Reviews with content warning for Classism - Now You See Us

When I saw this in the Kuala Lumpur Kinokuniya, I KNEW I had to read it! I bought it on Kindle only because my luggage wouldn’t allow me to fit yet another book in 😅
But Kindle or not, what an INCREDIBLE insight. Based around 3 Filipina domestic workers’ lives in Singapore, which is infamous for the ‘crazy rich Asians’ scene, this ties in so many interesting themes. Classism and racism are rife and it was fascinating to see how this all arose in Angel, Cora and Donita’s lives.
I’ll put the content warnings for this one down below too 😳

I LOVED Angel’s narrative too. A queer woman fending for herself and coming out to her loved ones even when she was fearful was amazing. I got very teary! 🥹 I also really appreciated Cora and Elizabeth’s dynamic. The lines between employer and friend are sure to get blurred in domestic workers’ lives and not always for the best reasons, but their friendship was something I felt a big love for ✨ I was also delighted to see how Flordeliza got some sense of justice back, and how Donita never doubted that she was innocent even when the world was telling her different. BIG FAN OF THE FRIENDS IN THIS BOOK 🥰

One to DEFINITELY get into. Thank you to Balli Kaur Jaswal for this ✨

Content Warnings

serendipitysbooks's review against another edition

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emotional informative mysterious reflective 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

4.0

Now You See Us explores the lives of women working as domestic workers or helpers in Singapore. The story follows three different Filipino women and a significant portion of the plot revolves around their belief that a fellow migrant worker charged with the murder of her employer has been falsely accused. Their investigation into this was a little improbable but I wasn’t unduly bothered. For me the real strength of the book was the way it highlighted the vulnerability of female foreign migrant worker to abuses by employers, agencies and Singaporean society in general. Even good employers overstepped boundaries and created difficulties for their helpers, albeit with kind intentions. I couldn’t help cheering when feisty Donita, who was subject to the worst abuse by her employer, seized an opportunity to have her say and get revenge in a wonderfully public way. This book has much in common with Christy Lefteri’s Songbirds. They’d make a good pairing. There are also a couple of LGBTQ storylines woven into the plot. They are minor but they are definitely more than tokenism, and add to the picture of Singaporean society and to one of the characters especially.

Content Warnings

mysterymom40's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

Content Warnings

bookdragon217's review against another edition

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emotional funny informative lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing 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

"People are capable of anything when they're desperate."

Thanks to @williammorrowbooks and @bibliolifestyle for the gifted copy.

Now You See Us by Balli Kaur Jaswal was a lighthearted and captivating read that I really enjoyed. It's the story of 3 Filipina domestic workers who go to Singapore for better work opportunities and end up trying to find justice for another domestic worker, Flor, who has been falsely accused of murder. Jaswal introduces us to Cora, Donita and Angel, their lives before Singapore and the plight of Filipina domestic workers. I couldn't help but fall in love with them, their humor and their love of their culture. Jaswal's wittiness and sharp writing kept me invested in their unique story arcs above the mystery.

Visibility is a strong theme in this one. On the one hand, the Filipinas yearn to be seen in their full humanity, but the classist society in Singapore relegates them to permanent outsider status and poor treatment. On the flip side, they have to try to be invisible because they are immigrants and stereotyped negatively. Jaswar really does a nice job of showing how invisible service workers are to the rich. They only notice them when they want something done.

Feminism, religious intolerance, trans and homophobia, and xenophobia are other important themes explored. Jaswal illuminates the struggles of women as a global issue and shows how religion continues to promote anti-LGBTQIA sentiment and eliminates body autonomy for women. I loved to see how poetry and arts movements are always at the forefront of civil rights movements. Filipino politics and history were also woven into the story but never felt loaded or distracting. The star of the show was Jaswal's storytelling and the character driven angle of the story.

Overall this was an engrossing contemporary tale with mass appeal. The character voices were so rich and lush that solving the murder took a back seat.
If you love female driven stories, Filipino culture, humor mixed with mystery and a little bit of history with social commentary, then pick this one up. I really enjoyed this one and can't wait to read the author's previous work.

Content Warnings

ninjamuse's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

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