Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay

32 reviews

aformeracceleratedreader's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad fast-paced

5.0

This hit close to home as my heritage has a lot of similarities with Filipino culture and the Philippines as a whole. I related heavily with being an outsider in a culture that is your own but not your own at the same time and trying to navigate what/how/how much you can criticize. When people told Jay he had no right since he doesn't understand and that he's looking at it from a very America lens, it reminded me of things my mom has said to me. 
This made me cry.
I loved this book, and I will read more from this author. It is heavy in many ways so def check trigger/content warnings.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Colonisation, Classism, Addiction, Alcohol, Child death, Abandonment, Drug abuse, Death, Drug use, Grief, and Mental illness

createandchaos's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book has a special place in my heart as a first generation child of immigrants.

Patron Saints of Nothing is a poignant novel, tackling Duterte's war on drugs, how it affects those left behind, and reconciling with the ideas that made it happen when you are practically a foreigner yourself.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Drug use, and Death

Moderate: Drug abuse, Addiction, and Racism

Minor: Sexual assault, Trafficking, and Homophobia

ahen's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse and Violence

ghoulomatic's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

This book was beautiful and moving. Each sentence was meticulously crafted... Each word was purposeful. The love and care the author, Randy Ribay, put into the book practically floods out of the pages. This is a beautifully crafted story about so many things. It's certainly a book worth reading again and again and again. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Drug use, Grief, Murder, Drug abuse, and Police brutality

Moderate: Physical abuse

Minor: Sexual violence and Sexual assault

kshertz's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

Excellent book. This narrator finds himself by going to the Philippines and finding out the truth about how his 17 year old cousin, that he used to be close with, died. It’s a coming of age with commentary on our biases, our differences, our similarities, our assumptions, and what really the truth can be. It started slow for me but became very intense and reflective toward the end. It’s a serious and sad coming of age story, but one we should probably all read to reflect on how we too can do and be better so 17 year olds are not suing the way his cousin did.  

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Abandonment, Murder, Drug abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Drug use, Addiction, Death, Racism, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, and Police brutality

manawuari's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, and Drug use

Moderate: Murder, Mental illness, Police brutality, Trafficking, Animal death, Death, and Violence

Minor: Rape and Animal death

gellyreads's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Colonisation, Drug use, Murder, Police brutality, Drug abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual violence, Kidnapping, and Trafficking

kalmia31's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Classism, Genocide, Grief, Colonisation, and Death

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Violence, Homophobia, Racism, Murder, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Misogyny

Minor: Addiction, Animal death, Bullying, Sexual assault, and Alcohol

nerp's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Really stunning book about the complexities of grief in a specific political context and the silences kept within families. Audio narration is excellent! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction and Grief

Moderate: Drug abuse, Police brutality, Abandonment, and Trafficking

jht5791's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse

Moderate: Racism, Police brutality, and Sexual assault