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A review by koiketto
Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
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? Yes
4.25
On an emotional level, I would normally rate this much higher, but on a technical level, there are a few things in this book that are a bit lacking.
I picked up Patron Saints of Nothing because I wanted to learn about the Philippines through a human, narrative lense rather than an informative one, and Randy Ribay did not disappoint. It's pretty clear even from this book that he's still really early in his writing career, but this book provides a good bone structure for what his writing could become. There's a passionate sense of prose and deep, emotional characters that Ribay really put everything he had into exploring, but some parts about it just felt a bit...corny. Like, the heart was there clearly, but the delivery was just a bit like, "okay, I've read this same sentiment at least eight times before. No need to get melodramatic." I don't know, maybe that's just the YA speaking.
Anyways, Patron Saints of Nothing follows Filipino-American Jay Reguero during the spring break of his final year of high school. Jay hasn't been back to the Phillipines since he was eight, but when he gets notice that his favorite cousin, Jun, died under suspicious circumstances, he goes back to the Phillipines on a mission to discover what really happened to his cousin.
The entire book functions a bit as an elegy to the lost. It speaks on the Filipinos swept away as faceless casualties of the war on drugs, on the cultural and identity crisis faced by our protagonist, Jay, and a country that most Americans tend not to think about. It's a very soulful book, and I can't wait to see what Ribay puts out next.
I picked up Patron Saints of Nothing because I wanted to learn about the Philippines through a human, narrative lense rather than an informative one, and Randy Ribay did not disappoint. It's pretty clear even from this book that he's still really early in his writing career, but this book provides a good bone structure for what his writing could become. There's a passionate sense of prose and deep, emotional characters that Ribay really put everything he had into exploring, but some parts about it just felt a bit...corny. Like, the heart was there clearly, but the delivery was just a bit like, "okay, I've read this same sentiment at least eight times before. No need to get melodramatic." I don't know, maybe that's just the YA speaking.
Anyways, Patron Saints of Nothing follows Filipino-American Jay Reguero during the spring break of his final year of high school. Jay hasn't been back to the Phillipines since he was eight, but when he gets notice that his favorite cousin, Jun, died under suspicious circumstances, he goes back to the Phillipines on a mission to discover what really happened to his cousin.
The entire book functions a bit as an elegy to the lost. It speaks on the Filipinos swept away as faceless casualties of the war on drugs, on the cultural and identity crisis faced by our protagonist, Jay, and a country that most Americans tend not to think about. It's a very soulful book, and I can't wait to see what Ribay puts out next.