Polyphonic debut novel that felt both immediate and immersive. Adam Weizmann is on the cusp of becoming a man, but at every turn, there's dysfunction lurking about. School bullies, an overbearing mother, a mentally ill father, a clingy best friend, a doting grandmother, and a supportive drama teacher all circle Adam's orbit, leading up to his no-expenses-spared bar mitzvah. Eli Zuzovsky's writing style is incisive and clean. I noticed an impressive laundry list of academic degrees from Ivy-League institutions and the like in his author bio. I found the book's marketing a bit misleading in that I was expecting a ramp-up to a zany bar mitzvah and coming-out story for the ages, but instead, many of the aforementioned characters are given separate chapter treatments in the style of a short-story collection. Sometimes Adam's trajectory got lost in the shuffle, and some of those backstories were more interesting than others. I was taken by the various writing styles and voices heard throughout. (One chapter is written entirely in verse.) There's a prominent character introduced named Khalil, a Palestinian poet, who interacts with one of Adam's relatives, Ben. I ended up learning more about Khalil's backstory and inner-life workings that I did Adam until arguably the ending chapters where Adam's story is given effective closure. In such a terribly wrought time between Israeli and Palestinian relations, I found this novel such a compassionately rendered thought experiment. How is queer love expressed in times of war and strife? Can artistic pursuits find value in countries long torn apart by generational traumas? Are we really ever able to go back home again? It's an endlessly fascinating work from a writer to watch out for in the future.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Henry Holt & Co. for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Book was the perfect length, but the writing was great! Just didn’t like the story that much! Not the intended audience

From the first page, this book captivated me. When I read the description, I wasn't expecting so much detail. To say I loved it is an understatement.

Zuzovsky did a beautiful, moving, and breathtaking job. The writing is electrifying, balancing tenderness with moments of absurdity, and the themes of identity, religion, and war feel urgent and profound.

I loved how Mazeltov captures perfectly the chaos of coming of age, especially in a world that seems to be falling apart. Adam's story is raw, relatable, and honest.

I really recommend this book to anyone who enjoys bold and thoughtful literary fiction with a queer perspective.

Mazeltov is an unforgettable book.

Set in Israel, Eli Zuzovsky's Mazel Tov is a novel about a young gay boy growing up in a family of richly complicated characters. It is elegantly written, and at times both funny and poignant, but somewhat meandering. I cannot say that it was my cup of tea. Others, I'm sure, however, would find it worth the investment of time.

The style of writing and the way it flowed just didn't do it for me. But this type of writing is admirable and my preferences shouldn't stop anyone from giving it a read!
Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book. I know that many will love it.

Emu Zuzovsky has described all of the awkwardness, discomfort and confusion of coming of age in this story. For many of us, regardless of our situations, these years are always a challenge. I appreciated the cultural and societal aspects that were also included. Thanks #NetGalley #HenryHolt&Co

While the premise was nice, the writing was... not what I expected. I wanted more from the characters because I felt that what was on the front cover and the front flap was not what we were given.

A modern masterpiece.
Everything about Mazeltov makes it a prefect read: the funny but serious tone, the complex characters, the beautiful relationships; all of them mixing together to make the best literary soup. I would recommend this to readers who loved Swimming in the Dark by Tomasz Jedrowski. 5 star read!

Eli Zuzovsky's Mazeltov is the kind of novel that sneaks up on you—startling in its humor, gutting in its tenderness, and wickedly sharp in its observations about family, identity, and the weight of history. At its core, this is a coming-of-age story, but it's not just Adam's story—it belongs to everyone orbiting his bar mitzvah night, each carrying their burdens of expectation, regret, and longing.

Zuzovsky's prose moves like a dance, switching perspectives with a rhythm that feels natural while adding to the urgency of the piece. Adam is a character you want to protect and shake—a boy teetering between shame and self-discovery, caught in a whirlwind of familial chaos and national tension. And yet, despite the heaviness of the themes—religion, queerness, war, the impossible weight of becoming a "man" overnight—there's an unmistakable joy running through the novel. It sparkles and glows with wit, longing, and the kind of aching absurdity that comes with realizing just how messy it is to be human.

There are scenes in Mazeltov I'm positive will linger with me—flashes of humor that made me laugh out loud, moments of heartbreak that landed like a punch to the ribs. The novel's structure—fractured, fast-moving, at times almost dizzying—mirrors the chaos of Adam's bar mitzvah night in a way that feels both exhilarating and emotionally true. And the payoff? Stunning.

Whether you're here for the family drama, the queer coming-of-age turmoil, or the poetic ways history weaves itself into the present, Mazeltov delivers. It's a heartfelt reminder that growing up isn't something that happens overnight—it's a series of collisions, some painful, some beautiful, and all necessary.

Mazeltov by Eli Zuzovsky is a classic coming-of-age story in the sense that it is full of teenage self-discovery, desire, shame and angst. It feels classic because so many of the themes are instantly familiar and relatable. But such a descriptor also feels like a disservice to Zuzovsky’s extremely creative storytelling style.

Rotating through a multitude of characters (Adam’s family and friends) you get snapshots of Adam’s life and world, then and now. It’s a propulsive and fresh way to tell this story because each chapter and POV has such a unique voice. The novel is short, but powerful. There is no filler as it jumps between several formative (both positive and negative) moments in Adam’s life, culminating in his bar mitzvah. This significant milestone marks the moment a boy enters manhood in the Jewish tradition. And it’s apropos that Adam’s story builds to this crescendo, where he stands before his community, wholly himself.

I loved this beautiful novel, I only wish there had been more.

1.5

This felt more concerned with feeling artistic than actually having a story to share. The characters all felt underdeveloped, it was unengaging, and the attempts at including Palestinians and advocating for peace were tone deaf at best. Perhaps this is for someone, but it unfortunately really wasn't for me.

This is a story about Adam, a gay man living in Israel. The story is told from the perspectives of the people in Adam's life: his mother, father, cousin, grandmother, best friend, and a Palestinian professor who Adam goes in search of on a trip to NYC. There's only a small amount from Adam's POV.

Each of the individual POV chapters is incredibly well written as we get to know the quirky and insane cast of characters surrounding Adam, especially on the day of his bar mitzvah.

This is an unusual coming out story that doesn't feel finished, but what's there is so well done.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

Mazeltov weaves glimmering, poignant, flashes of perspective together into a unique and moving tale.

The novel mainly tells the story of one chaotic day, Adam Weismann’s bar mitzvah, with brief chapters before and afterwards. Everything is a mess, grandma has worsening dementia, the family matriarch is buckling under the weight of the world, and Adam himself is just roiling with self-doubt and anxiety with weight of expectation and his burgeoning homosexuality. On top of everything, Adam’s coming of age happens on the eve of a devastating skirmish in war torn Israel.

The story jumps perspective as if being the narrative point of view is an extremely communicable flu everyone’s spreading. An adeptly executed literary device that keeps the story fresh as well as offering a kaleidoscopic range of different interpretations on the same subject. The writer uncannily captures the quotidian but terrifying travails of growing up in general and of growing up queer in particular. Honestly I had to take breaks from time to time because of how realistic it all felt, that shit is scarier than Stephen King. The characters were also remarkably vivid and life like, no small feat given that we only get a brief perspective from each. Adam himself is a uniquely compelling protagonist, it’s somehow refreshing to see someone so emotionally disheveled, as we all are from time to time, in the starring role.

This was a spare but powerful novel, brimming with insight and heart.

Mazeltov is a debut queer coming-of-age novel about Adam Weizmann’s introspection in Israel. It follows Adam’s life in a non-linear path, from being a young child on Mount Meron with his devout father following the halakeh tradition to Adam as a young adult experiencing New York before being discharged from his military service. However, the novel pairs this non-linear timeline with a whole cast of voices. The reader experiences the voices of Adam’s best friend Abbie, his mother, his father, his cousin, his grandmother, etc. All of these are supposed to revolve around the pinnacle moment of Adam’s Bar Mitzvah party which inevitably does not go well.
Normally, I am a huge fan of multiple points of view. Some of my favorite chapters were the ones highlighting Adam’s friendship with Abbie, with some laugh-out-loud commentary. I also enjoyed the later years where Adam is reflecting on his life and queer identity, attempting to mold a concept of what his life can be after his mandatory military service. However, I feel that there were too many voices for such a short novel. As the reader, you are inevitably not only learning about Adam’s life but with such a broad cast of characters we are also attempting to squeeze an immense amount of context and information about every other character. There is personal hardship connected to each character such as alcoholism and parenthood. Such heavy topics need space and time to be explored.

Thus, I had a lot of mixed feelings about whether the book should be longer and have more time to equally explore both or if some of the cast should be taken out altogether. I think the cast brings a lot of complex themes such as faith, parenthood, what defines being a “man”, friendship, etc. What I wanted more of was more insight into Adam discovering his sexuality and also his feelings on the war and his country’s occupation. It was there but felt glossed over and played safely.
Overall, I think Zuzovsky is a talented writer and I am interested to see what else he comes out with. There were some lines while reading this that blew me away. For instance,

“They would hear the faint cries of their mothers—Dinner! Dinner!— like distant wind chimes, reminding them that they are loved somewhere.”

This type of writing is what makes me excited to see what Zuzovsky has in store for us and if he will continue in the literary fiction genre. This read was a 3.5/5 for me and I would recommend it for the right reader. I want to thank NetGalley, Eli Zuzovsky, and Henry Holt and Company for the advanced readers' copy of Mazeltov in exchange for an honest review.

Mazeltov is a character-driven novel about a young boy in Israel and his family as they navigate all sorts of events like familial relationships and religion. I enjoyed the different chapters as they all had a different voice, although it was hard to keep track of characters because of it.

Thank you to the publisher for the e-copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The main character story is centered around his family and his struggle with his sexual identity. Weaved into the story are components of the Israeli and Palestinian war providing enough historical info to keep me interested, but not invested. Written from multiple POVs this coming of age novel is beautifully written, but not engaging. I found it hard to relate to or feel anything for the characters because they often required more depth. I wish the author dedicated more time to character development. That being said, this was a good debut novel and will look forward to seeing how more from this author.

Thank you to Henry Holt & Company and Netgalley for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

Here is my feedback for Mosletov .. I enjoyed this novella it was definitely sometimes a hard read! Thank you NetGalley

Thank you Netgalley and Henry Holt & Company for the ARC.

This is a great debut novel about an Israeli young man dealing with family and sexuality while a war exists in the outside world. The story is told from the perspective of several people in the main character's life, including his best friend, parents, grandmother, a poet named Khalil, and a few others. It reads like a series of short stories in one book, which I liked.

While I did rather enjoy the book, I felt like it may have been too short, some parts where it could have provided meaningful moments to the book were too rushed. Also, I didn't connect with any of the characters, at least to the point that none of them stood out to me. Everyone was mediocre most of the time.

Thank you NetGalley, Eli Zuzovsky, and the publishers for this ARC copy to read and review.

3.25⭐️

This book was a quick read, almost feeling like a mixture of poetry and prose throughout. I really enjoyed both the Jewish and Queer representation — as well as the discussion throughout about the Israel and Palestinian war, a very timely topic. It was, at time, hard for me to keep up with the jumps in time and character perspectives so the overall plot was blurred for me at times, but I did really enjoy each chapter individually as I was reading. The ending felt kind of abrupt, but I enjoyed that there felt like a little bit of closure on Adam’s story.

MAZELTOV is a one-sitting bruiser of a novel exploring a fractured family at a pivotal moment in one young man's life: his Bar Mitzvah.

The plot premise is simple enough: Adam, a 13 year old living in Tel Aviv, is about to become a man, per religious guidelines. He's also, as he's finally realizing, about to come out in some other ways that define his identity. But Adam's Bar Mitzvah terms out to be a moment of impact for so many people in his life: His parents, his grandmother, his best friend, his cousin, and others in his orbit on the night of his manhood. As we move through the pacy, fractured chapters of Eli Zuzovsky's debut novel, we learn how everyone in Adam's family has their lives changed by what goes down on the dance floor (and outside the hall) of his Bar.

MAZELTOV has the juice of commercial fiction packed into a jewel box of a literary fiction novel. The book is full of hilarious moments that blend seamlessly into elements of true heartbreak. And, as one might expect from a book about sexuality, there are some spiced up moments that make the story especially gripping. But, as a whole, this is a rather melancholy piece about the impact of our small and large actions, specifically as each other's family members (chosen or otherwise). The novel is full of unforgettable characters (Annabel! Ben! Meme!) and visceral imagery. The jumping in narrative POVs and writing styles helps make the story even more propulsive as it reaches a breathtaking conclusion, first 20 years in the future and then right back on the stage of the celebration. A slow burn with a tremendous payoff.