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A review by themoonwholistens
Mala & the Mask of Gold by Jaime Martin Ko Atilano
4.0
This was a such a wholesome and adventurous story that felt like home wrapped up in a bow.
Together with an extremely important perspective and story for younger generations to be aware of and be normalized, Mala’s story had me charmed the whole way through. Mala and the Mask of Gold is an adventurous, Philippine-inspired MG Fantasy that is able to represent LGTBQ+ people of color bravely and unapologetically.
— overall thoughts: 4.5 —
It’s nice that there were translations for the Tagalog words to accommodate non-Tagalog speakers. It did feel like the construction of the writing made it more for non-local readers and more towards readers who are not as familiar with the language and the culture. In a way, this does make it more accessible and a great starting point in familiarizing yourself with Philippine mythology.
To give you a bit of background, Babaylans (ancient Philippine priestesses) are traditionally females in Philippine history so seeing a gender fluid main character embody that, was a detail I highly appreciated and was a take that I have never seen (admittedly, I never even thought of it like that).
What stood out to me most was the fact that it takes down gender barriers and stereotypes while still holding on to the core traits of the Filipino culture such as family and traditions. We get to see this explored and discussed when we are placed both in Mala and their brother’s head spaces. And I have to say, the author handled usually-taboo topics really well given how Filipinos can be very traditional when it comes to gender norms. It felt very normalized which I loved reading about.
Mala as the main character is easliy lovable and I loved reading from their perspective. Moreover, I didn’t expect that she would actually set off on the adventure with their brother so experiencing their familial relationship throughout the story was touching and one that I enjoyed immensely.
In terms of flow, the footnotes were not my favorite because a lot of times they were redundun and a few times wherein they were a little bit inaccurate based on my knowledge of it’s local uses. Story and flow wise, I think integrating the meaning of the words into the narrative would have done the job of getting what needs to be sent across to the readers.
In a lot books, I find that the plot usually gets less intriguing as it unfolds since you since the initial interest gets lost somewhere but this just kept getting more interesting as it went on. I was curious to see the interpretation of a mythology that I have known my whole life (finally!) and even if you had no idea what all of these creatures were, the author does a good job of getting you up to speed. The writing style does deal with a more telling rather than showing at certain parts. There was also a short bit of info dump in the beginning as one of the characters tells the background of the mythology through a story but given the length of the novel, I think it benefited the world building. It certainly brought Philippine mythology to life in such a short novel.
I loved the use of Filipino honorifics and certain phrases throughout the story, I do think it could have been more consistent. There were times, for example, when Mala would call their brother by his first name rather than Kuya (*used to refer to an older male relative or simply an older male like a brother). As someone fluent in the language, it just felt off to me since it feels weird myself to call an older male or relative solely by their first name if I knew that they were of Philippine heritage.
Other than that, the other most obvious one to me was the use of pana. This was used in the story to refer to the bow but from what I know it’s usually used to refer to the arrow part or whatever you shoot. The bow part is usually called pangpana, which might not be entirely accurate but I just know that pana isn’t the bow. It's the little things that help the story feel more natural to a local speaker such as myself. I know this is fantasy but given that it takes from Philippine culture, I just thought that it should be mentioned.
I completely loved the way this wrapped up though. It was the perfect kind of nostalgic that makes you feel satisfied and uplifted. You would be surprised how many books aren't able to do just that.
↣ I think the Author’s Note says it all, this is for everyone who just wants a classic adventure from a refreshing perspective. Whether or not you are familiar with Philippine mythology, there is lots to love and definitely a book that I can see myself giving to my younger cousins/nieces/nephews to read. I really hope you pick this one up too because heaven knows how much I needed stories like this when I was younger. ↢
*Thank you to the author for sending me a finished copy to review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*
——————
PRE READ:
you guys have no idea how hyped I am for this philippine mythology inspired story with queer characters :))
Together with an extremely important perspective and story for younger generations to be aware of and be normalized, Mala’s story had me charmed the whole way through. Mala and the Mask of Gold is an adventurous, Philippine-inspired MG Fantasy that is able to represent LGTBQ+ people of color bravely and unapologetically.
— overall thoughts: 4.5 —
It’s nice that there were translations for the Tagalog words to accommodate non-Tagalog speakers. It did feel like the construction of the writing made it more for non-local readers and more towards readers who are not as familiar with the language and the culture. In a way, this does make it more accessible and a great starting point in familiarizing yourself with Philippine mythology.
To give you a bit of background, Babaylans (ancient Philippine priestesses) are traditionally females in Philippine history so seeing a gender fluid main character embody that, was a detail I highly appreciated and was a take that I have never seen (admittedly, I never even thought of it like that).
What stood out to me most was the fact that it takes down gender barriers and stereotypes while still holding on to the core traits of the Filipino culture such as family and traditions. We get to see this explored and discussed when we are placed both in Mala and their brother’s head spaces. And I have to say, the author handled usually-taboo topics really well given how Filipinos can be very traditional when it comes to gender norms. It felt very normalized which I loved reading about.
Mala as the main character is easliy lovable and I loved reading from their perspective. Moreover, I didn’t expect that she would actually set off on the adventure with their brother so experiencing their familial relationship throughout the story was touching and one that I enjoyed immensely.
In terms of flow, the footnotes were not my favorite because a lot of times they were redundun and a few times wherein they were a little bit inaccurate based on my knowledge of it’s local uses. Story and flow wise, I think integrating the meaning of the words into the narrative would have done the job of getting what needs to be sent across to the readers.
In a lot books, I find that the plot usually gets less intriguing as it unfolds since you since the initial interest gets lost somewhere but this just kept getting more interesting as it went on. I was curious to see the interpretation of a mythology that I have known my whole life (finally!) and even if you had no idea what all of these creatures were, the author does a good job of getting you up to speed. The writing style does deal with a more telling rather than showing at certain parts. There was also a short bit of info dump in the beginning as one of the characters tells the background of the mythology through a story but given the length of the novel, I think it benefited the world building. It certainly brought Philippine mythology to life in such a short novel.
I loved the use of Filipino honorifics and certain phrases throughout the story, I do think it could have been more consistent. There were times, for example, when Mala would call their brother by his first name rather than Kuya (*used to refer to an older male relative or simply an older male like a brother). As someone fluent in the language, it just felt off to me since it feels weird myself to call an older male or relative solely by their first name if I knew that they were of Philippine heritage.
Other than that, the other most obvious one to me was the use of pana. This was used in the story to refer to the bow but from what I know it’s usually used to refer to the arrow part or whatever you shoot. The bow part is usually called pangpana, which might not be entirely accurate but I just know that pana isn’t the bow. It's the little things that help the story feel more natural to a local speaker such as myself. I know this is fantasy but given that it takes from Philippine culture, I just thought that it should be mentioned.
I completely loved the way this wrapped up though. It was the perfect kind of nostalgic that makes you feel satisfied and uplifted. You would be surprised how many books aren't able to do just that.
↣ I think the Author’s Note says it all, this is for everyone who just wants a classic adventure from a refreshing perspective. Whether or not you are familiar with Philippine mythology, there is lots to love and definitely a book that I can see myself giving to my younger cousins/nieces/nephews to read. I really hope you pick this one up too because heaven knows how much I needed stories like this when I was younger. ↢
*Thank you to the author for sending me a finished copy to review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*
——————
PRE READ:
you guys have no idea how hyped I am for this philippine mythology inspired story with queer characters :))