This book is a thought-provoking coming-of-age story. Yoyo Gold is a likable relatable heroine. Anyone can relate to the feeling of coming to an age when you start to question some of the things you've always been taught. Yoyo doesn't hold others to a higher standard than herself which is admirable. She is equally willing to secretly report on her own transgressions.

It is also admirable how she is always her own person and never really worries that much about fitting in. None of her friends are that likable anyway they are all kind of selfish even her alleged best friend, Esti, who doesn't tell Yoyo the real reason she leaves town among other things. The only one who really seems to care about her is Shua, the boy she likes and they are not even really supposed to have a relationship because of their religion. It is too bad because they are really sweet together.

It is nice that the characters of Mickey and her mother demonstrate that there is not only one way to be Jewish. However, Mickey's character is too extreme. She makes it seem like if you are not in a strictly religious family then you are just running wild, and rebelling all the time which is definitely not always true. Mickey is also mostly selfish like Yoyo's other friends, but when Yoyo really needs her she is there.

Yoyo's family takes her for granted and kind of treats her like a servant. As the oldest girl, she is expected to take on quite a lot of responsibility that isn't expected of the others. However, in the end, they realize this and show they care about her. It is also nice that they don't go too overboard in response to what Yoyo has done like you'd think they would because of their strictly religious views and also because Yoyo's father is actually the rabbi. They are at least there for her which is more than can be said for her so-called friends. This girl definitely needs to get some new friends.

The Judgment of Yoyo Gold is a coming-of-age story at its finest and that’s a testament to Isaac Blum’s storytelling. I was completely immersed in Yoyo Gold’s world.

Yoyo struggles with the lot typical of any teenager: school obligations, familial and responsibilities, friendships and her first crush. But there are heightened expectations of her as the daughter of the local Orthodox rabbi. And after her best friend is sent off to boarding school, Yoyo (the ultimate rule follower) begins to question it all. I think Blum expertly portrayed and developed Yoyo’s emotional journey: her indignation at discovered hypocrisies, feelings of loneliness and being misunderstood, and her struggle to adequately channel feelings so strong they could burst from her body. These feelings were tangible. It made her growth and reclaimed agency extremely satisfying. Also, you wouldn’t expect a book set in an Orthodox community to showcase varying observance levels of Judaism, but this book does it beautifully.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Judgment of Yoyo Gold is out TODAY! I highly recommend it.

Thank you Penguin Teen and NetGalley for the ARC.

A surprisingly engaging coming-of-age story about Yoyo Gold — a young Orthodox Jewish girl who has always been a model for the community. She kind of has to be as she is the daughter of the rabbi and held to higher standards than most. As she explores and experiments with her place in the world the one she has been raised to inhabit and other enticing options she gets closer to understanding what is important to her.

A great, thoughtful read, with a character who captures you from the first page and will hold you till she reaches a reckoning with faith, love, friendship, and the world outside her own.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book.

My thanks to NetGalley and Philomel/Penguin Random House for the ARC of "The Judgement of Yoyo Gold" in exchange for an honest review.
Yoyo is most definitely not your typical teen overachiever who longs to break through the constraints put upon her by her family, friends and community. She's the dutiful oldest child of an Orthodox Jewish Rabbi and tirelessly does everything expected of her......excels in classes, helps to co-parent her younger siblings, follows the teachings and procedures of her faith and functions as a perfect role model for everyone around her.
Her only outlet for communicating her true feelings was her lifelong friendship with Esti, whose extroverted, daring behavior proved too much to their tight=knit community........when Esti s sent off to a far away school, an angry, frustrated Yoyo believes her dearest friend was indeed banished, with her father having a hand in it.
Yoyo's more than ready to unleash rebellion against the structure of her Orthodox life, and her increasingly uncomfortable role in it. in. She finds a kindred spirit (and sweet first love) in gentle, studious Shua, yet another outcast who helps removes her father's filters from her phone.. This allows Yoyo to secretly outrage and confound her peers. with anonymous gossip-y Tik Tok videos.......revealing moments of un-Orthodox,,rule breaking behavior from her friends and herself. as well.
All of Yoyo's inner turbulence is presented with a knowing sense of wisdom and at times, the sharpest, ironic wit you'll ever enjoy in a YA drama. And author Isaac Blum deftly immerses you in a world of religious faith that may seem strange and foreign until you see all the universal things unfold.....the changing dynamics between parents and children and the eternal adolescent challenge to figure out who you are and what's your place in the world.
A great, thoughtful read, with a character who captures you from the first page and will hold you till she reaches a reckoning with faith, love, friendship and the world outside her own. My highest recommendation.

I really liked this book! I found Yoyo to be incredibly complex and relatable. I knew very little about Judaism and I very much liked learning about the religion, especially the different sects of it. I felt like beyond Yoyo feeling conflicted in certain beliefs and practices in being Orthodox, the book did a great job of showing eldest sister syndrome and the pressures of being a child of a religious leader. Even though this book focuses on being in an Orthodox Jewish community, I thought it was relatable for anyone who has ever questioned or deconstructed their religious beliefs. I also loved seeing Yoyo’s relationships with Esti, Shua and Mickey. I’m so glad I got the chance to read this one!
CW: animal death, antisemitism, bullying,

Thank you to NetGalley and Philomel Books for an advanced digital reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is an interesting YA novel about an Orthodox Jewish girl who gains entry into the secular world after befriending the daughter of a Reform rabbi. After her friend Esti is ostracized from their tight-knit community, Yoyo begins to question the rules and traditions she’s grown up with. She channels her anger into Tiktok videos, exposing her supposedly devout classmates for their own transgressions.

Sharp and witty, Yoyo is a likable character. She’s the eldest daughter of an esteemed rabbi, and a role model to her friends and younger siblings, but she is still a typical teenager in many ways. Yoyo begins to crush on Shua Holtzman, a friend's older brother who was recently expelled from his yeshiva in Israel. Shua's religion and community are important to him, but he doesn't agree with some of the rules and restrictions of Orthodoxy. He regularly consults the Torah in order to help Yoyo navigate her feelings of confusing and frustration.

Another high point of the novel was Yoyo's friendship with Mickey. I like that the book explored the different sects of Judaism, and that Mickey and Yoyo both had things to learn from each other.

I was provided an ARC by the publisher via NetGalley.

Yoyo is an Orthodox Jewish teen and the daughter of the community's revered rabbi. As the eldest daughter, she's taken on a lot of household responsibilities and is looked to by her friends as a wise problem-solver. But as the book opens, Yoyo is dealing with the fact that her best friend, Esti, has left the community for a boarding school after it becomes known that she kissed a boy. Yoyo's anger at the loss of her friend and the unfairness of the situation pushes her to begin to chronicle the hypocrisy of her community in a series of videos she posts. At the same time, she's become attracted to Shua, a boy in her community who was expelled from a Yeshiva in Israel for removing the "Kosher filters" from his classmates' cell phones.

The book centers on questions of faith and responsibility and being true to ones self. How does Yoyo deal with hypocrisy? How far is she willing to go to deviate from Orthodox observance? How does she deal with her feelings for Shua? Is there a way for her to remain observant but on her own terms?

The author deals so well with these complexities while also making Yoyo very real and believable. He and Yoyo remain respectful of the religious traditions while also keeping Yoyo true to herself.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC of this book!

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Yoyo's story! This is a wonderful coming of age story that will resonate with teen readers from all walks of life, not just Jewish readers. All teens can relate to questioning their beliefs and the expectations placed on them by their family. I am not Jewish, so I cannot speak to accuracy of the representation of the Orthodox community in the story, but I very much enjoyed the peak into that lifestyle and what that might look like for teens living in today's modern world. I think this book would lead to a lot of great discussion in a classroom, and would be perfect for literature circles or book clubs.

I really enjoyed Yoyo's story. I learned alot about the life of an Orthodox Jewish teen girl. I felt that the it rang true and her ventures into being not the perfect daughter were perfect for the book.

The thing that stops it from being a 4.5 or 5 star is the cover. It really comes across as a middle school book and this is definitely not for a middle school audience

I enjoyed this book immensely. Yoyo Gold was an incredible protagonist and I loved the lens into Orthodox Judaism. I thought Isaac did an amazing job of showcasing different ways to be Jewish and I really liked that aspect. This was heartfelt and emotional and captured the questioning aspect of Judaism. The coming of age part was done well too, and I related to Yoyo as the older sibling. I loved her journey of self-exploration and I thought this book was just so well done. I'll happily read anything from Isaac, that's for sure! Thank you to Philomel Books for the ARC to read and review!

3.5 stars. I really like Yoyo Gold and I enjoyed this story but something about her experiences doesn’t ring true to me. I appreciate the somewhat accurate, but not whitewashed, depiction of Orthodox Jewry but Yoyo’s particular brand of teenage rebellion did not seem true to life. I know there are Orthodox teens who do all of the things that are depicted in this book but not teens like Yoyo Gold. It just literally would never happen. She would never break Shabbos or eat non-kosher or make out with a non-Jewish boy. I know this might seem tame for many and I don’t know Isaac Blum’s background or first hand knowledge of this community but there was just something not right about the details of this book. If this book was about Esti I would believe it, but it isn’t. A girl like Esti would NEVER beg her best friend to meet her at a non-kosher restaurant on a Friday night. Her parents world NEVER book her a plane ride on Shabbos. I know these might seem like small details but they aren’t. The intense meanness and bullying of YoYo’s friends also did not seem real. I enjoyed many aspects of this book and the relationship between YoYo and Shua was very sweet and I enjoyed a lot of the smaller family details (though I’ve never in my entire life heard someone say Friday Night Supper, never not even once) but I would expect more accuracy from a “insidery” book about the Orthodox Jewish community.
Thank you to Philomel Books and Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really loved this book! The story is about Yoyo Gold, the daughter of an orthodox rabbi who is seen as kind of a pillar of her community for teen girls, or an extension of her father. But when her best friend gets sent away and then she starts hanging out with the daughter of a reform rabbi, who lives a very different life and has very different ideas of right and wrong, she starts to question the way that she lives and the rules of her community.

This was a really great YA coming of age story with good Jewish representation which I obviously love. I liked that the book showed different types of Judaism. It tackled religious criticism and questioned the way Yoyo was raised very well without being anti-religious or anti-orthodox.

I related a lot to Yoyo, though I didn't grow up in a similar environment to her I think that the anxiety and hard lessons that come out of growing up and finding your sense of self is pretty universal.

I really liked the romance in this book as well and thought it was very sweet, believable, and well written.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes YA contemporary books especially with Jewish representation. Thanks so much to Penguin Teen Canada for the advanced copy!!

I loved this book. I wasn’t even finished with the book by time I’d included it in my “best books of 2024” shelf. 4.75 stars. If I’d have changed anything I think I’d have just liked a few more pages at the end :)
At no point was I ready to finish this story. I was aware of how much I had left only because I didn’t want the story to end.
I have to say that I loved this author’s previous book The Life and Crimes of Hoodie Rosen and wasn’t expecting to love Yoyo even more!

Yoyo is a teenage girl who is also orthodox Jewish. Her father is a rabbi. Yoyo takes her faith, and her father’s interpretation of that faith, very seriously.
She’s pretty much perfect. Her grades are good, she gets in absolutely no trouble, she even does community service and helps care for her younger siblings and cook dinner.

Then her best friend gets sent away and Yoyo starts to question things a little. Then a new friend asks her whether she does the things she does because *she wants to* or whether it’s because she’s been told she was supposed to. And Yoyo can’t even remember.

She makes the very rebellious decision to pay a teenage boy to unlock filers from her kosher phone. The boy goes by Shua.

After her phone is unlocked, there’s a bit of a Gossip Girl vibe where Yoyo posts some anonymous videos about other Orthodox Jewish teenagers who were acting out. She felt like they were being hypocrites for judging her best friend.

This is such wonderful coming of age story. It doesn’t matter what your religion is, you can relate to this story. Yoyo is trying to figure out who she is beyond all of the rules of her parents and of her religion. She’s trying to figure out what she believes is right. She wants to be a good person too.

I loved Yoyo and I loved Shua!

What a wonderful book! This author needs to keep writing books of this caliber :)

I got to read an early ebook edition, thank you!!

Yoyo Gold has done a great job of being a reliable daughter to her large family. She’s also done her best to learn and follow the tenets of the Jewish faith. Her father is an important rabbi in their community, and she’s learned much from him and her teachers. Up until she turned seventeen, Yoyo has never really questioned the Orthodox rules she and her friends are expected to follow. But those rules are beginning to feel rather restrictive, especially the ones about interacting with young men…
Interesting, relatable Y.A. fiction. I do wish there had been a glossary at the end for the Jewish terms; there were many I wasn’t familiar with, and would have liked having definitions.
*I received a digital copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are strictly my own.*

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

This book. This book has my whole heart. I absolutely adored this! From the incredible characters, to the plot, to falling in love with everything so quickly- I couldn’t put this down. I highly recommend this! It really just sucks you in and makes you never want to leave. In my opinion, those are the best books and I couldn't get enough.

I really enjoyed this book. It was interesting to learn about the Orthodox Jewish way of life. I also liked watching Yoyo find her voice.

I was given this book in exchange for my honest opinion. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC.

An interesting novel. Being an Orthodox Jew is not easy. This book follows teenagers as they wrestle how to navigate being religious and following on the difficulties in this day and age keeping the laws but living your life. So many temptations in this electronic world and fitting in. I’m not orthodox but would imagine it being very difficult. I think the author tried to depict this situation

The Judgment of Yoyo Gold by Isaac Blum is an insightful and thought-provoking novel that masterfully combines sharp wit with deep emotional resonance. Blum’s skillful storytelling and richly developed characters create a compelling narrative that is both engaging and impactful. The book’s exploration of complex themes with humor and sensitivity makes it a standout read that lingers long after the final page.

As a non-Orthodox Jewish person who has quite a few family members in the community, this book made me feel SEEN. It was so incredibly relatable watching Yoyo question her upbringing and the beliefs surrounding the Orthodox religion (which, if you aren't Jewish and you don't know, is much more heavy-hitting than Reform Judaism, which is much more liberal and modern). I think this is a particularly relevant book in today's society. I also loved the incorporation of the internet and going viral for someone who had no previous experience with this type of technology. I would put this on your list even if you don't practice, or even if you're not Jewish, as there are plenty of themes that mirror other religions and the current political climate.

This was a truly riveting story about finding your place in a world where you bridge multiple identities. When you try to belong to many worlds, inevitably you don't feel like you belong in any.