Our heroine Penina comes from a community of modern Orthodox Jews, where marriage at a young age and having lots of children is highly prized. As an infertile woman, finding a marriage match has not come easily to her, and a traditional shadchan is heroically making a last ditch effort into finding a mate for Penina. Meanwhile, she spends her days volunteering in a local hospital’s NICU, working her jewelry shop job, maintaining her social media presence as a frum fashionista, and going on hotel lobby dates with unsuitable men. When her boss goes out on medical leave and his attractive (secular) son takes over the jewelry store, sparks fly, but handsome Sam annoys the heck out of her,and somehow, their bodies keep colliding in ways that are against the strict rules around unmarried, unrelated male and female proximity. Penina’s sister is in danger of losing her home due to her husband;s failed businesses, and Penina becomes determined not just to marry, but to marry wealthy; when Sam learns she’s become engaged and will settle for a marriage in name only, he has some opinions.

This is a wonderfully authentic portrayal of navigating a complex culture. So many details ring true, from festival observances to the love and obligations of family politics to the Israeli-accented English of Penina’s sister. Shertok tells Penina’s story with a lot of humor and honesty and never devolves to deprecation. The writing is descriptive (the clothing descriptions are amazing!) and evocative, and characters and situations relatable whatever your religious or cultural affiliations.

I received an advance reader’s copy of #UnorthodoxLove from #NetGalley.

https://hiplibrariansbookblog.com/2023/03/10/unorthodox-love-by-heidi-shertok/ ( )

this was a mess from the beginning until something like 80% of the way through. the jokes were ableist, the developing relationship between the two main characters made no sense, and i can't stand a power differential in a romance. on the positive side, the concept of not being broken because you're different is a good one (even though the main character often made ableist comments about others that directly contradicted this). i don't prefer a message that doubles down on religion, and i'm finding that even places that i used to better understand, like judaism, don't make me comfortable anymore. that said, i think her depiction of orthodoxy is an interesting one because it both reinforces the religious restrictions (since they're accurate) but shows some flexibility, like in the purple lipstick and goth dress of the sister. it's nice to see the spectrum of what that can look like. but otherwise this wasn't great.

it's not the author's fault but the narrator had no ability to do an israeli accent (she made him sound sometimes italian, sometimes british, but mostly indian) or portray the men well. ( )

Penina is a 29-year old Orthodox Jewish woman who is a virgin and infertile which causes her match problems in the Orthodox Jewish community. She longs for marriage, but the matchmaker only matches her with men twice her age or men with serious issues (drug use, mommie issues). She is a very caring person, going out of her way to help her family (2 sisters) and strangers in distress. Right now both sisters are in need of help: Libby due to large financial problems and Frayia (19) because she is may be pregnant and not married. Pernina has worked at Kleinfeld's Jewelry since she was in college. Almost simultaneously see meets the owner's son, Sam, and the newest date arranged by the matchmaker, Zevi. Both could be male models. She and Sam have a fractious relationship, but an attraction to each other. Zevi, secretly gay Orthodox Jew, offers a large amount of money that would save Libby and her family in exchange for a fake marriage and a divorce after his mother passes. Penina must decide between them. ( )