The Intimacy Experiment

Книга, де маркетинг переважив над змістом. Це було нудно та довго. Я тут бачила одне гарне рев'ю від представника реформістського юдаїзму (про який мова йде в книжці), який дуже гарно пояснив, чому цей конфлікт впринципі й сенсу не мав.

Все “велике грандіозне кохання” в цій книзі базується на “о, він дуже хот, я теж хот, давай будемо хот разом”. І у авторки не вийшло продати цю пару. Тут було ще й велике повер��ення мега картонних героїв, бо у них реально по одній рисі характеру. Хоча це навіть не риса характеру, а їх професії (одна з них ще й колишня).

Кінець книги був жахливим. Звісно, не обійшлось без розриву стосунків в третьому акті. І там Остапа понесло. Що одного, що іншого. Головну героїню запросили в її стару школу, щоб вона провела лекцію (чого вона якби і добивалась з початку книги, її головна ціль була проводити лекції з живою аудиторією). І замість того, щоб зробити щось адекватне (бо ти ж для цього працювала), починається вистава “я порвала з хлопцем”. І це напевно мало виглядати ніби наша дуже закрита Маруся накінець-то починає говорити про особисте і відкриватись. Але це все було перед нічого непідозрюючими школярами, які прийшли отримати хоч якусь сексуальну освіту і от для них абсолютно фіолетово, що там в тебе в особистому житті.

І добре б було все на цьому закінчилось, але авторка видно подумала, що раз це буде її остання книга в цій серії, то треба познущатись з читача повністю. Ми отримали точно таку ж сцену, з лекцією про “о мене кинули” тільки вже від священника і перед іншими людьми.

Коротше кажучи, ця книга в мене викликала тільки стрес і нічого крім стресу.

4.5 stars

4.5 stars

The Intimacy Experiment is a spin off of The Roommate by Rosie Danan. I enjoyed this one much more than the first book because it felt more realistic. The main character, Naomi, had real problems and it was more of a character improvement/growth story than just a romance novel. Reading about her character in The Roommate made her seem strong, closed off and sometimes a bitch. I enjoyed reading about her past and becoming a porn star. She showed real emotion, fear, and growth throughout the story. I liked the slow burn romantic aspect of the story because Naomi was learning to trust and love for the first time. Ethan was the perfect person to help her through that journey and I was really happy with the ending. I feel like I learned a lot about modern intimacy as well from Naomi's seminars.

3.5 stars rounded up because we need more romance novels with Jewish characters and themes. Rosie Danan had me at “rabbi and former sex worker,” but she had to work for it once I started reading. I loved the way Ethan made the case to young adults that Reform Judaism could help them find more meaning in their lives, and I loved his support and acceptance of Naomi, past and present. However, I felt like Danan kept telling me that Naomi was a hard as nails badass, but she never really showed that part of her personality (maybe I was supposed to remember her behavior from the previous book [b:The Roommate 45023611 The Roommate Rosie Danan https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1583339454l/45023611.SX50.jpg 69699115], but it's been a minute since I read it). So the whole “bitch goddess meets man of God” dynamic felt washed out. Also, while Naomi's reasons for not getting involved with Ethan were pretty straightforward (her reputation would hurt his career), his reasons were all over the place and not consistent - she couldn't possibly want me because I'm so boring, I can't ask her to make the sacrifice of being a rabbi's wife because my congregants come first, I can't have her because I always disappoint people (not sure where that came from....?) This is one of the reasons that I stopped reading M/F romances; the barriers to the HEA frequently seem arbitrary and contrived. Finally, there is a tone deaf scene towards the end of the book that troubled me. Naomi goes back to her old high school where her public humiliation and shame led her to become a sex worker. Instead of showing how much she has grown and changed, and helping kids who could easily be in the same position she was in years ago, she goes off script and rambles about surviving a relationship breakup and leaves without making a single personal connection. It felt like a totally inappropriate time for Naomi to work through her issues, and it made me mad at her selfishness. So in theory I loved this book, in reality I found some weaknesses. Still, in a world of tired plots and tropes, hats off (yarmulkes off?) to Rosie Danan for trying something new.