3,5 - This certainly kept me interested, but ultimately left me slightly dissatisfied.

It is the story of the siblings Tovyah and Elsie, growing up in a religious Jewish household in London and starting to rebel against their parents each in their own way.

As the brilliant but insufferable Tolvyah moves to Oxford, he meets Katie who takes an interest in Tolvyah, his enigmatic sister (who has gone off the rails for unknown reasons), and his famous mother - a career-driven memoirist that uses her family's real life experiences as material to the frustration of her children.

The publisher correctly says it has something of the Secret History and it's all very intriguing, but once I got to the end it seemed not that much had actually happened.

There are also quite some difficult and sensitive themes (holocaust, Jewish mysticism, mental health) that for me should be treated with care, not just as plot-devices - mostly they were handled well and explained clearly, but not always.

Many thanks to the publisher for an audio-ARC via Netgalley - the narration was impressive as the female narrator was very consistent when different characters, including men, were speaking.16 s Renee Godding702 841

Actual Rating: 3.5/5 stars

“We have arrived at a paradox. To live as a jew is impossible, and not to live as a Jew is equally impossible. Both paths are obscene, both insult the dead. Our subject today is whether it is possible to speak intelligently about the Holocaust. There are men who have claimed, some with great authority, that it is not possible.”

Right off the bat, let’s start by addressing the elephant in the room that admittedly changed the lens through which I went into the story. This book is being done a disservice by its marketing team by being marketed as a horror/ghost-story. It is not… It’s a literary fiction novel about the relationships and connections within a Jewish family and the multigenerational ripple-effect that the trauma of the Holocaust sent through it.
Don’t get me wrong: there are plenty of “horrors” interlinked within this story; horrors of the aftermath of war, of the inhuman crimes taking place in WWII, of substance abuse and mental health, of neglect and abuse, and many more. But this is not a horror-novel, but a family tragedy at its core.

What I loved:
Viewed as a generational-saga instead of primarily a work of horror, Fervor succeeds in many aspects. We follow three generations of the Rosenthal family, largely centering around Hannah, a devout mother and believer in the literal interpretation of the Old Testament (specifically the existence of literal Good and Evil). Hannah is a journalist, living with her husband in North London and currently working on a partially fictionalized biography of her father Yosef’s life and the horrors he lived through as a Holocaust survivor. Her taking of these events stirs up a lot of friction within the family. Caught in the crossfire are Hannah’s two adolescent children Tovyah and Elsie. Things take a turn for the worse when Elsie becomes drawn to the darker sides of Jewish mythology and her mental health starts to suffer in turn.
Fervor would make for a fantastic book-club pick as there are so many important discussions to be had here. Discussions on religion, cultural identity, generational trauma (in particular the “ownership” and right to speak of said trauma), and many more. I loved how Toby Lloyd chose to touch on these subjects, without spelling things out or moralizing the reader. A lot of the dynamics involved are implied through character-interactions, which enhances that feeling that there’s so much more under the surface with this family than first meets the eye.
All of the characters are flawed in their own ways, some irredeemably so. Yet all of them are written to be understandable, considering their circumstances, which is an incredibly difficult thing to do. The level to which Toby Lloyd manages that (considering it’s a debut too!) is impressive!

What I didn’t love:
My biggest critique is the continuous distance I felt to the characters, which I think was mostly due to the choice of POV. A large chunk of the story is told from a perspective outside the core-family; as an outsider looking in. Personally, I would’ve preferred a more claustrophobic inside perspective, as I feel it would’ve fit the story and tone better.
Finally, I have to circle back to the mismarketing. It may seem unfair to critique a book heavily for something outside the authors control, but as a message to the publishers its importance to a books success can’t be understated. This book got lucky with me, as I happen to both horror- ánd literary fiction. Readers who expected an exorcist- novel about a teenage girl divulging and unhinging into Jewish Mysticism (which is not an unfair expectation coming off the marketing!) will come away disappointed. I truly hope the publisher will address this, as to make sure the book reaches its correct audience.

Many thanks to Avid Reader Press for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
2024-releases grief-trauma horror ...more11 s Marissa Finnerty64 8

I was extremely impressed with this debut novel. Un anything I’ve ever ready before, I was captured from the very beginning I don’t agree that this is necessarily a horror story- to me it’s more of a social commentary in the mirror of religion/religious extremism. Every character served a purpose and I felt satisfied with the way the story was completed. While it was technically left open ended, it felt true to the story to draw your own conclusions. I think this books provides incredible fodder for a book club discussion. Highly recommend!

Thank you Avid Reader Press for the NetGalley arc! I have been excited about this book for quite some time and was thrilled to receive it. And the cover!! Is just stunning!!4 s Lara2,545 140

E-ARC received from Edelweiss, thank you for the opportunity!

It's not a ghost story, even though there might be a ghost, and the ghosts of the past are everywhere. It's about faith, and how even not having faith is still a kind of belief. It's about how you can never fully understand another person, and sometimes you shouldn't try. It's about how memory is sometimes a trap and a weight. It's about how sometimes a cruel and vengeful God makes more sense than a kind and loving God, and the ways you might show your faith. Your fervor, if you will.

For those with triggers, part of the story is Yosef's experiences in the ghetto and in Treblinka, and as he tells Hannah "I didn't survive. I got out.". Elsie struggles with mental illness and anorexia, and there is an explicit, terrible death. Be aware going in.2 s Katya403 52

Based on the description, this book wasn't quite what I was expecting. It's more The World Cannot Give and less, I don't know, Jonathan Franzen, and I can't compare it to The Secret History except for the academia bit. I expected Elsie and the witchcraft angle to be much more prominent, so it was interesting to have the story be more centered on Tovyah, who isn't exactly a sympathetic character (but are any of them really).

I found Kate, the window, to be very similar to the protagonist in World in that she was a bit of a blank slate through which the reader could discover the Rosenthals and their brand of Judaism, and be immersed in the mysticism right alongside Kate. For all that Kate had a personality, the book might as well have been written in third person; as a character she was entirely superfluous and served as more of a plot device to get close to Tovyah, Elsie, and Hannah and observe them in their natural (and sometimes unnatural) habitats.

It's an interesting time to publish a book about a devout Jewish family, especially one containing a stringently Zionist character, considering *gestures vaguely at everything* and it's particularly interesting that Hannah was portrayed as more of a villain and entirely unsympathetic through Kate's eyes; but even Tovyah, stridently atheist, is prickly and unable.

This is very much a character- and relationship-driven work, especially as the circumstances of those characters remain often murky and unresolved (looking at you, Elsie). At the end, I couldn't quite figure out what the book was trying to say, what its purpose was, and that, even more so than the is-it-isn't-it vagueness of the supernatural, left me a little unsatisfied.

Thanks to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the eARC!imitating-life1 Julie Friar213 5

Tovyah is the rebel in the family as he no longer believes in his Jewish faith. His grandfather Yosef survived the was but after his passing his mother publishes a memoir which causes pain to Tovyah. He worries about how literally his sister believes in her faith whilst he struggles with relationships at university. A family divided yet held together by religion.

This is a well written and well narrated novel (I listened to the audiobook). The family each have their views and beliefs but they are at conflict, which causes difficulties and hurt for individuals. Family saga at heart but one that brings you to consider the pressures we place upon ourselves and how we cope with them.1 Tiana Western21

The writing was beautifully done, but I personally feel the story didn't line up with the description provided. The description made it seem as though Elsie would be more of a main character, but she really was almost non-existent through most of the book. The characters' arrogance was unbearable many times throughout the book , and I almost gave it up completely. I feel that if it was marketed more as a Jewish lesson book about faith and history, it would have been easier to read, but going in thinking it was one thing and then coming out a completely different line was very off putting. I also feel that the author danced around a lot of information, and in the end, the story fell short and was lackluster with many unanswered questions.1 scifishm7

This novel offers a great entryway into understanding the current predicament of Jews who live as minorities in western countries in contrast to Jews who live in Israel. In a story that stretches from the 1990s through the first decade of the 21st century and up to today, the novel addresses such tensions as the choice between full assimilation and unquestioned participation in Jewish religious practices and customs; and the experience of feeling --and being--an outsider, not only because of actively rejecting the Jewish identity of one's parents but also failing to--or not feeling you can be--accepted in other settings (in this case an elite university--Oxford) just because of being Jewish.
The book centers on a Jewish family in London--a grandfather, his son and the son's wife, and the three grandchildren. The grandfather is a holocaust survivor, and when the book opens he is nearing the end of his difficult life, and we are shown the different effects that life and his own understanding of that life has had on his son and daughter-in-law, and on each of the three grandchildren: a teen-age boy, a girl a few years younger, and the youngest child, a boy who is seen by the family--and himself--as the special one, who will achieve great things in the world.
The book then goes on to focus on the actions and experiences of the mother, the daughter and the special one. In doing so we are shown various ways of dealing with being Jewish in a narrative that may be familiar to readers of Chaim Potok, I.B. Singer, Bernard Malamud, Howard Jacobson, even Philip Roth and probably other Jewish writers who are not in my own frame of reference. Along the way we are given re-tellings of key (to the novel) stories from the Old Testament, insights from the Kabbalah, nuggets of rabbinic and Talmudic wisdom, various attitudes toward Israel and Palestinians, plus perspectives on many great *non-Jewish* writers of western literature. The book thus touches on the intellectual, spiritual, political, ethical, and even sexual quandaries of contemporary Jews.
For me the book had two especially interesting things to say relevant to the disaster happening in Israel right now. At one point in the book the "special son" offers an explanation I had not heard before for the founding of Israel: "The early Zionists had two big fears. . . pogroms were going to get worse not better. . . .One day the Cossacks, the Inquisitors, the sons of Amalek would be coming for us all. That was problem number one. Problem number two was assimilation. They looked West and they asked themselves, how can a tiny, secular minority survive without being swallowed up? The Jews of France would become Frenchmen, the Jews of England would become Englishmen, and the Jews of Italy would become Italians."
Later in the book the older brother (who had lived in Israel, served in the IDF, and as more evidence of the varying perspectives on Jewish life the book offers, is gay) says "The thing about Israel is everyone knows they're on the brink of a terrible war that kills everyone they've ever met, so no one gives a fuck. You see? They don't give a fuck about embarrassing themselves, or saying the wrong thing, or what strangers think, or any of that English [substitute any other nationality than Israeli] bullshit."
When I started reading this book I really hoped and wanted it to be great. It has all the elements of a great book. But it let me down. First, it wasn't clear to me until a number of pages into the book who the narrator is. It turned out that the narrator is the only college buddy and on-and-off girlfriend of the special one when he is at Oxford. It's a variation of Nick Carraway's narration of The Great Gatsby. But there the choice of narrator is perfect. Here I think we get to know the narrator too well. I found her narration to be a distraction rather than a voice that complicates our own view of the other characters and thus enriches our experience of the book. Second, the books tells us much more than it shows us. Too much explanation distances us from the action. Possibly because of this I found myself getting impatient with the characters rather than more involved. Finally I think the book wants us to feel growing concern about the fate of the girl in the family. She is the problem child. The author does a good job of making us wonder what the cause of her problems is--or whether it has many causes: emotional, spiritual, possibly even supernatural. Even so, if the book's ending is meant to come as a shock, it did not work for me. I just was not as involved in her story--or maybe more involved in the other characters' stories--than the author wanted me to be.
But that's just me.
Thank you Avid Reader Press for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley.
All opinions are my own. Kaitlyn225 5

Huge THANK YOU to Simon & Schuster for my FIRST EVER ARC!!!! (of course, in exchange for an honest review).

In Fervor, we meet the Rosenthal family- Eric, Hannah, and their children: Gideon, Elsie, and Tovyah. Eric and Hannah are devout Jews, raising their children to believe that God is ever-present in each aspect of their lives. When the family patriarch, Yosef, passes away, Elsie quickly becomes unraveled. She starts acting out at school, writing violent stories, and researching the Kabbalist texts, which are extremely dark and disturbing. Elsie eventually disappears and is missing for a few days, only to return different - she constantly struggles with her mental health and continually exhibits bizarre behavior. Meanwhile, Hannah decides to capitalize on her family's story by writing about it in a public memoir - which causes her to skyrocket to fame. The rest of the book explains how these two events (Elsie's disappearance and Hannah's writing) impact the rest of the family.

Ultimately, this story kept my interest but overall missed the mark for me. Rather than focus on Elsie, we are told her story mainly through the perspective of Kate, a random college friend of Tovyah's. Why this choice was made was lost on me. If this was truly meant to be a family saga, wouldn't it make more sense to tell it from the perspective of someone who was actually within the family?

I also think that too much emphasis was placed on Tovyah's character when really the focus of the story should have been Elsie and her struggles with mental health. Was she really a witch? Did she dabble in dark magic? Why were we only told what happened after she disappeared very briefly over the course of a few pages? The author is a gifted writer, but did not choose to highlight the correct character. I did not particularly care about stuck-up Tovyah and his struggles to fit in at Oxford. Even Gideon would have been a better choice - we could have gotten insight into his struggles with his sexuality and his travels around the world to escape from his family. But instead, we get Tovyah who was just bland and un-interesting.

Despite those shortcomings, I did find myself turning the pages. I thought the book raised some interesting themes and questions about the impact of religion on people's lives. How much is too much? I also found the excerpts and allusions to the Torah to be valuable to our understanding of the novel and its characters. It is clear the author did his research. As a Catholic, I had not heard some of the stories referenced - I am always willing to learn new things!

Overall, while this book was not particularly my cup of tea, I can appreciate what it brought to the table and may recommend it only for those who are interested in Jewish literature. Those who are looking for a horror novel should look elsewhere.21st-century england fiction ...more6 s Elli LewisAuthor 2 books15


Literal Literary Fiction Friction


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