Reviews with content warning for Drug use - Patron Saints of Nothing

Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay

41 reviews

gellyreads's review against another edition

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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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amandalorianxo's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative reflective 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

4.25

Throughly enjoyed this. Medium paced, short chapters, easy to understand but impactful language made this journey into the Philippines a worthy experience. We follow Jason, a biracial (half white / half Filipino) seventeen year old who learns very early on in the novel that his cousin Jun is dead. Except Jason doesn’t feel right that no one seems to be questioning it. So Jason takes it upon himself to find the answers that he desperately needs. The plot moves quickly from the time Jason lands and we are right along with him as we learn about the past, present and possible future of this far away country. I liked the normalization of his aunt’s relationship with her partner Ines. I do wish there had been a little more insight into Jason parents & what made them connect but minus that, a worthy read.

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tahsintries's review against another edition

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4.25

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ricardo_sb's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative tense 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? No

4.5

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bookishbaddie's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional informative inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

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l_arand's review against another edition

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

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

5.0

randy ribay’s patron saints of nothing follows the story of jay, a biracial filipino american in his senior year of high school. once he’s told about his cousin jun’s death and the mysterious circumstances surrounding it, he uses his spring break to travel to the philippines in hopes of finding the truth about jun and his death.

i need everyone to read this book. not only does it provide insight into the drug war and duterte’s policies, it also shines a light on the way americans sensationalize what’s going on in foreign countries.
i think a line of bo burham’s how the world works can put this into words better than i can, “why do you rich fucking white people insist on seeing every socio political conflict through the myopic lense of your own self actualisation? this isn’t about you.”
this can be aimed towards jay, our narrator, by his family members in the philippines, especially grace and tito maning. jay gives us an interesting perspective because he was naturalized in the states. more specifically, the midwest. he’s dealing with an identity crisis over his birthplace and race while being told by his white peers that “you’re basically white.” jay is self aware and is incredibly conscious of how american ideals have been ingrained into him, but he can’t help but think that some of the things going on in his home country would be different if they too functioned based off of said ideals. the exchanges between him and grace (his cousin and jun’s younger sister) are quite eye opening and serve as a commentary on national and cultural differences.

that wasn’t an incredibly eloquent review and it was hard to put my thoughts into words, but i hope that doesn’t discourage anyone from reading it. ribay also has sources with information pertaining to the drug war at the end of the book, and ways one can support the fight against it from afar. just, please read the book.

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