PositiveLocus\"...this may well be the first book of its kind: there is staggeringly little Jewish fantasy, compared to the number of Jewish people who work and write in the field. And doing this with a retelling of Rumpelstiltskin is a stroke of genius, because that story has often been associated with the stereotypical view of Jews in medieval Europe, as child-stealers. Rumpelstiltskin has been used to reinforce the blood libel. This book is an act of reclamation on a very deep level. It is also marvelous to read ... This is not a perfect novel, of course. The pacing is peculiar in the latter third, and there are perhaps two or three more plot complications than are precisely necessary. The dramatic energy peaks three separate times, and while the first two come off well enough, by the time the third is reached the sheer amount of drama is a little tiring. But, in the end, the book holds together.\
Deborah Harkness
MixedLocus\"[Time\'s Convert is] a cross between a supernatural romance, a domestic slice-of-life-with-magic, and an historical picaresque: a long, roomy, eclectic novel set on being almost all things to almost all readers ... As a romance novel, the book is unusual in that the emotional aspects of the romance have been completely settled before the book ever begins ... This is a book about slow healing and slow growth, and its epic length and sprawling world are necessary to give the characters enough space for that healing and growth to proceed in a realistic way. That said, things do occasionally become too convoluted ... Also, though there are many wonderful female characters with agency, personality, and interesting backstories, the males who get the most focus tend to be, for various reasons, compelled to behave in very standard romance-novel ways... This means that the men don’t feel as three-dimensional as the women, more wish-fulfillment than accurate portrait.\
Francesco Dimitri
PositiveLocus...Set in the far south of Italy, in the small town of Casalfranco, almost but not quite too small for tourist attention. Four friends, on graduating high school, pledge to meet at the same pizzeria once a year, no matter what else may be going on in their lives. Fabio, Tony, and Mauro all arrive on time, but their peculiar friend Art does not. Art...leaves behind a manuscript, the titular Book of Hidden Things, and the supernatural explanation it suggests for his absences is not one his friends are readily prepared to entertain.
