There is nothing attractive about the Tel Aviv portrayed in Furman’s compelling and atmospheric novel. Life there is bleak, fractured and often dangerous and violent. Set against this background, it is no surprise that the characters featured in the book also live lives that are fractured and troubled. Yonatan and Lia’s marriage is breaking down and Yonatan himself seems to be going completely off the rails. There is political and social unrest all around, and Jews and Arabs, rich and poor, live uncomfortably side by side. The turmoil of the city reflects the turmoil in the country and the whole of the Middle East and there seems to be little light at the end of the tunnel. This is an uncomfortable book to read and none of the characters are in any way admirable or even likeable, but it’s an absorbing and engaging novel, well-written, well-paced and one that leaves a deep impression.

I personally loved the writing and the construction of each of the four individual stories, but didn't fully enjoyed how the stories were knitted together. At a certain extent I was also disappointed by the choice for the average Tel Aviv context introduced to the reader, exactly what the Western audiences might expect but already a worned out fictional background.

a fascinating book chronicling the lives of a young couple in Tel aviv.

I really didn't like this book - didn't finish it as the narrative was just too disorganised. I will keep an eye out for other works by this author though, as the character development was something I really liked.

There is something about the flow of this book that grows on you, sometimes crawling beneath your skin, sometimes rising to the surface and when you least expect it, you find yourself on the final page, a jigsaw puzzle.

The story opens up with Yonatan and he's in turmoil, but he takes you through Tel-Aviv, like both a stranger and a native. He immerses you in the nightlife and then catapults you into the constant panic, fear and tragedy that's war. Then you meet Lia, and together with Yonatan they have a son called Ben, a young source of life whom they love immensely, for though their marriage is falling apart, he's the only good thing to have come out of it.

The characters were like clay to me. They each have their flaws, hopes and disappointments and each struggles to make sense of it all at a time that's uncertain.

This book took me days to finish because I found myself becoming each character and delving into their past and present lives hanging on a thread so thin I nearly lost my sense of balance. I'm grateful to Netgalley, because I got a free copy in exchange for an honest review and I really do wonder what would have happened if Yonatan and Lia had no child, or what if Yonatan was not interested in Photography but in Music, what kind of angle would the story have taken?

I was very disappointed in this story. I definitely did not like the language. I thought I would be getting an idea of how the young couples in Israel feel regarding living in such an insecure environment. I just could not figure out why I was reading this novel.

3.5 Stars!

I enjoyed reading the different point of views, as well going between past and present, Jonatan and Lia are the main characters and in a failing marriage, the secondary characters were interesting though too!

I also loved reading about Tel Aviv in detail and hope to see it for myself some day. The detail in the book was very descriptive and made it easy to picture being there with the characters! I'd love to read more from the author.

An evening in Tel Aviv, Yonatan finds himself outside his home without money and no idea where to go. He thinks deep into the city’s nightlife, with alcohol, women and drugs. How could he end here in the streets between party-goers and protesters? He once had a plan, for the time after his gap year after the IDF, a career as a photographer, a loving wife and a son. But also Lia, his wife, has to find her place and has to cope not only with the demons of her past, but also with the picture she had of her brother. Just like her sister Sharon who tries to forget and not confront all the negative events that happen in her life by filling her day with work.

I struggled a bit with the novel at first. The narrative structure which always alternates between the present and different points in the past was not very easy to sort out at first. However, this gave it a lot more dynamics and made it actually livelier. I found Yonatan’s and Lia’s story quite interesting, especially having two opposite characters approaching the same point of culmination. I can see what the other two characters contributed to the story, but I could have done without them.

What I appreciated most was the fact how Julian Fuhrman caught the atmosphere of Israel. On the one hand, the carefree and light-hearted nightlife in which you can indulge and forget. On the other hand, being threatened by war and confronted with actual bombings is also a part of their life. Likewise, the question if, as an Israeli, you can befriend an Arab – to which extend do political implications limit your personal sphere? The necessary and mandatory service in the army and the need to flee from this time after having completed the IDF – a constant crucial test of the love for your country. The protesters and their fight for affordable housing and food, it was reported worldwide about this movement and Fuhrman thus integrated very mundane aspects in the novel which rendered the characters and the plot authentic. In the centre, of course, the basic conflict between Lia and Yonatan. How can you love joyfully in those circumstances and make you love last?

A novel which traps the attitude towards life of a whole generation.

"His life is easy, familiar, and cheap; a limitless procession of short-lease friendships and overnight girlfriends, bars full of drinks and drugs and ethical elasticity. He eats noodles from the street vendors and baits the go-go girls in the bars for sport. There is no need to pay with his constant stream of companions behinam".

Tel Aviv is Israel's cultural capital. The cities young population means a wide array of cultural offerings.... Music, Dance, Theater, Film, Art Museums, Fusion Cuisine, Bars, and Clubs. It's the most modern city in Israel. It's 'the' place where young people go party....ranked as a top ten city for nightlife.

Politics in Tel Aviv is seen through a different prism..... youthful, sometimes apathetic, tolerant and secular.
The Bubble, locals call it: a city separate from Israel but indivisibly entwined with it as well.
Many of the young Israelis living in Tel Aviv find it increasingly difficult to secure stable employment and affordable housing while the prices of basic goods keep rising. There is also a growing Israeli disillusionment over the prospects for a peace agreement with the Palestinians and the wider Arab world promising more Jewish settlements on occupied territories.

Between the culture of Modern Tel Aviv and the countries current political situation, a young Jewish couple named Yonatan and Lia are having difficulties with their marriage. Hopefully it can be saved. They have a small child.

I was looking forward to reading this book. But the dialogue wasn't inspiring to me. I never felt any genuine warmth with this story, and wasn't emotionally connected to the characters. It felt like there was too much going on. I didn't know who I was suppose to most care for.

This novel was just a little bland. It doesn't stand out for me.

Love the cover design!

Thank You Freight Books, Netgalley, and Julian Furman. I appreciate being allowed to read an early copy. I apologize that I wasn't 'feeling' this story! It kills me to give this low review.

I will definitely look for more to read by Julian Furman, he is clearly a talented author, with an intriguing family background. This is a fractured story about toxic love, that centers upon estranged narrating partners Yonatan and Lia and their failing marriage; but also involves her siblings Sharon and Michael, their significant others, and everybody's hidden secrets. The sliding back and forth between present and past events has become a common literary technique, but here I felt it obscured the initial cause of Yonatan and Lia's marital discord. After all, they seem so perfectly suited to each other, both professing such devotion to their baby while unable to prevent themselves from indulging in wildly irresponsible behavior that leads them both into a bloody vortex of chaos, not to mention wallowing in squalid filth, like literally on the floor, in public restrooms.

Furman beautifully portrays Tel Aviv as an exciting city wracked by racial tension, adolescent rebellion, and political upheaval; but then also it seems to be the smallest city ever, as when Lia (who is supposed to be sitting shiva for her dead brother at her parents' house) somehow happens to happen upon her husband and their baby son in a random plaza. Even more coincidentally, they are also joined at this precise moment in this particular square by Milli, the very character Yonatan's wronged so profoundly that his world's been entirely upended!