This is one of my favourite reads this year!!
I adored this story and I loved the Jewish Rep!!
Corie Adjmi is my new favourite author and I can’t wait for her next book!
It’s my perfect summer read :)

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me access to the free advanced digital copy of this book.

This book was a great change to what I usually read. It takes place in the 70s. The main character Casey is a Middle Eastern Jew returns to NYC from New Orleans and is thrown into the local Jewish community.
The book hits on important cultural topics such as marriage, children, religion, and finding your way.
It was a compelling story and coming of age tale. I enjoyed seeing Casey struggle to develop into womanhood. It was beautiful and very unique.

A great coming of age story. We really get a feel for culture differences and religion differences. I was cheering for Casey and came to genuinely care for her.

im feeling a little confused about this one tbh. the marriage box is a classic coming of age novel, where we see our MC Casey return to her Syrian Orthodox roots after getting mixed up in the wrong crowd. the plot was really interesting and i can really see how there were many decades of history and heritage that have gone into this piece of writing.

there was a decent amount of space given at the beginning of the book to tell the story of our MC’s childhood and early teen years. she does get mixed in with the wrong crowd, and we are presented with a young woman who is keen to experience absolutely anything life has to offer in terms of knowledge and experience, and loves her independence.

In the second half of the book we see her parents returning to their Syrian Orthodox roots in the hopes it will help Casey to ‘straighten out’ a bit. Casey is reluctant at first, wanting to make the most of life and not settle for being someone’s housewife, but then next minute she is married?? to a very traditional and orthodox guy?? and after all the build up of Casey not wanting that lifestyle i just didn’t feel like it made sense to me. i didn’t see the tension in her as she grappled with the two sides of herself, she just kind of…did it? and i suppose maybe that’s the point, she may have just been going with the flow and doing what was expected without believing she really had a choice. maybe that was even the point of the whole book, but if it was, i don’t personally feel like that was clear enough.

This is one of those books I only heard about through bookstagram and I was interested in it because of the Jewish representation. Unfortunately, I just didn’t like this book very much and I didn’t end up finishing it. I couldn’t connect with the characters and the writing wasn’t for me. If I do go back to finish it at some point, I will update this review. Someone might like it better if they love coming of age stories from the late 1970’s or early 1980’s.

I was thrilled to discover a book about the Jewish Syrian Community in Brooklyn and couldn't wait to read The Marriage Box. Adjmi beautifully captured the atmosphere of the community in the 80s, blending traditional customs with glamorous parties. Through her vibrant and descriptive writing, Adjmi transports the reader into this unique world. Casey is a relatable character who is searching for love and a sense of belonging, making her story a joy to read.

The Marriage Box is an empowering and authentic novel that spoke to me on a personal level. As I followed Casey's journey of self-exploration, I discovered parts of myself that I could relate to. The writing is fluid and beautifully articulated, brimming with scintillating language that truly captures the essence of the story. I highly recommend this novel to my peers, as it inspired me to shift from brokenness to bravery in my own life.

This had a lot of promise, but felt too disjointed. There were some really great moments, and also some moments that felt like they weren't going anywhere. The time skips were also pretty unclear. Despite all that, I really appreciated the glimpse into the Syrian Jewish community of the 70s/80s, as well as the author's note that gives some insight into how the community has changed since then.

CW: infidelity, sexism, racism, abuse, gun violence, mentions of an adult/minor teacher/student relationship, underage drinking and drug use

I really liked this coming of age story. I enjoyed reading about they Syrian Jewish experience in the United States and the 1980s setting. The book is beautifully written and I easily connected with the main character, Casey. She is complex character and the author balances her insecurities and her self assurance well. A beautiful book that I will be recommending to others.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC for an exchange for an honest review.

Enjoyed it a lot, would recommend it.

Casey is living a typical teen life in 1970s New Orleans, when her formerly Orthodox parents decide to move the family back to New York to rejoin the faith. Suddenly Casey is in girls-only school and struggling against the strictures of a religion she didn't grow up in. She vows never to enter the "marriage box", a walled-off section of the pool where teenagers lay out in their bathing suits and men looking for wives spy on them. Then Casey meets Matthew, and has to decide if a traditional life might be what she wants after all.

This was an interesting premise, but the story had problems. We never really get into Casey's head about why she wants to marry Matthew so badly. The secondary characters are pretty flat (honestly, so are the main characters), and the book ends very abruptly. After being put through all that, the least the author could've done was provide a satisfying conclusion.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for the ARC to review. All opinions are my own.

Excellent read.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me access this book in exchange for my feedback.

The Marriage Box by Corie Adjmi is a coming of story that I enjoyed. This isn’t a book that I would normally pickup however, I liked the characters and the plot.

Thank you NetGalley and She Writes Press for my digital arc in exchange for my honest review.

Casey Cohen, a Middle Eastern Jew, is a sixteen-year-old in New Orleans in the 1970s when she starts hanging out with the wrong crowd. Then she gets in trouble—and her parents turn her whole world upside down by deciding to return to their roots, the Orthodox Syrian Jewish community in Brooklyn.


In this new and foreign world, men pray daily, thanking God they’re not women; parties are extravagant events at the Museum of Natural History; and the Marriage Box is a real place, a pool deck designated for teenage girls to put themselves on display for potential husbands. Casey is at first appalled by this unfamiliar culture, but after she meets Michael, she’s enticed by it. Looking for love and a place to belong, she marries him at eighteen, believing she can adjust to Syrian ways. But she begins to question her decision when she discovers that Michael doesn’t want her to go to college—he wants her to have a baby instead.

Can Casey integrate these two opposing worlds, or will she have to leave one behind in order to find her way?

This book is not only dramatic and engrossing, it is also insightful and wise. Read it! Read it! You will never forget it!

Some of the comments in the book made it very interesting, I liked learning more about Syrian Jewish cultural expectations. I loved the time frame of 1960s-early 1980s. The book kept my interest.
I did think Casey, the main character was very bland. She just existed. She didn’t really have much depth to her. I thought Grandma Rose was a much more interesting person.
I also thought the ending was incomplete. Casey makes a decision and that’s it.

Synopsis: from good reads: Casey Cohen, a Middle Eastern Jew, is a sixteen-year-old in New Orleans in the 1970s when she starts hanging out with the wrong crowd. Then she gets in trouble--and her parents turn her whole world upside down by deciding to return to their roots, the Orthodox Syrian Jewish community in Brooklyn..

This is a great coming of age novel full of culture. I really enjoyed reading about a culture different than my own. Great descriptions of both new york and NOLA. This book will make you want to party, and eat.

A great premise, that sadly does not live up to its potential. The way the story is told is very choppy and hard to follow-if you can get past that you may enjoy it.

A lovely summer read with likeable characters and a wonderful story arc I had a lovely weekend reading this book. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of the novel.

Where do I start? The Marriage Box is a coming of age story about Casey, a Syrian Jewish girl.

Let’s start with what worked for me: I loved reading Casey’s backstory and about her life growing up in New Orleans. I was very invested in Casey at this point. I also loved reading about the Syrian Jewish culture as I had no idea about it before. I felt like the author did an amazing job of portraying what life is like for Syrian Jewish women, while also making it relatable to those who aren’t.

What didn’t work for me: I think it was the author’s prose. I like the plot and was invested in the story itself but the writing made this book feel slow and it was hard to keep me interested. Once Casey moved to New York, her character got lost on me. I found myself not really caring what happens with Casey and I felt like she was superficial. I just wanted MORE depth, more emotion, I wanted to see more of what Casey was going through internally. She went through a lot and I wish I could have gotten to know her better.

Overall, this book was okay for me and I would recommend it to people who are specifically interested in coming of age stories and/or reading about Syrian Jewish culture.

I couldn’t really get into this one. I was intrigued by the idea of a teenage girl experiencing culture shock, but unfortunately I didn’t like any of the characters. I struggled to feel empathy for Casey but I just couldn’t. I would be interested to see what the author does in the future,