Reviews

One of the worst things that the Duterte administration caused was the further desensitization of people to violence. His promise of peace and order, stemming from his infamous run as Davao City's previous mayor, no matter the means, were lapped up by many. People who were killed became mere names mentioned in nightly news cycles. Moreover, these names were easily dismissed as deserving of the fate forced upon them. But John Bengan in this collection gave those names stories and presented them as they really were: victims—a father, a son, a brother. He broke the notion that everything is as easy as discerning black from white, good from bad, listed name to unlisted. But Bengan also did the complicated task of distancing himself from the tales and leaving it all up to the readers. Through this, Bengan became free from the morality of stories and delivered the kind of tales like “Disguise”, where he found himself in the mind of the strongman who implemented the deathly rules on the city, or the opener, “Higher Orders”, about a new recruit to a merciless assassination group. But of course, the stories that really made an impact to me were those told from the minds of the more affected victims of extrajudicial killers, of circumstances they found themselves in, and of life itself. Like that of Ronnie in the title story ‘Armor’, a drug-using gay man who found himself hanging by a thread as he prepared for a final hurrah: a gay pageant show. Or like that of Alex Abelar in the story ‘After the Warning’, an innocent high schooler who unfortunately found himself on the watchlist, the one story in this collection which filled me with actual, heavy terror. Most of the entries in this collection are unforgettable in their feats (worth mentioning that other than the earlier two titles mentioned, ‘Bad Heart’ has a very special place in my, well, bad heart), but the most memorable for me was how Bengan opened the book with unadulterated horror, but he closed it with something that could trump it easily—hope in the form of defiance.

anfernae's review

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

While all of the short stories are stron, Armor is still rhe standout for me. I read it years ago because it was one of my sister's assigned readings in senior high school.

fications_clari's review

Go to review page

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This short story collection, in my opinion, circles around two themes: desire and violence.

It's fascinating (sometimes in a sick-to-your-stomach kind of way) how these two things intertwine or fight. The first story, Higher Orders, has a man pushed into a life of enacting assassinations, and as a way to cope or sublimate it he ends up

raping his superior, a man he's strongly hinted to be attracted to throughout the text

. In Bad Heart, we see how the danger his father and his boyfriend

and rapist

turn him into a fundamentally dishonest person who buried his wants deep. After the Warning and Going Away feature two sides of the story of two characters who want peace, normalcy, and who cannot truly escape the violence that haunts them.

The violence, by the way, is largely state violence. The entire collection seems to ask the question: what can you do, when what you yearn for is cultivated in a backdrop of hostility and terror? When that hostility and terror I'd justified by the government and the people who support it, even if those very same people love you?

The queerness dimension is also a very interesting aspect of this. Most of the protagonists are queer. This leads to another layer of hostility to their environment, this risk of being found out, there no being kind, valid way to express their wants--every coming of age is brutal, with the characters seeming to have to choose of completely ignoring their attraction or else comply with the risk and horror that comes with sexual expression (Voice, for example, has the teenaged protagonist have phone sex with an adult man and then be heart-stoppingly terrified for the rest of the story).

Then there's Disguise, which takes a look at a high-positioned character and why he perpetuates the violence, and Manny Pacquiao Speaks, whose titular character is also engaged in violence, but whose violence in sport is tempered by his real life gentleness. (These two stories taken together FASCINATE me. I kind of adore how Disguise's Mayor (👀) tears him down as someone not of the people while knowingly projecting that image of himself, even if he knows it's untrue.)

Then, of course, there is the titular story: Armor, which I would argue centers around the theme of which one is ultimately stronger (your hopeless, violent backdrop or your own desire

especially with saving the people you care about

). The story's answer is hopeful, but not saccharine--it ends on a suspenseful note, withholding from the reader the final outcome after the protagonist makes his decision. The author made 100% the right choice in making this the flagship story.

Overall, this was a powerful collection--dark and heartbreaking, but haunting in the best way.

I will be honest, though, the sexual assaults did get too heavy-handed to me at several points (and in fairness to Bengan he seems to nod at this with his story "Skin Flick", as well as low-key criticize teleseryes' weird fetish with SA scenes which I super appreciate). This is something to watch out for, and right after this I'm going to read a poetry book about queer joy as well as a 1940's romance novel to destress. But this was stress worth having, you know?

This stories are written by an undoubtedly skilled hand and made me uncomfortable about my own practical apathy for what goes on in my country. I'm going to be thinking about it for a while.

Content Warnings

loveyoulike's review

Go to review page

dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Content Warnings

More...