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curlyhairbibliophile 's review for:
How to Make Friends with the Sea
by Tanya Guerrero
DNF @ page 140. Warning: Incoming rant.
*Please Note: I am not #ownvoices for the Filipino or OCD/Anxiety representation. I highly encourage you to also check out Shealea's review for an #ownvoices Filipino representation review :
I picked up this book for Asian Readathon, and I went off the basic Goodreads rating since it had an 4.4 star average rating. However, after reading 140 or so pages, I couldn't continue in good faith.
HOW TO MAKE FRIENDS was a story about a young boy named Pablo who has just moved to the Philippines with his zoologist mom. He has extreme OCD/Anxiety (never explicitly labeled on page). His mom takes in an orphaned girl-- Chiqui -- who has a cleft lip. Many reviews called it a lovely, heart-warming book but my experience greatly differed from this. There were two main problems I had with this book:
1. The Disrespect for the Philippines/ Filipino Culture
VERY early on, it is established that Pablo is not happy living in the Philippines. And the narrator seems to nitpick practically everything about the country and culture. I understand that as a character with an anxiety disorder that could happen. However, the writing does not present it as a way to say "this happens because I am new to this country and anxious". His comments tend to exoticize the Philippines and imply everything is "strange and alien" but it comes across as just xenophobic.
One specific and very odd example was when they took Chiqui (his foster sister) to the hospital. He noticed there was a Starbucks in the hospital. And, since it was so close to the hospital and germs, he was disgusted by this. However, he then says: "Food courts had zero business being anywhere near hospitals, but apparently in the Philippines hospitals might as well be malls."
Now, this character at one point lived in the U.S. From my memory, there are food courts in hospitals in the U.S. Hell, I've definitely seen a Starbucks in several hospitals in the U.S. This is just a very.. odd.. detail to add when it's especially untrue.
2. Abelism
As I mentioned previously, Chiqui has a cleft lip and Pablo makes several comments about this and how he is disgusted by it and he "doesn't want her anywhere near him". Pablo continued to make comments and act disgusted with her until about page 120. It was really off putting, especially since the author's note in the back seems to be about raising awareness for children with cleft lips and "not taking your smile for granted". It just seems very odd that she decided to make her main character treat the only character with a cleft lip as if she was sub-human until he eventually realizes "hey, she's not too bad." Weird move.
Page 21: "Her face. I could see all of it. I sucked my breath and looked away. But the image was still here. I couldn't stop seeing it-- the crack from her lip to her nostril, like a crack in a rock, or a cracked vase with a missing piece. Her teeth and gums were partially exposed..."
One final note: This book is a very important reminder as to why #Ownvoices reviews are important and should be prioritized. Looking at the reviews on HOW TO MAKE FRIENDS WITH THE SEA, most of the 5 stars are by non-Filipino older women.
Save your time, money, and energy. Follow #ownvoices reviewers first and foremost and take other reviews with a grain of salt.
*Please Note: I am not #ownvoices for the Filipino or OCD/Anxiety representation. I highly encourage you to also check out Shealea's review for an #ownvoices Filipino representation review :
I picked up this book for Asian Readathon, and I went off the basic Goodreads rating since it had an 4.4 star average rating. However, after reading 140 or so pages, I couldn't continue in good faith.
HOW TO MAKE FRIENDS was a story about a young boy named Pablo who has just moved to the Philippines with his zoologist mom. He has extreme OCD/Anxiety (never explicitly labeled on page). His mom takes in an orphaned girl-- Chiqui -- who has a cleft lip. Many reviews called it a lovely, heart-warming book but my experience greatly differed from this. There were two main problems I had with this book:
1. The Disrespect for the Philippines/ Filipino Culture
VERY early on, it is established that Pablo is not happy living in the Philippines. And the narrator seems to nitpick practically everything about the country and culture. I understand that as a character with an anxiety disorder that could happen. However, the writing does not present it as a way to say "this happens because I am new to this country and anxious". His comments tend to exoticize the Philippines and imply everything is "strange and alien" but it comes across as just xenophobic.
One specific and very odd example was when they took Chiqui (his foster sister) to the hospital. He noticed there was a Starbucks in the hospital. And, since it was so close to the hospital and germs, he was disgusted by this. However, he then says: "Food courts had zero business being anywhere near hospitals, but apparently in the Philippines hospitals might as well be malls."
Now, this character at one point lived in the U.S. From my memory, there are food courts in hospitals in the U.S. Hell, I've definitely seen a Starbucks in several hospitals in the U.S. This is just a very.. odd.. detail to add when it's especially untrue.
2. Abelism
As I mentioned previously, Chiqui has a cleft lip and Pablo makes several comments about this and how he is disgusted by it and he "doesn't want her anywhere near him". Pablo continued to make comments and act disgusted with her until about page 120. It was really off putting, especially since the author's note in the back seems to be about raising awareness for children with cleft lips and "not taking your smile for granted". It just seems very odd that she decided to make her main character treat the only character with a cleft lip as if she was sub-human until he eventually realizes "hey, she's not too bad." Weird move.
Page 21: "Her face. I could see all of it. I sucked my breath and looked away. But the image was still here. I couldn't stop seeing it-- the crack from her lip to her nostril, like a crack in a rock, or a cracked vase with a missing piece. Her teeth and gums were partially exposed..."
One final note: This book is a very important reminder as to why #Ownvoices reviews are important and should be prioritized. Looking at the reviews on HOW TO MAKE FRIENDS WITH THE SEA, most of the 5 stars are by non-Filipino older women.
Save your time, money, and energy. Follow #ownvoices reviewers first and foremost and take other reviews with a grain of salt.