Suri Rosen

This was entertaining, even if it did fit neatly into the YA Rom Com thing, which meant it ended up being a little bit predictable and a teensy bit tiresome. There were a few passages I skimmed near the end, as I was impatient for the story to wrap up. The narrative follows Raina, a teenage Jewish girl who has been exiled to Toronto from New York, where she ran into some trouble at school. The nature of the trouble is revealed later in the story, but the first half or so of the book details her misery and isolation, her estrangement from her sister who had previously been her best friend, and her difficulty living with her (inexplicably generous but) somewhat prickly aunt. Quite accidentally, she finds herself in a position of matchmaker, and winds up consumed by the duties of this mysterious but vaunted character. Although I am Jewish, I'm somewhat removed from everyday Jewish culture, so although I was vaguely aware of the concept of matchmaking as far as it is present in the Jewish community, I was sort of fascinated by it. Basically, it amounts to arranged marriages, since in a certain sector the ultimate goal is to settle down into a marriage and begin having children. But, this is presented in this story as totally normal, even desirable. Since Raina's activities are interfering with what should be her primary concerns as a teenage girl (school, friends, family etc.) and they are also being conducted quite secretly, it is no surprise that the secrets build up and become harder and harder to conceal until, of course, they explode most dramatically. I won't spoil the outcome. This novel is an interesting peek into the otherwise little-known world of Jewish family drama (which is, of course, not much different than any other family drama).… (mere)

I enjoyed this sometimes sweet, sometimes funny book. I appreciate that, although it was about matchmaking, the teenage main character was not falling in love or crushing on anyone. All the romance (and there wasn't much) was between adults. Finally! A book that has a teenage main character who is not falling in love!

Being that Raina does most of her matchmaking by email without meeting people in person, she learns, as do the people around her, that we never know the whole story and to be careful judging otters.… (mere)