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the_incredible_sulk's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
slow-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
3.0
jemsilverheart's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
asstreads's review
4.0
This book was a short read, and it was captivating from start to finish. It manages to tackle so many issues: contractualization or "endo," the sex work industry in the Philippines, orientalism and the fetishization of Asian women, and of course, the quintessential "American dream."
It is a story, ultimately, of choice. Liza, as the breadwinner of a poor family, sees America as the ultimate goal, the one thing to work toward while working jobs that only last 6 months. Jo, an aspiring singer turned sex worker, tries her hardest to be supportive of her. Through all of Liza's breakups with afams and all the failed ploys to get to America, Jo is there. And the story revolves around their choices—the biggest one being to stay or to go.
I liked how all the issues were handled. Sex work wasn't romanticized as an easy way to get money, and all the ways it could go wrong was mentioned. America is portrayed as a ticket to riches, because that's how neocoloniasm portrays it, but Liza is also shown a harsh reality in the book that doesn't align with her ideas of a life abroad.
The romance itself is top-notch. Absolute best friends to lovers supremacy, and Jo's reaction to Liza's grand gesture made it even better. I like that they're really just two women who are grappling with a change in their friendship and indecision and the choice between love and financial security. The best part was that they didn't have to contend with homophobia amid their desire for each other.
It was realistic and tender and sweet, and I hope Jo opens up her heart even more and her dreams all come true.
It is a story, ultimately, of choice. Liza, as the breadwinner of a poor family, sees America as the ultimate goal, the one thing to work toward while working jobs that only last 6 months. Jo, an aspiring singer turned sex worker, tries her hardest to be supportive of her. Through all of Liza's breakups with afams and all the failed ploys to get to America, Jo is there. And the story revolves around their choices—the biggest one being to stay or to go.
I liked how all the issues were handled. Sex work wasn't romanticized as an easy way to get money, and all the ways it could go wrong was mentioned. America is portrayed as a ticket to riches, because that's how neocoloniasm portrays it, but Liza is also shown a harsh reality in the book that doesn't align with her ideas of a life abroad.
The romance itself is top-notch. Absolute best friends to lovers supremacy, and Jo's reaction to Liza's grand gesture made it even better. I like that they're really just two women who are grappling with a change in their friendship and indecision and the choice between love and financial security. The best part was that they didn't have to contend with homophobia amid their desire for each other.
It was realistic and tender and sweet, and I hope Jo opens up her heart even more and her dreams all come true.
pakshiyet's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
slow-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
3.0
_christinacreads's review
5.0
“She had been naked a thousand times before, but it had been a while since she felt the need to cover up.”
You, Me, U.S. by Brigitte Bautista is a queer contemporary romance novella that explores what happens right before the Filipino-American diaspora through two best friends Jo and Liza. This is the most unapologetically queer book I have ever read and I have read a lot of queer books – plus the fact that it’s Filipino makes it a hundred times more beautiful. This is a migrant story set in the Philippines with an amazingly intimate friendship that slowly burns into romance. It talks about lifelong ambitions and how that can grow and change, as well as the burden of family expectations in a certain family centered society.
It deals with a couple of very controversial and hard-hitting topics: the American Dream, sex work, online dating, mail order brides, marriage for citizenship, and the abuse and harassment of women. This is especially an interesting book to read because the Philippines has a predominantly Roman Catholic population, and that purity culture, or the appearance of, is a really big thing.
I cannot stop thinking about this book. I love it so much. It has been added to my ride or die shelf. It is extremely unique with a lot of very specific cultural references that others might want to look up by reading it. For example, the concept of “endos” which is a horrible, horrible short-term employment practice in the Philippines where work only lasts for six months until your “end-of-contract” and you’re forced to find work again.
This book offers an amazing glimpse into what urban lower middle class to lower class life looks like in the Philippines. Two girls with the biggest dreams come to the city to try and make it – Jo with dreams of becoming a singer, ends up instead a sex worker and Liza dreams of finding an American husband to save her and her entire family from a life of poverty.
For content warnings, there is on page sex work, off page domestic violence and domestic abuse, as well as issues that sex workers might face. However, there was absolutely no shaming whatsoever, towards anything in the book. While these two women were unhappy with the cards life dealt for them, they were never ashamed of what they had to do to survive and how they chose to live their lives. There was no shaming in being queer and different.
For the queerness in this book, it is Sapphic. Jo is very openly bisexual and her relationship with the Mistress was so amazing. Jo was extremely sex positive, and to me very, VERY MUCH AROMANTIC. Like it really grosses her out how hopelessly romantic Liza is and that was amazing for me to read. Sex positive aromantic books are literally impossible to find and I cannot believe I JUST HAPPENED to randomly stumble upon one.
This phenomenal book is full of vibrant and descriptive prose, and there’s so much wonderful self-reflection. The secondary characters - even those without names - were so full bodied. One of the side characters that appears for a page or two as one of Jo’s clients was demisexual – she literally tried and tried but felt so horrible after sex and Jo realized it was cause the client needed to fall in love first.
This book is SO FUCKING GOOD and it is SO WELL DONE and SO BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN. I did cry at end. It really was fantastic and I can’t stop thinking about it. It’s officially one of my favorite books for forever. So many of the things Jo said and thought I’ve said out loud to people in my life for years. I saw myself mirrored in this book so much it was scary. I highly recommend this book and will be reading and re-reading and recommending this book for years.
You, Me, U.S. by Brigitte Bautista is a queer contemporary romance novella that explores what happens right before the Filipino-American diaspora through two best friends Jo and Liza. This is the most unapologetically queer book I have ever read and I have read a lot of queer books – plus the fact that it’s Filipino makes it a hundred times more beautiful. This is a migrant story set in the Philippines with an amazingly intimate friendship that slowly burns into romance. It talks about lifelong ambitions and how that can grow and change, as well as the burden of family expectations in a certain family centered society.
It deals with a couple of very controversial and hard-hitting topics: the American Dream, sex work, online dating, mail order brides, marriage for citizenship, and the abuse and harassment of women. This is especially an interesting book to read because the Philippines has a predominantly Roman Catholic population, and that purity culture, or the appearance of, is a really big thing.
I cannot stop thinking about this book. I love it so much. It has been added to my ride or die shelf. It is extremely unique with a lot of very specific cultural references that others might want to look up by reading it. For example, the concept of “endos” which is a horrible, horrible short-term employment practice in the Philippines where work only lasts for six months until your “end-of-contract” and you’re forced to find work again.
This book offers an amazing glimpse into what urban lower middle class to lower class life looks like in the Philippines. Two girls with the biggest dreams come to the city to try and make it – Jo with dreams of becoming a singer, ends up instead a sex worker and Liza dreams of finding an American husband to save her and her entire family from a life of poverty.
For content warnings, there is on page sex work, off page domestic violence and domestic abuse, as well as issues that sex workers might face. However, there was absolutely no shaming whatsoever, towards anything in the book. While these two women were unhappy with the cards life dealt for them, they were never ashamed of what they had to do to survive and how they chose to live their lives. There was no shaming in being queer and different.
For the queerness in this book, it is Sapphic. Jo is very openly bisexual and her relationship with the Mistress was so amazing. Jo was extremely sex positive, and to me very, VERY MUCH AROMANTIC. Like it really grosses her out how hopelessly romantic Liza is and that was amazing for me to read. Sex positive aromantic books are literally impossible to find and I cannot believe I JUST HAPPENED to randomly stumble upon one.
This phenomenal book is full of vibrant and descriptive prose, and there’s so much wonderful self-reflection. The secondary characters - even those without names - were so full bodied. One of the side characters that appears for a page or two as one of Jo’s clients was demisexual – she literally tried and tried but felt so horrible after sex and Jo realized it was cause the client needed to fall in love first.
This book is SO FUCKING GOOD and it is SO WELL DONE and SO BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN. I did cry at end. It really was fantastic and I can’t stop thinking about it. It’s officially one of my favorite books for forever. So many of the things Jo said and thought I’ve said out loud to people in my life for years. I saw myself mirrored in this book so much it was scary. I highly recommend this book and will be reading and re-reading and recommending this book for years.
iam's review against another edition
3.5
Quite lovely romance about finding the line where the dreams we've been chasing meet the reality we live.
Content warnings include: cheating, sexual harassment, mild violence, sex work, sex on-page, hate against sex-workers; mentions of intimate partner violence/domestic abuse.
Liza and Jo, both living in Manila, have been best friends for years now. While sex worker Jo has come to terms with her dream of becoming a pop star never becoming reality, Liza is working hard towards her dream of marrying a rich foreigner, moving to the U.S. and giving herself and her family a better life. After countless breakups with her online boyfriends, Liza now finally found The One.
But as things move closer to her dream coming true, the friendship between Jo and Liza is beginning to shift.
You, Me, U.S is a relatively fast read with a writing style that manages to be lyrical in how down to earth it is.
I appreciated how short the book was - novella length I think - because I wasn't able to really focus on it. Had it been longer I might have lost interest, which is more my own fault than the book's I think. Yet I also wish some parts had been longer, as there are quite a few dumps of "oh btw here's all the background information to understand this scene", and some big events are just described over two pages instead of shown in their own scenes.
Content warnings include: cheating, sexual harassment, mild violence, sex work, sex on-page, hate against sex-workers; mentions of intimate partner violence/domestic abuse.
Liza and Jo, both living in Manila, have been best friends for years now. While sex worker Jo has come to terms with her dream of becoming a pop star never becoming reality, Liza is working hard towards her dream of marrying a rich foreigner, moving to the U.S. and giving herself and her family a better life. After countless breakups with her online boyfriends, Liza now finally found The One.
But as things move closer to her dream coming true, the friendship between Jo and Liza is beginning to shift.
You, Me, U.S is a relatively fast read with a writing style that manages to be lyrical in how down to earth it is.
I appreciated how short the book was - novella length I think - because I wasn't able to really focus on it. Had it been longer I might have lost interest, which is more my own fault than the book's I think. Yet I also wish some parts had been longer, as there are quite a few dumps of "oh btw here's all the background information to understand this scene", and some big events are just described over two pages instead of shown in their own scenes.
boop123's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
sad
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? It's complicated
3.5
haechans's review
3.0
Jo and Liza. Jo and Liza. Jo and Liza. Jo. Liza.
This book was so real. At some point, I had to put down the book and take a break because it just hurts so much. Jo with the realities of being a sex worker in the Philippines. She has come to like it. There's no shaming whatsoever on what she does for a living. Liza, on the other hand, with that American Dream that a lot of Filipina has, going through online dating sites and hoping someone could save them and give them a better life and hopefully a green card. Not just for herself but for the sake of her family. Jo who lives for herself mostly and Liza who lives for her family.
Towards the end, Jo said something to Liza that really broke my heart. There's that hurt that also stems from not just being good enough as a lover, but also not good enough as a friend, which was their foundation. I remember my heart breaking at the chapter before that and until the end. Will I ever listen to Brenda Russell's Piano in the Dark without hurting? I guess not.
This book was so real. At some point, I had to put down the book and take a break because it just hurts so much. Jo with the realities of being a sex worker in the Philippines. She has come to like it. There's no shaming whatsoever on what she does for a living. Liza, on the other hand, with that American Dream that a lot of Filipina has, going through online dating sites and hoping someone could save them and give them a better life and hopefully a green card. Not just for herself but for the sake of her family. Jo who lives for herself mostly and Liza who lives for her family.
Towards the end, Jo said something to Liza that really broke my heart. There's that hurt that also stems from not just being good enough as a lover, but also not good enough as a friend, which was their foundation. I remember my heart breaking at the chapter before that and until the end. Will I ever listen to Brenda Russell's Piano in the Dark without hurting? I guess not.