Randy Ribay

When seventeen-year-old Jay Reguero learns his Filipino cousin and former best friend, Jun, was murdered as part of President Duterte's war on drugs, he flies to the Philippines to learn more.

Patron Saints of Nothing

This book was absolutely incredible. The ending satisfied me, it wasn't happy, but it just felt right. 

Bray

When 17-year-old Jay Reguero learns his Filipino cousin and former best friend, Jun, was murdered as part of President Duterte's war on drugs, he flies to the Philippines to learn more in this gripping page-turning portrayal of the struggle to reconcile faith, family, and immigrant identity.

Gelaine Trinidad

** spoiler alert **
           Guilt and grief push this young Filipino American to return to the Philippines and uncover the truth about his cousin’s death, which is suspected to be related to Duterte’s war on drugs. During the trip, he struggles to make sense of his identity and Filipino heritage. Such conflicts are things like: why does he care so much? It’s not his country, he’s not truly Filipino, so he can’t possibly understand what it’s like and why such extremes are happening. The main character continuously engages with these thoughts throughout the book, and I loved reading them ( “…if people don’t speak out when something wrong is happening—wherever in the world—they’re helping whoever is committing that wrong by allowing it to happen.”)

This book felt deeply personal to me not because of the plot but because of the way Randy Ribay writes and shapes each character in a non-judgmental way. It also left me feeling empowered at the end. (”My family, myself, this world—all of us are flawed. But flawed doesn’t mean hopeless. It doesn’t mean forsaken. It doesn’t mean lost. We are not doomed to suffer things as they are, silent and alone. We do not have to leave questions and letters and lives unanswered. We have more power and potential than we know if we would only speak, if we would only listen.” )

On another note, I also love how Philippines itself is a character in this novel. The Mall of Asia with its ice rink, aquarium, and many retail stores is almost like a  “microcosm for all the contradictions in this country.”  I am ending this review with my favourite quote from this book:  “It strikes me that I cannot claim this country’s serene coves and sun-soaked beaches without also claiming its poverty, its problems, its history. To say that any aspect of it is part of me is to say that all of it is part of me.”

Shaq H

Bria

** spoiler alert **
           jay is so brave for taking that huge step to figure out what was going on with his cousin. he started off a little selfish but i think grace really helped him see that. his character development was so real and i love that.

Ellie M.

This heartbreaking novel of regret and guilt is an excellent introduction to Filipino authors. Jay Reguero is a seventeen-year-old senior who grew up in Detroit, Michigan. Having his life all laid out for him, everything suddenly topples over when he finds out that his cousin Jun was shot to death. So, he travels to the Philippines for spring break after 8 years to find out what happened to his cousin. He soon finds out that there are a lot more factors that played out to Jun’s untimely death. 

"A universe where people do not die for doing what is right.”

Patron Saints of Nothing is painful yet genuine take on my culture, the life that I knew growing up, and is quite a reflective read, especially with the way he talks about issues that have plagued the country for decades. 

As someone who has lived in the Philippines my whole life, I don’t think foreigners can even begin to understand how exhausting it is back there with the endless cycle of corruption and poverty. I appreciated how this book didn’t try to censor the realities that many Filipinos still face every day. And I am truly impressed at the amount of research that the author has done to be able to share this story with the world. This book expresses the feelings of Filipino kids who grew up to immigrant parents and has never thought about the motherland as their home and addresses detachment from one’s culture and traditions. Moreso, this was devised to make a reader uncomfortable as it discusses social issues from Jay’s perspective, one that has never lived and experienced the Philippines, making it raw, brutal, and if nothing but the truth. It is a reality check for people who think the country is a tropical paradise but is truly just showing the tip of the iceberg to its dark history with a long-battled control against the government for freedom of the press and media censorship. Many have died to gain freedom, but at what cost? The shadows of their martyrdom have loomed over the country, never to be acknowledged, never to be given justice.

Paula Plaza Ponte 

Happy to have this as my first book of 2020. Happy that it already has been championed by key people in our library and our English department. Representation is important and reading this book has left me feeling seen. Randy Ribay's story is relevant, true and kind to my home and people. 
There were so many details that resonated - from the balikbayan boxes, the karaoke scene (including Frank Sinatra) to the Parokya ni Edgar and Eraserheads. Ribay unpacks conflicting views, complicated emotions about identity, race, the tensions of where people are born, brought up, fit in. All this unpacked through letters between cousins (even that feels familiar), I could smell Manila and Mount Mayon through the pages. I am sad this story exists. I am so glad this book exists. I am so glad my colleagues love it and will push it into our classroom libraries. 

"I carry a feeling like I've been trying to figure out how to map the islands of his life, trying to make sense of them, trying to figure out what right I have to do so..."

Krys C.

This is a different (but necessary) introduction to the Philippines. The first thing that hit me was the honest perspective from a Filipino-American character who struggles with belonging and connecting with Filipino culture. This perspective doesn't immediately immerse us in the Philippines. We learn history and politics and how it's contextualized in the story along the way. It did not lie or pretend, and furthermore, it did not glamorize or romanticize. Of course, the depiction of Filipino culture was beautiful, but it did not shy away from the ugly truths about the country. As the story unfolded, we are met with a corresponding layered and nuanced sociopolitical commentary and we encounter several gray areas with both events and the characters. We see how reality is. Privilege is also explored with each character and how they decide to use it to advance their advocacy and beliefs. The subtle romance between Jay and Mia could have been erased though, but I still loved this so much.

Ryan 

4.5 stars

i'm glad that as a fil-am reader, narratives like this are so important when non-westernized issues should be as important as issues that we have here in america. thank you randy ribay for shedding light on this issue that felt like it has almost hit home to me even though i find america home, not the philippines.

more to come

When Jay Reguero hears of his cousin Jun's death, everything changes. Although years have passed since they were last in contact, the stories about Jun just don't fit with the boy Jay knew. Hoping to uncover the truth, Jay travels to Jun's home in the Philippines - but the shocking realities of life there lead to even more questions. Can Jay find the answers he seeks?

franz

the sudden turn of events lol i am so confused

Phillip Santiago

It's YA and it transcends a lot of literary fiction. Navigates the Duterte administration with a compelling story about bridging the gap with one's family abroad.

Angel Martinez

Reread this only because I'm making an article where I will drag it to filth.... Guess you'll just have to wait for it to be posted to see all the reasons why this was a well-meaning novel gone terribly wrong

Nikki

Read for Wikathon

4.5 stars

It hits even harder when you're familiar with the places and the events. I couldn't stop crying once I reached like 70% mark.

Bec Taylor

Incredible. Such a well done dive into the hyphenated experience, the feeling of never being enough of either. I was in floods of tears by the end, happy and sad.

Cassidy C

A beautiful, well-written, and poetic story about grief, family, and identity. Ribay conveys the struggles of the Philippines and its people, while still reminding the reader that there is beauty in all despite its flaws. Jay, the main character, offers a whole new perspective on what it means to return to a culture you once knew, and the journey of rediscovery.

Mikayla Cassidy

priya

“When you grow up in a country like the United States, you’re constantly told it’s the greatest place in the world. But then you go somewhere else one day and find out that bathroom doors like this exist, and you start to question everything.
But adults lie, I guess. That’s what they do.
Sure, there are a bunch of reasons they do it, and people would probably say most of them are pretty good. When you’re a kid, they lie and say you did a great job in a game even if you sucked. Then you grow up a bit and your mom and dad lie to you about how strong their relationship is and how much they love each other after they have a big fight. Then you grow up a bit more and they tell you the lie that life is as simple as studying hard, getting into a good college, and finding a decent job.
Sometimes I feel like growing up is slowly peeling back these layers of lies.”

“As soon as I step out of the plane, the scent of Manila hits me. It’s a smell I’ve forgotten I know, but its familiarity rushes back in an instant.”

“I’ve forgotten what it’s like to be around so many people who look like me. I feel like I belong in a way I never do back in the States.”

“I thought the highway driving was frightening, but it’s even more terrifying on this road where people cross the street like it’s some ultra-advanced level of that old game Frogger.”

“What will you study?” he asks, moving on. “Engineering, medicine, or law?”
I take a drink from the bottle of distilled water that I know they buy specially for me since my American stomach can’t handle their water.
“Engineering,” I lie, hating that to people like him those are the only three career paths.”

“THERE ARE SO MANY WHITE PEOPLE HERE, I think as I stand on the curb of the passenger pickup area outside of Detroit International Airport, scanning the circling cars for my dad’s.”

Nadine 

Powerful story of a return to Philippines by a teen to find out about the death of his cousin. Multi-layered textures with no easy answers

Alex Hill 

No rating / read for class
Read this book though!!! Filipino main character and takes place in the Philippines primarily and deals with current issues.

Kath Lau

PLEASE READ THIS BOOK! (I can't write a decent review without bursting into tears. I'll try to write it next week.)

Ruth Parker 

I wasn’t sure how to rate this book. My opinion is that it falls in between a 3 and 4 star rating. I liked the book and the portrayal of life in the Philippines. But I found the plot a little slow and I was excited as I thought I would be.

Ilse

“People feel like they can do something, so they pray to these saints. I can understand that. And even if there are not actual magical spirits listening and waiting to fulfil our wishes, maybe just the act of thinking about these things changes us in some way.”

Alright, I’ll be honest: for the longest time I didn’t think I would ever finish this book. I came about halfway before putting it on the shelf and reading other things. However, I am SO happy that I picked it up again. 

Whereas the first half took me a long time to read (though to no fault of this book), I finished the second half in two days. I absolutely loved this book! The characterisations, the writing, everything. It’s a beautiful story about grief, exploring your roots and growing up. It really deserves these 5 stars: I would recommend everyone to read this ^^

Alexia Cambaling

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to NetGalley!

It’ll be very easy for me to just say ‘Please go read this book. It’s important and you can learn so many things from it’ and leave it at that. But I won’t. I’ve rated many books highly in the past and loved them, but none have struck a chord as personal and close to my heart as Patron Saints of Nothing. This book left me enraged and in tears on several levels- from the characters, to the plot, to the very real problems at the heart of the society shown in this book, the very same society and culture that I live in.

This is a book all Filipinos, whether in the Philippines or overseas should read. It’s gripping and painful and sometimes hard to read, but very powerful all the same. As someone who wants to become a human rights lawyer, this book angered me but also made me even more motivated. Ribay portrayed the injustices in this country accurately and his characters made me realize that everyone can make a difference, no matter how small. For that, I’d like to thank the author for shining a light on our country’s problems.

The book is narrated through Jay, a biracial Filipino-American who came to the country in order to find the truth about what happened to his cousin, Jun. What he finds takes some unexpected turns and leads him to question his own biases and what he knew about his cousin.

Patron Saints of Nothing portrayed Filipino culture very well and showed both the good and the bad. Jay’s family is very divided on the drug war, in the same way that many Filipino families are, and they also showcase different personalities and quirks that you can see in many Filipinos- the famed hospitality, kindness, and perseverance, but also the narrow-mindedness, bigotry, and blind nationalism are present in many of the characters you can see here. Seeing all these different personalities through Jay’s eyes was refreshing.

The humanization of the drug war was what sealed this book’s place in my heart. At the beginning of the novel, Jay thinks that 17-year old boys don’t just die. In this country, there have been multiple news about the minors that get caught up in the drug war. Often, they were described in terms that may be meant to reassure but only leaves a bitter and disgusting taste in the mouth- collateral damage. As if people were numbers, as if they died for some greater good (they did not). That’s if they were lucky. If not, some would try to justify their killings by saying that they were drug dealers, as if that makes it right.

In this book, Jay assumes that Jun didn’t deserve to die because he was an innocent boy. He was proven wrong. He didn’t deserve to die because he was human and his life mattered. Because he was caught up in circumstances that were beyond his control, circumstances that were the root cause of the problem that the government is “trying” to solve. In the end, it always comes down to the poverty that continues to haunt this nation and prevent it from truly growing. Poverty that keeps people in a terrible cycle that continues through generations and demonizes and dehumanizes them.

Patron Saints of Nothing showed us the human side of a war on the poor.

Jay’s determination to find the truth and seek justice truly struck a chord in me, as well as Grace’s love and respect for her Kuya Jun. I loved how she fights in her own way and continues his work, honoring his memory. The quiet resilience and strength of Grace’s character was very inspiring and she really embodies the kind of spirit that we Filipinos are known for. I’m glad Jay wasn’t shown to be a savior-type character and any notions of that were shut down. No one person can solve societal problems, but everyone can do anything that helps.

Tito Maning was a complex character. Yes, I do dislike his character very much and I hated how he treated his son, but he wasn’t really a black or white sort of character. He had shades of gray too, and we do see that in some way, he did care for his son. Maybe in the end he was blinded by loyalty to Duterte and maybe the desire for power, but he was an interesting character. I would say however that his brash attitude, narrow-mindedness, and arrogant blind nationalism is something we could see in so many people today. Most of us probably have a Tito Maning in our lives.

Overall, Patron Saints of Nothing was a raw, powerful, and gritty novel that everyone should read. It humanizes those involved in the drug war, and really inspired me to fight for what is right and to continue on the path of becoming a human rights lawyer. I can recommend this to everyone. Please, read this book.

Emma Bickford

This book offered insight into the drug war and sex trafficking in the Philippines. As a Filipino-American, Jay struggles to find his balance and place within his family. This book covered a lot of ground including giving voices to women and the intense, unique process of grief. I highly recommend this to people who are interested in learning more about the Philippines.

Leelynn Brady

Find this review and more on my blog  Sometimes Leelynn Reads.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this sneak peek from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

First, I'm glad I got to take a sneak peek of this new book coming out this month to give me a better idea on if I wanted to read it. So far, I will say that I do want to read a little bit more to find out the truth about Jun and the corruption facing the Philippines in this novel, but that's part of the reason why I don't want to finish reading it.

Let me explain.

I may not have any Filipino heritage in me, but I have a lot of friends that I grew up with that do, and hearing about this kind of mentality in the Philippines when it comes to drugs breaks my heart. There are also something things in the Filipino culture that are similar to my culture (Chamorro) so for some reason when I hear Jay talking about his family back in the Philippines and some of the customs he got to experience made me think about my family back in Guam. Nothing extreme like what was in this sneak peek, but definitely some that I could relate to.

I think also a part of me was really upset with how Jay's sister Em reacted to the news he told her about their cousin Jun, and how she seemed not to care. Family is supposed to be one of the most important things in the Filipino culture, and for her to react that way makes me think about those comments I've always heard about Filipinos from the Philippines being culturally different from American Filipinos. It's similar to what they say in Guam about Chamorros born and raised on Guam compared to American Chamorros. It's like we lost a sense of family, and to me that's not okay.

However, more on the book. This sneak peek that I received was just that. A sneak peek that didn't get to go too much into the meat of the book for me to really make a sound judgment on my thoughts. I think it was off to a great start, and while it ended in such a weird spot for me, I do think my thoughts and rating may change if I get the opportunity to finish the rest of the book. Jay is definitely not the typical male protagonist that I'm used to reading about - since most of my genres with male protagonists have some fantasy aspect to it - so reading about a regular high school guy trying to find out what happened to his cousin in a modern world was different.

I think also my favorite part was how the author really made a character that I could relate to, someone who is of mixed race that feels like he doesn't really know half of who he is. In the part of the book that I read, he doesn't know certain Filipino words, only vaguely remembers them from past years. (Funny thing is that I actually knew what balikbayan was when Jay himself didn't, so go me!) Also reading a little more about the author tells me that he may have written some of himself into Jay, so that's exciting as well.

All in all, I give this a neutral rating so that it gives me some flexibility to change it in the future and review it after reading the entire book.

Patron Saints of Nothing

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