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3.54 AVERAGE
3.54 AVERAGE
**Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Teen for the eARC. This in no way changes my opinion**
I'm calling it now that this will probably be in my top 10 of the year. The synopsis recommended it for fans of Patron Saints of Nothing, but I think it would also be a good fit for fans of Darius the Great is Not Okay. This book is about Bobby, who is a closeted queer Filipino-American teen. After he is publicly outed at school and beaten by a homophobic classmate, Bobby decides that he's going to learn how to box, coming to identify with Filipino boxer, Manny Pacquiao. With the support of his best friend, Rosie, and his boyfriend, Brandon, Bobby starts to learn to defend himself and gain confidence in who he is as a person.
I will acknowledge that I had very little knowledge of boxing as a sport before I read this book. I still have very little knowledge. I knew the name Manny Pacquiao. I didn't know the extent of his homophobic comments. The synopsis makes it sound like Pacquiao's awful comments were going to be a bigger part of the book. The book is mostly about Bobby's relationship with his friend and boyfriend, his school life, and his life at home with his single mother. This part doesn't occur until about 80% through. So if you're like me and you didn't know, but you kept waiting for the shoe to drop, just know you'll be waiting a little bit.
Bobby is a great character. I really liked how he grew over the course of the story and was able to speak up for himself and others. He has flaws which makes him more human than some other YA character I've read, but they're things that can be worked on (ex. jealousy or insecurity about the class difference between him and his boyfriend). I also loved that he isn't this boxing phenom who is taking down people who trained years left and right in a few weeks. He works hard and at a believable pace. It didn't feel like a superhero movie where he does no training and is amazing at it.
I also really enjoyed his relationship with Rosie, who is an enjoyable friend character with strongly held beliefs, and his mother. As someone who grew up with a single parent, it's nice to see this relationship portrayed in such a sweet light I liked Brandon and understand his character, but I didn't love that he was pushy about Bobby coming out. I realize it might be harder for Brandon as an out gay teen to be with someone who is still closeted because he wants certain things in a relationship, such as being able to publicly kiss or hold hands, but I had a similar issue with You Should See Me in a Crown. Characters who push the other character to out themselves when they're not ready just come across very unsympathetic to me and it makes it harder to want the relationship continue. While they both work on things in their relationship to make it better by the end, this was just the one thing that made it harder to give it a 5 star rating.
Overall, I really liked this book. I will definitely be recommending it at my library. It has so much heart. The story was excellent. The writing was great. I can't wait to see what Rod Pulido writes next.
4.5/5 stars (rounded to 4 for Goodreads)
I'm calling it now that this will probably be in my top 10 of the year. The synopsis recommended it for fans of Patron Saints of Nothing, but I think it would also be a good fit for fans of Darius the Great is Not Okay. This book is about Bobby, who is a closeted queer Filipino-American teen. After he is publicly outed at school and beaten by a homophobic classmate, Bobby decides that he's going to learn how to box, coming to identify with Filipino boxer, Manny Pacquiao. With the support of his best friend, Rosie, and his boyfriend, Brandon, Bobby starts to learn to defend himself and gain confidence in who he is as a person.
I will acknowledge that I had very little knowledge of boxing as a sport before I read this book. I still have very little knowledge. I knew the name Manny Pacquiao. I didn't know the extent of his homophobic comments. The synopsis makes it sound like Pacquiao's awful comments were going to be a bigger part of the book. The book is mostly about Bobby's relationship with his friend and boyfriend, his school life, and his life at home with his single mother. This part doesn't occur until about 80% through. So if you're like me and you didn't know, but you kept waiting for the shoe to drop, just know you'll be waiting a little bit.
Bobby is a great character. I really liked how he grew over the course of the story and was able to speak up for himself and others. He has flaws which makes him more human than some other YA character I've read, but they're things that can be worked on (ex. jealousy or insecurity about the class difference between him and his boyfriend). I also loved that he isn't this boxing phenom who is taking down people who trained years left and right in a few weeks. He works hard and at a believable pace. It didn't feel like a superhero movie where he does no training and is amazing at it.
I also really enjoyed his relationship with Rosie, who is an enjoyable friend character with strongly held beliefs, and his mother. As someone who grew up with a single parent, it's nice to see this relationship portrayed in such a sweet light I liked Brandon and understand his character, but I didn't love that he was pushy about Bobby coming out. I realize it might be harder for Brandon as an out gay teen to be with someone who is still closeted because he wants certain things in a relationship, such as being able to publicly kiss or hold hands, but I had a similar issue with You Should See Me in a Crown. Characters who push the other character to out themselves when they're not ready just come across very unsympathetic to me and it makes it harder to want the relationship continue. While they both work on things in their relationship to make it better by the end, this was just the one thing that made it harder to give it a 5 star rating.
Overall, I really liked this book. I will definitely be recommending it at my library. It has so much heart. The story was excellent. The writing was great. I can't wait to see what Rod Pulido writes next.
4.5/5 stars (rounded to 4 for Goodreads)
This was a great YA queer coming of age story that deals with homophobia, racism and standing up for yourself. I loved these characters so much! The Filipino rep, the superhero fandom, the comic books, the boxing! If you sub boxing for karate this would make a perfect Karate Kid story for the modern age. Good on audio and highly recommended for fans of books like Forever is now or Fight like a girl. Many thanks to @prhaudio for a complimentary ALC in exchange for my honest review!
TW: bullying, hate crimes, racism, homophobia, domestic abuse of minors
TW: bullying, hate crimes, racism, homophobia, domestic abuse of minors
emotional
hopeful
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:
No
This was a sweet, frustrating, and unbelievably relatable story about the struggles of a young queer Filipino boy battling against homophobia and the loss of an idol. All of us have been in Bobby's position at some point where we've been scared to come out or let down by our idols, whether it was a musical artist, friends, or family. It's rough, heart breaking, and we ask ourselves if it's okay to still love or support the people who hate us so completely. We don't want to give up such important parts of our lives and Bobby had to face that, which made him the type of character that will stick with you. Bobby's worries and struggles are so real that they made my heart ache. All I wanted to do was jump into this book, kick the crap out of all the homophobes, and give him the biggest hug. I truly enjoyed this read and highly recommend it.
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Chasing Pacquiao has a lot of promise as a YA novel. The premise of the story - that you can idolise someone who ends up embodying everything you stand against - is a powerful and intriguing one with which I’m sure many queer bookworms have been relating heavily (particularly since a certain once-beloved, transphobic author took to twitter). Unfortunately, where Chasing Pacquiao falls short is that this premise is not really what this book is about. The inner conflict that Bobby feels about Manny has surprisingly little time in the spotlight, given that “the reveal” doesn’t happen until the final quarter of the story, by which point Bobby is already well and truly deep into the actual A plot of the book (him trying not to be killed by his bully). Bobby’s relationship with Manny and his own memories of him could have been explored so much deeper had the reveal happened much earlier in the story, and the fact that nothing really comes of it is definitely a letdown.
This theme of unfulfilled potential carries through the entirety of the story, with the plot touching on ideas such as classism/wealth inequality, addiction, police brutality, complicated parent-child dynamics and a broken healthcare system while never actually exploring any of them meaningfully. This book has all the building blocks of a thrilling and scathing social commentary but ultimately falls flat.
One of my biggest issues with this book is that Bobby is very difficult to like. His inner monologue, particularly in the first half of the book, is constantly negative which makes it a challenge to get through. He’s condescending, judgemental and rude to countless people who try to offer him help – Bran, Rosie, Eric, his teachers, Jorge. He also displays an alarming amount of internalised homophobia – another really interesting concept which is never really addressed, and does not result in any character growth by the end of the book. While I understand that being a surly teenager is definitely a stage of life most of us experience, there’s very little to break up the monotony of complaining about his financial status, Bran’s financial status, Rosie’s presence, and just general snark. Snark is the default mode for Bobby. In his verbal conversations with his friends, he always finds a way to bring the conversation back to him and his issues, as though the other characters in this book exist purely for him; they seem to have no purpose or characterisation in the book outside of serving Bobby.
Another trait that makes Bobby rather unlikeable is his tendency towards lashing out at others by picking on their physical appearances. He makes fun of people for things that they can’t help (nose hair, acne etc) which is exactly what he is being bullied for – something he can’t control. This could have been turned into a character arc of growth with Bobby becoming more self-aware and less nasty as a defence mechanism, but Bobby unfortunately never experiences any progress in this area.
There are also several quite damaging aspects to this book. The biggest standout for me is Bobby’s toxic involvement with diet culture. He spends a large amount of the book heavily restricting his food intake and referring to himself as “dieting”. As someone who has struggled with disordered eating for well over a decade, not at all helped by unhealthy portrayals of nutrition in media, this was really disappointing to see and seemed like a very old-fashioned approach to physical improvement when two seconds on Google would have shown Bobby that he doesn’t need to eat a dozen eggs a day and cut rice completely out of his diet (hello 90s Atkins cult flashbacks) in order to gain muscle. I’m concerned that this blatant display of toxic diet culture could be damaging to young readers.
In terms of the actual writing of the book, it lacks nuance. Coming back to the poorly developed characterisation, it feels like there’s a lot of stereotyping in this book, both racially and with regards to queer people/relationships. Everything feels very surface level and tokenistic, and none of the characters outside of Bobby feel very believable. The humour in this story is also uncomfortable – there’s a definite sense that it’s boomer humour. The dialogue does not feel realistic and as though it were spoken by teenagers. There’s also an awful lot of signposting for the readers – things are overexplained and it doesn’t feel as though the author trusts the reader to form fairly obvious connections (i.e. explaining that “anak” is the Filipino word for son, when it’s very clear in the context of the text what this word means to anyone who doesn’t speak Tagalog). However, given that this is a debut novel, I’ll give the author some slack – but this is definitely a focus area for any future works. Trust your readers.
All in all, although the book definitely picks up in the second half, in the end it fell short for me. I will finish with two parting thoughts: “self-preservation” is not a motto, and PLEASE for the love of god don’t mix cleaning chemicals unless you absolutely know what you’re doing!
This theme of unfulfilled potential carries through the entirety of the story, with the plot touching on ideas such as classism/wealth inequality, addiction, police brutality, complicated parent-child dynamics and a broken healthcare system while never actually exploring any of them meaningfully. This book has all the building blocks of a thrilling and scathing social commentary but ultimately falls flat.
One of my biggest issues with this book is that Bobby is very difficult to like. His inner monologue, particularly in the first half of the book, is constantly negative which makes it a challenge to get through. He’s condescending, judgemental and rude to countless people who try to offer him help – Bran, Rosie, Eric, his teachers, Jorge. He also displays an alarming amount of internalised homophobia – another really interesting concept which is never really addressed, and does not result in any character growth by the end of the book. While I understand that being a surly teenager is definitely a stage of life most of us experience, there’s very little to break up the monotony of complaining about his financial status, Bran’s financial status, Rosie’s presence, and just general snark. Snark is the default mode for Bobby. In his verbal conversations with his friends, he always finds a way to bring the conversation back to him and his issues, as though the other characters in this book exist purely for him; they seem to have no purpose or characterisation in the book outside of serving Bobby.
Another trait that makes Bobby rather unlikeable is his tendency towards lashing out at others by picking on their physical appearances. He makes fun of people for things that they can’t help (nose hair, acne etc) which is exactly what he is being bullied for – something he can’t control. This could have been turned into a character arc of growth with Bobby becoming more self-aware and less nasty as a defence mechanism, but Bobby unfortunately never experiences any progress in this area.
There are also several quite damaging aspects to this book. The biggest standout for me is Bobby’s toxic involvement with diet culture. He spends a large amount of the book heavily restricting his food intake and referring to himself as “dieting”. As someone who has struggled with disordered eating for well over a decade, not at all helped by unhealthy portrayals of nutrition in media, this was really disappointing to see and seemed like a very old-fashioned approach to physical improvement when two seconds on Google would have shown Bobby that he doesn’t need to eat a dozen eggs a day and cut rice completely out of his diet (hello 90s Atkins cult flashbacks) in order to gain muscle. I’m concerned that this blatant display of toxic diet culture could be damaging to young readers.
In terms of the actual writing of the book, it lacks nuance. Coming back to the poorly developed characterisation, it feels like there’s a lot of stereotyping in this book, both racially and with regards to queer people/relationships. Everything feels very surface level and tokenistic, and none of the characters outside of Bobby feel very believable. The humour in this story is also uncomfortable – there’s a definite sense that it’s boomer humour. The dialogue does not feel realistic and as though it were spoken by teenagers. There’s also an awful lot of signposting for the readers – things are overexplained and it doesn’t feel as though the author trusts the reader to form fairly obvious connections (i.e. explaining that “anak” is the Filipino word for son, when it’s very clear in the context of the text what this word means to anyone who doesn’t speak Tagalog). However, given that this is a debut novel, I’ll give the author some slack – but this is definitely a focus area for any future works. Trust your readers.
All in all, although the book definitely picks up in the second half, in the end it fell short for me. I will finish with two parting thoughts: “self-preservation” is not a motto, and PLEASE for the love of god don’t mix cleaning chemicals unless you absolutely know what you’re doing!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Violence
Moderate: Eating disorder
"Chasing Pacquiao" was everything I wanted in a book and more. Funny, honest, heartwarming, and Filipino to the core, this book stirred up a lot of feelings. From Bobby's pain at losing his father to the joys of first love to dealing with a bully, "Chasing Pacquiao" recalled so much of my own adolescence and helped heal parts of me that I didn't know were still hurting.
Through Bobby -- who is a poet as well as a budding boxer -- I was introduced to the Filipino poetic form of Tanaga. Inspired, I wrote my first poem in this form inspired by the book:
Pacquiao's views are bigoted;
Love can't be prohibited.
Bobby's got a mean right hook,
Rod wrote a hell of a book.
"Chasing Pacquiao" is the kind of book that will burrow into your soul and stay there after you've read the final page. It truly has something for everyone and you will fall in love with its characters and author Rod Pulido's masterful writing.
Through Bobby -- who is a poet as well as a budding boxer -- I was introduced to the Filipino poetic form of Tanaga. Inspired, I wrote my first poem in this form inspired by the book:
Pacquiao's views are bigoted;
Love can't be prohibited.
Bobby's got a mean right hook,
Rod wrote a hell of a book.
"Chasing Pacquiao" is the kind of book that will burrow into your soul and stay there after you've read the final page. It truly has something for everyone and you will fall in love with its characters and author Rod Pulido's masterful writing.
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It’s so hard for me to enjoy a book when the MC is insufferable.
There was some things I did like about the story, but I couldn’t get past how judgmental Bobby was.
For someone who hates being judged for being gay he sure judged everyone else.
From looks, to calling someone a meth head over and over. I hated that.
Overall I didn’t love it and honestly it was just okay.
There was some things I did like about the story, but I couldn’t get past how judgmental Bobby was.
For someone who hates being judged for being gay he sure judged everyone else.
From looks, to calling someone a meth head over and over. I hated that.
Overall I didn’t love it and honestly it was just okay.
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes