Eve's life has been upended and all she wants is to feel safe. She unexpectedly lost her father, her job is in jeopardy, her relationships with friends and family are strained, AND she is trying to manage the stress of being a Jewish woman as antisemitism rises in her community. In a moment of fear and desperation, she creates a golem for her protection. 

I Made It Out Of Clay balances the dark with humor as Eve processes her grief and navigates a path for healing. It has absolutely phenomenal Jewish representation. I came for the golem story, but in the end it was the story of Eve repairing her relationship with her family members that stole my heart.

I've already been asked quite a bit, did I like this book? I think it is a very good story, skillfully told, but I don't know that I enjoyed reading it. For me, this was 3.5 stars rounded up to 4. Oftentimes as readers we rate books on vibes or our reading experience. For my rating for this book, it's the opposite. Eve is struggling. The content of the book is heavy. I didn't find myself wanting to pick up the book and dive into that place. But when I reflect upon what story I think Kander wanted to tell and about how she accomplished it, I think she nailed it.
I mistakenly thought this would be a Romance novel, which it is not. I'm not sure, perhaps I was fooled by the cute cover because the synopsis is clear. That's on me, but I went into this book wrongfully expecting a lighthearted romcom. Surprisingly, I was not into the golem at all. And I struggled a bit with Eve as a character, particularly with how much of a hole she dug by keeping her phone off all the time! I also didn't like the portrayal of Eve's relationship with food. It never became completely clear to me what Kander was saying about food and weight. As a woman who often struggles with my own weight, I feel there was potential for this arc to allow me to feel seen and validated. But the constant food commentary had the opposite effect.

In the end, if you're looking for a book that artfully and authentically deals with loss and grief you will love this book. If you like a messy MC who is STRUGGLING, this book is for you.

Thank you Harlequin and NetGalley for the ARC. I Made It Out Of Clay Will Be Out 12/10.

Eve is a 39-year-old Jewish woman currently going through a difficult time. She is grieving the loss of her father, isolating herself from her friends and family, and is facing the possibly losing her job right before the holidays. Her sister is getting married on Saturday, and Eve herself will be turning 40 on Sunday. She has not yet found a date for the wedding and has also not written her maid of honor speech. Additionally, she has a crush on her neighbor, Hot Josh, who is a British Jewish unicorn of a man. She finds herself acting awkwardly around him due to her feelings. To make things even more complicated, she wakes up next to a naked man who turns out to be her golem.

This book explores themes of grief, healing, and acceptance in a story filled with heartfelt humor.

I couldn't put this book down!
I loved the fact that it wasn't a classic romance novel, even though the romance was there, but the plot was much more creative than that.
I was constantly wondering what would happen next. The pacing was superb.
The plot combined both a crazy-yet-sweet premise and many meaningful life lessons.
The discussion of anti semitism was especially important during these difficult times.
I'm looking forward to reading the next novel by this author.

Important note to publishers: Recurring typo spotted- there is always a space between f and l "f l", throughout the book, for words such as floor "f loor" etc.

good romance and interesting that she made a man out of clay and all of her adventures with the him and dealing with family and work. good romance.

Beth Kander, you’ve done it—what a great read! Eve is a hot mess who is down on her luck. Everything seems to be going wrong in her life, and she is desperate for a little help and security. Enter Gollum to save the day; however, things start to take a sinister turn, and this is where the story gets interesting. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and found myself constantly picking it up with the intention of reading just one chapter, only to never want to put it down. The length was perfect, with no parts that dragged on. While Eve did get on my nerves at one point, it all came together seamlessly in the end. Overall, I would definitely recommend this book to a friend.

Thank you, NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing, for the advanced reader's copy of this book.

A perfect read for #JewishAmericanHeritageMonth, author Beth Kander explores modern issues of identity and grief as well as friendships and family. The feels are heavy, especially with loss of a parent, but there is something about the way she writes that pays homage to real feelings without being too heavy or throwing in humor to counterbalance.

The author was creative with the golem only being able to be understood by their creator, but I will say I could have done without the repeated use of golem sounds followed by translation throughout and would have been happy to have the concept introduced and then left as something we, as readers, understand (translation only in protagonist perspective and onomatopoeias only if it’s untranslated golem talk in another persons perspective). I mistakenly thought this would be more in the tone of a rom-com (which I would gobble up), but it is definitely more in the tone of what I would call Women’s Fiction.

I loved this story and its diversity!! It was very well told, despite the formatting errors throughout. I love that Sasha also made the same mistakes that Eve made!!

Meet Eve Goodman. She’s about to turn 40 and her younger sister is getting married. Eve has been mourning the sudden death of her father for a year now and is trying to get her act back together. Eve, her mother and her sister have all been handling their grief in completely different ways. Eve “threw herself into work, started eating everything in sight, and stopped making any decisions.”

Between the pressure from the upcoming family wedding (her sister is a well-known TikTok influencer and has been posting lots of wedding-related videos) and expected layoffs at her Chicago marketing agency, Eve is stressed. Her best friends have also been acting a bit oddly and she doesn’t know why. In addition to all this, she’s faced with the upturn in antisemitism, both around the world and right there in Chicagoland. In fact, her family’s synagogue has just had a bomb threat (that turned out to be a false alarm) and she is verbally assaulted for being Jewish while on a Chicago train ride, while wearing one of those “ugly Christmas/Hanukkah sweaters” in honor of the season. So Eve is very stressed. Not a spoiler due to the title of the book - while drunk she somehow manages to create a golem.

For anyone who doesn’t know what a golem is - it is an animated, anthropomorphic being in Jewish folklore, which is created entirely from inanimate matter, usually clay or mud. (Thank you to Wikipedia for this brief definition.) Its purpose is to protect the Jewish people. It doesn’t have free will but will do whatever its master/mistress tells it to do. (A mixed blessing, as you may imagine.) This particular golem is rather handsome and Eve is determined to bring this golem as her Plus One to her sister’s wedding. The scenes of her shopping for appropriate clothing for him and dining out with him were pretty funny. This golem LOVED coffee!

There are some really wonderful observations about everyday modern life, social media, etc. “It’s so easy to just keep things surface level. Do a cursory check-in, hit the proverbial like button, and just move on.”

(Quotes are from an advance readers copy and may be changed in the final, published book.)

Thank you to NetGalley and MIRA for the opportunity to read an advance readers copy of this book. All opinions are my own.