would be helpful next time? (I also only learned from another reviewer that a character’s name is actually Chaya, but the narrator pronounces it Kaya, which is Quite Incorrect.)

This book got a lot of flak before it was published (on Feb 1st, 2022) because it is about people going to Israel on a pseudo-Birthright trip. It’s not Actually A Birthright Trip, which is made very clear in the novel, it’s just a regular temple-sponsored trip to Israel. The main character isn’t sure if she’s Jewish Enough, which, Big Mood, All The Time. They talk about Birthright trips as well, and make it clear that these two trips are Separate Things. Which, suspension of disbelief aside, I believe this was originally written and marketed as a Birthright Trip Book until there was serious backlash online and it was hastily rewritten and there were some little “history” lessons dropped into it. It’s not a book About Palestine/Israel, it just happens to be set in Palestine(Israel). Sure, Jan.

Still, I think it is kind of weird and unnerving to have a book set in Israel without acknowledging why there is conflict in Israel, just that there is. It’s briefly mentioned that there Is Conflict and the general vibe is that it is so sad and so upsetting that Palestinians are so poor and so maligned. It’s not really discussed why Israel is important to Jewish people or Judaism as a whole either, and I just think that maybe if you’re going to write this book at all you could at least talk about it?

Tally herself is Very Extremely Eighteen and Very Sheltered and also very protective of her brother Max, which, like, trauma, sure. But it’s kind of exhausting to deal with over the course of the book, and also Max seems to be doing Okay. It’s very voice-y — lots of comparisons have been made to Becky Albertalli etc, and I wouldn’t say that those comparisons are incorrect. I just think that like, Becky Albertalli is better at it. It reads really young, to the point where this feels like a middle grade novel over a YA, which doesn’t match the age of the characters. (Which is fine! It just is not marketed as a middle grade).

I’m normally very into pop culture references, but Broadway never hits for me because I’m just not that into it. So that’s a big miss on my end.

There’s lesbian, gay, and asexual representation, which is very? Whatever? to me? Representation matters, for sure, but also the main content of a book matters as well. It’s no longer 2015 and I am not reading books exclusively for a background character who is hinted at maybe being gay. The main character is demisexual, and I feel…. unimpressed about it. It’s handled well, in a vacuum of Just Demisexuality, which is fine, but again — representation matters, and this is representation of a Jewish demisexual person who does not educate herself about Palestine while in Palestine, actively benefiting from Israeli occupation of Palestine.

Looking for good asexual rep? I would recommend Summer Bird Blue by Akemi Dawn Bowman, or Six Angry Girls by Adrienne Kisner instead. I’ve also heard very good things about Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger.

For other Jewish books that I’ve enjoyed or am looking forward to, there’s Cool for the Summer by Dahlia Adler, You Asked for Perfect by Laura Silverman, and The Two Wrong Halves of Ruby Taylor by Amanda Panitch. Also a book of short stories that I own but have not read, It’s a Whole Spiel: Love, Latkes, and Other Jewish Stories edited by Katherine Locke.

Confused about Israeli/Palestinian conflict? Here’s an article from Jewish Voice for Peace as a primer.

I am rating this audiobook one star for its representation of demisexuality and secular Jewish representation. I want to be clear that these were positive aspects of the book; everything else about the book would have otherwise brought it down to half a star or less. I am not linking to Storygraph or Bookshop for this book; other books mentioned in this review do have Storygraph links. Thank you.

Once More With Chutzpah Haley Neil
is a heart tugging YA coming of age, or more accurately, coming of self story of high school senior Tally trying to come to terms with loss, grief, anxiety and self doubt. Narrator Cady Zuckerman brought an authentic humanity to these characters. When Tally says, "I'm embarrassed that I can't fix myself," I felt the heartache.

On an exchange trip to Israel with her twin Max, Tally hopes it can help her twin deal with a tragic car accident that left only him alive. Soon she, and us, realize that it isn't just Max that needs to grieve and to heal. More a novella this exploration of finding your religious self, sexual identity, romantic being and inner strength is filled with endearing moments that will leave you with a bit of tears, a great deal of hope and some of your own Chutzpah.

I received a free copy of this audiobook from Dreamscape Media via #Netgalley for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

3.75 What a cute read.

I was enraptured by this coming-of-age story of Tally and her brother and their trip to Isreal. As someone who has never been on a birthright, it was really interesting to get an in-depth look at what this trip means to people & everything that a trip covers. I really enjoyed that this book was deeper than you would think a YA book could be and tackled some really important issues such as religion, identity, and sexual orientation. I appreciated the different perspectives and it was great to read about something new. The audiobook was enjoyable & easy to listen to.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced audiobook copy of this book in exchange for an honest review of the book.

This book greatly exceeded all of my expectations. I’d heard that this book followed two twins on a healing journey in Israel, but wow did the author put a lot into small book. I listened to the audio, which I think is always good if you’re unfamiliar with words in other languages - Hebrew in this case. I thought that there was a good amount of character development for the twins. There were a lot of secondary characters that weren’t as strongly developed, but that I thought added enough flavor and interest to the story. I think the author did an excellent job of presenting a neutral, but informed view of Israel. The conflict wasn’t sugarcoated, and there was mention of historical references and modern day concerns. I also appreciated some intracommunity conflicts that also showed up within the novel. This is one that I would highly recommend American shuls/synagogues have available in their libraries for teens. Great read.

Tally thinks that a temple exchange trip to Israel is just what her twin brother Max needs to recover from his slump after a bad car accident. However, when things don’t go according to plan, she is forced to come to terms with her own mental health, Judaism, and sexuality. Initially I wasn't completely sold. For the first little bit, it felt a little fluffy. But it quickly came into its own and ultimately blew me away. There aren't a lot of books about Jewish teens (outside of Holocaust stories, and the Holocaust is discussed in this one in ways that felt very true to my experiences) and this is the first fictional book I have ever read that used the word Demisexual to describe a main character. (Bisexuality is also mentioned! By name!) This book contained a sweet story, and a lot of big, messy feelings, as well as a portrayal of a person with anxiety that really resonated with me. If you're thinking about reading this one, please do.

This is a moving debut about a high-school school senior, Tally, as she grapples with questions about her Jewish identity, mental health struggles, and sexual identity while on a temple exchange trip to Israel with her twin brother Max.

This was my first audiobook experience and I really enjoyed it. This was a great coming of age novel that dealt with feelings of loss and acceptance. Tally's experience was incredibly relatable and I loved how the book tackled so many important and relevant issues with a positive, optimistic and wholesome tone. The descriptions of Israel were wonderful and someone please take me back for a falafel please. The narrator did an excellent job of portraying Tally's struggles and I loved how she voiced the different characters.

This book also brought me back to my time in Israel when I was about Tally's age. I was really saddened to see that this book was down-rated on goodreads by folks encouraging others NOT to read it simply because it's about Israel; an author should have the right to write about her own religion and her own country without any pushback. I felt Neil did a very respectful and responsible job of addressing the related current event issues.

Read this if you like wholesome reads, were a theater kid (so many references to Broadway!) or if you want to learn more about Israel/struggles with Jewish identity from a proper source. I highly recommend the audio version.

Thank you to @netgalley and @dreamscape_media for this audio book in return for my honest review. Once More With Chutzpah was published earlier this month.

The cover is cute and since I'm interested in learning about other religions/cultures I was excited to read this one, and I did learn a lot about Judaism and Israel.

Don't let the cute cover fool you this book covers a lot of deep topics including: Israel politics, interfaith religions, antisemitis, the holocaust, drunk driving/car accidents, death of friends, college applications, sexual identity/demisexuality and sexism just to name a few.

It really is a coming of age as Tally and her twin brother go on an exchange to Israel during their senior year. They are both dealing with the aftermath of the car accident Mark was in that killed the driver. Tally is trying to get her brother back on track with his college applications. At the same time she is figuring out her own sexuality and anxiety.

I enjoyed the narrator she did a great job of bringing the characters to life!

Did not finish. I could not get into this audiobook and was not a fan of the narration. I’ll be checking out the physical edition of this one in the future.

3.5 stars

When high school senior Tally goes on an exchange trip to Israel with her twin brother Max, it's the perfect time for both of them to heal from past trauma and discover who they are as Jewish young adults.

When I first heard about this book I was so excited to read a coming of age story set in Israel. Unfortunately, it was very quickly bashed on Goodreads by people who have not read the book and never will. If they would give it a chance, they would see that this book is not meant to take sides or be anti-Palestine.

With that being said, I have complicated feelings about this book. I often found Tally annoying and way too focused on herself instead of on Israel and what was going on around her. But then again, I can relate to Israel somehow being the perfect place to find yourself, especially at 18. Tally is grappling with her identity through her sexuality, religion, and individuality as a twin.

What I liked:
-relating to all of their Israel explorations
-the very diverse side characters
-the brother/sister relationship
-LGBTQ rep
-anxiety rep

What I didn't like:
-I wanted even more from the side characters
-Tally could be a little whiny at times

If you're a YA fan, I think this book has something for everyone and it's worth picking up!

Thank you Dreamscape Media and Netgalley for my ALC in exchange for an honest review.

I was given this audiobook from NetGalley for an honest review. Once More with Chutzpah by Haley Neil is her debut novel starring protagonist, Tally Gelmont. Her twin brother Max is a secondary protagonist, however, the book is in the point of view of Tally. As high school seniors, Tally & Max are on their way to Israel on a Temple Exchange program during their winter break. Tally & Max usually share everything being twins, but, after Max got into a car accident where the driver doesn't survive, things have been different. Tally believes that this trip will help Max feel better. She believes this trip will help Max get back on track in life and help him get motivated to apply to college, specifically, Boston University. Even though Tally has been worrying about Max, she's been denying that she's dealing with her own troubles.

Tally and Max are interfaith- with their dad being Jewish and their mom being Catholic. Tally starts to overthink if she should be on the Exchange even while sitting on the plane traveling to their destination. Her ultimate goal is to feel "seventy-five percent more Jewish by the end of the trip".

When they arrive, they get in their group and are able to change clothes before their first activities, Tally goes to the ladies room and meets one of her fellow exchange mates, Saron, who asks Tally to watch her luggage while she changes and she'll do the same for her. They become friends quickly after Saron let's Tally borrow a necklace to go with her outfit. Saron also gives Tally her new nickname of Tally mark.

Tally's plan for helping Max starts to unravel during their trek through multiple cities of Israel. Her reliance on Max is masking her own anxieties and troubles. She even tries to set Max up with Sammy, another group member to make him feel better. These little plans makes her realize that she's dealing with more than she thought & not just with her brother. She too has side effects from her brother's accident.

While they are on their travels, David, their madrich, or tour guide, gets close to Tally. Tally isn't sure if she thinks David is cute or not. There's an a small crush that forms but with Tally's anxieties she keeps second guessing whether or not it's okay. One night, they went out as a group to a club, Tally starts to feel uncomfortable inside and goes outside for air. David follows. Tally and David end up kissing, but with David's touch, Tally starts to have panic attack and says she needs to leave. She finds Max and they head back to the hotel... In the her friends say that Max told them about her migraine, which makes her uncomfortable that he made an excuse up for her and what really happens.

There is a twist in this book I was not expecting. I had a tiny inkling that the twist was going to have to deal with Max's accident and who was the driver, but I wasn't expecting that twist. I won't give it away except for what was in the previous sentence. But this twist makes Tally & Max's relationship more strained than it was prior to all this unfolding.

Each chapter is titled after a musical song title (both Broadway & Movies), since Tally is an avid theatre kid and lyricist. I personally loved this simple added touch to the book. Her writing lyrics are at a standstill too because of writer's block. However, during a point in the trip, she finds this new notebook that she will later use. It's embossed with little stars of David. At another point in their trip, Tally tries her hand at writing again.

This book isn't just about the trip, it's about the self-discovery that Tally has to go through. The struggles of being Jewish enough, mental health, sexual identity, and grief all come up in the book. At one point in the book someone does tell Tally she isn't Jewish since it's their dad who is Jewish and not their mom. Tally also has to deal with the aftermath of her kiss with David and what it means for her sexuality. There is a great array of LGBTQIA+ visibility in this book and I'm definitely here for it... They even attend Pride while they're in Jerusalem.

While at Pride, Tally tests out her found sexual-identity. Specifically while she's getting her face painted prior to the parade. Of course, her anxieties made her hesitant to utilize her identity of demisexual. It feels good to her to say it out loud.

While I am not Jewish, I know there have been polarizing opinions about this novel not showing the Palestinian's point of view. There are different types of characters with varying backgrounds. Putting politics and religion aside, what is at the core of this novel is Tally and Max's relationship. Tally fears for what the future might hold for her and Max's twinship if he goes to a different school. Max however, makes it clear that he will always be there for Tally. Once they make it back home to Massachusetts, Tally is ready to face what comes next.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. As someone who struggles with mental health and who is a member of the LGBTQ Community, I feel this book can resonate with a wide range of people, especially teens. It's hard to be a senior in high school, with all the pressure to apply to colleges and make your future bright. This plot hits many different points as to what it is like to be at the cusp of adulthood. Even though I'm not a twin, I also related to the sibling relationship in a few ways. My older sister and I have a close relationship... she's also had to deal with my mental health struggles; like Max has with Tally.

I know there are many negative reviews for this book, but I hope that this review will help others see the other side of this debut novel. It's a YA novel about so many things other than politics. It's a moving story about self-love and acceptance. There are complex feelings from Tally. There are complex friendships that are formed in a short amount of time. There's love and grief intertwined together. There is subtle nuances that you might miss if you're not truly paying attention to the story.

For a debut novel, I give this book 4.5 stars on my Bookly app and 4 stars on Goodreads. Haley has a wonderful way of writing. She used her own experiences from her trip to Israel and specifically visiting the Western Wall and going to Pride in the same day for inspiration for Tally's trip. The narration by Cady Zuckerman was delightful and I could really feel the emotions she brought to Tally while narrating.

Haley has another book in the works that will be a standalone novel set to come out next year. I will definitely be reading that when it comes out.

Happy Book Birthday, Once More with Chutzpah! And Mazel to Haley.

I'm going to start my review off by saying that it's really disappointing that this book got review bombed by people who very clearly did not read the book. I'm going to assume this was based off of not great marketing, but that honestly does not matter. Firstly, it's not about a birthright trip at all. Secondly, the book DOES talk, pretty in depth, about the Israel/Palestine conflict. Lastly, SO many Jewish reviewers have reviewed this book very positively. THOSE are the voices people should be listening to, period.

It's really gross to review books you haven't read, period, but especially in this case.

What I Liked:
-This book had fabulous representation. The asexuality representation was SO well done, as was the anxiety rep.
-We don't see enough good representation of either of those two things, and Jewish rep, so it's really refreshing to see them both done so NORMALLY in a YA book. Neither the anxiety or asexuality was treated as weird or not normal, which was refreshing.
-I LOVED all of the Broadway references!
-I learned a good deal about Judaism through these characters.
-I thought the book dealt with grief really well.
-The leaders in the book dealt with heavy topics extremely well when talking to the entire group.

What I Didn't Like/Wanted More Of:
-I felt like the characters were incredibly surface level. They needed more depth to them as a whole.
-The writing was a little juvenile and all over the place. I LOVE YA, but this felt VERY young.

I love that this book shines a light on self-awareness. We can learn right along with Tally how to learn to recognize the things that shape who we are. She learns to grieve and cope after loss that she has repressed and ignored. She learns to trust and accept and be true to her feelings as a unique individual, how some labels help you understand yourself and express yourself in relation to others and some are not helpful or true for yourself, She learns about her heritage, her community and her sexual identity and allows herself to be open to the pain and feelings that come from loss and change. And I loved that she learned to let everyone else have the space and grace to do the same for themselves. Sometimes it takes shaking your life from the norm to find all this out!

Definitely a YA read. High school seniors Tally and Max go to Israel. On this trip Tally thought she could convince her brother to apply to college after being in a car accident where the driver died and being distant and depressed. Turns out Max isn't the only one that needs help processing the events of that accident. Coming of age and contemporary. It was a good read and had good representation I learned a lot. I didn't really like it but it was good.

This book is an emotional adventure. I can honestly say that I was not expecting what happened.

I loved the relationships in this book and how it handled mental health, advocating for it for yourself as well as for others, and for being aware that you/someone needs help.

This books packs a lot into it, but is very well written and super enjoyable!

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for an advance copy of the audiobook. This is my honest voluntary review.

This book is really special. It address anxiety and panic attacks in such an authentic way, as well as grief and PTSD.

It also features characters who have different backgrounds and fall in different places on the spectrum of sexuality and identification.

No spoilers, but I love how we as readers learn about how the characters need to heal, and how it’s perhaps not what we initially expected.

I feel like this book is important because of the topics it addresses: mental health, grief, the pain of losing loved ones, sexuality, confusion around sexuality, religion, ancestry, being a young Jewish person, therapy and healing.

The audiobook book narration was very good. Thank you, NetGalley, for the opportunity to read this book. These are my unbiased thoughts.

I loved this one. If you like YA novels, go forth and read it or listen to it. It is just so very good.

A+ narration, 5 star book

Thank you to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for a copy of the audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

This audiobook is excellent. Cady Zuckerman nailed it. Her voice has character and draws you in. She makes you feel the emotions that Tally is experiencing with the subtle changes and intonation of her voice. She captures the cast of characters in the story, using a distinct voice for each one.

At a glance:
- Themes of discovery, identity (religious, sexual, as a person, as a twin), friendships, relationships, and grief
- Mental health rep
- Jewish and Interfaith rep
- LGBTQIA+ rep
- Standing on the cusp of adulthood / coming of age
- Chapter titles from musicals
- Exchange trip to Israel

This is a fabulous coming of age book that has a bit of everything.
You want to experience travel in an interesting land?
This book takes you to Israel, and the painted picture created is vibrant.
Want an emotional reaction while reading?
Anger, giggles, grief, warm fuzzies and curiosity are all found here.
Are you more character driven?
Sooo many wonderful people in this new band of friends, faves were Justin & Gabe.
I listened to the audio and enjoyed it, but I think in print it would be just as good.
Much love to NetGalley & Dreamscape Media for my DRC.

I received an ARC audiobook from Netgalley. I was a little disappointed at the narrator because she was mispronouncing a few things. That, or I have been mispronouncing them for years.

The main character is Tally a high school senior and loves musicals. The book is written in Tally's voice. Tally and her twin brother Max iate going through some personal stuff and Tally. She signed them both up through the Synagogue for a trip to Israel hoping it will help her brother.

Since "Once More with Chutzpah" is about Jewish high school students traveling to Israel it has some religious and political undertones. There is also an interesting perspective about LGBTQ+ persons in Judaism. There was a part where they walk through Yad Vashem (Israel's Holocaust Museum) and the description was so exact that I felt like I was back in the museum.

The conversations between Tally and her tour-mates really came out of my life growing up. They were discussing ways that classmates stereotyped them such as one said "This girl from my high school once asked me if my daddy was going to pay for a new nose when I turned sixteen." and another said "I was told, in temple, that I’m not a real Jew ’cause of the color of my skin. Like you’ve got to be some pasty white dude to read the Torah." I don't want to give away the entire chapter but it was really deep and meanful, and real.

The LGBTQ+ part of the story was also really inspiring. It gave a look of pride in Israel vs pride in America. It also described labels and demosexual which I never heard of before but makes sense.

Some things that I really liked but might not be understandable to others...

I went on a Birthright trip in college and felt that many of the things that Tally experienced reminded me of my personal memories of the trip.

Tally's love of Broadway musicals included tons of references from lyrics, to plots, to characters. I love that every chapter was titled after Broadway songs. Chapters like: "On My Own" (Les Mis) "Anybody Have a Map" (Dear Evan Hansen), and "Matchmaker" (Fiddler on the Roof) to name a few.

Some fun pop culture references.