The Matzah Ball, by Jean Meltzer

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There are so many Christmas-themed books out there. They are wonderful, but it's rare for me to come across a Hanukkah-themed one. That's why when I found out about the contemporary romance called The Matzah Ball, written by Jean Meltzer and narrated by Dara Rosenberg, I was all in. This week was Hanukkah, so it was perfect timing.

Rachel Rubenstein-Goldblatt is a Jewish woman who secretly loves Christmas traditions and writes Christmas romance novels under a pen name so even her own family doesn't know her secret. Her publisher thinks it's time to for a change, so she tasks her with writing a Hanukkah romance. Rachel is now at a loss for words. 

Rachel decides to volunteer to help with an upcoming Jewish celebration, a Matzah Ball, in an effort to find inspiration for her new novel. Unfortunately, this means working with Jacob Greenberg. The two haven't seen each other in years. When they were 12 years old, they were archenemies at summer camp. Now at 30 years old, they still have not reconciled. 

Rachel has another secret. She has Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, a chronic illness that affects her day-to-day life. Now she must find a way to work with her archenemy while hiding both secrets - her love of Christmas and her chronic illness. Can she work through all of this and write another best-selling novel, but this time with a Hanukkah theme?

There are several aspects of this book that I really like. The narration is spot-on. Dara Rosenberg does a great job voicing the characters. They each have distinct voices that resonated with me, both male and female of various ages. Narrations don't always resonate with me with audiobooks, so this was a huge plus.

Diversity in more than one way is a part of this book, which is another positive. One of the most prominent forms of diversity is disability representation. The author herself has the same chronic illness as the main character, Rachel, does. This makes it authentic.

I really enjoyed the character of Jacob's grandmother. She's very quirky and fun, but also wise. She imparts this wisdom on Rachel close to the end of the book. That wisdom is the central theme in this book - living your truth even in the face of adversity. That's an important message and one that resonates with me.

I also really enjoyed reading about Jewish customs. This is something I'm not very familiar with, so it was a fun way to understand some history and traditions. The idea of a Matzah Ball is a clever way for readers to find out about those traditions.

If I liked all of this about the book, then why do I give it a rating of just 2 out of 5? There are a few reasons. And in my book, those reasons are huge. They unfortunately outweigh most of the positives for me.

There is what I consider a moderate amount of swearing. If I had read more specific reviews before listening to the book, I would not have chosen it. This will not bother everyone. Some people probably won't even notice it. But for me, swearing doesn't sit well.

In my eyes (or ears), Rachel's character came across as unlikeable. I will give you one prominent example. Somewhat early in the book, she makes a joke about a sensitive subject. Jacob laughs at this so-called joke, which makes him equally unlikeable. In a book that celebrates so much diversity, I was shocked when I read that supposed joke. It happened only once, but it was huge.

While I appreciate the disability representation, there were also some problems with it. The words "disease" and "disability" are used interchangeably. One can lead to the other, but they are different. Also, the term "broken" is used to describe disability. Personally, I walk with crutches. However, I do not feel that I am broken. It's just who I am. And I am whole.

Finally, I couldn't buy into the overall conflict. The two main characters were archenemies when they were 12 years old and still have trouble working through things at 30 years old. I think it would have made more sense to me if their problems had begun as adults, maybe from just a few years back, and they were trying to work through those issues. I can't imagine as an adult holding onto a grudge from when I was 12 years old.

I've covered several aspects of this book, which is because there are many layers to the story. I do appreciate that, but it isn't enough for me to want to keep reading more from this author. I would love to read more light-hearted books that focus on traditions I'm unfamiliar with, such as Hanukkah, and I certainly want to read more where the main character's disability is authentically represented. But because of all the negative aspects of this book, I'll have to look elsewhere.