Reflections on our first book review, one year later.

We've been thinking a lot about acceptance.

Or rather, how often it's missing.

Shane and I published our novel "𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝑺𝒆𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝑷𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝑴𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒉" nearly ten months ago.

The day after its release, someone left a one-star review.

Here’s what they wrote:

𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓫𝓸𝓸𝓴 𝓲𝓼 𝓯𝓲𝓬𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷. 𝓦𝓱𝓲𝓬𝓱 𝓶𝓮𝓪𝓷𝓼: 𝓲𝓽'𝓼 𝓯𝓪𝓴𝓮 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓷𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻 𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓹𝓮𝓷𝓮𝓭.

𝓘𝓷 𝓶𝔂 𝓸𝓹𝓲𝓷𝓲𝓸𝓷, 𝓲𝓽'𝓼 𝓶𝓮𝓪𝓷𝓽 𝓽𝓸 𝓭𝓮𝓷𝓲𝓰𝓻𝓪𝓽𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓸𝓻𝓽𝓱𝓸𝓭𝓸𝔁 𝓙𝓮𝔀𝓲𝓼𝓱 𝓬𝓾𝓵𝓽𝓾𝓻𝓮...

𝓑𝓮𝓼𝓲𝓭𝓮𝓼, 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓪𝓾𝓽𝓱𝓸𝓻 𝓬𝓱𝓸𝓼𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓪𝓰𝓮 𝓸𝓯 𝓢𝓱𝓮𝓿𝔂 𝓽𝓸 𝓫𝓮 17... 𝓲𝓽 𝔀𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓫𝓮 𝓶𝓾𝓬𝓱 𝓫𝓮𝓽𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓴𝓲𝓭𝓼 𝓽𝓸 𝓫𝓮 𝓻𝓮𝓼𝓹𝓮𝓬𝓽𝓯𝓾𝓵 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓪𝓭𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓮𝓷𝓽 𝓽𝓸 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓲𝓻 𝓹𝓪𝓻𝓮𝓷𝓽𝓼 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓷𝓸𝓽 𝓽𝓻𝔂 𝓽𝓸 𝓫𝓮 𝓻𝓮𝓫𝓮𝓵𝓵𝓲𝓸𝓾𝓼.

Let’s check the facts:

★ The book is clearly labeled fiction.

★ It does not, in any shape or form, denigrate Orthodox Jewish culture.

★ The main character, Shevy, is 14—not 17.

★ Shevy lives at home with her parents.

★ Shevy is a typical teenager and not overly rebellious.

The review was posted one day after the softcover release, before the ebook launched.

It wasn’t a verified purchase, meaning the reviewer didn’t buy the book.

So why does this matter? Why are we harping on this review?

Because it ties into acceptance.

Some people—like the reviewer—respond with anger to anything that brushes against their religion and worldview. Even something that isn’t attacking it. Our book doesn’t mock religion. It doesn’t insult it. It tells a fictional story about love, understanding, and the challenges of living in two worlds.

The whole point of our novel is to show that acceptance is possible.

But many people like 𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒂𝒎𝒂𝒛𝒐𝒏𝒊𝒂𝒏 who left this review don’t want to hear that. They keep their defenses high. They cling to what feels safe. They shut down anything unfamiliar instead of stepping toward connection.

Our hope is that people will begin to step out of the box they were taught to live in. To look across the divide and see that they can still hold onto their values while showing kindness to someone who lives differently.

Let’s move toward acceptance, not judgment.

Toward understanding, not fear.

Toward connection, not defensiveness.

Toward love—not hate.

Let’s make the world a kinder place.

A little safer.

A little better.

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Until next time, Jood