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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.
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.
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Police brutality, Drug use, and Death
Moderate: Drug abuse, Addiction, and Racism
Minor: Sexual assault, Trafficking, and Homophobia
cortanasreadingnook's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
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? Yes
5.0
This heartbreaking novel of regret and guilt is an excellent introduction to Filipino authors. Jay Reguero is a seventeen-year-old senior who grew up in Detroit, Michigan. Having his life all laid out for him, everything suddenly topples over when he finds out that his cousin Jun was shot to death. So, he travels to the Philippines for spring break after 8 years to find out what happened to his cousin. He soon finds out that there are a lot more factors that played out to Jun’s untimely death.
"A universe where people do not die for doing what is right.”
Patron Saints of Nothing is painful yet genuine take on my culture, the life that I knew growing up, and is quite a reflective read, especially with the way he talks about issues that have plagued the country for decades.
As someone who has lived in the Philippines my whole life, I don’t think foreigners can even begin to understand how exhausting it is back there with the endless cycle of corruption and poverty. I appreciated how this book didn’t try to censor the realities that many Filipinos still face every day. And I am truly impressed at the amount of research that the author has done to be able to share this story with the world. This book expresses the feelings of Filipino kids who grew up to immigrant parents and has never thought about the motherland as their home and addresses detachment from one’s culture and traditions. Moreso, this was devised to make a reader uncomfortable as it discusses social issues from Jay’s perspective, one that has never lived and experienced the Philippines, making it raw, brutal, and if nothing but the truth. It is a reality check for people who think the country is a tropical paradise but is truly just showing the tip of the iceberg to its dark history with a long-battled control against the government for freedom of the press and media censorship. Many have died to gain freedom, but at what cost? The shadows of their martyrdom have loomed over the country, never to be acknowledged, never to be given justice.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Homophobia, Addiction, Violence, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Body shaming and Gun violence
Minor: Animal death
finnft4's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
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? Yes
5.0
Wow, this was incredible. This book immediately grabbed my intention based on an interesting premise and a main character I could relate to. I've never really seen a protagonist so similar to me. Like Jay, I'm also half-Filipino, my mom is white, my Filipino father is moderately disconnected from his family, I feel disconnected from Filipino culture but alienated in the majority white US, and I have no idea what I'm doing with my life. A few differences, of course. A good chunk of my Filipino relatives live in Florida, and I've never been to the Philippines. Like other Americans, I'm guilty of generically seeing it as a third-world country less fortunate than my own. I'm happy to say this book changed my perspective on it.
Onto the actual novel. Randy Ribay is a master of imagery and characterizations. Everything feels so alive, from the characters to their problems to the world they live in. Even though I've never been to the Philippines, it almost felt like I visited while I read. I was able to find recognition and relate to the long parties, the food, and the confusing mess of not knowing Tagalog. There was not a single character that felt fake or two-sided, representing a simple figure to love or hate. Even ones who the main character dislikes are not simply villains. There are shades of gray. I really love how complex the characters are and how Ribay humanizes all of them.
Oh and, like Jay, I had absolutely no idea about the drug war that only recently died down in the Philippines. I was completely oblivious to anything going on, including having no idea who President Duterte was. Like the American I am, I don't know much about the affairs outside of what is immediately around me. This novel has encouraged me to work on that.
I felt like I was experiencing the story right with Jay. His reactions to grief felt so relatable and real to me. I understood his desperation, his determination, his despair. As the story continued, the cousin's death changed from a mystery into a genuine tragedy. Jun's death was always sad, but seeing the care his family had, beneath what Jay thought as apathy, was so powerful. Jun's immediate family, who both Jun and I were convinced simply did not care about his loss, had so many raw emotions right below the surface.
GOD it's devastating. I was reading the end of this in my Spanish class and had to tilt my head up to stop crying. The memorial and eulogies absolutely destroyed me. Seeing how the grief affected everyone was unbelievably powerful. Writing true, realistic grief is so difficult to accomplish without the product being trite. This is one of the most successful examples I've seen.
Patron Saints of Nothing is a beautifully multi-faceted story that I highly recommend.
Onto the actual novel. Randy Ribay is a master of imagery and characterizations. Everything feels so alive, from the characters to their problems to the world they live in. Even though I've never been to the Philippines, it almost felt like I visited while I read. I was able to find recognition and relate to the long parties, the food, and the confusing mess of not knowing Tagalog. There was not a single character that felt fake or two-sided, representing a simple figure to love or hate. Even ones who the main character dislikes are not simply villains. There are shades of gray. I really love how complex the characters are and how Ribay humanizes all of them.
Oh and, like Jay, I had absolutely no idea about the drug war that only recently died down in the Philippines. I was completely oblivious to anything going on, including having no idea who President Duterte was. Like the American I am, I don't know much about the affairs outside of what is immediately around me. This novel has encouraged me to work on that.
GOD it's devastating. I was reading the end of this in my Spanish class and had to tilt my head up to stop crying. The memorial and eulogies absolutely destroyed me. Seeing how the grief affected everyone was unbelievably powerful. Writing true, realistic grief is so difficult to accomplish without the product being trite. This is one of the most successful examples I've seen.
Patron Saints of Nothing is a beautifully multi-faceted story that I highly recommend.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror
Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual violence, Animal death, Death, Addiction, and Violence
Minor: Gun violence, Homophobia, and Racism
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.
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
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
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
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!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction and Grief
Moderate: Drug abuse, Police brutality, Abandonment, and Trafficking
narbine's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
sick of unnecessary love interests!!!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Police brutality, Xenophobia, Death, Trafficking, Sexual violence, Colonisation, Grief, Addiction, Animal death, and Alcohol
Minor: Sexism, Body shaming, Homophobia, Racism, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Violence, and War
rebar351's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
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
The audiobook was so good! This was really emotional and powerful!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Grief, and Violence