Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - Patron Saints of Nothing

i don't have the words to explain how stunning this book was, i saw myself through the eyes of jay as i am also a filipino living abroad that wants to learn about their culture, i had other similarities with him but i won't expand on it anymore. it was an amazing read and i think more people should read this book right now!!!

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the_reading_seal's review

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emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

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dkayayay's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective 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

An extremely important book that sheds light on the Drug War in the Philippines and focuses on the victims that have been harmed or have lost their life due to an ill-educated society about drugs. Doing drugs is not something that a human being should ever be killed for. This book explores the inhumane acts that Duterte has done and has implored others to do, leading to an innumerable amount of innocent lives lost. All this is told through the perspective of a 17 year old Filipino teenager, who lives in America and is shocked to find out one day that his cousin in which he lost contact with, died a sudden death. No one will tell him about it, so he decides to take matters into his own hands and tries to figure out what happened. It was such an enlightening read and one that more people should read. It also had really great representation of Filipino teenagers living overseas and grappling with national identity as well as the connection between oneself and their country. Such a beautiful book.

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sammiesshelf's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.25

Wow. This book was stunning. I found it by chance in a bargain bin at a used bookstore and I am sure glad that I picked it up.

This story follows Jay, a half Filipino teen who was born in the Philippines but raised in America. He finds out that his cousin, Jun, who he used to be pen pals with, has died at the age of seventeen under mysterious circumstances that the family doesn't want to talk about, and so he asks to spend his spring break in the Philippines to get to the bottom of what is going on.

Patron Saints of Nothing is a beautiful story that not only criticizes the drug war started by Rodrigo Duterte but also details what it is like to be an outsider in a country and a family that is supposedly your own. Jay is repeatedly criticized for his lack of knowledge of his birth country and Tagalog, and it is quite hard for him to reconnect with the family he hasn't seen in eight years. It is also hard for him to reconcile his Americanized reality with the reality in the Philippines. Seeing this already tense situation unfold on top of the fact of his family's refusal to acknowledge his cousin's death, the tension is palpable.

The writing in this book is also beautiful. There is an abundance of lyrical quotes that make you feel transported into the mind of Jay and depict his emotions in a way that no other words could.

Overall, this was a beautiful novel about what makes a person good and asks if there is any real justification for murder. With morally grey characters, it makes for a complex and riveting story.

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delilahbooks's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

4.5

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ica's review

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challenging dark emotional 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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