ENLIGHTENMENT

When I was notified that I would receive a copy of this ebook I was jazzed. The bold cover and title were eye-catching. The description seemed right up my alley. Once I finished Tomorrow (Merilyn Ruth Liddell) I swiped to the first page in this book. That was around two months ago. After reading the first few pages I realized I was completely lost. This story dives into Filipino folklore very quickly and is heavily dependent on familiarity with the stories the author tells or extensive use of the glossary. For someone with no previous knowledge, this was a problem. So, I had to put the book aside until I was able to print off the glossary for regular reference. Once I printed the glossary, I ended up enjoying the story as I anticipated show more I would.

This story is reminiscent to me of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Heroes of Olympus, and Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard series by Rick Riordan. I love a good tale of mythology and that is what Enlightenment is at its core.

Ursal weaves Filipino mythology together with modern-day, fast-paced high school students. Dorothy and Stella, two Filipino-American girls who have been best friends since they were kids, meet Adrian at their high school. Adrian is a timawa (Filipino warrior) who is tasked to protect Dorothy, a Filipino-American girl (possibly a tumao - a descendant of the ancient Filipino ruling class) who is at risk of being taken by Sitan. Sitan is a timawa who fell from the society, became something akin to a vampire, and created and, subsequently, leads a society of vampire-like beings. The only way to protect Dorothy is for Adrian to take her to the Philippines where she can finally recognize her true identity. Throughout the story, Adrian begins to suspect that Stella is also a tumao. Dorothy and Stella are taken captive by Sitan's grandchildren. Adrian and another timawa rescue the girls. Near the end of the story Dorothy, Stella, Adrian, and the girls' mothers board a flight. While in the air Sitan attacks. Dorothy and Adrian defeat Sitan and land the plane safely in the Philippines. Adrian realizes that Dorothy and Stella are not tumao, but the prophesied half-sister timawas.

I am intentionally leaving out the finer details, teenage hormones and inner thoughts, present throughout the entire book. If you can navigate through the above-mentioned highlights, and you enjoy young adult fiction, you'll have a great time! Personally, I only put the book down because it was 4 am and I needed to sleep.

I think it is great to have a Filipino-American author on the scene, but I think he is at a great disadvantage. This story is hard to grasp for those of us who have grown up only being exposed to western civilization mythology. That is why I liken him to Rick Riordan who tells stories of Greek, Egyptian, and Roman (and Norse) mythology. These are things about which we do learn in school. I like this book because it's informative and relatable (because it's set in a world with western ideals, aka Vegas) just like Percy Jackson and Jason Grace (and Magnus Chase). show less

I wanted to like this book so much. The premise, involving Filipino vampire mythology, was very interesting to me as I'm not terribly familiar with the traditions of that part of the world and it seems as though there is much rich material to be mined there. Unfortunately, in trying to portray realistic teen-aged protagonists, the author includes so many references to clothing designers, contemporary music and pop-culture, the work feels like an extended commercial. The book also could have benefited from better editing. So many sentences are repeated or re-iterated in slightly different words that it was almost exhausting. The ultimate climax of the book was also pretty confusing as a relationship that had been building or seeming to show more be built suddenly went in a completely different direction.
The footnotes were also hit-and-miss, as sometimes the information contained was a welcome explanation, and sometimes it was just repetitive of what one character had just explained to another. This could have been done so much better
That said, though, I was fascinated by the overall plot and the characters seemed to have realistic motivations and relationships with one another (for the most part). I'd be interested in knowing what happens next to these people, but only if the author is given a better editor. show less

Tl;dr: This novel suffers from too many footnotes and a multi-layered supernatural story that I believe it too complex for a teen audience.
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I was excited to read this book based on the premise. I've never seen a romance or YA book with Filipino characters before and I liked the idea of the main characters being Filipino. We need more diversity in literature and this is a great culture to explore. The Filipino-American culture integrated into the story and the Filipino history and mythology(?) was great for the first few chapters, but all the footnotes to read got tedious pretty fast.

There aren't only modern Filipino references to learn - ethnic cuisine, slang words, Filipino-American culture - on top of this there are also show more historical references - some factual, some mythological - and on top of that there is a whole fantasy world building to learn that spans centuries. All these little tidbits of culture that are included make this book interesting, but for someone completely unfamiliar with Filipino culture, all of these terms become overwhelming. Always looking to the bottom of the page for a footnote makes this relatively short book harder to read. I was constantly being taken out of the flow of the story by needing to look up terms. There is at least one footnote on every other page. I felt like some of them were unnecessary and the story would flow better if things that needed explanation were just explained naturally within the story.

For example, there is a sentence that reads: "I'm making diniguan* for dinner." The footnote reads: *A Filipino soup dish consisting of pig's blood and pork belly. Many Westerners are grossed out until they taste it. This author recalls the blood-curdling pig squeals across from his Uncle's house in Cebu when a pig was drained of its blood the night before a party. If this was a memoir about growing up in the Philippines, that would be an appropriate footnote. Here, it is just unnecessary. While diniguan is essential to the plot of the story, all we need to know is that it is pig's blood soup, which could have been mentioned in the dialogue or in the character's thoughts. I don't need the opinion that Westerners are grossed out by the thought of it. I don't need the exposition of the author's upbringing.

There is another later reference that says "She showed me how to cook Filipino food like tocino, pansit, and lumpia*. Footnote: *Popular Filipino food cooked in various styles in Filipino households. I understood this reference because I've heard of pansit. I also was able to figure it out because of the context clues. It says right in the sentence this is Filipino food. I don't need a footnote telling me this is Filipino food. But even though I know what it is I feel compelled to read every footnote, which disrupts the flow of the story. There are also unnecessary notations defining "bio-luminescence," "appendix," "Roman Catholic," and "Muslim." I think one reason there are so many footnotes defining and explaining things that should have just been explained within the story is because the publisher took a 600-pg book and reduced it to 270 pages.

So, that was the main problem I had with this book. The other problem I had was with the supernatural/paranormal/fantasy elements. They were confusing. They're based off of religious and cultural history, or possibly mythology, but there were so many unfamiliar references that it was difficult to keep straight. Then there's a surprising supernatural revelation halfway through the book. It was surprising because it took something familiar and made it unfamiliar based on wrapping it in this unfamiliar history and mythology. It was not at all where I thought the book was going based on the first 90 pages, and that's when I wanted to give up on this one. There was a disturbing scene with a horse. I kept reading for another 50 pages, grudgingly, until they finally spelled out this supernatural element. At that point I lost my interest in finding out what the female lead was going to do/become. She seems powerful, but I can't make myself finish this one.

An interesting concept that suffers from poor execution and somehow simultaneously too much editing and yet not enough. I think this book may work for Filipinos who don't need a footnote for every single reference. I'm sure they would find it interesting to read about both the culture that is familiar to them and the history that may not be, wrapped up in a paranormal mystery. For non-Filipinos, though, it is all just too much. A more straight-forward romance or YA fiction with Filipino characters without all the intense world-building would be more palatable, I think. Even though I couldn't even finish it, I still give it two stars for endeavoring to create a world like this and to bring diversity to this genre. show less

Enlightenment follows Dorothy, the main character, who meets mysterious Adrian, a new transfer student at school. She is intrigued by him during their first meeting, but knows something is off about him. But as the readers come to find out there is more than what meets the eye; he is a supernatural being sent on a mission to protect Dorothy as she holds a great ancient power.

The book starts out slow, but after several chapters into the book it picks up the pace with many action-packed scenes. I enjoyed reading the alternating viewpoints for each chapter. It gave multiple povs of the same situations and the background between humans and supernatural beings. I like how we see how Dorothy goes through herself-discovery journey to grow into show more her powers and learn about her heritage.

The novel has a diverse cast of characters and I appreciate all of the rich Filipino culture woven into the book’s narrative. Through reading the story I learned more about the language, history, and traditions within that culture. Additionally, the footnotes were very helpful for giving context for the background of the story and the cultural references mentioned within the story.

There is a constant aura of suspense in the plot as hidden secrets become unveiled and there is also lots of danger surrounding the villain of the story, Sitan and his minions who are out for Dorothy’s power. Romance is somewhat of a heavy aspect of the novel, but I liked that it wasn’t the full focus of the story and instead mainly centered on the folklore. The novel ends on a cliffhanger and leaves the reader wanting more with all the questions left unanswered.

An exciting start to the Bathala Series. It’s an interesting fantasy full of culture, folklore, and history! show less

I was so excited to receive an arc of this book because it's the first book by a FilAm author I'll have the privilege of reviewing. Add to that the fact that it's about Filipino folklore, a topic I'm fairly familiar with being the daughter of a woman who was born and raised in the Visayas. I remember the scary tales my relatives used to tell whenever I visited the province at summertime as a young girl, tales of aswangs, duwendes, etc. What I appreciated about this book is the historical and mythological aspects and how it was incorprated into the modern setting. I like that the author shared several songs by FilAm artists, some of whom I'm not familiar with. The author also highlights popular Filipino cuisine such as dinuguan and show more traditions such as pagmamano which is a sign of respect for elders. I also like the footnotes and the index of pertinent words, these will be helpful for readers who are not of Filipino descent to understand the terms used.

However, I felt the story needed more characterization and world-building. For example, I found Dorothy's characterization too perfect - pretty, valedictorian, rich (she drives a Mercedes), good in martial arts, etc. Granted she does have some family drama and personal struggles, but I found her character superficial. I was also unimpressed by how brand conscious the characters are - Givenchy jacket, DKNY luggage, BMW, etc. The reveals also felt rushed and the twist in the end didn't make sense to me. The publisher noted that this was originally a 600-page manuscript that they edited down to less than 300 pages. Perhaps this is why the story feels rushed, with several typographical errors too.

This is a series so I'm hoping the next books will be meatier and more polished. I do sense there might be a love triangle brewing so it would be interesting to see if this assumption is correct. I have high hopes for this series but the story needs more substance, endearing characters, and effective world-building.

Thank you to LibraryThing and Pacific Boulevard Books for sending me a copy. show less

I fear this book will have a very limited audience: perhaps Filipinos in the Islands and in the diaspora. I am neither, but have had close Filipino friends and have traveled in the country several times. Nonetheless, this rather fantastical mix of young adult romance, mystical happenings attributed to ancient Filipino lore and a primer on pre-colonial Filipino history, is not for everyone.

And, since it is "Book One", the adventures and tribulations of its chief characters are largely unresolved.

The book proceeds in alternate first-person narrative chapters, one from Dorothy, a Fil-Am high school senior in Las Vegas, and the other from Adrian, a "visitor" from the mythical and immortal Danag society in the Philippines. Adrian has been show more transported to Las Vegas to protect Dorothy from the evil Sitan. Most of the book is Adrian's interactions with Dorothy, her family and her friends, and Dorothy's oft-repeated confusion about Adrian's other-worldly attributes: his glowing in the dark, disappearances in thin air, thirst for human and animal blood, super human strength, and many others.

Sitan seeks Dorothy because she is, unbeknownst to her, a descendant of ancient Filipino royalty. Have I lost you yet? Well, there is much more. So much more that the book starts with a list of 38 word/phrase definitions - all unknown to me - from ancient Filipino folklore and language. As in all science fiction, impossibilities and improbabilities abound. But the characters affected by these turns of events are so shallowly developed that one reads on, largely uncaring about the consequences.

The writing is pedestrian. Dorothy talks like the teenager she is. Adrian's speech is laden with history/folklore lessons:

"All vampires in Europe had come from the Danags, regardless if they knew it or not. Those who honored Mandalagan's traditions retained the honor of protecting mortals, the beings that gave birth to blood-eating beings. Without humans, Danags would not exist and the Mandalagan Council decided centuries ago that mankind should be respected."

When not giving history lessons or declaring his love and lust for young women, Adrian lets us know about his super-human achievements:

"Without hesitation I snapped his body in half, his blood-curdling screams a catalyst to drain him slowly: I wanted him to feel pain. When his last scream ended with his eyes open, I had sucked all his blood and turned him over so I wouldn't see his face."

Near the end of the book Adrian captures the cockpit of a jet flying to the Philippines and takes over the piloting:

" I landed the plane at the Bacolod-Silay airport on the Philippines Island of Negros. The captain was dead, along with his co-pilot and all the flight attendants. Some of the passengers were also dead. I would have to dispose, or, more accurately, forget there had been an incident. I hated this part of the clean-up, but knew I wouldn't be alone. Timawa warriors would be welcoming us home."

I will not be awaiting Book Two. show less

This had so much potential, and in the further books in the series may still save it, but I am not sure I will continue with it as they are published.

This starts out slow and doesn't pick up until several chapters in. I had a difficult time getting into the book.

I new this had paranormal elements, but I didn't expect vampires, I didn't know too much about it when I first started the book.

I love that there are footnotes. It gives the book something that makes it stand out as unique. And it is fairly well written. I love the cover art. Once the story got interesting it was a decent read, just not what I thought it would be.