Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay

26 reviews

kshertz's review

challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

Excellent book. This narrator finds himself by going to the Philippines and finding out the truth about how his 17 year old cousin, that he used to be close with, died. It’s a coming of age with commentary on our biases, our differences, our similarities, our assumptions, and what really the truth can be. It started slow for me but became very intense and reflective toward the end. It’s a serious and sad coming of age story, but one we should probably all read to reflect on how we too can do and be better so 17 year olds are not suing the way his cousin did.  

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Abandonment, Murder, Drug abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Drug use, Addiction, Death, Racism, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, and Police brutality

manawuari's review

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, and Drug use

Moderate: Murder, Mental illness, Police brutality, Trafficking, Animal death, Death, and Violence

Minor: Rape and Animal death

kalmia31's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Classism, Genocide, Grief, Colonisation, and Death

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Violence, Homophobia, Racism, Murder, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Misogyny

Minor: Addiction, Animal death, Bullying, Sexual assault, and Alcohol

nerp's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Really stunning book about the complexities of grief in a specific political context and the silences kept within families. Audio narration is excellent! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction and Grief

Moderate: Drug abuse, Police brutality, Abandonment, and Trafficking

narbine's review

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

sick of unnecessary love interests!!!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Police brutality, Xenophobia, Death, Trafficking, Sexual violence, Colonisation, Grief, Addiction, Animal death, and Alcohol

Minor: Sexism, Body shaming, Homophobia, Racism, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Violence, and War

rebar351's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

The audiobook was so good! This was really emotional and powerful! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Grief, and Violence

itssthestars's review

adventurous challenging dark inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

im known around my friends for being the relentless optimist, and it shines most when contrasted against subject matter like this. 
i dont often get to read about my actual culture as a fil-am kid, so this was an amazingly intimate read for me. this book represents a real filipino family, and i am so glad to be a witness of it. the mood and atmosphere was captured beautifully, and ill definitely be looking into ribay's other books.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Death, and Animal death

Moderate: Addiction, Murder, Police brutality, Drug abuse, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Homophobia, Trafficking, and Rape

mysterymom46's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Gun violence, Police brutality, Drug abuse, Trafficking, Grief, Gaslighting, Drug use, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship

mandkips's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Police brutality, and Drug use

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, and Racism

Minor: Homophobia, Trafficking, and Sexual violence

marissasa's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

I knew this book would hit hard the moment I read the dedication page "For the hyphenated" and realized it meant to all the Filipino-Americans, children of immigrants like myself, but wow did this story break my heart on a deep level. The portrayal of family in this book is so damn accurate, from the way adult family members dance around talking about uncomfortable topics to the way that Jay's cousins interacted with him. The characterization felt so realistic with Tito Maning's machismo and his Marcos apologist beliefs, Tita Chato and her partner, Jay's Lolo and Lola, and the (absolutely hilarious) fact that Grace met her girlfriend online through a Yuri on Ice fan forum. I loved the use of letters from Jun as a way for us to learn more about the memory of him that Jay had and nothing compared to the emotional payoff towards the end when Jay reads out loud his final letter to Jun that he never got to send. I love that this book doesn't shy away from the reality of drug usage in the Philippines and reiterates that those who use or push aren't any less deserving of their lives because of it, that it calls out the corruption of the Philippine government but understands the valid reasons more people experiencing it don't speak out about it, and that it hits home the message of "none of us is one thing." I want every Fil-Am to read this book because I truly think there is so much to identify with in Jay and that so much of his story, although maybe not along the exact same lines, resonates with Fil-Am identity and with navigating the line between the two countries.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Trafficking, Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Drug use, Abandonment, Physical abuse, Grief, Police brutality, Classism, Cursing, Animal death, Murder, and Death