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fluffernutter's review
2.0
The MC was very immature and seemed more like a 20something than a 49yo woman. I also found her dull in spite of a setting I was very curious about and an interesting family.
marymoth's review
3.0
Thank you Grove Atlantic and NetGalley for sending me an e-arc in exchange of an honest review.
Release date: August 10, 2021
3.5/5 stars
Trigger warnings: death, grief, drugs, violence, execution, kidnappings, beheadings, government violence, use of dead-name.
Other things to consider: Talk about racism, class status, gender, etc.
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What are human zoos? A product of colonialism (and incredibly inhumane), they were used as a way to "display" people who had a "different" (in the eyes of Westerners, at least) culture. Throughout history, human zoos were established, mainly, in the United States, France and Brussels which predominantly took Filipinos belonging to different tribes and African people. As of today, they have been banned.
The Human Zoo tells the story of Ting, a 49 year old Filipino-American reporter who travels to Manila for research purposes regarding the Human Zoos, established by the United States in 1904, supposedly banned in 1914. Besides her research, she must navigate between the newly established regime of "president" Gumboc, who has been on a never ending war with drugs, which ultimately brings martial law and extrajudicial killings.
While navigating daily life, the book addresses themes such as class status, (since Ting is from an upper class Manila family) racism and gender. Through its characters, you can clearly see a reflection of ideals: Ting´s mother ,for instance, plays a big role on gender discussion. On another hand, Laird (who I particularly hate) tackles themes such as power play and martial law and finally, Inchoy and Ting tackle social class and LGBTQ themes.
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To be entirely honest, I was incredibly pleased with this book. Not only did it manage to shine light on a topic I barely knew about, but it also intertwined Filipino culture and daily life: food, family, class, gender and sexuality and most importantly: politics and history. I truly, truly learned a lot from this book. A brief introduction, (if you will) but an introduction that will definitely help to educate myself further on The Human Zoo topic and how much of a role it played on humanity´s history.
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Onto other aspects: the writing style fitted perfectly. It let you understand what was going on (the history and politics) without overcomplicating the plot which, was a bit chaotic to be honest, but ultimately really interesting to keep up with: the dynamics between the characters, what each of them talked about, Gumboc´s involvement, the daily life of these characters, everything.
I think mainly, my only complaint is that the plot sometimes distanced itself from some topics and the ending left me a *bit* confused. Aside from that, I´m still thinking about something I can´t really disclose due to it being a spoiler but that I can hopefully think in further detail and talk about some time after this is released.
Overall its a really interesting read and finally, I would just like to add that I would urge you to educate (in case you don´t or didn´t know) yourself on these topics.
Release date: August 10, 2021
3.5/5 stars
Trigger warnings: death, grief, drugs, violence, execution, kidnappings, beheadings, government violence, use of dead-name.
Other things to consider: Talk about racism, class status, gender, etc.
-------------------------------------------------------
What are human zoos? A product of colonialism (and incredibly inhumane), they were used as a way to "display" people who had a "different" (in the eyes of Westerners, at least) culture. Throughout history, human zoos were established, mainly, in the United States, France and Brussels which predominantly took Filipinos belonging to different tribes and African people. As of today, they have been banned.
The Human Zoo tells the story of Ting, a 49 year old Filipino-American reporter who travels to Manila for research purposes regarding the Human Zoos, established by the United States in 1904, supposedly banned in 1914. Besides her research, she must navigate between the newly established regime of "president" Gumboc, who has been on a never ending war with drugs, which ultimately brings martial law and extrajudicial killings.
While navigating daily life, the book addresses themes such as class status, (since Ting is from an upper class Manila family) racism and gender. Through its characters, you can clearly see a reflection of ideals: Ting´s mother ,for instance, plays a big role on gender discussion. On another hand, Laird (who I particularly hate) tackles themes such as power play and martial law and finally, Inchoy and Ting tackle social class and LGBTQ themes.
-------------------------------------------------------
To be entirely honest, I was incredibly pleased with this book. Not only did it manage to shine light on a topic I barely knew about, but it also intertwined Filipino culture and daily life: food, family, class, gender and sexuality and most importantly: politics and history. I truly, truly learned a lot from this book. A brief introduction, (if you will) but an introduction that will definitely help to educate myself further on The Human Zoo topic and how much of a role it played on humanity´s history.
-------------------------------------------------------
Onto other aspects: the writing style fitted perfectly. It let you understand what was going on (the history and politics) without overcomplicating the plot which, was a bit chaotic to be honest, but ultimately really interesting to keep up with: the dynamics between the characters, what each of them talked about, Gumboc´s involvement, the daily life of these characters, everything.
I think mainly, my only complaint is that the plot sometimes distanced itself from some topics and the ending left me a *bit* confused. Aside from that, I´m still thinking about something I can´t really disclose due to it being a spoiler but that I can hopefully think in further detail and talk about some time after this is released.
Overall its a really interesting read and finally, I would just like to add that I would urge you to educate (in case you don´t or didn´t know) yourself on these topics.
haleypages's review
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
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? Yes
5.0
pianorunner421's review
3.0
I wish half stars were possible. This was better than a three but not quite a four. I very much appreciated the twists in the story, the plot that was set in a time and place not common in American fiction, and the fact that the story was told succinctly and not dragged out to add more pages. I felt there were a few characters that were slightly underdeveloped and what the reader is led in the opening pages to believe is the premise ends up not to be the case. This is definitely a book worth picking up. I would call it a beach read because it reads easily even though the subject matter is not easy and it isn’t too long.
atilsley's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
143colleen's review
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
danibee33's review
3.0
3.5 stars ⭐⭐⭐
Insightful and resonant with the political climate in the Philippines. It's disquieting and very uncomfortable for me to read a book like this that so accurately reflects my own loved ones' casual justification of Martial Law in the Philippines, and the ways in which unjust and truly despicable political actions are twisted in order to gain public support. The secrecy, the fear, the underground and behind-closed-doors organizing, the confusion, and the misinformation under a government blazing a path toward dictatorship all find their place in this story that, on the surface, feels like such an ordinary story of Filipino family, expectations, and culture.
I didn't find the story as compelling as I had hoped it would be, but at around 75% it really picked up and the ending was dramatic but LEAVES YOU HANGING at such a critical moment and leaves you little to no hope for what is to come.. I have so many questions!!
Insightful and resonant with the political climate in the Philippines. It's disquieting and very uncomfortable for me to read a book like this that so accurately reflects my own loved ones' casual justification of Martial Law in the Philippines, and the ways in which unjust and truly despicable political actions are twisted in order to gain public support. The secrecy, the fear, the underground and behind-closed-doors organizing, the confusion, and the misinformation under a government blazing a path toward dictatorship all find their place in this story that, on the surface, feels like such an ordinary story of Filipino family, expectations, and culture.
I didn't find the story as compelling as I had hoped it would be, but at around 75% it really picked up and the ending was dramatic but LEAVES YOU HANGING at such a critical moment and leaves you little to no hope for what is to come.. I have so many questions!!
mandelb's review
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
wow. that was interesting. can't say much more for it than that honestly. I was interested the whole time, even if I wasn't particularly compelled. the narration was so laconic and devoid of personality it took me a while to get into, but then I sort of figured out that itself is the style. I liked that within the narrative she was criticized for being shiftless and selfish, and I liked that she wasn't particularly sorry; I think she actually did take a convincing shape by the end. I also liked lots of the side characters, they were often well figured in just a few strokes, especially the aunts and the maid and top gun. I appreciated that she didn't pause to explain every aspect of Pinoy culture and food at length, that always feels more immersive, but she was still pretty obviously writing to a white/USAmerican audience. well! that's me so I can't really complain. I did not really get why Murray crafted a president wholesale? is it really just that the book might've been unpublishable if it was explicitly Duterte? or maybe it was just more convenient for the narrative. laird is sort of an insane character who I am very curious about. I feel like he plays into a stereotype of like, getting radicalized in the west and then going to enact that in another country, but idk if that's actually a stereotype. either way I am pretty interested in the convo ting has with his wife... in retrospect that sort of seems like she's trying to tell ting something. hmmm. chet was pretty lackluster, I get that he couldn't really be explicitly romantic or it would've played weird, but I never really bought the chemistry. I feel like the funniest character is tings husband. like truly that is a Ben Affleck in gone girl type of guy with zero awareness. lmao. well! it always surprises me when a book is sort of boring but then I come up with lots of thoughts on it anyway. okay!
kangaci's review
funny
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
sjhaug's review
challenging
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75