David Samuel LevinsonCritiques

Ok, so I started this thinking it would be a murder mystery. Husband died in a mysterious way, did the wife do it? While there was a murder and an almost murder as well as some mystery elements, they weren't all wrapped together.

Tell Me How This Ends Well
Author: David Samuel Levinson
Publisher: Hogarth

It’s 2022, and things have not changed much since 1939. American Jews are increasingly unsafe, and anti-Semitism is on the rise. The Jacobson family gathers for Passover in Los Angeles. Their problems are personal rather than political. The three adult children, Mo, Edith, and Jacob, are each in a state of crisis. Each of them proclaims that their problems stem from a lifetime of abuse at the hands of their father, Julian. They plan a reunion of a sort, one ending in the demise of their father and saving; they believe the life of their mother.

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This book might have more basis in reality than fiction in today's global outlook on people, cultures, as well as families of all types in whatever state they find themselves. Mr. Levinson has written a funny and compelling story about a troubled family with many ups and downs, personalities and goals with little concern for the sensitive nature of the children's plight and what they plan to do.

This story is at times, hilariously funny and downright worrisome as it often hits home in ways that most people can relate to in one way or another whether they are willing to admit it or not. The story is dark, with scenes of hopelessness and brutality. In the end, the children show that no matter what they've been through or how much they argue or disagree with one another they have the strength to overcome their petty differences.

This book is well written and compelling, it is perhaps slightly too long and for many far too dark but this should not prevent it from having an impact on the reader. Mr. Levinson shows an obvious talent for getting to the heart of a situation without sacrificing detail, plot, or entertainment value. This story is thought provoking and heart wrenching; it is also intriguing. It is highly recommended.

This novel took me 10 months to finish reading, but I'm glad I did so even though I wanted to abandon reading. The format is broken down into long sections for each character. I think the more popular format of alternating shorter chapters between characters would have been more appealing to me. This story of a dysfunctional Jewish family was good, although there were some awkward parts when the author tried to imagine new technological devices for the very near future.

I felt that this novel had potential, but maybe needed some more editing to be great. I'm a fan of dystopias, and speculative fiction, and I like the author's decision to set this particular family story in a dystopian world. It makes sense with the family drama that the author is telling. I like the details of the world, and feel the author has a interesting story to tell, but there were a few weaknesses in the writing and it feels to me as though another pass with a talented editor would prune away things that get in the way of the story.½

Like other reviewers, I found this book difficult to digest. Tell Me How this Ends Well is set in 2022. Israel has been absorbed into Syria following a short war during which the United States turned its back. Additionally, across the world and particularly in the United States, hate and terrorist attacks against Jewish people has become very frequent. This is a back drop to the main plot of the novel.
The story is told through the eyes of the three siblings and mother, with chapters devoted to their particular point of view. The family grapples with their relationship with their emotionally and physically abusive father. During the course of the book, they struggle to understand how their father's behavior formed their personalities and influenced the life choices they made.
This book was rather long, describing with far too much detail small events (like the death of the peacock) from each person's perspective. The hatred against Jews scared and depressed me. In this current intolerant environment where hatred against groups of people is accepted and encouraged by our president, it is not hard to imagine that we, as a society, could be there in 2022.
The chapter from the mother Roz' point of view was the best writing in the book and for that and for effort, I give this book 2.5 stars.½

Ok so I'm not allowed to request another book I might possibly enjoy until I right a review for this book. Honestly I couldn't finish it. I really thought I'd like it. I mean, I'm Jewish, I celebrate Passover, my dad can piss me off, I can be super snarky. It's the makings of a match made in book/human heaven and yet... Nope. I just couldn't make it through. I found the main character obnoxious and just didn't care enough to follow through. Sorry. I really hate writing negative reviews too because I think there's enough mean stuff in the world without adding bad reviewedbut that's my honest opinion and I really just want another book to review that I'll hopefully enjoy more. Sooo that's all folks.

It took me a little while to get going on this book but once I did I found it quite fascinating. The characters were interesting. It was also interesting how David made America in 2022 with relations to Jews. I can see this happening with our current administration. This story put the spotlight on how women will stay with their husband even though he is an evil person. It shows how children can be very protective of their mother and also how far someone would go to end the misery. I really enjoyed the book.

I won this in a GOODREADS giveaway - Tell Me How This Ends Well by David Samuel Levinson... It was a very good read... made me think, and worry, of the possibilities of the shape of things to come.

I received a copy of this book during the Early Review month, and I just got around to reading it. I have mixed feeling about it. Normally, I wouldn’t write any kind of negative review for a book because everyone’s opinion is different, and I never want to discourage someone from reading something that they would like even if I didn’t. But I found myself stopping three times, debating with myself if I should even finish it… This happens rarely for me. Once I start a book, I’m 95% going to finish it, even if I don’t like it, so for me to stop and debate with myself several times whether I’m going to finish it… That hasn’t happened in the past 10 years. Ultimately, I did finish it because I wanted to have a review based on the complete book, and not just a part of it.

So why didn’t I like this book? For me, it was just very clunky. Perhaps after a lot of trimming down and editing it could be enjoyable, but the early reviewer’s copy I read had too much. Repetition of stories, repetition of thoughts, repetition of explanations, and no real chapters. It was driving me nuts by the time I finished Jacob’s part/portion/”chapter”. While the story sort of takes place in the present, each character went into tangents on their pasts, and I don’t mean one or two… Easily dozens. It almost felt like this book needed a prequel to showcase how their father treated them, just so you wouldn’t have to read so many stories about such instances. And sometimes these stories had a story within that story, too. It was just very dense, but not in a difficult-to-read sort of way, but an overload-of-past-information kind of way. It’s broken up into several chapters (each of the Jacobson children, plus their mother, Roz, gets a POV-ish “chapter”), but each one was written identically to the others. I know this is a third person POV, but there wasn’t much in terms of defining characteristics that they portrayed where I really felt they were not very different people.

I found myself disliking every single character in the book, too, not just the abusive father. Was this the point? I’m truly uncertain whether it was, or not. Since the popularity of things such as It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, it could be possible that each person is supposed to be written as a flawed, unlikable character. From reading through Jacob’s POV, to getting to Roz, I just… didn’t like any of them. I sort of liked Thistle, but even she was ultimately a very unlikable character. As soon as you start finding some kind of common ground with any of the Jacobson’s, you read through one of their siblings’ POV about how they’re this or that way, and you find yourself agreeing that they are.

I don’t know what else to say, but it just wasn’t my cup of tea. The writing was easy to read, the characters were… flawed and unlikable, but perhaps there’s a beauty to that, too. Overall, I’d read something else by this writer at some point, so that’s… something, I guess.

I read Tell Me How This Ends Well over a period of 3 months. I am reviewing this book because of my connection with Librarything.com.

I say three months because of how tedious I found this book. It was a story about three adult children who plot to kill their abusive father. What I found tedious was the stream of consciousness of the entire book. Everyone's thought processes and self analysis made me feel like I was living each individual in their mind. There were barely any chapters endings and you were literally forced to keep reading waiting for some closure and you never got it. I found each child and each parent to be so lacking in any happiness in their lives. Each one was questioning their existence again and again.

There is always an undercurrent of anti-semitism in this book that really hit a nerve in my soul. It was just stated in every opportunity and the dissolution of Israel and the manipulation of Jews in Germany really made me quite anxious about why these items were introduced. Wasn't there just enough pain and dysfunction with every character in this book? Why bring up world situations with just a paragraph here and there? It was so distracting and just confused me to death.

The issues of abusive and manipulative behavior of the father and how it affects all three children and the mother also disturbed me. There was absolutely no resolution of the problems in the way that I had hoped. Each person was a broken and wasted soul and no one recovered from the abuse.

Finally, this book was way too long. It could have been shortened in so many ways but it kept on going and I tried to read and read and in the end it took me months to finish.½

I received my copy of Tell Me How This Ends Well free of charge through Library Thing's Early Reviewer program. And when I requested the book, I honestly thought it sounded like something I'd enjoy. Turns out, I was not completely right about that.

I had trouble sticking with this one, and after reading it I didn't really know what to say about it -- which is why it's taken me so long to get any sort of review written. I still don't know exactly what to say about it, because I think there's a glimmer of a really good novel here; but it needs a lot more work. I think a couple of rewrites and a lot of trimming would certainly help. And while I'm a fan of dark humor, I didn't care for the way this book sort of hits you over the head with it -- Levinson keeps pointing it out for you, just in case you've missed what he's trying to do.

I did enjoy some things about the book -- loved the character of Diet and the relationship between him and Jacob, youngest son in the Jacobson Family; and the dying mother Roz was well-written and nicely developed (the section of the story seen from her point of view is some of the book's best writing). So it's not a terrible work, but it's very scattered, takes too much time to develop into anything interesting, and is much, much too long. I just think what it really needs is another draft.½

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. I went into this book not knowing much about it and was completely surprised that I was enjoying it. The story takes place in 2022 in Los Angles, California. The Jacobson's are a Jewish family with a verbally abusive father. The three grown-up children all have a different reason for hating their father. You get to know all of their stories because the book changes perspectives five times (one for each family member). This change in perspectives really caught me by surprise the first time and I was a little disappointed since I had become attached to Jacob Jacobson (the youngest son), his story was my favorite throughout the entire book. In addition to the issue with their father, every character has a different background/side story. I saw this as an attempt to make the reader more attached to the character, but I found it a little distracting. However, it did show you how every character has something wrong with their lives aside from their father. Also the author changed from past to present very often and without much of a warning, to the point where I was just trying to figure out what was happening at the moment and what happened earlier. Throughout the book, the author also shows the difficulties that the characters go through because they are Jewish. It enlightened me about how Jewish people are still being treated wrong and attacked. The end of the book was the most exciting part and we finally got to see how all the characters were going to have their happy ending. Overall this book was a 3.5 stars for me, I enjoyed the story line, but wish it wasn't quite so long and difficult to get through.

This is an interestingly weird book. It is about a dysfunctional family whose children are plotting the death of their wicked, abusive father. Their mother is terminally ill and they decide to kill their father to make their mothers last days on earth better.

It takes place in the near future and people in the US have basically turned against the jews. It is Passover and the entire family is getting together and this is where the plan to kill their father is taking place.

It isn't well written, with extremely long drawn out sentences and jumps all over the place, but the characters are quirky and interesting.

I wanted to like this I really did. Part of my problem was the style-really really long sentences that jumped all over the place and very few page breaks that made it hard to pick up again once you put it down. I usually enjoy books about dysfunctional families but this just wasn't doing it for me

I received this ARC through Library Thing.

The premise of the book is fascinating (three siblings plot to murder their wicked father), and I found the characters themselves to be quirky and likeable. The issue was the pacing. It was so slow. The tension takes too long to mount, and it takes too long to understand why they detest their father so much. It's hard for the plot to maintain credibility when all three siblings appear more to be petulant children rather than understandably broken adults. The father's abuse is explained later, but I had already lost interest before I got there. To be honest, I couldn't finish it. I just could not get into it all.

I put it down thinking I might revisit and provide a proper review, but honestly I could not bring myself to do it.

Set in the very near future, this novel features the Jacobson family as they gather in L.A. to celebrate Passover. The author gives us the perspective, in separate chapters, of each of the family members of this dysfunctional group. Each family member recounts the past, both personal and family stories, as well as the current turmoils of the family. At the same time that these family members are battling each other, they are pulling together to fight the blatant antisemitism that is raging around them, and sometimes erupting into violence.
Setting this story in 2022, the author paints a picture of a world become even more frightening and divided than it is now. And while some of the events portrayed here are disturbing, there is also a great deal of humor. I found this an enjoyable read.
Thanks to LibraryThing for supplying me with an ARC of this novel.

I really struggled trying to decide how many stars to give this book. Some of events portrayed in this book are horrific and reading those parts was unpleasant. A few of these events are left as loose ends and never explained. The father in this book is a monster who bullies his wife and children and lives to humiiate them. It seems probable that the story is based in part on the author's own childhood. If so, that must have been a terrible experience that left a lot of scars.

That said....the novel is extremely well-written and the characters are believable.

In 2022 Los Angeles the Jacobson family is gathering for one last Passover. Their matriarch is dying and her three kids are planning for the Angel of Death to visit dear old dad. They just want mom's last days to be happy and peaceful.

"America First" resulted in allowing a military takeover of Israel by surrounding Arab countries. The Jews were forced out across the world. Germany has welcomed the Jews, perhaps as expiation for their past sins. America has seen a rise in Anti-Semitism and terrorist attacks on Jews.

Julian Jacobson deserves the title of world's worst father and husband. He married heiress Roz, but with the birth of their first child Mo, the honeymoon was over.

Julian is disappointed in each successive child--Mo, Edith, and Jacob--and he deals out abuse that impairs them into their adult relationships. Mo works out at the gym for a "few hours of intense weight lifting and cardio to expunge these memories, but then Moses was as good as new, returning from the battleground of the past having once again slain the fire-breathing dragon that was dad."

"He just stabs with his mouth."

The kids wonder why Roz has stayed with the selfish bastard. Now there is evidence that Julian is hastening Roz's demise, perhaps to keep her money from his disappointing kids. The sibs plot, plan, and argue while realizing just how evil their father really was. The ending is a surprise and a satisfying twist.

Tell Me How This Ends Well by David Samuel Levinson surprised me. The novel is wildly funny, and yet is deadly serious. I loved the dark comedy and the over-the-top characters. It is also a chilling look at how America, and the world, is evolving. Readers who enjoy dark comedy on "taboo subjects" --like patricide, an unethical ethics professor, and the disposal of dead bodies--will love this book.

I received a free book from Blogging for Books in exchange for a fair an unbiased review.

In David Samuel Levinson's novel, Tell Me How This Ends Well, readers are given an up close and personal look into the lives of the members of the Jacobson family who have gathered to observe Passover. The adult children of Julian have something else planned, as well. Some might call it revenge. While not all family reunions go well, this one is highly unusual.
I found this book to be well written. The story is intriguing, as are the characters. The conclusion came as a total surprise.
I received a free ARC of this book and the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Tell Me How This Ends Well, has a great premise, setting & characters.

The 3 adult children of Julian Jacobson, tyrannical bully & patriarch of the Jacobson clan, hold a lot of resentments towards their father. All 3 of them have their particular issues/vulnerabilities, and on the weekend of Passover in the year 2022, they will all be under the same roof again. Only this time the 3 adult children have a hunch that their father is secretly trying to kill their mother, who is not doing well after being diagnosed with cancer. In order to stop him, they believe they must kill him.

The author, David Samuel Levinson, whom I've never read before - does a really great job of building the world that the Jacobson's inhabit. A growing anti - Semitism lures in the background of every chapter.

I was certainly engaged and enjoyed the way the story went, but at times I felt that it would benefit from some editing to make it tighter - some of the chapters go on for well over 100 pages.

Overall - really enjoyable, funny, dark & creative! I will pickup another DSL novel again soon!

This book had tons of potential! Some parts were laugh out loud hilarious but the premise was over played and too drawn out. Tighter editing would have helped. The Jacobson family, headed by Julian Jacobson is gathering in 2022 Los Angles for Passover Seder. Israel has been obliterated and now the country is overwhelmed by DIP (Displaced Israeli People) daily terrorist attacks on Jews are common day ocourance and water is a high value commodity. Sounds freighting!!! And with all this world drama, there is crazzzzy family drama! The Jacobson siblings are convinced their dad wants to kill their saintly mom, Roz,who may or may not be dying...so they hatch a plan to murder dad first. It's all a bit much!
I'm not sure this book will appeal to the mass reading public, but as a member of the TRIBE, I enjoyed it.

A review on the back of the cover by Caroline Leavitt says that this book is "brilliantly unsettling [and] fiercely funny." I am not sure what Leavitt finds humorous about this book. It was very dark, focusing on how the protagonists of the book were traumatized by emotional abuse from their father. Each one had a different way it manifested. I probably would have actually enjoyed the book more if I had not read the back cover's review. If I read it as a (rather realistic) story about how childhood abuse affects your life. In fact that Levinson says "This book is for my mother and for anyone who's every been terrorized and bullied - you are not alone" in the acknowledgements page. However, this story does not need to be 400 pages. The sections of the book that talk about each of the children's adult lives could have probably be cut by a third easily. It would have benefited from some serious editing.

Okay. Like, wow. Holy crap. How did he do that? This novel really is prescient and scarily so. I read somewhere that the author started writing this book in January, 2015, long before Trump was nominated. It's a nod to Levinson's imagination that he tapped into the zeitgeist and took the pulse of our broken country. And he did it in such a wonderful way through the Jacobsons, whom I love—Jacob, Edith, and Moses, the siblings, who plot the death of their hideous father. and Julian Jacobson is quite frankly one of the most well-drawn and abhorrent fathers I've ever met. You will see what I mean when you read Tell Me How This Ends Well and you should read it! It's quite brilliant and a really easy read. It's a chilling portrayal of a near-future America, though that near-future seems to have arrived a few years early. I just cannot recommend this book highly enough.

I absolutely loved this book. I hated coming to the last page and will probably end up reading it again because it's just that kind of book. Maybe I'll read it in a few months, just to let what I read sink in. It's a great book for book clubs and I'm recommending it to mine and others. If you want a really good, meaty and funny book about some dark subjects, then this book is def for you.

Dang if I didn't want to love this novel, but it's just so tedious. The writing style is impossibly self-important and navel-gazing. The section written from a female character's point of view is literally insulting to women in how sexist it is. The thrust of the novel as advertised -- a dystopic near-future in which Jews are persecuted -- barely factors into this novel. The tropes (self-hating Jew dating a German! scandal in academia! jerk dad!) are pathetic. Avoid.