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seref's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
amandarose529's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
4.25
slow in the beginning but a really beautiful novel on community and finding oneself
“Most of all, you want to know what it’s like to get it, and not need it. Most of the time, you need things you never get; you get things no one would ever want. But getting something you want, that you don’t really need? Getting something that’s just about feeding that half-sewn-up second mouth inside you, unfed and lonely, cramped somewhere between your heart and your gut? You’ve never had that before. You’ve never had it, but you want to feel worthy of it, like the woman in the hair-dye ad you’ve been seeing around recently. You want to feel like it’s because you’re worth it.” p18
“Hero didn’t, couldn’t, answer, but held her hand out for the third piece of persimmon she knew was coming. Rosalyn put it in her palm. It tasted yeasty, like Budweiser and pig fat, and then chalky, glacial; one side of the persimmon was unripe. Hero knew then, with a wry, bleak, doubtless humor, that life was long, but this third or fourth life she was on was long, long, long, not even all the way started up yet, not even close. She had fallen down another slope; now she was being carried back up the mountain. Listening to Roslyn‘s chewing noises start up again in the dark, Hero’s throat ached, all the way down the arteries, down to where the throat met the heart. She held her hand out for the next bite.”
p182
“It was that tiny hate that spoke in her when Hero thought to herself what a formidable thing it was, what a terror, really- a girl who was loved from the very beginning.” p229
“she observed that Roslyn’s Milpitas consisted of a street where she lived, the streets where her friends lived, a two-mile wide boundary around the restaurant, and the Asian strip malls around town where the Filipino grocery stores and bakeries were located.… Hero didn’t know how many other Milpitases there were; one for every person living there, she imagined.”
melodys_library's review against another edition
3.0
My favorite thing about this book was how familiar the family felt. Not necessarily in a warm and fuzzy kind of way, but in a “that’s my Filipino family” kind of way. Pol being a prominent doctor in the Philippines but reduced to a day shift employee at a computer company in California; Paz working 16 hour days and paying the debts of every family member; the economic disparities, the nicknames, the traditions (the novena and the balikbayan boxes!) the history of one country following them into the next...The author said it best: “Baggage means no matter how far you go, no matter how many times you immigrate, there are countries in you you’ll never leave.” That said, I don’t know if non-Filipinos would appreciate this book. There is also Tagalog mixed with English mixed with Ilocano sprinkled and blended throughout the novel, and while it might be confusing to a non-Filipino, we understand it because this is us.
My least favorite thing about this book was the pace. I hate to admit it, but if it weren’t for the fact that this book were written by and about Filipinos, I might have set it down and never looked back. :/ After the punch-to-the-gut prologue starring Paz, I trudged through Hero’s chapters and sadly watched Paz fade into the background. I just couldn’t come close to being interested in the sexual tension and relationship between Hero and Rosalyn. I wanted to hear more about the rest of the family dynamics.
While the pace was slow, I’m still glad I finished the book because I have been feeling really out of touch with the my Filipino-ness and this book brought back some feelings and memories. Also, Hero’s backstory of the New People’s Army prompted me to research the Filipino-American War - that often misunderstood, forgotten and glossed-over-in-your-US history book war. Appalling facts I need to learn more about.
My least favorite thing about this book was the pace. I hate to admit it, but if it weren’t for the fact that this book were written by and about Filipinos, I might have set it down and never looked back. :/ After the punch-to-the-gut prologue starring Paz, I trudged through Hero’s chapters and sadly watched Paz fade into the background. I just couldn’t come close to being interested in the sexual tension and relationship between Hero and Rosalyn. I wanted to hear more about the rest of the family dynamics.
While the pace was slow, I’m still glad I finished the book because I have been feeling really out of touch with the my Filipino-ness and this book brought back some feelings and memories. Also, Hero’s backstory of the New People’s Army prompted me to research the Filipino-American War - that often misunderstood, forgotten and glossed-over-in-your-US history book war. Appalling facts I need to learn more about.
leslieasy's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
smallpantsluza's review against another edition
3.75
the ending of this book was heartwarming and sweet which was why i gave it a high 3. some of the parts didn’t quite catch my interest & i felt like i was more invested in the parts with hero & her family rather than hero and her friends. i liked it enough.
jacyjean's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
sad
fast-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
candacesiegle_greedyreader's review against another edition
4.0
Set in the unglamorous cities of San Francisco's East Bay, "America Is Not The Heart" follows Filipino immigrants as they dig in and take their place in their new country. It's the 1980s, and Paz uses her training as a nurse to leverage an escape from the poor rural Philippines. Her surgeon husband comes from a rich, corrupt family, but when he joins her in Milpitas, he becomes a security guard. They offer sanctuary to his niece, Hero, who has been rejected by her family after joining a revolutionary group as a doctor. She has been captured and tortured, and released suddenly with her thumbs broken and mind battered.
Hero's job is to help with Paz and Pol's daughter Roni, because the two of them work all hours of the day and night. With Roni, Hero begins to build relationships in her new world among East Bay Filipinos and Mexicans. Hero makes friends and ventures out. She loves to have sex with both men and women, but women are her favorites. How will that play in this conservative community?
"America Is Not The Heart" is fresh and compelling--why aren't there more novels about the Filipino experience?--and I would give it five stars except for the irritating amount of Tagalog and regional Philippine dialects that are poured into the text with no explanation. Since I read an e-review copy (thanks, Viking!) there may be a glossary in the hard copy, but most readers would be flipping back and forth so much that their reading pleasure would be badly compromised.
Hero's job is to help with Paz and Pol's daughter Roni, because the two of them work all hours of the day and night. With Roni, Hero begins to build relationships in her new world among East Bay Filipinos and Mexicans. Hero makes friends and ventures out. She loves to have sex with both men and women, but women are her favorites. How will that play in this conservative community?
"America Is Not The Heart" is fresh and compelling--why aren't there more novels about the Filipino experience?--and I would give it five stars except for the irritating amount of Tagalog and regional Philippine dialects that are poured into the text with no explanation. Since I read an e-review copy (thanks, Viking!) there may be a glossary in the hard copy, but most readers would be flipping back and forth so much that their reading pleasure would be badly compromised.
pmnl's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25