Book Review: That Kind of Guy by Mina V. Esguerra

Rating:

Genre: Filipino Fiction > Contemporary

Good girl Julie never expected her hot former-player boyfriend to propose marriage. But when he did, she turned him down for reasons even she couldn’t figure out. Will she settle for a nice, safe guy instead? Or will she let him find his way back into her carefully guarded heart?

*****

That Julie character is awful. But the story’s interesting. and I think Anton has the most depth in Mina V. Esguerra’s lead male characters. him being hot is just a plus.

I cannot understand Julie’s actions. I really don’t. If I was Carla (Anton’s best friend), I would really, really make it a point to Anton that Julie is sooo not worth the effort. Ugh. Thank goodness I don’t have friends like her.

Would you like to know what she’s like? she thinks she’s too good for anybody. She prefers a bad boy than a bad-boy-turned-nice-guy. Julie rejecting Anton’s proposal marriage is one major WTF moment. Seriously.

The only redeeming part about this novel is Anton. For some reason, his character is more real and more substantial than what I expected from a playboy. I wonder what he saw in Julie, who’s constantly referred to as “manang” or an old maid.

That Kind of Guy is just okay. It has mature content like Love Your Frenemies, but Julie’s POV is too darn dubious and irritating. I would’ve strangled her to death if she were not a fictional character.

Book Review: Table for Two by Marla Miniano

Rating:

Genre: Filipino Fiction > Contemporary

In Table for Two, a corner table at a quiet coffee shop takes center stage, the latest release from Summit Books author Marla Miniano. The table is the setting for pivotal moments in the lives of the main characters—who, as it seems, are quite the lovelorn bunch. First, there’s the long-time couple on the verge of calling it quits after college graduation. Then there’s the serial dater who accepts her younger brother’s challenge to go dateless for two months. There’s also a photographer who attempts to dissuade his best friend from getting married (and we’re curious to find out why). And finally, there are the two hopefuls: a young man who meets with the girl he never stopped loving, and a young lady who pores over romance novels, waiting for her turn to fall in love.

*****

I’m not much of a lover of stories about heartbreak, especially about a girl who can’t find the strength to leave a stagnant relationship. or a guy who just can’t seem to get that the girl will never see him as a boyfriend material. But Table for Two managed to endear itself to me despite that.

I was nearing the end when I realized the author will connect the characters from all the short stories. The key to enjoying this book is to read more from what the author wrote. Fill in the blanks and hope that what you thought is really what happened to the characters.

Fresh, 2 stars. Mandy & Tristan. The ending was not satisfying.
Timeout, 4 stars. Jack & Jill & Robbie. This was hopeful.
All The Best, 3 stars. Carl & Kim. A little vague.
This Closure, 4 stars. Lucas & Bettina. I heart Lucas, even if he’s a little pathetic most times.
Table for Two, 4 stars. This is why I love reading love stories.

Table for Two is a quick read that will either make you sigh in delight or in contempt. Hee. Don’t dwell too much on the characters. The writing is beautiful. A lot of quotable quotes in here.

Book Review: No Strings Attached by Mina V. Esguerra

Rating:

Genre: Filipino Fiction > Contemporary

Carla is a whiz at her job: she’s efficient, reliable, and a total genius when it comes to putting something together at the last minute. The snag is she’s single and turning the big three-oh in a few months. Her girl best friend (yes, she’s married just like the other girls in Carla’s barkada) keeps trying to set her up with stable banker-types, while her guy best friend (single – the other single one) encourages her to play the field – no strings attached. Then, through no set up or extraordinary circumstance, Carla meets Dante. Hot, smug, sexy Dante. Definitely not a banker-type and seemingly too good to be true. So there’s got to be a catch. There is. He’s five years younger. Is the universe telling Carla to finally let loose and enjoy a fling with a younger man? Or is there a lot more to this awkward situation that she bargained for?

*****

Nearly everyday and twice on Saturdays.

Finally. A Mina V. Esguerra read that fitted me like a glove. *happiness*

I enjoyed No Strings Attached mainly because of relatability. Carla and I were almost the same age, and we have the same birthday! But that was just a plus I got The Marriage Club and the pressure she experienced from her married friends to settle down. I can relate but I am on the other side of the fence: I belonged to that Marriage Club. In my circle of friends from high school, only one girl remains single. But, let me clear this, I do not pressure her into anything. Why annoy her into settling down when she’s not ready for it?

Anyway, I like Carla up until she acted like a spoiled brat. But she did raise some valid points to her best friends Mary and Tonio.

Dante is… wow. Hee! He doesn’t sound like a 24-year-old to me! I want him. like really, really want him. *ahem* Dante’s a History professor and a Wushu instructor. He dotes on her younger brother Miko and takes care of her single mother. Too perfect, right? I don’t care! LOL

No Strings Attached is a fantastic quick read. It was perfectly imperfect (after all, I was irked when Dante didn’t take the time to listen to Carla). Still, this Esguerra read managed to make me kilig (swoon) from start to finish. Yay!

Book Review: Kwentillion: A Million Stories to be Told by Budjette Tan, Paolo Chikiamco

Rating:

Genre: Filipino Fiction > Young Adult > Fantasy

Kwentillion Magazine is the Philippines’ first publication dedicated to young adult literature and media, featuring YA-themed comics and fiction by Filipino creators. The bi-monthly, black and white magazine (with an eight-page colored spread in every issue) features reviews and previews of young adult books, interviews with creators, and articles which tackle a wide variety of topics of interest to the YA community.

*****

Thumbs up for this magazine that contained nothing but marvelous graphics and boundless imagination! I enjoyed reading Kwentillion while riding a bus going home. The glossy finish and colorful pages are too enticing to ignore for long. I love my copy!

Kwentillion brought me to tales of old in Philippine folklore. Anitos (gods), Engkantos(elemental spirits) have never been more alive in the short graphic novels included here! And the introduction of new elements (such as steampunk) to a story set in the Spanish Colonial era was fantastic.

I’m hoping more pages dedicated to YA Fiction (and hopefully, book reviews) to future issues.

I believe Kwentillion will wake the Filipino’s sleeping thirst for komiks (comics) andkababalaghan (marvel).

Book Review: My Imaginary Ex by Mina V. Esguerra

Rating:

Genre: Filipino Fiction > Contemporary

Here’s what happens when you play pretend.

When Zack asks Jasmine to pretend to be his ex-girlfriend, she gamely agrees, thinking it would be fun. A few years later, she still has to keep convincing people that they were never together! Then one day, she finds out he’s getting married—to someone she’d just met once! All of a sudden, things aren’t so clear-cut anymore. Can Jasmine sort out her feelings (sometimes, she can’t even tell real from pretend when it comes to her and Zack) before it’s too late?

*****

Here’s what happens when you play pretend. Love sneaks up on you.

What’s the English word for torpe? You know, that guy you’re friends with who doesn’t make a move on you because he’s afraid to lose your friendship? Yeah, that’s Zack personified. I’m not a fan of torpe guys, but I can make an exception with him. Besides, I always liked love stories between two people who started out as friends first. I should know. That’s my love story right there.

And I agree that Jasmine is dense. But that doesn’t mean I tolerate Zack’s hot and cold treatment of her. Their story was sweet and cute, though.

The clincher for me here is that Zack was Kimmie’s Zack from Love Your Frenemies. I was like, Oh. So this is the jerk fiancé who left her for good after his Bachelor party. I was so psyched! I got to know the story before Kimmie’s “supposed” humiliation.

Anyway, I also like Zack’s philosophy in life. See, he have different set of friends that he spends time with on separate occasions. When Jasmine asked her why he’s like that, I remembered he looked at her like she was crazy. Then he said, “So that there’s not one person who knows everything about me.” Interesting, isn’t it?

Based on the book blurb alone, I thought i will like My Imaginary Ex (same thing that I didn’t think much of Fairy Tale Fail, and I didn’t like it), and I was right.

Book Review: Love your Frenemies by Mina V. Esguerra

Rating:

Genre: Filipino Fiction > Contemporary

Kimmy Domingo was the kind of girl everyone hated and envied — until her fiancé dumped her a week before their wedding. Soon after, she quit her job, hopped on a plane, and just hid from everyone who knew her. A year later and she’s back in Manila to be maid of honor at a wedding she can’t miss.

Kimmy’s home because she’s ready to start over, but she also knows that some people at that wedding were responsible for the mess her life turned out to be. The first step to recovery? Cutting off the ones who caused her troubles to begin with: her best friend and her first love.

*****

After reading Fairy Tale Fail, my hopes weren’t high that i will like another Esguerra book. Still, since it was just a short read, i gave in.

Halfway through Love Your Frenemies, I was ready to chuck my Kindle. Why? This book is about toxic relationships! thank goodness everything turned around in the end. This is my 2nd Esguerra favorite after Interim Goddess of Love.

When life screws you over, it’s so easy to just pack up your things and leave, right? Right. Kimmie did just that to escape the humiliation her ex-fiancee bestowed on her. Unfortunately, and we all know that it won’t last long, Kimmie has to come home. Her overbearing best friend is getting married. and her make-out buddy Manolo is the first one who reminded her why it was good to leave everything behind in the first place.

Kimmie is always contemplating over anything and everything. I like that about her. Yes, she’s suspicious that everyone is still out to get her. But i understood. she got burned so who wouldn’t be like that, pretending to be happy when she’s still figuring out what to make out of her messy life.

Manolo is something to watch out for. At first, I figured he was one of the jerks. turns out he was! but it’s in the past. And his character is a lot more in tune with real Pinoybusinessmen who have a lot of time and money on their hands. So it makes sense he’s like that.

The atmosphere is edgier and has more adult tone than any Esguerra book I’ve read.Love Your Frenemies. And keep them close to you. Haha!

Book Review: Fairy Tale Fail by Mina V. Esguerra

Rating:

Genre: Filipino Fiction > Contemporary

Of all the twenty-something women who are hopeless romantics, Ellie Manuel is more “hopeless” than “romantic.”

Even after her Prince Charming broke up with her, she just won’t give up … because fairy tale heroines don’t live “happily ever after” right away, silly, they’re tested first!

Determined to pass the test, she spends the next year restoring herself to the girl Prince Charming had fallen in love with in the first place.

Until she discovers that life without him might not be so bad after all: her career is taking off, her confidence is back, and the cute guy at work is no longer a stranger.

So when is it okay to quit on a fairy tale?

*****

It didn’t work for me. Too short to mean anything. Too shallow for my taste. Fairy Tale Fail is not my kind of story.

I didn’t like Ellie. Maybe i just dislike girls in general who are stupid enough pining after an insufferable ex. As for Lucas, nothing special about him, either. Got no swoon from that one.

After reading Interim Goddess of Love, this second Esguerra read is an epic fail.

Don’t start with Fairy Tale Fail if you haven’t read Mina V. Esguerra. It was too simple to be considered a gem.

Book Review: Interim Goddess of Love by Mina V. Esguerra

Rating:

Genre: Filipino Fiction > Contemporary | Fantasy

College sophomore Hannah Maquiling doesn’t know why everyone tells her their love problems. She’s never even had a boyfriend, but that doesn’t stop people from spilling their guts to her, and asking for advice. So maybe it shouldn’t be a surprise when the cutest guy in school tells her that she’s going to have to take on this responsibility — but for all humanity.

The Goddess of Love has gone AWOL. It’s a problem, because her job is to keep in check this world’s obsession with love (and lack of it). The God of the Sun, for now an impossibly handsome senior at an exclusive college just outside of Metro Manila, thinks Hannah has what it takes to (temporarily) do the job.

While she’s learning to do this goddess thing, she practices on the love troubles of shy Kathy, who’s got a secret admirer on campus. Hannah’s mission, should she choose to accept it, is to make sure that he’s not a creepy stalker and they find their happily ever after — or at least something that’ll last until next semester. (As if she could refuse! The Sun God asked so nicely. And he’s so, well, hot.)

*****

I have a sucky history with Filipino-written pocketbooks. Way back in the 90′s, I got to read these 100+ pages or so of romance novels by Filipino authors. I was stuck in the province with nothing to do during Holy Week. I asked my aunt if there was something, anything to read. I was given 3 pocketbooks written in Tagalog-English and it was awful experience. Awful in a sense that the authors were trying very hard to inculcate Western cliches into their stories. Awful because I never once thought that the authors were Filipinos while reading it.

I stopped reading them.

Last Saturday, I saw Mina V. Esguerra during my good friend KD’s birthday celebration. She’s very nice. Maybe i can sample one of her books for nicety’s sake?

I bought Interim Goddess of Love in Amazon for $0.99 only. Boy, it was a steal! Kinda short, but I was surprised to have ‘kilig’ or swoon moments here and there. Hee! The mythology angle was fun to read.

Hannah‘s character was okay, although i felt she was more like a high school kid than a college sophomore. Quin… erm, i have a crush on him. *blushes* all business about gods and goddessess; not bothering to take Hannah’s bait in showing any emotion. But Quin in Hannah’s dreams are the best! Can i be stuck in a little bamboo raft with you? *winks*

Then there’s (rough) Diego and (sweet) Robbie. C’mon now, why do i like all of these guys, huh?!

I was like Hannah once. The shock absorber of my friends’ woes on love. I didn’t mind. I just hate it when they come to me and ask for advice but do the opposite. Yeah, yeah. the story of my life (with friends, that is).

Interim Goddess of Love is a light read. Pretty cute, if you ask me. Just enough to warm me on these typhoon-infested days.

Can i get another dose of Quin, please?