A fancy and verbose (in a good way) book that shines light on all the characters and harkens upon traditions. Well written!

A Jewish historical fantasy with an exploration of identity wrapped in mystery and Jewish folklore. Sorel leaps from her window and runs away on the night of her wedding. Cutting her hair and posing as a boy she gets caught up in the search for a missing man. His disappearance may hit closer to home than she ever expected.

This felt slow to get started but I enjoyed how the mystery unraveled. The ending was satisfying but I almost wish for more time an exploration of the characters.

I unfortunately had to DNF this book after trying to get into it twice. The writing wasn’t working for me

3.5 stars rounded down (I think, TBD). I'm a bit flummoxed by this book. I haven't read When the Angels Left the Old Country but I heard great things so I thought I'd pick up this ARC. There's a lot to love: the deep Jewish folklore, the setting, the mystery, and the adventures. But there's also a lot to be confused about, including what the heck is going on for most of the book. Reading books where you can't actually tell what is real isn't one of my favorite things, but others may appreciate that reading experience more.

The toughest part for me was the pacing - it takes so long to figure out what the stakes are that it is difficult to connect too much with the characters or care about the story. The book is running on vibes (and they are pretty good vibes), which works up to a point but not forever. I really think if the first half was shortened, or the second half lengthened, this would have worked much better as a whole. Because the resolution was actually very cool and interesting!! But getting there was too rushed and muddled.

The vibes are good enough that I'll still be checking out Angels, but I was a tad bit disappointed in this one.

Thank you to netgalley and Levine Querido for a free eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Honestly, this is probably a 3.5 star read. I think in some ways I may have been the wrong audience for this because while I was excited because historical fantasy with nonbinary Jewish lesbian protagonist is all catnip, I struggled at times to want to keep reading this. It has a really slow beginning, though as the layered mysteries develop it gets really interesting. The ending is also really satisfying and I like the iteration of a happy ending it gives the characters. This may work better on a reread or as audio, though I did overall enjoy this.

Rich with characters from folklore, this story has everything - gender non-conformity, a dybbuk, angels and demons, inter- and intracommunity politics, and a heist. I think certain aspects could have been fleshed out a little more - I like a story that starts in the action, but some more background on Sorel's life and her sudden decision to run might have explained her motivations somewhat more. There were some twisty little sidequests that kept me guessing, and I appreciated the direction the story chose to go with the ending.

I honestly didn’t want to pick this book up. I really forced myself to read the last part of it and it kind of put me into a reading slump. My expectations were so high with When Angels Left the Old Country being one of my favorite books of all time, and this sadly did not live up the standard this book set. The pace felt slow, yet the book itself felt rushed. It was also really confusing at times but I didn’t care enough to go back and figure out what was happening. I’ll definitely give still Sacha Lamb another try with whatever they publish next, but this book sadly was not for me.

I decided to check this book out because I was curious and it was definitely worth it. It was fast paced and interesting and such an adventurous journey that I was surprised by how much I liked it. That beginning made it hard to not keep reading and I had no clue where the story was going. It had so many twists and turns that I felt like I had to hold on the entire time. Definitely gonna check out the next book by this author.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc

Not a lot to say about this one. I loved the author's previous novel but this one lacked the same charm. To say there isn't a lot of plot and unfortunately, the characters cannot carry the story on their shoulders. The main character (who is referred as a genderqueer lesbian by the summary, a fact you wouldn't know from the story besides her passing as a man with no self reflection) doesn't have a lot of personality. It's a shame because the world and inclusion of Jewish mythos is very interesting and one of the most compelling part of the book but nothing happens.

I had great hopes for this one. The cover looks pretty and the blurb sounded promising. But unfortunately the story didn’t grab me.

I found it very slow paced, which often made it boring.
This book just wasn’t my cup of tea…

Part comedy of errors, part supernatural-tinged mystery, The Forbidden Book is all fun. It starts the night before Sorel Kalman's wedding, when she realizes that she can under no circumstances be a wife, and jumps out her window to go start a new life, cutting her hair off to pass as a boy. Upon being asked her name, she chooses a normal Jewish name at random: Israel Jacobs. Unfortunately, there's already an Isser Jacobs, and he's a wanted man. With the help of one of Isser's old companions, a random peddler, and what very well could be a ghost, Sorel sets off across her city on a quest to solve the mystery of what happened to Isser and the book he had stolen, a book that's been keeping their city safe from the very angel of death.
I loved it. Fast-paced and chaotic, it kept me on the edge of my seat and turning pages. The Jewish folklore was interesting and educational, shedding light on a setting that doesn't get much attention: turn of the twentieth century Jewish Russia. The novel toys with ideas of censorship and modernization vs tradition in a way that is accessible to teenagers. As a whole, I really enjoyed it. Angels in the Old Country is moving up my TBR list because this one was so great. Can't wait to see what Sacha Lamb does next.

this was good!! it gets points for being jewish to the bone, which was great. the plot could be a little confusing at times (i definitely wish i had an isser chapter to start) and there was one plot twist i didn’t love. that being said the way it all weaved together was fabulous and the atmosphere of the book was palpable.

SPOILERY STUFF AHEAD:
man i wish sorel/altman and isser didn’t have to remain in the same body. like why couldn’t we have just given him is body back. also i wish adena and sorel/altman had gotten to have some more moments it felt like half there and i certainly would have wanted to explore that dynamic and potential romance more!!

While cute and delightful in it’s unique setting, the forbidden book felt painfully fast-paced in a way that left me feeling like there was no real time to breath while reading it.

I liked the Jewish aspect of this book, especially the links to the Kabbalah and Jewish mysticism.

However, I felt that the book was a bit rushed and didn't fully engage me. It didn't feel completely developed, at times, especially with Sam's character, for example. I would have also liked to have seen more of Sorel's backstory.

The chronology was also a bit confusing, at first, as well, and it took me a bit to work out what was happening.

This book had roots in Jewish culture and magic that were wonderfully written, vivid, and let you see the dynamics between the different Jewish communities that exist as well as letting Sorel learn and figure out her gender identity. I loved this part of the book.

However, I feel like there should've been a bit more to character development as the book felt a bit rushed, especially at the beginning, which made it hard for me to latch on and really understand the characters.

It was such an interesting read. I enyoyed lots of the folklore that there are in this book. And love how is handled the genderqueer aspect, a new view to it with fantasy elements.
The story was simple and full of adventures and with lots of divers characters so it was entertaining.
The characters were good and I loved more the sides characters instead of the main one but that is just taste, i'm not gonna lie i thought it will end with some kind of romance and at first a bit disappointend but now i think it was better off like that.

Fellow queer Jews this is something to read! This is a fantastical exploration of history, Jewish mysticism, and queer identity that felt so relatable to me as a queer woman in the Jewish community. The setting feels rich, the characters have actual depth to them, and the mystical elements are chefs kiss so good. I wish the story would have been longer. I don't know if I'd call it rushed but giving Sorel a bit more time to breathe in the last 50 or so pages would have bumped this up higher. It felt like the ending was good fast paced and could have slowed down to really let the reader digest it.

When the Angels Left the Old Country is one of my favorite reads from last year, so I was very excited to hear about this! This book uses Jewish fantasy and (Ashkenazi) culture in such a great way and I had so much fun reading it. Sorel's discovery of herself and the way that gender is so prevalent in society and the way people interact was so interesting.

The use of Yiddish throughout the book was also great and I liked that it was used unashamedly. Not that readers should be left lost, but the book doesn't stop every time there's a Yiddish word to explain what it means. If you don't know you can use context clues or look it up. This is my own personal opinion, but when I read books that use other languages like Spanish or Chinese, it's like a fun little side quest to find out the meanings.

Thank you to NetGalley for making this available in exchange for an honest review!

A well paced and worthy followup to Lamb's first novel, this standalone book delves deep into questions of identity and community.

3.5 rounded up.

The night before she is due to be married, Sorel runs away from her life, along the way accidentally assuming the identity of Isser Jacobs and dropping herself into a murder mystery involving Jewish mysticism, political pamphlets, and a power struggle the real Isser Jacobs was caught in the middle of.

This is one of those books that is absolutely rooted in Jewishness in a very satisfying way. I absolutely loved all of the Jewish magic. Sorel's world was very richly imagined and described, particularly the inter-community dynamics between the groups of more religious and more secular Jews and the way Sorel navigates her new gender presentation. The writing is enticing and efficient, and I enjoyed following Sorel as she discovers the world outside her father's estate.

However, a lot of the other elements of the book felt a little rushed, which I think stems from the fact that while the world-building was beautiful, Sorel herself could've been more developed. She didn't seem to grow as a character in a way that felt natural or fulfilling to the journey she was on, and I never felt I knew her on a deeper level. Also, while the gender and sexuality elements were appropriately period-typical in a way I enjoyed, the book is being marketed with a more overt queer representation, which might disappoint some readers.

This is still a well-written, beautifully Jewish, and entertaining book, which I will be recommending. The character beats just didn't quite hit as successfully as I'd wanted them to.