Patron Saints of Nothing

by Randy Ribay

A coming-of-age story about grief, guilt, and the risks a Filipino-American teenager takes to uncover the truth about his cousin's murder.

Jay Reguero plans to spend the last semester of his senior year playing video games before heading to the University of Michigan in the fall. But when he discovers that his Filipino cousin Jun was murdered as part of President Duterte's war on drugs, and no one in the family wants to talk about what happened, Jay travels to the Philippines to find out the real story.

Hoping to uncover more about Jun and the events that led to his death, Jay is forced to reckon with the many sides of his cousin before he can face the whole horrible truth -- and the part he played in it.

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Contemporary, Realistic Fiction, Mystery, Audiobook, Coming Of Age

323 pages, Hardcover

First published June 18, 2019

About the author

Randy Ribay is an award-winning author of young adult fiction. His most recent novel, Patron Saints of Nothing, earned five starred reviews, was selected as a Freeman Book Award winner, and was a finalist for the National Book Award, LA Times Book Prize, Walden Book Award, Edgar Award, International Thriller Writers Award, and the CILIP Carnegie Medal. His other works include Project Kawayan, After the Shot Drops, and An Infinite Number of Parallel Universes. His next novels, The Chronicles of the Avatar: The Reckoning of Roku (Abrams) and Everything We Never Had, (Kokila/Penguin) will be out in 2024.

Born in the Philippines and raised in the Midwest, Randy earned his BA in English Literature from the University of Colorado at Boulder and his Ed.M. in Language and Literacy from Harvard Graduate School of Education. He currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife, son, and cat-like dog.

Reviews

[Jessica (Odd and Bookish) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an ARC of this book for free from the publisher as part of a blog tour. Since I received an ARC, my quotes from the book are tentative.

I just want to preface this review by saying this was one of my most anticipated reads of the year. Like the main character of this book, I am half Filipino and half white. Seeing myself represented in literature means the world to me. I also want to say that I’ve never been to the Philippines so I can’t speak to anything in that regard.

Wow. This book was everything. I don’t even know where to begin.

First off, all the Filipino culture was amazing to see. I’ve never read a book with this much Filipino culture. Every time I saw something, I was like, “Yeah, that’s my culture right there!” By the way, that happened a lot throughout this book.

The blurb on the back of the cover compares this book to Angie Thomas’s The Hate U Give. That was likely a marketing ploy, but in a way I do see merit to that comparison. There’s something about Randy Ribay’s writing that reminds me of Angie Thomas’s. They both like to bring up big points in subtle ways. If you’ve read my review of THUG, you’ll see some examples. In this book, one example is when the author casually brings up the American human zoos. Tito Maning says to Jay, “Do you know the Americans stole entire villages and then displayed them in your country as I they were animals in a zoo?” (pg. 153). Yes, that really did happen. Just google, “1904 World’s Fair filipino.” I only just learned about that when I was in college.



I thought that the author did a great job describing the President Duterte’s war on drugs in a multifaceted way. He showcased different viewpoints on it and shared actual accounts, like the story of Kian delos Santos, who was unjustly shot and killed by the police.

I also loved how the author tackled the issue of identity and being biracial. As a fellow biracial Filipino, I could relate to Jay a lot. Being biracial is such a tricky thing and the author captured it perfectly.

There’s a little bit of LGBT representation which I appreciated. It’s always nice to see the LGBT community acknowledged and normalized, even when it’s not a part of the main storyline.

As for the plot and what happened with Jun, there was a lot of gray areas, which made it feel realistic. Things aren’t so clear cut which is what happens in real life. I appreciated that approach.

Basically, I just want to thank the author for writing this book. Not only does this book successfully highlight the biracial Filipino American experience, but it also shines a light on a lesser known social injustice.

To end, I want to share a quote that really hit me:

“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” (pg. 227).

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this young adult novel about grief, growing up, and going to explore your cultural roots. In Patron Saints of Nothing, we follow Jay Reguero, a college senior who feels ready to coast for the rest of his spring semester before heading to University of Michigan in the fall. Jay gets shaken up though when he learns that his cousin Jun, who he was close to but had fallen out of touch with, was murdered as part of President Duterte’s war on drugs. Instead of spending his spring break playing video games, Jay decides to travel to the Philippines to figure out what actually happened to his cousin. There, he confronts hard truths both about his cousin and about his own complacency in the issues that contributed to his cousin’s passing.

I enjoyed witnessing Jay’s journey to connect with his Filipinx roots and Filipinx political issues. Randy Ribay does a solid job of showing Jay’s emotional progression throughout this process, including his shame toward his own ignorance, his guilt about how he fell out of touch with Jun, and his eventual empowerment and efficacy when he reclaims more of his Filipinx identity. Though I cannot speak to the Filipinx experience, as a second generation Vietnamese American born in the United States I have also felt the guilt of not being in touch enough with my Vietnamese heritage and the state of political affairs in Vietnam, and I’ve also felt the personal satisfaction that comes from reconnecting with that part of myself. I appreciated how Ribay portrays some of the complexity of President Duterte’s war on drugs, as well as some of the issues that accompany non-Filipinx individuals (like white individuals) or even Filipinx Americans weighing in on issues affecting the Philippines.

Ribay’s prose flows well, though I felt like it was missing the extra “wow” factor to nudge this novel to a five-star rating. I’d recommend this book to anyone interested without a doubt, though I’m not sure how much I’ll remember it in the long term aside from its compelling exploration of reclaiming your identity. Still, a solid young adult novel and one that I’m glad has garnered a sizable audience.

[Paige · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a YA novel with a powerful message spanning across several thematic thresholds. What is the truth worth? Who is accountable for the lives of the lost? Can we hold ourselves responsible for acts of inhumanity if we are not actively speaking up? If we don’t, then who will?

"If we are to be more than what we have been, there's so much more that we need to say."

"I am not truly Filipino, so I don't understand the Philippines. But isn't this deeper than that, doesn't this transcend nationality? Isn't there some sense of right and wrong about how human beings should be treated that applies no matter where you live, no matter what language you speak?"

Jay, an eighteen-year-old half-Filipino half-American, travels back to the Philippines from Michigan during his senior year in high school after learning about the death of his cousin, Yun, to drugs. No one will answer his questions concerning his cousin’s death, so he chooses to find the answers himself by travelling to the Philippines to visit with his and Yun's family concerning the mysterious death. While seeking answers in the Philippines, Jay finds a homeland that he no longer recognizes. Jay struggles to identify with a culture that he has forgotten and finds conflict not only within the country, but within his Filipino family. Why isn’t anyone mourning the death of Yun? What really happened, and why won’t anyone tell him the truth?

"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."

Throughout his trip staying with family members and searching for answers, the reader is taken on a cultural journey. I learned a lot from this piece of fiction, especially about policies enforced by President Duterte, and plan to read some of the nonfiction articles in the “Recommended Reading” section provided by Randy Ribay in the back of this book.

This is a great book for YA readers, and I recommend it.
Topics included: drugs, sensationalism, trafficking, nationalism, existence, family, poverty, political thought/policies

Watch this short video on Randy Ribay's intro to Patron Saints of Nothing!!! It's only 1 min 32 sec.! Just watch it.

View his upcoming events.

[Olivia-Savannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book swept me in and took me away. I didn’t know what I was getting into when I started this book, but I came out of it emotional, informed and deeply moved. I’m going to tell you why in this review!

I like to consider myself a pretty well-informed person when it comes to news and such. But this book reminded me that it is impossible to know everything and that there is always more to learn. This was the first book I read set in the Philippines, and the first I was hearing of President Duterte and the Drug War that is ongoing in the country. This book does a very good job of presenting it in a factual way, that doesn’t shower the country in pity or take too lightly to what is happening either. I really liked the respectful way it informed me of events while still telling the story. I was shocked, to say the least. My eyes were opened. I love learning through reading and this book gave me that.


The main character in this book, Jay, is also struggling a lot with culture and identity. He is Filipino-American but doesn’t feel that connected to the Filipino side of himself. When he goes back to the country after years, he struggles to reconcile the two halves of his culture and ends up feeling like quite the outsider in what he supposes should feel like ‘the motherland.’ to him. As it was my first time experiencing the Philippines through reading, it was brilliant experience to discover some of the culture, food, history and languages of the country. But while we get to explore all this, we see Jay struggling with an identity crisis that is very familiar to me, and probably to lots of teens in our international world. It was so well done!

This book also deals heavily with the theme of grief. Jay has quite a unique grieving process as he hasn’t heard from his cousin for a while and understands that he hasn’t known him personally for quite a while. In a way, it makes it even harder for him to handle the grief he is feeling. Not only do we get to see Jay’s grief, but those of the different family members and how they all handle it differently. I really appreciated it, especially when it comes to the end of the novel.


Quietly, this book has a lot in it. Not only is this an ownvoices account of events in the Philippines, but it also has some LGBT+ representation in there. It briefly touches on some homophobia. It touches on family struggles that can come from parents who have different ideas than what you believe. It touches on coming of age themes, and expectations for the future and what you need to do once you’re finished with school. It touches on drug use, on being a sexual assault survivor, on poverty… And while it does take a moment to touch on all of these subjects, they don’t overtake the plot but rather contribute to it. As well as that, they also aren’t breezed over so quickly that they feel irrelevant. The author has found a great balance there.

I also want to talk about how wonderfully this book was composed. Which I have to applaud the author for! Even though there are some sad moments in this book, there are the happy moments interspersed as well. Peacefulness too. The development of the story and our main character, Jay, is wonderfully mapped out. We never quite get to meet Jun, but we feel connected to him too. The letters and the imagery used in some lines was brilliant. I really appreciated how well this book was written.


This will not be the last book I read by this author. It informed me, gave me hope, made me feel emotions and made me smile from time to time. It’s amazing how much of a journey I went on while reading this one too.

This review and others can be found on Olivia's Catastrophe: https://oliviascatastrophe.com/2019/0...

[Althea ☾ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everything was just way too realistic for me and way too close to home so <3 When I say that I related to this book on a whole other level, you better take my word for it as someone who has lived in the Philippines my whole life but has also seen more of the world than most other citizens.

This quote hit me a little harder knowing that people are dying for doing what is right on the same land that I am on.

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

— overall thoughts: 4.50 —

From discussions on the philippine drug war, ableism, white supremacy, Fil-Am prejudices, Filipino relationships (romantic, familial, platonic), journalism in the Philippines, both sides of the Pres. Duterte thing,... it's all summarized right here.

🌚 It really does a good job of giving a wide scope of the culture for a book that isn’t that long that I feel like even if you aren’t Filipino or familiar with what has been going on in the Philippines before reading this book, you will walk away with significantly more knowledge and awareness.

Or at least be less ignorant.

“how 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,”

🌚 Jay is a Fil-Am and follows him as he processes the death of his cousin and deals a lot with grief. Which that in itself is already something very brave to write about with how the Philippine culture deals with grief. But that is a whole other topic better saved for another day. This book was meant to be reflective of the Philippine Culture most especially for someone who has grown up away from their home land and is just coming into the reality of everything that has been happening.

And for a lot of people who aren't Filipino or did not even grow up in the country, I understand that there are going to be so many thing that you won't be able to relate to or even understand that it is something very Filipino-like to do but I mean... I don't know what else to say because you aren't meant to?

🌚 It's meant to be relatable to Filipinos and if you expect it to be relatable to the general world... what would be the point? Though it's still meant to be accessible enough to people who aren't Filipino so that you have less excuses to be ignorant towards your fellow human beings and to Fil-Ams that you might... take something from this.

“It is easy to romanticize places when you are away”

🌚 I saw myself in Jay so much and I related on a whole other level. His motivations were expressed so well in the writing that even if you aren't familiar with the FIlipino culture you'll still understand everything, especially from Jay's perspective and looking through his eyes.

I’m so in love and I will never stop gushing over how dear and close to my heart this book is to me now. and I am running out of ways to reiterate just how accurate the details of the writing were.

None of the characters is what i can say “good” or “bad”, in fact Jay is unsure for the majority of the book and I loved that how we sort of go into this journey with him exploring his own culture that he has just realized he has been ignorant about. Even his uncle’s (who I disagreed 97% of the time with) side was well representative of where a lot of Filipino’s mindset leans towards, specifically for those loyal to Pres. Duterte.

“People are sick and starving to death in our country, in our streets, and nobody cares… I don’t want to be another one of those people who just pretends that they don’t know about the suffering, like they don’t walk past it on their way to school or work.”

🌚 I absolutely think that this book was accurate in representing even the smallest of details of the "basic filipino" like the rosaries on the dashboard, the favourite brand of snacks that even I as a kid bought from the sari-sari store with my cousins, and even to the kinds of clothes that are a staple in certain environments (it's hard to explain but I'm talking about elepants if you know what those are). The diary of a wimpy kid reference because that was a big thing in the philippines when i was younger, the billboards, to the airport, habits, in short: EVERYTHINGGGG!!

The Filipino mentality was spot on and I don’t know if this sounds superficial but even down to the accents (which speaks more for the performance of the audiobook narrator, so: AMAZING! SPOT ON! I STAN!)

“The way he said it. Like white is the default”

🌚 The topics sheds light on a lot of the problems that Filipinos experience whether socially or politically. I personally have experienced probably 90-95% of this book and that just says a lot. It also highlights the difference in Fil-Am and local Filipino cultures. Especially those pieces of news that have been covered by the recent pandemic because it is still definitely relevant as all of the conflicts are sadly still on-going in the country.

🌚 I feel like I need to mention this because it also bothered me but I am just never a fan of that grey area for cheating and there is a little romance between a 17 and 19 year old. So... yes.

🌚 With all the more serious topics let out, at it's core is a coming-of-age-novel that warmed my heart. I'm not going to say that it "gave me a new perspective" or something like that because it didn't show me a new side to my culture but a reflection of what it already is and bringing that to surface. It also just makes me so happy and giddy to see myself reflected in pieces of fiction such as this.

Especially one that blatantly hits very recent issues but still is able to capture that parts that I love the most about my country and the people in it <3 we love to see it

“You saw my pain for what it was, recognized it as if it were your own, and gave me the love I needed to heal. I will never forget that.” [Jay talking about his cousin]

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[claud. · Rating 4 out of 5]

TOTAL READING TIME: 4 hours, 33 minutes.

As I said in my original review, this isn't the first YA book published by a major company I've read that was written by a Filipino author with Filipino lead(s). This is actually the third book--the first one being Something in Between by Melissa de la Cruz, and the second one being The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi (both of which I recommend).

But this is the first book I've read written by a Filipino author with Filipino leads that is largely set in the Philippines.

I will admit, I didn't know much about Randy Ribay's background before reading this book. It turns out that Jay's heritage and upbringing were modelled after his own: biracial with a Filipino father and a white American mother, born in the Philippines but moved to the United States as a baby.

I went into it thinking it was going to be written with a Filipino lens, expecting everything to be 100% accurate because I will be able to tell if something about the setting/traditions/language is off, but I've given thought about who the author is, who the main character is, and who this book was actually written for... and I realized this wasn't written with a Filipino lens, but with a Filipino-American lens. And that there's a huge difference.

I'm not going to get into the discourse and the silly rivalry between Filipinos and Filipino-Americans (and other foreign-born or foreign-raised Filipinos) because at the end of the day, I just don't give a fuck. And to be honest, I don't really even know where I fall. I was born and raised in the Philippines, but left a month after I turned 15 in 2012. I went back for a two-week trip for a wedding in 2015, four months before I turned 18, and I haven't been back since. I've been living in Australia, coming on 7 years this November. I speak fluent Tagalog, and for a while I have considered myself not to belong with the foreign-born/raised Filipinos. I mean, I wasn't born nor was I raised in Australia, even though I'm a citizen. I'm a newcomer to their culture and I even reject a lot of the elements of their culture. (Hell, I'm referring to Australians as 'they', even though I'm technically Australian.) I'm just plain Filipino, I just happen to be living in another country.

Right?

But then again... I haven't talked to my relatives over there in 4 years. I don't really have any close friends to welcome me back if I ever decide to visit for a second time since I left. Any news about the current political climate I only hear about on Twitter, sometimes. Any changes to the laws or pop culture or anything like that, I don't really hear about unless I go out of my way to find out.

I left the Philippines before Duterte was even elected President. And I don't personally know anyone who was killed in his war on drugs.

So really... am I any more Filipino than Jay? Once I realized that the book was going to be from his ignorant, privileged, American self, I got annoyed. Oh, here we go, the American savior is here, I thought. But after finishing it, I took some time to reflect. If I was in the same situation as Jay, if I went to the Philippines to investigate my beloved cousin's death, would I know what to do any better than he did? Sure, I speak the language, but how would I even go about investigating a death in a country I was no longer familiar with? That changed overtime while I was gone? How would I navigate impoverished neighborhoods when I've grown up privileged my whole life, even more so now that I didn't live in the Philippines anymore?

I've cast my judgment for Jay aside, especially because he's at least partly modelled after the author himself. I'm not going to get into the discourse surrounding the Filipino identity. The way I see it, the diversity between our upbringings and the environments we grew up in is the Filipino identity.

This is the only thing I'm going to address: WHO THE FUCK EATS SINIGANG WITH WHITE BREAD INSTEAD OF RICE???? I'M LOSING MY MIND OVER THIS.

Ahem. Anyway.

One of my favorite things about this book was the critique of privileged Filipinos, specifically about religion and hypocrisy. The Philippines is mostly Catholic, and with that comes all the bigotry from Christian fundamentalism and conservatism. (Fun fact: the Philippines is the only country in the world aside from the Vatican where divorce is illegal.) A common thing with a lot of middle- and upper-class Filipinos (and I can attest to this, because I'm related to them) is the mentality that as long as you go to church regularly, you're already a good person, and you can be as shitty as you want to everyone else. They tend to ignore the poor and the needy, and don't really value the lives of these people. Proof: they elected Duterte by a landslide.

It's also interesting to see one of the lesser-known things about Filipino culture being depicted so blatantly--the refusal to openly discuss whatever is construed as 'family secrets'. I don't intend on speaking for all Filipinos because maybe this is just how it is with my family, but we do tend to pretend that our problems don't exist, that everything is fine until it all comes bursting out like water from a dam during major arguments. And this is how Jun's death was depicted--Jay flies over to investigate it, Jun's family refuses to talk about him or utter his name even though he died from mysterious circumstances and they didn't give him a funeral. Nobody talks about it. They pretend like it never happened.

Jay's Tito Maning (tito is the word for 'uncle', Maning is a nickname for the name Manuel) and his rule over his family made me so queasy. I don't know if this was Ribay's intention, but I did truly look at him as the encapsulation of the iron-fisted Filipino patriarch. I've been lucky not to be raised by a father (or any other male figure) like that, but it reminded me that it is like this for a lot of Filipino households. The normalized abuse, the act of kicking out their children instead of helping them, and the fact that this character was a chief of police which added an extra layer of toxic masculinity in the mix... reading about it made me so anxious.

My critiques about this book are, first, the inconsistent writing style and characters' voices. One minute Jay would speak like any other American kid using basic English, the next he would speak so clinically and more formally. And this is the case for the other Filipino characters too. Filipinos in the Philippines tend to use more formal words because we mostly learn English through school that teach us more formal ways to phrase things. This is different from learning a language naturally from when you were a baby--obviously you're not going to learn formal or complicated words or syntaxes from just speaking to the people in your life as you grow up; you have to actively read and educate yourself about them. One minute, the other Filipino characters would speak natural, basic English, but like Jay, the next they would sound weirdly formal. I'm probably not articulating this very well, but my point is, I wished Ribay made up his mind whether he was going to write the characters speaking in basic American English or if he was going to write them speaking English in the formal way that Filipinos usually do, instead of switching between the two.

Secondly, I just found it hard to believe that Jay had never heard of Duterte's war on drugs past the occasional headline. How did his best friend Seth, a 17-year-old white boy from Michigan, know more about it than him? His ignorance about the war on drugs would have been more realistic and believable if he hadn't decided on a whim to go on a ten-day trip to the Philippines to investigate his cousin's death that was related to this war. I just couldn't suspend my disbelief for his thought process. How does someone go from I don't know much about the war on drugs to I'm going overseas to investigate the death of my cousin who was killed in this war but whom I haven't corresponded to in almost four years? It just didn't make any sense.

Thirdly, I just didn't feel like Jay was fleshed out enough as a character. Yes, he was your typical American high school senior who feels a bit lost, the way you do when you're not sure what to do after you graduate other than go to college because that's what's expected of you. But if you asked me what his personality was, I wouldn't be able to tell you.

My last critique is more of a plot-related one: the very last reveal was a bit anti-climactic and confusing and I can't really figure out why Ribay decided to write it that way. I don't really see the point of discussing it here since it's all going to be under the spoiler tag, but this is the main reason why I rated this 4 stars instead of 5. The writing inconsistencies I could have let slide and given this 5 stars regardless but I just can't let go of this plot reveal. But for those who have read the book already: It was already revealed Jun was running the Instagram account GISING NA PH! but it was also revealed that he was using shabu. Before the last reveal, it seemed to be that this book was going for the 'murdered activist' angle, so why go back to the 'drug user' angle and vindicate Jun's abusive father? I just don't understand. How was Jun able to photograph all those people and run an activist Instagram account while being a shabu user?

God, this review is long. This was one of my most anticipated books of 2019 and while it didn't end up being a perfect 5-star read like how I expect books I'm super-duper excited for to go, it definitely didn't disappoint either. However, I will say that this book is grim. You might not finish this book feeling happy that you were represented as a Filipino, or satisfied that you learned more about Filipino culture, because this book does centre around a really dark time in Philippine history, and it is happening today. And this isn't the sort of thing that you can turn to your friends or family about and feel solidarity with, because odds are, they probably support him (I know my parents do). There are a lot of activists, both in the Philippines and abroad, who are speaking out about Duterte, but they're in the minority. His election is not like the United States because, unlike his American counterpart, he actually won the popular vote. He was elected President by a landslide. I can't even begin to describe how hopeless it makes me feel that a majority of Filipinos are in favor of him.

So I will end this review with this quote from the book:

But there are good things I can hold on to and there are other things I have the power to change. 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.

--------

Just pre-ordered this book!! I can't wait until I get my sweaty palms on it.

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This wouldn’t be the first YA book I’d be reading by a Filipino author with Filipino leads, but it WILL be the first one largely set in the Philippines.

And look at the sun’s rays from the Philippine flag behind the MC’s head in the cover....

Everything about this is a huge fucking deal to me. I’m gonna sob.

[Kai Spellmeier · Rating 5 out of 5]

if you ever wanted to know what a gut punch looks like in book format just have a look at this cover

RTC

[Lexine · Rating 1 out of 5]

All the five star reviews lied to you. I’ve lived in the Philippines for the majority of my life and I’ve read good books by Fil-Am authors, and this is not one of them, not by a long shot.

Maybe if Ribay spent less time describing the Philippines with the same old tired cliches, repeatedly pointing out race and skin tone (yes, Filipinos are obsessed with light skin WE GET IT), and Filipinizing every. goddamn. word. that he can. (PSA: RIBAY, YOU CAN WRITE TAXI AND NOT TAKSI AND IT WOULD STILL BE PRONOUNCED THE SAME), he could have worked on his characters (unrealistic), dialogue (stilted), and writing skills (not using words like “long-ass” and “heavy-ass” and just stopped thinking that adding “-ass” is a legitimate way of modifying adjectives.) First person POV is not an excuse for lazy writing.

Jason’s cousin dies and he goes on an Eat Love Pray-esque soul-cleansing whim to cure his FEELINGS, he makes his parents buy him a ticket to the Philippines (so cheap!) to visit his grieving relatives. His dad asks him not to bring up his cousin, because the family is still grieving, and what does Jason do the minute he lands? You guessed it, he’s preparing to confront and accuse his uncle about aforementioned dead cousin (the uncle being a DDS and Marcos apologist is not an excuse to be rude) He’s suddenly self-righteous about matters he previously didn’t care to know about, because of his guilt for being an asshole for having ghosted his dead cousin. He imagines that he’s the only one who knew and cared for his cousin, and that his entire family misunderstood him and somehow unrepentantly caused his demise. I mean, the writer obviously meant for us to sympathise with the protagonist and the idealism of his youth, but Jason’s entire character is just annoying.

Jason (who is, let’s face it, basically the author) gets a moral hard-on for being uncomfortable about letting the hired help do their jobs and giving away his dollars to street children- who by the way, should not be given money because it’s LITERALLY ILLEGAL and operated by underground organizations, which maybe he would know if he was actually as invested in his roots as he claimed to be and not just donning this sudden and inauthentic persona of benevolence that cares about the acts of injustice and inhumanity that has been raging on outside his privileged self-centered bubble, that he is not even all that happy about by the way, BOOHOO, because Jason is sensitive, not like his family, who doesn’t, unlike him, immediately devolve into justified but ultimately senseless outrage at the latest school shooting. If Jason were a parent, he would ALWAYS make sure to ask his children how THEY felt about the shooting, unlike his callous and uncaring parents who do nothing but provide and care for him. Jason doesn’t know more about what’s happening in this world because of what poor examples his parents have been BOOHOO). Jason is the personification of the person sitting on his ass at home changing the frame of his profile picture on Facebook and #captioning it with whatever popular or personal tragedy is going on in the world at that moment.

The only good thing this book does is raise awareness on the insane abomination that is Rodrigo Duterte and the chaotic lawlessness that his regime has caused. Ribay tries (too hard) to sound like he’s informed about the issues Filipinos face, but like Jason, and maybe most Fil-Ams, he fails to come across as authentic.

0.5/5 “at least he tried” award

[☘Misericordia☘ ⚡ϟ⚡⛈⚡☁ ❇️❤❣ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Death, youth, life itself and its conundrums mixed together.
Some politics, Duterte-bashing.
Lots of preaching.

Q:
We can only handle so much truth at any given moment... (c)
Q:
Nothing like wisdom from on high. (c)
Q:
Doesn’t the truth itself matter? (c)
Q:
It’s a sad thing when you map the borders of a friendship and find it’s a narrower country than expected. (c)
Q:
All the stories follow a similar pattern: Someone is accused without evidence, they are killed without mercy, then the police cover it up without regret. (c)
Q:
“What if humans could do that?”...
“Float upside down in a corner?” (c)
Q:
“What if I don’t have a clue what I want to do?” I ask.
“It takes time, I think. Follow your interests. Develop your strengths. Stay open to trying new things.” She hesitates, then adds, “Maybe you haven’t developed a passion yet because you’ve spent your entire life doing what others wanted you to do.” (c)
Q:
That’s not how stories work, is it? They are shifting things that re-form with each new telling, transform with each new teller. Less a solid, and more a liquid taking the shape of its container. (c)
Q:
... 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. (c)

[Inah (Fueled By Chapters) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Things I need:
1. The cover Randy showed us the cover sketch when we met and I just about cried. Seeing the final covers ignites the spark and fuels the fire of my social awareness.
2. The ARC
3. The Final Copy
4. YOUR SUPPORT

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Read as SR.

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Reading Patron Saints of Nothing invokes a lot of emotions, especially for someone who’s socially aware of the current political situation in the Philippines. There is pain and grief in Jay’s loss of his cousin, Jun; anger from the fact that this Drug War is explicitly anti-poor and that some privileged Filipinos choose to stay with their apathy because this doesn’t affect them; and shame and disbelief from the fact that a lot of Filipinos support this constant violation of human rights. [Case in point, nobody from the opposition’s slate won in the recent Senatorial Elections. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa, former police chief, and Duterte’s point person against the Drug War placed fifth overall in the Senatorial Race.]

I was able to read a manuscript of this book since Randy reached out and asked if I could be one of the sensitivity readers for Jay’s story. Even from then, I love the fact that he was able to capture the reality and elicit empathy with the book’s premise.

Of course, I was a little worried since the main character is a Filipino-American who has little knowledge of the Philippines besides their occasional visits. I was worried with how Jay would digest the reality of the problem we have, but the author addressed it in such a way that it was a learning experience for Jay. No white savior nonsense and the likes, Jay was actually willing to learn and even gets called out a couple of times. His character growth and realizations about the truth and his journey towards finding himself was a delight to see as we go along the story.

Another notable thing was how genuine the characters’ voices are. Realistic portrayals are important especially when it comes to stories that take on cultural representation. I’m really just grateful that Randy Ribay was able to show accurate Filipino representation from different aspects in the book such as politics, religion, family relationships, and even food!

However, I wanted to talk about how adults were presented in the story. It’s a classic case of “the adults are useless so the youngins better do something about it”, and I kid you not, this is the reality of the Philippine Society. We’re taught to respect our elders. We’re allowed to have an opinion but we’re not allowed to call them out when they’re wrong. [Honestly, this toxic culture needs to die. When the youth takes the fight into the streets with mass mobilizations and protests, adults tend to diss on us, calling us “woke Millennials” with disgust, while they’re sitting in the comforts of their home.]

The funny thing is all these were personified in Tito Maning’s character so my hatred was just focused on one person. If you’re not from the Philippines, has read this book and you found yourself hating on Tito Maning, I just want you to know that most people have the same mindset as him. It’s pretty much infuriating.

Overall, my reading experience with Patron Saints of Nothing was purely positive. It brought a fresh perspective to a highly sensitive topic in the Philippines. It’s a thought-provoking masterpiece that blurs the line between fiction and reality and forces you to question where you stand. Besides politics, it also tackles socioeconomic inequalities, racism, and sexism. God, I’ll never shut up about this book’s importance because it’s truly an eye-opener. All the more reasons to pick this book up if you’re having second thoughts. Trust me, it’s worth your time.

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I have shared some reading resources in the original post in my site, you can check them out here

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won it in a Bookriot giveaway!!!

I thought this book would be sadder. I mean it was sad but I thought going in that it would be ruin my day sad. But it wasn't.

Patron Saints of Nothing is about Jay Reguero whose family moved to America from the Philippines when he was a year old. Jay hasn't spent much time in the Philippines and he doesn't really think much about the Philippines either. That is until he hears about the murder of his cousin in Philippines. Jay decides to travel to the Philippines to find out what really happened.

In case you don't know in the Philippines they are fighting a war on drugs and instead of focusing on education and improving the economy they are murdering drug dealers and drug users. The countries President Roderigo Duterte is a violent dictator who is very proud of these death squads. Human rights organisations estimate that anywhere from 12,000 to 20,000 people have been murdered.

While I would have preferred a sadder, darker story, I still appreciated the story for what it was. If through reading this story more people especially my fellow Americans learn about what's happening in the Philippines then that's more important than anything else.

I'm excited to read more from Randy Ribay in the future. His writing was honest and heartfelt. I would definitely recommend this book.

[Neil Franz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Patron Saints of Nothing is one of my most-anticipated books this year. And I'm happy that it didn't disappoint. Randy Ribay is brave to use Duterte's drug war in the Philippines as a backdrop on this coming-of-age novel.

He did sort of exposed the ugliness of this war that took a lot of poor Filipinos' lives. It struck me as preachy, the way Ribay's characters comments on this inhumane and anti-poor drug war. Maybe I felt it like that, because what I was reading is the truth. And it hurts me that it is real and  happening in the Philippines.

Anyway, this is still the story of Jay and how Ribay builds him as a hero and breaks this idea afterwards. I liked this act of the author that made me like the novel even more. I also like the fact that Jay recognizes and acknowledges his shortcomings as a cousin, as a half-Filipino and he tries to catch up. It's kind of "huli na ang lahat" thing and regrets are there. But hindi pa talaga huli ang lahat.

There are more things I love/like about PSoN but I will just state what I can transform into writing. I love the portrayal of the Filipino culture. Kuhang-kuha. Queer relationship! Travelling to PH provinces. Pinoy food. The metro, traffic and the saddening state of the poor. I was happy, sad, angry to all of this.

The only thing I didn't like about this book is the romance sub-plot. It's unnecessary and doesn't add to the greatness of the book.

Still, 5 stars!

[Beatrice · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 / 5 🌟

Patron Saints of Nothing is an eye-opening book about the current situation in the Philippines. There's a lot to talk about regarding President Duterte's administration on its rampant drug campaign. It's chaotic and believe it or not, some are just pawns. Can you imagine children become victims? It's heartbreaking and there are Filipinos support this.

Jay Reguero, a Filipino-American teenager, receives a tragic news that his cousin, Jun, passed away. His untimely death is a mystery and his family refused to talk about him. He's very close to him and instead having fun on his summer vacation, he travels to the Philippines to uncover the truth.

There's tension and grittiness diving into this book. It's well-written and engaging. I love Jay for immersing himself into the Filipino culture and traditions. It says a lot on his character he wants to know more of his roots and it gained respect for us readers. Aside from drugs, it also explores grief, toxic family relationships, sexuality and politics. I shamelessly hate Jun's father -- Tito Maning (Uncle Maning). He's a public servant and he's the typical toxic Duterte supporter / Marcos apologist. He reeks arrogance and resentment. What an ignorant boomer.

I took away a half star because as much as the reality hurts, I would turn Jun's story differently. I refrain for spoiling you guys. If you read it, you know what I meant. However, all praises for Mr. Ribay for this novel. It's spot on.

[Diana DS. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Patron Saints of Nothing is a compelling read that is equally informative and heartbreakingly tragic.

It was interesting to explore the Philippines from the perspective of a half-Filipino, to view its rich culture and history in light of newness and of distant familiarity. But what intrigued me most is to see how the corruption, poverty and social injustices prevalent in the country are perceived in this book and to follow the course of the characters' moral and political views as they learn more about Duterte’s administration. How the President's bloody regime has violated multiple humanitarian rights through his War on Drugs and Extrajudicial Killing (EJK) policy. And more importantly, how his dictatorship acts as the biggest enabler for authorities to abuse their power and bring terror to civilians.

I appreciate Randy Ribay’s straightforward take on the dire situation we are currently in. While weaving Jay’s journey to reconnect with his roots, search for his identity and seek the truth for his cousin’s death, all in lyrical prose. I just wish he left out the unnecessary romance.

"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."

I am again reminded that if one is truly socially aware and is not caught up with their privilege, there will be no such thing as neutrality.

[Anniek · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know what to say about this book, it left me speechless. Please, please take the time to read it. It's one of those books I expected to be good, but that still blew me away with how engaging and impactful it was.

[Jenny (Reading Envy) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jay is a Filipino-american youth with one semester left of high school when he finds out his cousin in the Philippines has been killed. He convinces his parents to send him back to his aunts and uncles so he can try to figure out what happened.

Before you think this is a white savior narrative (it really isn't), I must say I was impressed by how the author used this story of a somewhat uninformed teenager to tell this story. Like many immigrant narratives, Jay doesn't feel he belongs in America, especially when coming home every day feels like coming home to the Philippines in food and cultural expectations, but then his family has insisted he learn and speak English, so in other ways he isn't Filipino enough. Traveling back to Manila he hears frequent protests that he (and his father) are the "ones who left," meaning they can't know what it's like there, and also shouldn't be making any judgments.

Since Jay and his cousin Jun are close in age, it's like getting to examine the same life if he had stayed vs if he moved away. And things obviously didn't go well for his cousin, who seems to have suffered unfairly because of President Duterte's war on "drugs" that also seem to be taking out poor, homeless, and other passersby on the side. Jay has to work hard to uncover the truth, all while living with family members that are more on board with the current administration than he ever could have expected.

This is a YA novel, but the stakes are real stakes and the main character has a lot to work out between the various conflicting opinions in the family, the true dangers he confronts while trying to find the truth, and his own grief. There is also the family and friends he left at ... home? He isn't even sure where home is. I felt the ending was meaningful and realistic.

I had a copy from the publisher through NetGalley, but it fit perfectly into my Asian reading goals for 2019. The book came out 18 June 2019.

[Lance · Rating 3 out of 5]

“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.”

“That's not how stories work, is it? They are shifting things that re-form with each new telling, transform with each new teller. Less solid, and more liquid taking the shape of its container.”

3.5 Stars. Patron Saints if Nothing was one of my most anticipated releases of this year. As a Fil-Am teen, I have never seen myself represented in mainstream YA fiction and as such, this book was like a gift landing in my lap. While I can definitely say this book was good, I can't quite say that (at least for me) this book was life-changing. I did like this book, as it had several good aspects including the prose, the educational quality this book has, and the representation of Filipino culture as well as some of the intricacies of being Fil-Am but it also had some glaring flaws such as the completely unnecessary romance.

Randy Ribay's prose, especially as a debut novel, is one of the best parts of this book. Looking back on some of the quotes from the book, I can say with some surprise that seeing as this book is written from the first-person perspective, Ribay's writing was natural enough that I felt like that quotes like the above felt extremely genuine coming from our main protagonist, Jay Reguero. There's so many thoughts and passages that are so beautiful, almost akin to The Astonishing Color of After in terms of prose. It isn't quite as flowery, but I think that the simple, clean yet poetic way that Ribay's prose expresses Jay's thoughts is honestly the backbone of this novel.

I also really appreciated how educational this book is, because similar to Jay, I too am a Fil-Am who is woefully uneducated about Duterte's policies and the war on drugs and all of its complexities. The way Ribay takes the time to examine the way Jay's position as a Fil-Am and the way it colors his perspective in terms of the war on drugs in the Philippines. This book also takes the time to note that Jay, as an American, is not the most important perspective in terms of the political landscape of Philippines and also that he will not be the one to "solve" these problems. I'd also like to note at this point in the review that I wholly acknowledge that my perspective as a Fil-Am, while valued, isn't quite as important as those who live in the PH and deal with the ways policies impact their everyday lives. I'd encourage anyone reading this review to check out reviews written by Filipino reviewers who live in the Philippines as their perspective and voice is undoubtedly going to be more important to amplify than mine.

Moving on, in terms of the Filipino rep, I found that the way Filipino culture was depicted in this book was spot on, which is no surprise considering Randy Ribay is a Filipino author. Everything from the extended family of titos and titas to dishes like sisig and sinigang to cultural things like taking off your shoes and wearing slippers in house as well as the mano po were spot on. As Jason is Fil-Am, the discussion of his diaspora was well-done but partly the reason why I took off 1.5 stars. There were a definitely things i related to like not speaking much Tagalog, and feeling this sense of other as a Filipino-American (always hyphenated, never one or the other).

Now for my gripes. In terms of personal ones, I just think that the discussion of Fil-Am diaspora could have been delved into more? Maybe its because personally, my experiences are unlike Jay's in a few aspects, but I just found that the book was a 75-25 split between Jay learning more about Duterte's policies/the main plot of discovering why and how his cousin Jun was murdered and his own diaspora when I expected a 50-50 split. This really isn't a critique, as its a personal preference thing but I wanted to relate more to Jay's thoughts on disapora... and I just didn't completely. This of course makes complete sense as Filipinos and Filipino-Americans are not a monolith and all have unique experiences, thus this really is a "it's me, not you" thing.

However, there is one big reason I doc'd a star from this book's rating and that is the completely unnecessary romance. A lot of this is spoilery but I'll just summarize in a sentence: there is definitely cheating involved in the romance between Jay and a female character that he meets in the PH when there was absolutely, no need for a romance with cheating to develop in the first place. Spoilery Thoughts: Okay so Mia's a journalist helping Jay? Why do they need to flirt, especially when Mia has a BOYFRIEND. And since Jay lives overseas, there IS NO LOGISTIC REASON FOR ANY FLIRTING. THEY EVEN ACKNOWLEDGE THIS AND I ADJHAJDHASDJASHDJASHD. Point is, there is absolutely no reason for this farce of a romance to be in this book. The romance contributed absolutely nothing to the plot, and thus didn't need to be there.

Conclusively. I would recommend this, although I personally do not think this should be upheld as the gold standard for Filipino YA.

[reese collins · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a Filipino, and I didn't like this book.

Instead of showing us the inner workings and cogs of a coming-of-age mindset, it spends too much time discussing Filipino traditions, tragedies and tourist spots. As a Filipino, I know all about it already. So I don't find the appeal.

But even as a coming-of-age it's just, a guide on what's happening in the Philippines. Eraserheads. National Museum. Pointing with the mouth. The deepest assimilation into Filipino society and mindset we get a chapter and a half. Other than that, the Philippines seems like a banner waved without substance.

I genuinely hoped for some sleuthing and on-the-ground investigation into the intricacies of the drug war. I did not get that.

"Don't your people are about all these lives being taken?"
"Did you? Before Jun?"

So as much as it makes me feel a certain sense of nostalgia (I don't even know if that's the proepr term because I live in that reality) with how certain things are characterized (i.e. machismo, the beach, natural curiosity), it's not enough to make me like the book considering how shallow the discussion on the drug war is when it was marketed as a selling point. It's my reality, the least you could have done was be genuine about your intentions.

The book entirely feels detached from the problem even if Jay notes that "I cannot claim this country's serene coves and sun-soaked beaches without also claiming its poverty, its problems, its history." He is too self-centered to a fault, in which he views everything as non-righteous when he is in no place to deem what is the right thing to do. Overall, there is little to no understanding of the imminent problem at hand: The War on Drugs.

Instead of using it as an opportunity to reveal how unjust the system is, they manage to turn it around and let Jun be viewed negatively rather than revolve it around what many of the victims suffer from: a case of police abuse. I just don't agree with it, I guess. There are heavier stories to shed light on, I suppose.

I personally hate read/powered through 40% of the book, too slow and shallow for a murder mystery, and too descriptive rather than intuitive for a coming-of-age story. Pick up a newspaper headline, a tourist guide and a pinoy-baiting video on YouTube. You'll get the same amount of excitement.

Also, side note: No one calls their nephews, Nephew. He should have had a more Filipino nickname like Jay-Jay. And am I the only one irked by a 19 year old and a 17 year old being paired together when ones in high school and the other one is already in college and they didn't meet while they were both minors? And the 19 year old had a boyfriend?Just me? Okay.

[Katie B · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

I never imagined when I first started reading this book how much I would fall in love with the story. I underestimated and thought it would be a typical story about a teenager coming to terms with his cousin's death. And while that was certainly an aspect that was well-done, the author also did a fantastic job in incorporating Filipino culture and some history into the story. It always feels like an added bonus when you are able to learn something while reading a fiction book.

Jay Reguero was born in the Philippines but moved with his family to America when he was one. He is a senior in high school and was recently accepted to the University of Michigan (Go Blue!). He finds out his cousin Jun has died but he isn't given a whole lot of information about the circumstances. So Jay decides to fly to the Philippines and hopes he can get more answers there while staying with relatives. He is horrified to learn President Duterte's war on drugs might have something to do with Jun's death.

I like how very early on in the story Jay comes to the realization he's pretty uniformed when it comes to what life is like in his birth country. He recognizes he's been practically living in a bubble and the fact that he could see this and want to do better, is an admirable quality.

Nothing I can say will really do this book justice so please just trust me when I say it's a worthwhile read. It was a good story throughout but the last few chapters particularly resonated with me. And while the political climate is explored in depth, I was also impressed with how the author had this subtle way of dropping other important topics into the story. It's like he had many things he wanted to say with this story but was smart enough to not necessarily cram too much into the plot. Not that other writers don't put a lot of effort into their novels, but it just feels like this one really fine tuned everything and the result was impressive. Even if you don't normally read this genre, consider giving this one a chance!

I won a free copy of this book in a BookishFirst giveaway but was not obligated to post my review here. All views expressed are my honest opinion.

[✦ Maica ✦ · Rating 3 out of 5]

“..., his death tallied as an improvement to society.”

This was a last minute buddy read with Divine. We honestly said fuck you to War Storm and abandoned that book for this one hahahahah

------------------------------------------------------

Jason has lived his life relatively in bliss. Living the upper middle class life, he never has to think about the serious issues in life. But when he gets wind of his cousin's passing because of Duterte's bloody drug war, his life is turned upside down. And he wants to learn the truth.

Unfortunately, I did not love this as much as I would have liked. I felt that the characters could have been better fleshed out. Outside of the circumstances brought to them by Jun's passing, I could not tell who they were. Also, the war on drugs is such a complex subject to discuss. And I understand why it's hard to put into words but I wished we could have gone deeper. Because regarding the war on drugs, we only scratched the surface.

But with that said, I praise the author for having the guts to write this story. As a Filipino, I could imagine how hard it was to write this. The current administration censors critics of Duterte's reign. It takes someone with a passion and love for the country to write this. I think this book will be an eye opener for those clueless with what's happening in the Philippines. I highly encourage everyone to give this book a try. These are the type of stories needed to be told.

Blog Review: Click Here!

[may ➹ · Rating 4 out of 5]

love how I decide to finish all these books I’m currently reading during finals week instead of literally any other time…

3.5 stars. I enjoyed reading the protagonist’s development and the way the book highlights so many major points of Filipino politics and history, as well as the importance of activism. the ending made me almost tear up as well! I found myself wishing that the narrative had fought a little harder against the idea that all drug users are terrible people, and I didn’t quite love the nature of the romantic relationship (bordering on cheating and 19/17yo). but aside from that, Patron Saints of Nothing was well-written with so many heart-wrenching parts, and a book that I’m glad I read—especially as an American.

[Tatiana]

This is educational and messagey in a way I dislike. May be more appealing to those who want to learn about Duterte's regime, but within the safety of familiar YA tropes and conventional and bland writing style.

[TEMI · Rating 4 out of 5]

characters: 4/5
pacing: 4/4
actual substance of the story: 5/5
romance and/or significant friendships: 3.5/5
the writing: 4/4
creatvity: 2/2

22.5/25 | 4.5 STARS

This was a beautiful story. It was fr*ckin’....gorgeous. I don’t have time for a full review but here’s some lists.

✦ why you need to read this book right now (or asap since I’ve got an ARC of this 🤪):

➤ There aren’t too many books written by or about Filipinos/Filipinas. This is the first book I’ve read with a Filipino main character.
➤ I feel hella woke, like I—
➤ So many difficult/taboo-ish topics are handled SO well.
➤ Jay can get it..........
➤ I really smiled at the end. The ending wasn’t the one I was hoping for, but my heart—
➤ The characters talk like people their age.
➤ Jay’s pretty relatable in terms of being a first-generation something-American kid. People always harassing you for not being able to speak your “mother tongue,” and you feeling bad about it. The only three career options being doctor, lawyer, and engineer. Any creative form of work like writing or design? Who’s that? I might’ve heard of her. I think she’s broke.
➤ I learnt SO much about the culture!! That was really cool. I didn’t know Filipinos also did that thing where you pack a whole bag with gifts to give to your relatives.
➤ I learnt so much about the Philippines!! The little knowledge I had of their way to independence came from my preparation from the AP world exam. I also had no idea of their political situation was like.

✦ a few things that annoyed me:

➤ Can authors stop throwing in love interests for....no reason? Mia was cool, but the owo tension between her and Jay was extremely unnecessary. They never even ended up kissing. And for what? Finish what you started or don’t start anything at all.
➤ Seth’s unnatural way of being racist. I didn’t really want to include this because everyone’s experiences are different, so who am I to say, “oh, that would never happen?” I just...Seth really said, “you’re white because you seem pretty normal idk bro 🤷🏼‍♂️.” Seth could’ve just said the stupid I’m colorblind line, and I would’ve taken it as something that could happen in real life.

Once again, this book is beautiful. I got it at a giveaway at a book fair and I’m extremely grateful for that. THANK YOU, RANDY.

[Aj the Ravenous Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

I can't emphasize enough how important this book is. Finally, here's a young adult contemporary written by a Filipino that made it to 2019's most notable books. Mr. Randy Ribay's a concrete proof that one could leave his country without abandoning it.

The bar however was set so high for this novel that I couldn't help but expect too much and ended up just a bit disappointed. I find most of the dialogue stilted, the main character slightly annoying and a bit too idealistic, his actions not entirely believable. The subplot about Jun is not only disheartening, it's frustrating as well.

But still, for raising awareness about what is going on in the Philippines with respect to a facet of the issue on drug war, the book is still commendable.

[Spens (Sphynx Reads) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been hesitant to pick this book up for the longest time for fear it was overhyped or that it lacked the necessary nuance for such a delicate matter. Having finished this now, I realize that I had no reason to fear—what Randy Ribay does here he does well, and I trust anything he puts out henceforth to have the compassion and care he so clearly put into this.

Patron Saints of Nothing is nothing short of a masterpiece in every conceivable sense of the word. Beautifully written with an astounding command of language, it is both a heartfelt and a heartbreaking look into former president Duterte's war on drugs at large and how it has affected—and affects—individuals and families, extending beyond the boundaries of international state lines. Ribay is brutally honest in his portrayal of the response of the Filipino and international communities to Duterte and tells us that despite the nuance of cultural context and differences, to take away human life especially without regard for due process is always wrong. And he does so in such a way that is deeply intimate and profoundly personal.

I cannot even begin to describe the impact this book has had on me. It has been too long since I've felt that I couldn't put down a book and longer still since I've felt my chest tighten and give way to involuntary sobs as I read page after page of gutwrenching pain that felt only too real. Randy Ribay, thank you thank you THANK YOU for this book. I will be rereading this multiple times and will recommend it even more often.

[JM Cabral · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one special book, and I can't wait for the rest of the world to read it too. Full review TK. Blurb:

"As poignant, as it is eye-opening, readers would no doubt have lots to look forward to in Randy Ribay's Patron Saints of Nothing. It features a diverse story about losing the ones you love, grieving over such a loss, and how to move on and get past all that, all while trying to educate it's readers as to how it really is to be a Filipino today. I might not be able to comment on how accurate this book's rep is in terms of biracial stories, but I hope you'll believe me when I tell you that this book certainly packs one great punch. It certainly wrecked me, and if given the chance to do it all over again, I definitely would, gladly, in a heartbeat."

Huge thanks to my friends from Penguin Random House International for entrusting me and Bookworms Unite PH to host a local blog tour for this title and for sending review copies for me and other Filipino book bloggers in exchange for honest reviews. This did not, in any way, affect my overall opinion of the book and/or the story.

[Cynthia · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

This book opens with ten year old Jay trying to make sense of loss and grief after taking on the responsibility to care for a puppy whose mother refused to tend to him. It is the perfect introduction to Jay’s inner character. This opening is brief and we are quickly reintroduced to Jay as a senior in high school. Upon learning of his cousin’s horrific death, Jay is filled with emotions that parallel the opening well, shouldering a responsibility that should never have been his to deal with. Desperate for answers to ease his pain, he travels to his cousin’s home country, the Philippines, and we see a painful portrait of a boy on the cusp of adulthood trying to make sense of the wounds grownups create.

As I’ve conveyed, I found the beginning of this book to be incredibly haunting and compelling. They were several beautiful, thought-provoking lines occupying the first few chapters. The middle of the story seemed to deviate from the potency I came to love. It wasn’t a bad story and there was certainly meaningfulness to it. I think that, especially for the intended YA audience, this is a great read. It’s written from a relatable teen perspective and while it deals with some heavy topics, they aren’t delivered in a way that is overwhelming to digest.

As I neared the end of the book, I did find myself immersed in its power again. As it circled back into a portrait of grief, tears ran down my face.

Patron Saints of Nothing opens the door for critical thinkers to explore the information presented in the narrative further and that’s a positive thing. It exposes young readers to a world beyond their own and, ultimately, we all need to be reminded of the struggles that do not belong to us, no matter what age we are.

[Gem (The Creepy Geek) · Rating 4 out of 5]

***ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. ***

First of all, this book first hit my radar because Randy Ribay did my favourite cover reveal of all time! If you can find it on his Twitter, watch it. Amazing.

I then read the synopsis and knew I needed this story in my life! I was so psyched to be approved for an ARC and I devoured this.

What a powerful, moving, important story. A wonderful look at grief and identity. There were so many amazing quotes and passages I highlighted about judgement of someone's identity, toxic masculinity, personal growth and seeing the good in everyone.

I didn't know anything about the Drug War or Duterte but found myself looking up articles about the slums, the deaths, the drug problem...all mid-read, which is very unusual for me! The description of the country and the culture was so rich in this book it made me want to learn more. On the whole, I thought the writing was fantastic and I will definitely be looking up more of Ribay's work!

My absolute favourite thing about this was Jay's journey. Following him on the ups and downs of not just his journey for the truth, but also his search for his own identity, was very intimate and I felt connected to him constantly. Watching him grow from a boy into a man was wonderful.

I thoroughly enjoy this and highly recommend it!

[Shey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A story about a Filipino-American teen who spends his spring break traveling back to the Philippines to find out the truth about his cousin's death.
I really like how Ribay tells the story here, and below are the things I enjoyed reading about:
-it did not hold back in discussing the awful and ugly parts (without any bad intentions) of the country's "war on drugs."
-even though it talks about a heavy subject, it carries a few important messages written in a very reachable style.
-the accurate description of Filipino culture and family dynamics.
-the Filipino Karaoke scene! Plus, charming LGBTQ+ reps.

This book is also a beautiful story about family, reconnecting, and exploring personal identity, culture, and ethnicity. Powerful and touching. I'm so glad I read this. Salamat po.

[Jessica J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book deserves way more attention. In many ways, it checks all the usual boxes for a young adult book about important social issues, but it's impressively well-written and so engaging I read it in one day.