Review Detail

Seventeen-year-old Jay Reguero was born in the Philippines but has grown up in the United States. His father moved the family to suburban Michigan when Jay was very young. The family is seeking a better life and greater opportunities. Jay has maintained a relationship with his cousin Jun via writing letters even though email and messaging would be faster and easier. Jay and Jun’s story is told in first person narrative and through these hand written letters. I really liked this format.

After Jay learns his cousin has been killed, he begins to search for the truth about how and why Jun was killed. This is all amid President’s Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs. The news of Jun’s death shocks Jay out of his senioritis repose. He is more than shocked to learn his cousin was killed by the police in the Philippines for presumably using drugs.
Jay makes a radical move to spend his spring break in the Philippines to find out the whole story. Jay had not corresponded with Jun in a very long time even though Jun’s letters arrived like clockwork. This fact leaves Jay wracked with guilt for ignoring his beloved cousin and now he is gone forever.

Jay is of mixed heritage (his mother is white) and his father a Filipino immigrant. Jay, even though he is considered “a spoiled American” bravely visits his native home and family they left behind.
The dialogue is believable and the cast of characters is strong as this author weaves a deeply emotional story about family ties, addiction, and the complexity of truth. The tender relationship between Jay and Jun is heart warming and heart breaking.

I enjoyed learning the culture of the people of the Philippines and found myself down the rabbit hole several times as I googled terms unfamiliar to me.

(Fiction. 14-18)

Thank you Netgally and Penguin Young Reader’s Group for the privilege to read this ARC.