Reviews

Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay

jenmangler's review against another edition

4.0

Such a heartbreaking and thought-provoking book. The relationship between Jay and Jun is beautiful.

asims723's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

cacafacecindy's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

mdevlin923's review

4.0

Jay Reguero lives in the United States, but he was born in the Philippines. He visited there once when he was a child and became very close with his cousin, Jun. Throughout the years, he and Jun have written back and forth (Jun more faithfully than Jay). Then, in Jay's senior year, his father tells him that Jun has been killed by the Philippine National Police. Jay decided he needs to go to visit his family to find out the truth.

A very powerful look at the drug issues currently taking place in the Philippines. It also focuses on family relationships, the search for truth, and the deeper philosophical views of substance abuse.

luinien's review

4.0

Again, my Twitter PLN came through with a great recommendation! Going in to this book, I only knew that many people were raving about it.
This book was a great look at what we think we know versus what we learn and how it might suck, but we still need to seek the truth. That, and family and heritage are important. These concepts were very vivid without the author bashing us over the head with it - more of ah-ha moments that I came to while reading. I enjoyed the lead up to the end and how things wrapped up. Things were taken care of, but it didn't feel cookie cutter clean which I enjoy as life is definitely messy.
I would have liked more character depth with the people that Jay interacted with or that were important in his life (Seth for example). I was left wanting more resolution or details on a couple of the interactions those two had. Overall, though, that's a very minor complaint on my end.

brandon_1800's review

emotional funny informative lighthearted mysterious sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

cloudyfields's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful informative reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.5

kay_tee_em's review against another edition

emotional reflective tense medium-paced

4.75

chroniclesofvea's review against another edition

dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

3.75

valsometimesreads's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

Really solid YA novel that explores Filipino-American identity as well as Duterte’s war on drugs