Patron Saints of Nothing

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

WOW. I loved this. I truly did!

I loved the representation of a diaspora child. As somebody who is Bengali but born in Sweden, I can relate to Jay and his struggles with the language, culture, and history. I think it was really well-written and explored and I know that diaspora children will see their struggles reflected in Jay's story.

I really enjoyed how everything played out. It didn't play out the way I did, which was a nice surprise. I thought I had the book all figured out but, alas, I didn't! In many ways, the plot is quite predictable but it managed to subvert my initial thoughts about it.

I would call this, in some ways, a Filipino "The Hate U Give" and I recommend it to anyone who wants another political drama.

Wow. What an absolutely entrancing read.
Patron Saints of Nothing is a quiet novel but it packs an emotional punch.
The story follows Jay Reguero, a Filipino-American teenager whose world is turned upside down when he learns that his cousin Jun, with whom he used to exchange letters across continents, has been killed as part of Filipino's President Duterte's war on drugs. No one in his family wants to talk about what happened to Jun, so Jay returns to the Philippines to find out the truth about his cousin's last moments.

I was absolutely blown away by the lyrical prose Ribay uses to describe the the culture and economy of the Philippines and how Jay reconnects with his native roots. Quite like Jay, I hadn't even heard much about President Duterte's cruel and illegal war on drugs or how the media circumnavigates the issue, but I feel like I've learned a lot about the innate bias of journalism and the desire to tell the truth even if it might end up hurting you.

This is a political novel that opens up a rarely discussed topic to the wider public, a novel that shows that a person is never just one thing, that our stories are shaped by who tells them at what point in time and what we take away from that story. Emotional, gripping and powerful, Patron Saints of Nothing should be read by anyone who wants to learn more about Filipino culture and social issues, or anyone who needs a powerful read to remind themselves that no one is perfect but as long as we try our best, the world might follow.