A review by darlingbudsofrae
Manila Noir by Jessica Hagedorn

4.0

Manila Noir is a fantastic collection of cynically gruesome stories, and I am so happy to have read this book. The stories are twistedly dark and intriguing tales of crimes with strong and often times surprising endings. Hence, the noir in the title. I've been to Manila a couple of times during the holidays, and this book while ghastly made me miss the place. Manila is the city of dreams- big infrastructures, buzzling crowds and cars, it feels freeing to just frolic along the streets and visit historical landmarks. It also only takes a day to see the much dull and depressing side of the city- the people clutching their bags and belongings heavily, the distrustful looks to others when one comes to close or accidentally brushes one’s shoulders, the ragged children begging for alms on the street, the exchange of crude language on the stalls, etc. I was honestly so surprised at how reminiscent it is of the place and how well it captures the atmosphere demanded of the stories. This, of course, wasn’t a perfect book- I am not a fan of a select number of stories and there were a few technicalities in terms of structure and writing but honestly? This is such a solid anthology, definite kudos to the authors!