Of Dubious Origin

by David Santiago, David I. Santiago

In this offbeat and humorous novel, recent community college grad Israel Cruz heads to Portugal in search of himself—and of the alluring social media influencer he’s convinced holds the key to his future.

“A captivating and funny yarn about finding where you belong.” — Kirkus.

296 pages, Paperback

Published September 30, 2025

About the author

David I. Santiago is an American novelist, children's book author, and short-story writer. He is the author of "Of Dubious Origin," "The Ingredients That Make Us / Los ingredientes que nos hacen" and the story collection "Beware the Bantam Fighter." Santiago’s fiction explores themes of identity, migration, and cultural belonging, informed by his Chicago upbringing and international experiences. He also has a children’s book scheduled for release this spring. He currently resides in Virginia, where he continues to develop new work across adult, middle-grade, and children’s literature.

Reviews

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Israel Cruz has always been confused about his heritage and has never gotten a straight answer from his parents. He's lost in life spending his time in his parent's basement playing video games and following the Instagram page of the Portuguese fashion model he's in love with. When he decides to "declare" that he's Portuguese American, he also decides that he is going to move to Portugal and create a new life there, including tracking down the model he's convinced he's in love with. That leads to Israel and his brother taking passage on a container ship to travel to Lisbon. But, what seems like is too good of a deal to get to Portugal to be true, probably is.

I love the idea of the book and there is plenty of humor in it. I do think that the author went just a bit too far with Israel's character. The intent is that Israel is too naive and in his own world to realize when he's being taken advantage of, but at times it becomes so unrealistic that it just makes it a little cringey.

Fun story and definitely will make you laugh, but a little challenging on the characters.

I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Windy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this book in a giveaway and want to give my review as a courtesy to the author. I recently finished an emotional book and was happy to find this book was humorous and an easy read.

The main character feels like he doesn’t know who he is because he is of mixed ethnic/religious background with no strong presence of either culture within his upbringing.

ln his efforts to connect to a cultural identity, he devises a plan. The things that unfold along the path are mostly unbelievable, but to me it was a welcome break from anything deeply realistic and I could enjoy the comical journey.

It was an enjoyable read once getting to know the main character and his family and especially once he began to put his plan in action.

I don’t think the author was trying to leave a perception that this story could be 100% true, so just read it as a fictional adventure and enjoy!

[Mr. Review · Rating 4 out of 5]

Israel is tensed. Why people won’t stop asking him that question about his origin.

Fair question, right? But Israel doesn’t have a clear answer—and instead of just let it go, he spirals. Hard.

And then comes the big and sort of unusual idea:
What if he… became Portuguese?
New identity. New origin story. New life. Problem solved? (Spoiler: absolutely not.)

“People didn’t want to know who I was. They wanted to know what I was.”

Is it perfect? No. Some moments are hard to believe. But the humor, warmth, and relatability more than make up for it.

[Kenia Quintanilla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Santiago captures the experience of living between cultures. The stories are layered with humor, vulnerability, and insight, offering a fresh take on what it means to search for home when the answer is never simple. Amazing read!!