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A review by jayal
Fantasy: Filipino Fiction For Young Adults by Dean Francis Alfar, Kenneth Yu
3.0
1. Residents of an Island off the Coast of Old Samboangan - 3/5. The worldbuilding has good potential; I just hoped there was more storytelling than exposition.
2. The Hunt for the Fleas of Maculot - 3.5/5. Unique story.
3. Shatterbrain - 1/5. dnf.
4. The Real World - 5/5. The story is very good! This is one of my favorites in this collection.
5. Sticks and Stones and Gold - 3.5/5.
6. Mela and the Prince of Flies - 3/5. I don't hate it.
7. In a Strange Tongue - 4/5. Bitin. Great worldbuilding. I wish it were longer.
8. Skyface - 5/5. It is unique and romantic, and I love it.
9. Glamor - 2/5. It had potential, but it felt unfinished.
10. In Teresa - 0/100.
"The evening news is drawing to a close, to be placed by those cheap teleseryes the maids love so much." Such elitism from a single sentence. Has this work even gone through a workshop? I can't believe UP Press published this. The writing is unbelievably painful for me to read, and the plot's too predictable. And where are the fantasy elements in the middle of the story? Do the following quotes help in moving the plot forward?
"Some days I think I can be a nun, but then Justin wouldn't allow that, and my pekpek would rather shut itself tight than know Justin's out there somewhere, beyond reach."
"Everybody knows Regina has a massive crush on Justin, but good luck getting those pimples off your cheeks, girlfriend."
"... but those hormones sure have a way of ballooning them boobs and booty."
"If Carmela hadn't introduced me to Justin at that soiree, Regine would have long pounced on him, and I'd be stuck with Taylor Swift on shuffle mode on my phone."
"... and everybody in Katipunan finds out? The Miriam girls will be all over the news like vultures storming a dead gazelle." Something tells me the author thinks gossip is all that women do. "There's supposed to be a huge sale in Megamall, so I guess that's where most girls are right now." Have you any women friends?
To think that these quotes are written by a man from the perspective of a high school girl. Does the author think that this is how a woman thinks? What does this have to do with the plot? None of the men face any consequences. This story pathetically fails the Bechdel test and is strongly misogynistic. The writer didn't even tread carefully on the topic of suicide.
What a problematic read.
11. Adarna's Feather - 5/5. What a great read! It's shining new light on creatures our grandparents perceived as monsters. Using Philippine mythological creatures to represent different individuals is very well done. I will most definitely be referencing this story in my literary tradition.
12. Kumintang - 5/5. I thought the title of the work referred to the Kumintang dance. It's actually a place in Batangas. The worldbuilding of this work is impressive, and it gives off a utopic vibe: our country in the present if we were never colonized. It's very romantic, too.
2. The Hunt for the Fleas of Maculot - 3.5/5. Unique story.
3. Shatterbrain - 1/5. dnf.
4. The Real World - 5/5. The story is very good! This is one of my favorites in this collection.
5. Sticks and Stones and Gold - 3.5/5.
6. Mela and the Prince of Flies - 3/5. I don't hate it.
7. In a Strange Tongue - 4/5. Bitin. Great worldbuilding. I wish it were longer.
8. Skyface - 5/5. It is unique and romantic, and I love it.
9. Glamor - 2/5. It had potential, but it felt unfinished.
10. In Teresa - 0/100.
"The evening news is drawing to a close, to be placed by those cheap teleseryes the maids love so much." Such elitism from a single sentence. Has this work even gone through a workshop? I can't believe UP Press published this. The writing is unbelievably painful for me to read, and the plot's too predictable. And where are the fantasy elements in the middle of the story? Do the following quotes help in moving the plot forward?
"Some days I think I can be a nun, but then Justin wouldn't allow that, and my pekpek would rather shut itself tight than know Justin's out there somewhere, beyond reach."
"Everybody knows Regina has a massive crush on Justin, but good luck getting those pimples off your cheeks, girlfriend."
"... but those hormones sure have a way of ballooning them boobs and booty."
"If Carmela hadn't introduced me to Justin at that soiree, Regine would have long pounced on him, and I'd be stuck with Taylor Swift on shuffle mode on my phone."
"... and everybody in Katipunan finds out? The Miriam girls will be all over the news like vultures storming a dead gazelle." Something tells me the author thinks gossip is all that women do. "There's supposed to be a huge sale in Megamall, so I guess that's where most girls are right now." Have you any women friends?
To think that these quotes are written by a man from the perspective of a high school girl. Does the author think that this is how a woman thinks? What does this have to do with the plot? None of the men face any consequences. This story pathetically fails the Bechdel test and is strongly misogynistic. The writer didn't even tread carefully on the topic of suicide.
What a problematic read.
11. Adarna's Feather - 5/5. What a great read! It's shining new light on creatures our grandparents perceived as monsters. Using Philippine mythological creatures to represent different individuals is very well done. I will most definitely be referencing this story in my literary tradition.
12. Kumintang - 5/5. I thought the title of the work referred to the Kumintang dance. It's actually a place in Batangas. The worldbuilding of this work is impressive, and it gives off a utopic vibe: our country in the present if we were never colonized. It's very romantic, too.