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A review by mari_epub
Smaller and Smaller Circles by F.H. Batacan
4.0
To kickstart my goal of reading more books written by Filipino authors, I finally finished F.H. Batacan's Smaller and Smaller Circles. After stumbling upon the movie adaptation on Netflix, I immediately got a copy and began reading right away without knowing what to expect aside from the movie's short synopsis. I fell into a reading slump in the middle of reading it, mostly because I've been busy with my oathtaking and getting my license, until I managed to flip through the last pages after a little over a month.
All I needed were "priests", "solve murders", and "serial killer" to get me on board with this book. I love how Batacan writes in detail, especially with the laboratory and dump site settings, making the scene alive and easy to visualize. Each character, major and minor, was well-introduced, even including a short background on them. For the most part, I genuinely love her writing style.
However, even if the build up was good, I feel like the second half of it was rushed. Batacan took her time setting everything up for the big reveal but there was this one part where I felt like all the necessary information was just suddenly dumped for the backstory to make sense.
Still, it was a great attempt on tackling social issues and mental health. The dynamics between the Church and the law enforcement was something to look forward to. The reality of how the government and the Church work was well-executed. Being able to relate to the topic and the overall setting makes it much more interesting.
All I needed were "priests", "solve murders", and "serial killer" to get me on board with this book. I love how Batacan writes in detail, especially with the laboratory and dump site settings, making the scene alive and easy to visualize. Each character, major and minor, was well-introduced, even including a short background on them. For the most part, I genuinely love her writing style.
However, even if the build up was good, I feel like the second half of it was rushed. Batacan took her time setting everything up for the big reveal but there was this one part where I felt like all the necessary information was just suddenly dumped for the backstory to make sense.
Still, it was a great attempt on tackling social issues and mental health. The dynamics between the Church and the law enforcement was something to look forward to. The reality of how the government and the Church work was well-executed. Being able to relate to the topic and the overall setting makes it much more interesting.