First off, I should start by saying that this is a book I typically wouldn't pluck off the shelves myself. Reading the excerpt was probably the only way I would've opened it otherwise. Being lucky enough to win a copy via BookishFirst was simply the icing on the cake. As someone who prefers romance and generally happy novels, this wasn't an easy read. Randy Ribay doesn't hold much back, and I get the sense that this story, while fiction, definitely hits closer to home for the author and any of his readers who have experienced firsthand the devastating drug war happening in the Philippines right now.
Jay is as American as you and me, and though his ethnic roots are Filipino, we are sent on a journey with him as he sets out to unravel what happened to his cousin, a casualty of the Duterte regime. At the outset, Jay is not a particularly brilliant kid; he's a teenager just trying to make it to his first year of college. He's not expecting to have his world upended by events happening on the other side of the world. But as his cousin becomes a pariah in his family and answers never come, he knows he won't get results unless he goes to get them himself.
Being thrown into Duterte's country is heartbreaking, thrilling, and sobering. I've read plenty of articles about what's happening there, but Randy Ribay takes it to another level. There's injustice, there's tension, and, eventually, there are answers. Jay's struggle was so well-written that it's hard to believe that this is a novel and not an extremely longform piece about an American kid trying to understand the secrets of his family and the country they hail from.
I plan to gift this book to many friends, some with Filipino roots and some without. It is a wondrous tale, albeit difficult at times, but without books like these, we are doomed to repeat these awful events in the future. Five stars.
Jay is as American as you and me, and though his ethnic roots are Filipino, we are sent on a journey with him as he sets out to unravel what happened to his cousin, a casualty of the Duterte regime. At the outset, Jay is not a particularly brilliant kid; he's a teenager just trying to make it to his first year of college. He's not expecting to have his world upended by events happening on the other side of the world. But as his cousin becomes a pariah in his family and answers never come, he knows he won't get results unless he goes to get them himself.
Being thrown into Duterte's country is heartbreaking, thrilling, and sobering. I've read plenty of articles about what's happening there, but Randy Ribay takes it to another level. There's injustice, there's tension, and, eventually, there are answers. Jay's struggle was so well-written that it's hard to believe that this is a novel and not an extremely longform piece about an American kid trying to understand the secrets of his family and the country they hail from.
I plan to gift this book to many friends, some with Filipino roots and some without. It is a wondrous tale, albeit difficult at times, but without books like these, we are doomed to repeat these awful events in the future. Five stars.