Thank you netgalley and publisher for the early copy!

I checked out earc but decided to put it down. I did not connect with the writing style and struggled with the format of the arc.

DNF at 48%
Too high expetations for this one, i had thought it would give me the feel like THUG (The hate u give), and i really liked that one. This one didn't.. I had a hard time following the MC in the story, he had so much rage it affected the whole story and it was a bit tiredsome.. I see how it sort of resembles THUG, but i just could'nt like the main character, and espesially then it flops for me and he was here and there and the character didn't grow on me.

Thank for the eARC.

The story was good. Read the whole book and it was so interested to dive into the story, the characters and all. I kinda enjoy the story though it did felt empty somewhere somehow. But it was a good read

I liked the characters, I thought they were brilliantly written, but the execution was a little lacking. The synopsis was fascinating, but the writing felt rushed, and a bit unexplored in sections I wanted more of.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Several years ago we saw a lot of books about the families of school shooters. Now we've moved on to the families of terrorists. While the details change the general themes remain the same: grief at war with guilt and the pressures of public perception. In this case, we have the added complication of racism and anti-semitism. Eran's anger in complicated not only by his family history but by a public pre-disposed to unfairly judging him based on his race.This is just an added complication to the question of whether anger and violence are ever justified. There are elements of generational guilt and community ties. It comes to no solid conclusions, just starts a conversation that we must all decide for ourselves.

While an interesting perspective with a male taking the lead role in the young adult genre, a genre typically covered with females as main characters, I struggled to follow back and forth with the storyline.

It jumps perspectives, which I am typically okay with, but I struggled with the hatred/anger Eran carried, as well as how much it came to define him for an extended amount of time in the novel.

I was looking to this text to add to my classroom library, and it is a quick read, however the violence and anger/rage that is part of the text strikes me as a little too much to add to my classroom.

What Makes Us is a coming-of-age story that talks about finding one's self, understanding your identity, learning to love, learning about injustice, learning to hold on, and learning how to let go.

It revolves around Eran, trying to understand why he feels that he has so much passion inside him, his relationship with his Eema, and his longing for the care of his father.

Eventually, a viral video leads him to the revelation that his father was a terrorist, and leads him to question everything that he thought he knew about himself.

I loved that this story showed the perspective of Eran's mom and how she made her decisions. But, the third persepective, which focuses on Jade, Eran's friend, feels a little disconnected to the essence and message of the story.

If there is one thing I could commend, it's an interesting male POV that is very much inclined with all his emotions. Though I can't say that I can relate to the character, the author did an amazing job on this matter and his writing can bring forth many important conversations on the social justice issues this book has touched.

The book would have been a perfect one if the resolutions were done better. The book took a different course than what I was expecting, so I felt a little lost.

All in all, a promising read.

Eran lives a quiet life with his mother. Everything is quite normal. Except, of course, for the fact that he has never met his father. And that he knows nothing about him. And that his mother refuses to tell him anything at all.

But went a peaceful protest turns ugly, Eran will get media attention. Which, in turn, will lead to a very upsetting truth: reporters start connecting his family to a dark past. Can his father's identity really be the one reporters are presenting?

What Makes Us is a story of discovery, a coming-of-age testament for a young person who turns from not knowing his own family to discovering too much too fast. The concept was good. But the execution felt, at times, lacking. And, although the plot was not bad, the characters felt, at times, poorly constructed. Nevertheless, it wasn't a bad right - but it could have been much better.

What Makes Us by Rafi Mittlefehld is kind of a coming of age story but it takes place in about a weeks time. It is a story about self discovery quite literally. I feel like a broken record when I say the story way good but... But the story was just that, good. I felt this book had the opportunity to be more enlightening. It felt rushed and seemed that a lot of stuff didn't happen yet happened at the same time.


What if the life you knew wasn't the truth? That everything you thought you knew about yourself was just wrong? What if you found out your father was a terrorist suicide bomber? And your name wasn't the one thou were born with? What if...

These are the questions Eran Sharon is facing after a small community protest he planed gets out of hand. All of a sudden he's gaining national attention. In the center of a media circus secrets about who he really is, who his father was, and protests against him make his life into something he doesn't recognize.

Eran's friend, Jade, is also finding out secrets about her family in the midst of the turmoil her town is in. Her own questions about the past surface and she also starts questioning who she is.

With these two teens, just got a bit more complicated and things are becoming clear.  But more with clothes comes questions about who they are. In the end they find out what circumstances have lead them to where and who they are today.

I give this book a 2 out of 5 stars. The story was okay-good but it just didn't live up to the potential I thought I could.

Thank you NetGalley for a copy of this book for a fair and honest review.

I always enjoy books about difficult contemporary subject matter, and this was certainly an interesting read along. That being said, this book was overstuffed with issues that weren't done the justice they deserved, and some of the turns the plot takes are painfully predictable to the book's detriment. It's not a bad read, just not a particularly recommendable one when other books on the same subjects have done much better.

THANK YOU TO CANDLEWICK PRESS FOR AN ARC IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW

First and foremost, let me say something before I begin, while I will obviously talk about the themes of What Makes us, by Rafi Mittlefehldt, because they are so intricate to what makes it riveting and timely.

I have a very real understanding of having to reconcile that I am not my father, nor do the sins of the father befall on me (let alone the sins of my family), no matter how I was judged by other or by myself. However, those sins centered around addiction, violence (towards us and, unfortunately the community).

However, as horrific as that was and that domino effect on my life continues still, to this day? That is not the narrative or experience of this story. And it is not my place to comment on these specific narratives. And so, I will not.

DO NOT take that silence as the type of silence that is an act of ignorance, which is ultimately support because it is the choice to ignore, not act and allow it to continue. Those who review this book from a place of similar experiences should have this space to raise their voices and I will not take that from them. That is the only silence you hear.

Structurally and in tone there is a very important part of What Makes Us that Mittlefehldt must be commended on. I have mentioned, a few times, my issue with dialogue in contemporary young adult books. It isn’t all of them and I don’t even know that it is the majority. However, when teenagers in contemporary books, aimed at teenagers, stop sounding like teenagers? You aren’t going to get buy-in from your core audience.

Throw in a novel dealing in racism, police brutality, shaming, personal property going viral and the consequences of ostracizing via judgement/isolation? If your main characters aren’t relatable then you lose the game before the first pitch is thrown.

Mittlefehldt never comes close to this line. Throughout What Makes Us, no matter what the emotionally charged situation or action initiated scene is acted out? Everyone remains true to their generation.

This doesn’t just ground What Makes Us in the contemporary genre in which it is written. It allows the generational divides and interactions that are so pivotal to both Jade, and Eran’s stories to ring with true authenticity. Without that, much of the impact around reconciling the past rather than letting it dictate who you are, and confining what you are, and not allowed to do to better the world, today?

Rather than it sounding like a push and pull between the past and the present? Rather than hearing the voices of multiple generations? The entire story would have sounded like a lot of adults sitting around at a bar having a debate over beer.

Another important piece that I want to point out about What Makes Us is that Mittlefehldt isn’t content to just hit on terrorism, privilege, how justice isn’t applied equally, homophobia and classism.

To drive home a butterfly effect of these horrific hate patterns, further ideas are addressed. Our society has become one of social media gone viral with a right to outrage, shame, bully and cancellation identity. Whatever you might do now? If someone sees something in your past? It is spread for the world to see and you aren’t even asked- it is just jury, judge and execute.

And in this case? Even if it is someone you didn’t even know was your father that was a terrorist? The results on your life, your person and everything you know can be taken from you in a snap. Despite your passion and action around the rights of others and equality for everyone, all that matters is that your father, that you never knew, was a terrorist.

When society should be supporting Eran in his questioning of himself. What might his father have passed upon him through genetics? Could his mother raised him past whatever might be in his DNA? Those feelings are terrifying and when he needs those that know him best, the most? They are questioning, judging and isolating him. Or parents are and his friends can’t not listen, can they?

That was an added dynamic to What Makes Us that I didn’t expect and it was something that made it an ever better book that I expected it to be. When you look at how easily it all unfolds from one protest incident escalating to the video that goes viral and then suddenly it all changes.

How you view yourself. How so many view you- not strangers, but people who KNOW YOU. Mittlefehldt weaves together these stories, themes and emotional fallouts into a powerful story that should not be missed and should be apart of high-school classes across the country.

What Makes Us Synopsis
A viral video reveals a teen’s dark family history, leaving him to reckon with his heritage, legacy, and identity in this fiery, conversation-starting novel.

Eran Sharon knows nothing of his father except that he left when Eran was a baby. Now a senior in high school and living with his protective but tight-lipped mother, Eran is a passionate young man deeply interested in social justice and equality. When he learns that the Houston police have launched a program to increase traffic stops, Eran organizes a peaceful protest.

But a heated moment at the protest goes viral, and a reporter connects the Sharon family to a tragedy fifteen years earlier — and asks if Eran is anything like his father, a supposed terrorist. Soon enough, Eran is wondering the same thing, especially when the people he’s gone to school and temple with for years start to look at him differently.

Timely, powerful, and full of nuance, Rafi Mittlefehldt’s sophomore novel confronts the prejudices, fears, and strengths of family and community, striking right to the heart of what makes us who we are.

Highschool senior Eran Sharon has never been afraid to speak up for what he believes in, and when his hometown of Houston approves a plan to give police increased power to carry out traffic stops, he decides to organise a peaceful protest, along with several of his friends. On the day of the protest however things get a little heated and Eran pushes a counter protester, resulting in a suspension from school. It turns out that that is the least of his problems however, as a video recording of the moment goes viral with shocking consequences that Eran could never have foreseen. When he finally learns the identity of the father he has been asking his strict and tight lipped mother about for years, it is truly shocking, not just to him but to his friends and classmates and the wider community,
I liked this book a lot, despite some real formatting issues in the ARC copy I read. The book is mainly Eran's story, but is interspersed with sections telling the story of his mother, and how they ended up moving to Houston in the first place , as well a secondary story featuring Eran's friend Jade which was completely unnecessary and seemed more like filler than a vital component of the book. Some of the most memorable parts of the book are set in Eran's school, and in a class he was taking on social justice, politics etc, and I thought the author used this, and his relationship with his teacher well, to make some interesting and thought provoking points. I also liked the theme of nature vs nurture and how much Eran's character had matured over the course of the book. It was also refreshing to read a YA book written largely from a male perspective.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

I received a free copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

When Eran Sharon leads a protest to stop the police from performing searches and such without actual reason he never expected the large crowd that came to protest with him. The protest is so large it attracts the attention of the local news crew. Things are going great and the news crew is welcome until a group of anti protesters comes face to face with Eran's protest group. Shouting leads to a physical altercation which the news crews have caught on tape and now the story will be aired and available for everyone to see. When the story is aired Eran finds out exactly what his mother has been hiding and finally understands why she never wanted to tell him the truth about his family history. Now with all their secrets out Eran and his mother must face the consequences of actions they had nothing to do with in a battle they didn't choose.

This book was just okay for me. I was interested in this book as the story sounded amazing, however I feel like it came up just a bit short on delivery. There were moments when I felt for the characters and moments that I thoroughly enjoyed them but this didn't happen early enough. The story did a lot of flipping back and forth from time periods and perspectives which just made everything more confusing and harder to follow.

The characters were well done. Eran, our main character, was done very well. He was portrayed as a complete hot head with a short temper for almost all of the book. While this didn't get me to like him at all, it did do an amazing job of showing the similarities of Eran and his father while simultaneously showing the contrast of Eran and his mother.

I like the fact that this book brought up social issues. It forces the reader to take a look at social injustice and how people are judged based upon things they can't control, such as family members and race. We are also forced to look at consequences. Eran pushes a man and faces major consequences for it, but he pays for more than a simple push. He pays for what others believe him and his mother have done. It shows how people can be victimized by simply being who they are instead of the judgments on them being justified.

What I didn't like about this book was that it seemed to go on and on. Even though the story was pretty good and there were so many good parts of this book it still just dragged on and seemed like it was a lot longer than it actually was. This made it hard to stay focused on certain parts of the story as it was easy to lose focus on what was happening.

This book was pretty good. I do think that more time should have been taken with the story because at times it feels rushed and at others it feels like it gets side tracked. The characters on the other hand were amazing!! In the vein of The Hate You Give this title gives a voice to Israeli-Americans. The biggest issue with this title for me at least is that it fails to bring out any emotion. I wanted to really care for these characters but it just didn't have that spark.

Overall, this one had a really good ending but the story itself lacks spark, good pacing, and direction.

This was a fairly quick read for me. 3 ⭐️ - and that’s more for the delivery of the story than the content.

Interesting reading from a male perspective when YA seems to be mostly female. It was a bit hard for me to relate to the rage the MC felt the majority of the book. I had trouble following as the story jumps to the past and then to different characters altogether.

This is a timely story as it also struggles with the teens identities: how are they connected to their past, and how can you move past the blinding rage to basically live your life after tragedies occur.

Thanks to NetGalley and publishers for the advanced reader’s copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Eran Sharon, a 17 year old Israeli-American, was two years old when his mother took him from Queens to Texas. She also refuses to talk about his father. It is not until a protest Eran organizes goes wrong that he learns about his paternal heritage. After a video from the protest goes viral Eran's past is dug up and he now has to navigate this whole new life he never knew existed. Was his short fuse a gift from his terrorist father? Can he be different? Will life ever go back to normal?

The story that follows is told through 3 points of view. Eran, Devorah (his mother dealing with the aftermath of his father's actions), and his new friend Jade. Honestly I felt as though Jade's story line took away from the social justice aspect of the book. I'm honestly not sure why it was included other than to show that parents keep secrets sometimes to protect their children. After all isn't that what Eran's mother did for her son? Outside of that there wasn't really a point although I felt terribly for Jade.

This story is a mostly revolving around anger and a whole lot of prejudice. Eran is angry. The community is angry. Jade is angry. I was angry. Sparks of unfairness were flying everywhere including from the one place you would never expect it... the synagogue. Things like this are why I have a tough time with religious organizations.

This book is definitely a conversation starter and for that reason I would recommend it.

Thank you to Netgalley and Candlewick Press for an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

**I received an e-copy of this via NetGalley from the publishers in exchange for an honest review**

Eran Sharon is an Israeli-American teenage boy in search of manhood, who his father is, finding his voice and standing up for social justice and patriotism. He finds himself at the center of media attention after a protest he led takes an unexpected turn.

Although, this teenage boy is radical, and has a strong compassion to tackle issues like homophobia, transphobia, racism, misogyny, reproductive rights, global warming, police brutality, the death penalty, gun control, immigrant rights, and islamophobia. What Makes Us, mainly seems like a call to action story, provoking all who read not to just sit around idle waiting to make a change in the world. But, to take action in all forms including protesting.

However, the eARC itself had no chapters or breaks so it made the story drag on and on. Additionally, parts of the story were overly descriptive and could have been condensed. Also, I will say the plot felt a bit rushed at points but other than that it was an ok read.

DNF @ 26%

This just isn’t working for me. Part of it might be that the eARC formatting keeps throwing me off — with weird line breaks and unclear sections / POV changes — but I’m also just not at all interested in the characters or plot.

Generally I try to give the benefit of the doubt to initially-unlikable protagonists since they almost always undergo substantial growth, but Eran is so sure that his way is the only right way, so holier-than-thou and preachy, that it’s hard to sympathize as he continually lashes out at the people around him. Yeah, he’s going through a rough time, but so are they.

I was interested in Eran's story up until we started to explore his mother's past, at which point it all felt very forced. DNF.

eARC provided by publisher.

I want to thank Netgalley and Candlewick Press for sending me this e-ARC in exchange for a honest review. It was the cover that made me request the book. It looked powerful, and it makes you want to do something. Scream, do research, even start a revolution. What Makes Us is a heavy but necessary book, and you just can’t put this book down after a reading session without thinking society through.

Eran Sharon doesn’t know a single thing about his father. The memories all seem fake, and his tight-lipped mother won’t tell him anything. Her overprotective nature has created a ruse in their relationship, and his fierce nature doesn’t work well for it either. When the police is preparing to start a Constant Vigilance campaign, Eran doesn’t hesitate to speak up about their dangerous power in a protest. This leads to a violent accident, and he and his mother get recognized by a newsrepother. Together with the whole world, Eran finds out his father was a terrorist. Feeling enstranged from his mother, he now has to decide what this heritage means for him. Can his ferocious anger be justified, and is it worth it losing friends and freedom for?

There were 3 POV’s in this book: Eran, Devorah (whose identity we find out real quickly), and Jade. Eran was a character easy to relate to, and most of all, an admirable one. He stands up for what’s right, and has passionate ideas about society and its beliefs. It were Eran’s ideas that made me wonder about specific parts of history. Jade is a new classmate and friend from Eran, who is struggling with an identity crisis herself. She has found a picture from herself when she still lived in New Orleans, but the date doesn’t add up. It makes her understand Eran better. It was the mystery around her that intrigued me specifically, but I don’t think it added anything to the initial conflict. What it does do, is show us that everyone is fighting a battle you know nothing about. Eran and Jade have more friends, but because of their hardships, their bond will always be tighter. She dared to do things because of him, and she forms the example of what other people should learn from reading this book.

Except for the mystification in character development, there’s no real direction of the plot, and therefore, there’s not a groundbreaking ending. Mittlefehldt only focuses on what his characters are going through. This means a group of tedious themes gets introduced, which might feel to heavy for others. Yes, I think it could have used some more humor, but the great overal lesson for future generations is now not hidden between the lines. What Makes Us deals with ignorance of society, media treatment, violence abuse, migration laws and even hurricane Katrina. It’s about trying to understand who you are and how much of that is decided by heritage. We are mostly made into someone by our parents’s choices, and even the best intentions can harm us. It’s okay to doubt who you are. It is your beliefs and your decisions that make you your own person. You are not your parents. You are not a race, or a faith. While you may understand this about yourself, the most important thing is to understand this about others.

“This has happened before, lots of times. Because I’m Israeli. But that doesn’t mean I think it’s cool to murder people who are just trying to survive under a tyrannical, oppressive, imperialist government run by a political party that, by the way, is basically just like the crazies we have here. “
One of my favorite things is that I thought there would be a romantic relationship, but there wasn’t. It was simply a group of friends goung through hardships together, and learning from each other. Growing because of each other. I would have liked to hear more about Declan though. He didn’t seem to enjoy his household anymore, and it looked like his brother was a homophobe. Yet, he was simply used as the best friend for Eran to lean on. It would also have been nice to find out more about Jewish culture, and the act of terrorism. While the whole conflict was about what should be justified, it only focused on Eran’s troubles in the end.

This ended in 3.5 stars for me. The Israeli characters were refreshing, and taught me alot about the aftermath of racism. Mrs Redwood was one of the best characters, and I’m still contemplating Eran’s mother’s speech. With the mere focus on the character-driven plot, the storyline could drag on sometimes. It made many sentences feel repetitive. Yet, everyone should read this book. You will leave it with a clearer mind, and your eyes wide open, ready to see the world. Isn’t that what a thoughtful book is supposed to do?

What Makes Us will be released on the 15th of October.