This book is so heartbreaking and hopeful at the same time that it's difficult to find where the heartbreak and the hopefulness begins, ends, and where they're both wrapped up in the other. Jay's life is figured out: he's going to relax his last semester before senior year and then head to college in the fall. His life is drastically different than his cousin Jun's, the life that he could have had if his parents hadn't moved from the Philippines to the US.
When Jay's cousin is murdered as part of Duterte's war on drugs, Jay struggles to cope with his death. And when no one in his family wants to talk about what happened, Jay decides to travel to the Philippines to find out.
This book is so raw. Though Jay is a fictional character, the relationships he has with his family––and the struggles he has with those relationships––are so real. Jay's struggle with his identity throughout the novel was really well done; I particularly liked how he was figuring out where he wanted to go and what he wanted to do and how his cousin's life––and death––began to shape him. I recommend this book for readers who want to step a little bit out of their comfort zone––this is not your typical contemporary coming-of-age novel.
When Jay's cousin is murdered as part of Duterte's war on drugs, Jay struggles to cope with his death. And when no one in his family wants to talk about what happened, Jay decides to travel to the Philippines to find out.
This book is so raw. Though Jay is a fictional character, the relationships he has with his family––and the struggles he has with those relationships––are so real. Jay's struggle with his identity throughout the novel was really well done; I particularly liked how he was figuring out where he wanted to go and what he wanted to do and how his cousin's life––and death––began to shape him. I recommend this book for readers who want to step a little bit out of their comfort zone––this is not your typical contemporary coming-of-age novel.