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dzana's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
viviantuyle's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
jammyreadsbooks's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
slow-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
4.0
black_girl_reading's review against another edition
2.0
About two contemporary women, a filmmaker and a writer, travelling around the Philippines with a duelling narrative about an uprising against the Americans in 1901, this book tried to do all of the things. What I liked: 1. The idea of the book. There is an important story in there somewhere. 2. The badassery of the Filipinx folks that disrupts the western narratives of sweetness, forbearance and whatever other lies we tell ourselves to justify the labour we demand in the west 3. Some of the complex-ass history of colonialism in the Philippines (it is a long storied history of multiple colonizations, it’s a lot to parse - holy hell). What I didn’t like 1. It was hard to follow. Really hard to follow. I know I missed a lot. 2. Too many storylines. I couldn’t get invested. Some twists and turns were extraneous and unimportant. I had a hard time landing in the novel. 3. It was too in it’s own head. I called it both fussy and tortured at times. Apparently it had pages of reference material in the book? There was so much that was inaccessible to the listener. 4. It tried to fit too much into one book. Curse of the second novel? Being tricky on purpose? Idk but it lost me in it’s attempted scope in few pages. By book buddy told me that a review called it metafiction and I think that’s a nice way of saying “it’s too dense to parse and it feels like it’s trying to pull a fast one on you”. I would try her first novel to see if this was aberration, so that speaks to her capacity as an author I suppose?
joellynsophia's review against another edition
4.0
“Who is to be master? Answer: a woman.”
I found this book at many times hard to follow, but not always in a bad way. It is far from a straight forward story—the storylines and stories within stories are scattered and interwoven. The writing style did not appeal to me when I was physically reading the book but I found it very engaging in audiobook format.
I found this book at many times hard to follow, but not always in a bad way. It is far from a straight forward story—the storylines and stories within stories are scattered and interwoven. The writing style did not appeal to me when I was physically reading the book but I found it very engaging in audiobook format.
stacialithub's review against another edition
4.0
Definitely this book would have been better served had I read it in a couple of sittings that were close together. Life intervened & so it took me awhile to get through it.
Loved the style, the layers, the social/historical/cultural items, the flipping viewpoints. Strong women throughout. Shades of [b:A Moment in the Sun|9785474|A Moment in the Sun|John Sayles|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1327876254s/9785474.jpg|14675330] (for the Philippine-American War sections) & [b:Hopscotch|53413|Hopscotch|Julio Cortázar|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1367728486s/53413.jpg|1794732] (for varying orders of reading chapters being an option). And, still very unique & fast-moving, looking at the subjects through different lenses. Funny, sardonic, wrenching.
I feel like I'm not really doing the book justice with my few comments. But, I also feel a bit disjointed since I read it over a long time span & there are so many facets to this novel.
Loved the style, the layers, the social/historical/cultural items, the flipping viewpoints. Strong women throughout. Shades of [b:A Moment in the Sun|9785474|A Moment in the Sun|John Sayles|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1327876254s/9785474.jpg|14675330] (for the Philippine-American War sections) & [b:Hopscotch|53413|Hopscotch|Julio Cortázar|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1367728486s/53413.jpg|1794732] (for varying orders of reading chapters being an option). And, still very unique & fast-moving, looking at the subjects through different lenses. Funny, sardonic, wrenching.
I feel like I'm not really doing the book justice with my few comments. But, I also feel a bit disjointed since I read it over a long time span & there are so many facets to this novel.
lizmart88's review against another edition
3.0
This is a fascinating book. To be honest, I to get into it (took two tries) and I didn't necessarily enjoy much of it. It felt extremely experimental. The story is all twisted up, has parallels you understand later, is layered stories within stories within novels within photographs.
If you like books about ideas, this might be for you. If you are okay with a spiral, non linear plot and colliding stories, you may enjoy this book. If you're interested in exploring ideas about history, facts, and how we form our own identities, this is for you!
Centrally, the story is of two women on a road trip in the Philippines. One, Chiara, is the daughter of a famous director who committed suicide when she was 6 and whose last film was filmed in Samara Island in the Philippines. The film's plot seems to be very similar, intentionally or not us unclear, to an actual massacre in 1902. The other woman is a mystery writer from the Phillipines who now lives in America, who has returned after her mother's death. There is also chapters from Chiara's mother, a widow, about remembering her husband. Chiara and the mystery writer Magsalin are both writing competing scripts about a massacre that occurred in 1902. So there's excerpts of scripts as well.
Together, the two women spiral through their own memories, their dreams, and reality as they travel to Samara.
The big picture is about - what makes us us? There is an essay at the end by the author that I loved. I almost wish I had read it first. It's autobiographical about the author and how she came to write this.
In some ways, this book probably needs to be read twice. The first to take in the facts, and the second time to begin to dig into the meaning.
If you like books about ideas, this might be for you. If you are okay with a spiral, non linear plot and colliding stories, you may enjoy this book. If you're interested in exploring ideas about history, facts, and how we form our own identities, this is for you!
Centrally, the story is of two women on a road trip in the Philippines. One, Chiara, is the daughter of a famous director who committed suicide when she was 6 and whose last film was filmed in Samara Island in the Philippines. The film's plot seems to be very similar, intentionally or not us unclear, to an actual massacre in 1902. The other woman is a mystery writer from the Phillipines who now lives in America, who has returned after her mother's death. There is also chapters from Chiara's mother, a widow, about remembering her husband. Chiara and the mystery writer Magsalin are both writing competing scripts about a massacre that occurred in 1902. So there's excerpts of scripts as well.
Together, the two women spiral through their own memories, their dreams, and reality as they travel to Samara.
The big picture is about - what makes us us? There is an essay at the end by the author that I loved. I almost wish I had read it first. It's autobiographical about the author and how she came to write this.
In some ways, this book probably needs to be read twice. The first to take in the facts, and the second time to begin to dig into the meaning.
sirlancelot2021's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
sensormellow's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5