Thanks to Bookish First for a free hardcover copy of this book. It was even better than I imagined it would be. In all honesty, I don't think I have the words to describe just how beautiful and moving this story is.
I knew the basic outline of the story and expected it to be a commentary on Duterte and the rise of authoritarian governments. And I anticipated a coming of age story around Jay, the main character/narrator. And it is those things, but it is also much more. This is also about letting go of judgement, thinking that we know the struggles that other people face, and realizing that, even those we idealized in our minds and memories, are human and make(made) mistakes too. No one is just one thing, and all we can hope for is that the good we do is greater than the bad.
You can read the first few pages of the book for free, and if the imagery presented does not make you want to read more, I can't help you. Randy Ribay is a poet. He paints a world with his words that made me feel that I was there—sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and the feel of it all. It begins during and continues with observations that I felt the need to share in my review because of the unique way these ideas are expressed. So, I'll end with a few of my favorite quotes:
"English is a language that lives in the middle of the mouth, but Tagalog is more of an open throat song that dances between the tip of the tongue and the teeth. My mouth feels too heavy, too thick, too slow to produce the light, rapid syllables Filipinos spit with such ease. I curse my parents for not teaching me the language when I was young, when the struggle would have seemed more like a fun game than an identity crisis." (Great description of the differences between languages/tongues.)
"I wake early the next morning far before the alarm I set, because my brain hates me." (This made me laugh.)
“Surely the air your lungs first breathe matters. The language your ears first hear. The foods your nose first smells and your tongue first tastes. The soil you first crawl upon...My conscious brain might not remember, but something in me does.” (Food for thought.)
“Staring at the sea, it seems impossible that at this moment this country contains countless girls in the same situation as Reyna was in, countless men whose unchecked appetites serve as the teeth of that trap.” (What a powerful image!)
“The right to due process is so ingrained in me as an American that I've taken it for granted. Up until now, I've never fully understood that such a right is nothing but ink on paper, paper that can be shredded and tossed in the garbage, paper that can be ignored if people don't demand it's application. And it doesn't even take some great evil to do that. The promise of safety is enough.” (We would all do well to remember this.)
“There was a time when I thought getting older meant you'd understand more about the world, but it turns out the exact opposite is true.” (Sadly, this is true.)
I knew the basic outline of the story and expected it to be a commentary on Duterte and the rise of authoritarian governments. And I anticipated a coming of age story around Jay, the main character/narrator. And it is those things, but it is also much more. This is also about letting go of judgement, thinking that we know the struggles that other people face, and realizing that, even those we idealized in our minds and memories, are human and make(made) mistakes too. No one is just one thing, and all we can hope for is that the good we do is greater than the bad.
You can read the first few pages of the book for free, and if the imagery presented does not make you want to read more, I can't help you. Randy Ribay is a poet. He paints a world with his words that made me feel that I was there—sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and the feel of it all. It begins during and continues with observations that I felt the need to share in my review because of the unique way these ideas are expressed. So, I'll end with a few of my favorite quotes:
"English is a language that lives in the middle of the mouth, but Tagalog is more of an open throat song that dances between the tip of the tongue and the teeth. My mouth feels too heavy, too thick, too slow to produce the light, rapid syllables Filipinos spit with such ease. I curse my parents for not teaching me the language when I was young, when the struggle would have seemed more like a fun game than an identity crisis." (Great description of the differences between languages/tongues.)
"I wake early the next morning far before the alarm I set, because my brain hates me." (This made me laugh.)
“Surely the air your lungs first breathe matters. The language your ears first hear. The foods your nose first smells and your tongue first tastes. The soil you first crawl upon...My conscious brain might not remember, but something in me does.” (Food for thought.)
“Staring at the sea, it seems impossible that at this moment this country contains countless girls in the same situation as Reyna was in, countless men whose unchecked appetites serve as the teeth of that trap.” (What a powerful image!)
“The right to due process is so ingrained in me as an American that I've taken it for granted. Up until now, I've never fully understood that such a right is nothing but ink on paper, paper that can be shredded and tossed in the garbage, paper that can be ignored if people don't demand it's application. And it doesn't even take some great evil to do that. The promise of safety is enough.” (We would all do well to remember this.)
“There was a time when I thought getting older meant you'd understand more about the world, but it turns out the exact opposite is true.” (Sadly, this is true.)