unfortunately HUNTING IN AMERICA was too short to be impactful - kind of blurry, a bit unfocused and ultimately forgettable. could've gone much further and been much darker.

This is very well written and the translation is excellent.

I can tell you that there's little in the way of plot. It's more of a character sketch, using hunting as motif. The story is rather bleak, but the reading pace is fast. The writing itself is sparse. More of the story is told by what is unsaid than by what is said. The book is NOT twisty, no matter what the publication blurb promises.

While I much prefer a book with a plot, I did find myself fascinated by our characters. Our main character is well realized. David is rather anemic. His wife has more depth than either, though she's not nearly in the book as much.

In the end, I found I enjoyed the read. While I'm not sure I'd revisit the book, I would revisit the author.

* ARC via Publisher

A woman moves to an unnamed place in the US, and she is invited to go hunting—a first for her, but not her first time with a gun. And the invitation to hunt is a welcoming gesture, but it comes with a layer of subtext. It's a test and it's a beginning and perhaps it's an end, all rolled into one.

The invitation to hunt isn't the only thing in "Hunting in America" that is rife with subtext. Layers upon layers of it: the narrator holds her thoughts close to her chest and her history closer, but there's potential for double meanings in huge swathes of what she chooses to tell the reader and how.

In voice I'm reminded in places of "My Year of Rest and Relaxation", though I found this rather easier to read. It's the sense of a protagonist on the verge of self-destruction, I think; the protagonist here is detached even as she makes decisions based more on emotion and instinct than on calculation.

I read this quickly—meant to read it in a couple of days but shot through in one. Going in, I was a little uncertain about the focus on hunting (I'm a near lifelong vegetarian who has never touched a gun, and I'd like to keep both of those things as they are), but for all that so much of the book is about hunting, hunting is almost beside the point; so much of the story is behind the hunting blind, behind the sentences on the page. Not uplifting, but lots to parse, to think about after the fact.

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.

Hunting in America by Tehila Hakimi (translated by Joanna Chen)
Publishes on 22 Jul 2025
4 stars
-Culture
-Identity
-Opportunity
-PTSD
-Found Family
-Work Challenges
-Resiliency
-New in town/Expat
Hunting in America is a Literary Fiction following an Israeli woman’s journey relocating to America for her career. America is a ticket out, a chance at a new life—or at least a different one. But leaving a personal history behind is easier said than done.
The author’s voice is naturally alluring in this character driven story. Pair that with the short quick chapters and I just couldn’t put this book down. At first, the plot seemed like it was simple but that quickly evolved.
Almost every scene contains an indirect reference to the FMC’s old life from handling a rifle to the way David eats chicken like her mother. The author artistically manipulates storytelling to inform the reader about her current life and past at the same time. Truly, there are so many sentences doing double duty.
As a reader you unravel with the story. I felt the characters lack of power and her struggle for control while various males dominated her life. Not only did she face this in her career that she fought to maintain, but even with David. Even though David was her friend, she passively let him take control and make all the decisions.
Honestly, this novel is loaded with so much to unpack. I could easily see this added to a curriculum for an English course or selected for a book club.

Thank you, Viking Penguin of Penguin Random House, and NetGalley for this advanced copy

I am a huge fan of these short, digestible chapters. I also liked the repetition throughout, particularly The phrases at the beginning of chapters counting the number of shooting experiences. That clearly emphasized the focus of the book.

There were some strange quotation marks in the version I read that seemed to be an editing error.

Thank you to NetGalley and Viking Penguin for this ARC.

Absolutely taken with this one from the start! I felt myself clenching my teeth the whole time I was reading - and I mean that as a compliment!

3.5/10 (rounded up). While there's not a huge amount of plot, this novel keeps pace, and I read it quickly. The tone reminds me of "My Year of Rest and Relaxation" -- lethargic, at times dark, but humorous. The concept was original, which I was grateful for.