Book Title: “You are So Not Invited to my Bat Mitzvah”
Author: Fiona Rosenbloom
“You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah” by Fiona Rosenbloom is a coming-of-age comedy that explores the challenges of social pressure during adolescence and emphasizes the significance of genuine friendship, love, and community. Otherwise known as Amanda Stern, Rosenbloom has written books for all ages, primarily children’s books and adult fiction. She is currently working on her own newsletter focused on mental health. Adapted into a movie this year, it is apparent that the book “You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah” is one of the few whose movie has surpassed it.
The book’s main character, Stacy Friedman, was preparing for her Bat Mitzvah, one of the most important events of her life. All Stacy wanted was to have her best friends by her side, the perfect outfit, and for the boy she liked to notice her. However, things didn’t go as planned.
Incident after incident entered Stacy’s life, and as she struggled both at home and at school, she was betrayed by her best friend, Lydia. Frustrated and resentful, Stacy lost her composure and uttered the words that would upend her life: “You are SO not invited to my bat mitzvah!”
Rosenbloom, who wrote the novel in 2005, states in an interview with Hey Alma, “I grew up secular Jewish. We didn’t have any sort of faith or religion or spirituality in my house at all. So I grew up going to bat mitzvahs and bar mitzvahs but I didn’t have one”
According to Rosenbloom, writing the book was “… a good insight into what [I] would have gone through had I had a bat mitzvah. I got a clinical look at the trials and tribulations of what it would be like.” While conducting research for the book, Rosenbloom was greatly influenced and assisted by her best friend, who, unlike her, had a bat mitzvah. Interestingly enough, this ties in with the Netflix adaptation, but not the book.
My expectations for this book were quite high, as it was adapted into a movie. However, this book may be one of the few that pales in comparison to its Netflix adaptation. On one hand, I felt like I could relate to Stacy during her most challenging moments while reading. Though Stacy wasn’t the perfect main character, she often made reckless decisions and further escalated the story’s conflicts, which strangely made her an appealing character. Furthermore, Stacy wasn’t the perfect protagonist that we usually see, she had her own set of flaws. Despite her shortcomings, she was able to overcome the challenges she faced. However, I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I could have because of the incredibly cliché plot. Plots identical to this book have been overused in various forms of media, including movies, books, and TV shows. While that might appeal to some, I was seeking a fresh and distinctive perspective.
In addition, the central conflict had been built up to an extreme, yet the resolution was much more underwhelming than I had expected. Furthermore, the humor used in the book was subpar. Despite its promise of being comedic, I rarely found myself laughing while reading it. The “comical” situations in the book caused me to experience secondhand embarrassment, which made it more challenging to read. I felt that the movie did a better job of making the story more appealing to its target audience. This is most likely since the book was written in 2005, nearly two decades before the movie was produced. Though the revised version of the book, published in 2023 shortly before the movie’s release and aimed at today’s teenage audience, is relevant in terms of pop culture and brands, it falls short in comparison to the movie. (On another note, there are references to body shaming throughout the story, which may make some readers uncomfortable.) However, this book delivers a promising message: life may throw us curveballs, but everything happens for a reason, and things will work themselves out—a message that we all need to hear during tough times. This book was a quick and interesting read, making it a good choice for those who enjoy romantic comedies. If I had to rate it out of 5 stars, I would give it a solid 3.
