This was overall an interesting book. I have not read many books set in the Philippines, if any, so it was really interesting to learn about the culture and language a little. I did like the characters, but just did not find them particularly compelling, and the mystery of Jun's death was just not as mysterious as I was for some reason expecting. I did enjoy it while I was actively reading it, and definitely learned more about life I the Philippines that I would not have known about normally. The letters exchanged between Jason and Jun were a big part of the story, but I found myself mostly skimming them or skipping them entirely after a paragraph. I really enjoyed the complex family history and dynamics. I personally thought that this book was similar to The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan. Although I does not have the same magical realism aspect to it, they both feature main characters returning to the country from which they are from in order to learn more about the life and death of a loved one while living with family that they do not know well and not speaking the native language, so I would recommend this to fans of that book.