I absolutely adore immigrant stories and family sagas so there was plenty to love in America is Not the Heart. A beautiful and devastating story that reminds us what it means to live in America. Also features some of the best food writing I've read!

Hero is such a well constructed character, the unraveling of her story of trauma and her tumultuous history was deftly written. However, I felt that the overall pacing of the surrounding narrative often held this back, with the flow of events often slowing and lacking direction to the point where Hero’s “flashbacks” stood out immeasurably, Her relationship with Rosalyn was also extremely well written!

Other highlights for me were the way food and the relationships built around that were written. I was a little disappointed overall primarily because the pacing did have me as invested in the narrative as I hoped to be, but loved the glimpse into the experience Hero’s character speaks to and the historic significance of the timing in which this story was set. I’d definitely read more by Castillo.

A story of the immigrant experience in America. Paz is a nurse in the Philippines who moves to the U.S. with her husband. Together they raise a daughter and just as I was enjoying the narrative about Paz adjusting to life in the U.S., the story shifts to focus on Hero de Vera, Paz’s husband’s niece. Despite Hero coming from a well-off family, she has suffered at the hands of the government for her political dissent. One of my favorite parts in the story was when Hero is in the States and hangs out at a local restaurant owned by other immigrants. I loved hearing about how they had found a way to make the States their home. What I didn’t like were the shift in events from past to present and while I normally do enjoy that, this only made the story feel like it wasn’t moving forward and all of a sudden Paz’s story seems to get lost. The story felt very long and I simply lost interest and didn’t finish this one.

I’ve had my eye on this book ever since I saw a pre-release article on it earlier this year. AMERICA IS NOT THE HEART is a multi-generational novel of Filipina women, as much about family as identity. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
AMERICA is Elaine Castillo’s debut novel, and one of The Millions most anticipated novels of 2018. It is especially dear to me because my boyfriend is Filipino, and the first in his family to be born in the United States. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
This book is of epic proportions, both a necessary and timely read in this age of immigration discussion. Not only that, it brings a little-discussed culture to the forefront.
THANK YOU @_elainecastillo for writing this book 🙏🏽

Definitely an interesting read, but one that i had high expectations for after seeing so many glowing reviews. I definitely enjoyed it, though not as much as some other reviewers.

Wasn't a fan of this book. Perhaps other people will like it? Felt lacking a plot really. Some books can get away with that, but this one seemed to not have a direction.

The set-up had so much going for it, but the delivery and focus was lost on something else entirely.

The book started out strong, with a different main character, Paz. That storyline I wanted to stay with, instead nearly the rest of the book (about 90%) was following the story of her husband's neice, Hero, who came to live with the family in Milpitas. Felt like bait-and-switch. Even hearing about Paz's sister with her two boys, barely mentioned in the rest of the book but prominent in the beginning. Hero's story could have been more interesting, but it was meandering too far into this other area that wasn't very interesting, her sex life. Hero's story was the focus, and she did grow throughout, yet...just wasn't it.

Speaking of the beginning it was told in this not often found point of view in second person. This is Paz though. Then mid-way it again switches to second person, but in another character. Odd. I don't think it helped the book.

tl;dr Review:

A beautifully written story capturing the migrant experience and immigration in America across three generations.

Full Review:

I will be honest and say this book took me a bit to get into. America Is Not the Heart: A Novel by Elaine Castillo starts with one story and then goes in a few different directions. There is some jumping around, which makes sense in the context of the tale, but it took me some time to fully grasp and enjoy it.

The explanation may not make much sense as you read it right now, but it will once you read the book. As a daughter of a Jamaican mother, I always love books that detail the experiences of others as they make their way in this country. I can't say this is my absolute favorite book on the topic, but the writing and story are well done.

The publisher's description gives some hint that it will be a rollercoaster of a tale.

"How many lives fit in a lifetime?

When Hero De Vera arrives in America--haunted by the political upheaval in the Philippines and disowned by her parents--she's already on her third. Her uncle gives her a fresh start in the Bay Area, and he doesn't ask about her past. His younger wife knows enough about the might and secrecy of the De Vera family to keep her head down. But their daughter--the first American-born daughter in the family--can't resist asking Hero about her damaged hands.

An increasingly relevant story told with startling lucidity, humor, and an uncanny ear for the intimacies and shorthand of family ritual, America Is Not the Heart is a sprawling, soulful debut about three generations of women in one family struggling to balance the promise of the American dream and the unshakeable grip of history. With exuberance, grit, and sly tenderness, here is a family saga; an origin story; a romance; a narrative of two nations and the people who leave one home to grasp at another."

There is something to be said about how it brilliantly showcases what it's like growing up the product of a culture and a country, yet without feeling like you fit in anywhere. You're not white enough to be white, not fully (here, Filipino, but fill in the blank for anyone who has experienced it) to be considered a native of the country since you were born in America. Yet you grew up with the traditions and the stories and the food and the culture. Maybe this review makes sense to some, maybe it doesn't. But then again, I think that perfectly sums up this book. It will either hit you in the gut with its precise descriptions or you'll feel removed from the experience.

Overall, I give it 3 thumbs up.

I loved the writing. I wish that the character in the prologue played more of a part in the actual story.
Free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

As editor of BookBrowse, I requested this title to assess for review on BookBrowse. A review is posted at https://www.bookbrowse.com/reviews/index.cfm/book_number/3762/america-is-not-the-heart and the publicist has been emailed with info about it.

Thank you for a copy of this book - I am currently reading it, but I have loved the first half so far. This title has already been published.

Elaine Castillo is a bright new voice in the literary world. While there have been several books out recently exploring the experience of immigrants in America, this book is not one to miss. America Is Not the Heart tells the story of Hero, as well as a strong supporting cast of characters. And, what a perfect name for our protagonist.

Hero was a doctor in the Philippines, but injuries received during time spent in captivity during a politically turbulent time derailed her career and sent her to the US.

For many readers (myself included), this book will likely serve as both a moving narrative and an introduction to Filipino history. This is a beautifully written novel that explores the meaning of home and family and love. It's definitely one to read.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

About 20 pages in I realized that I know barely anything about the Philippines apart from some random dishes, and some political crises over the years!! I worked for a translation company for years and assumed that Tagalog was the main language and never looked further than that. I feel pretty ashamed about it to be honest - but I’ve really enjoyed reading America is Not the Heart and researching so much about the Philippines at the same time. One thing that I love about reading eBooks is that you can easily switch to google and research things while you are reading. I know some people find that annoying but I actually enjoy it.

Ahhhh this book is beautifully written. The narrative is sprinkled with words in Tagalog, Ilocano, and Panganisan, but it doesn’t distract from the story, on the contrary it enriches it, plunges you into Filipino life, in the Philippines and in the US. I did end up googling quite a few words, mainly food because I love to envision what certain dishes look like in my mind, but it didn’t bother me at all. The languages flows beautifully, it creates a rich, vibrant environment, and Elaine Castillo has a great knack for character development.

America is Not the Heart is the story of immigration, of hardship, of relearning trust, of family, and ultimately of love. Hero arrives in the US to live with her uncle and auntie, bringing along a ton of baggage from her childhood, her life in the New People’s Army, and then in prison. We discover Hero’s story as the narrative unfolds.

One thing that surprised me a little, was that the first few chapters introduce us to Paz, and then BAM the story turns to Hero’s. I felt slightly miffed, I was beginning to develop Paz in my mind and then she was relegated to the background. It threw me off and I found it a little harder to get back into the narrative of Hero’s story. If you also find that this throws you off, don’t put the book down, because Hero is actually amazing and her story is so poignant and beautifully written.

Another thing: there are so many names in the book, and each name has another name, usually a diminutive of the original name (which I assume is pretty common in Filipino families). I found that I couldn’t read this novel with any distractions at first (children, background TV or music noise), or I would just get confused. But it got easier after a while. Just don’t give up, understanding all of the background is important and makes sense as the story unfolds.

There is a LOT of history of the Philippines nestled in the story, while reading it I really started to wonder how long it took the author to write this book. There are so many characters, so much research, so many layers... It’s an amazing book and an amazing feat. Also a million thumbs up for the developing a realistic love story between two women, and exploring the themes of acceptance in tight-knitted traditional family settings.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the copy, America is Not the Heart is just sublime AND such an amazing first novel for Elaine Castillo!!

This was an intense book -- a saga about a Filipinos who emigrate to the U.S., in the hopes of a better life -- some to escape political oppression, many leaving professional careers to work as domestics, restaurant workers, security guards. The novel follows how they assimilate, while trying to protect and preserve their culture and traditions. There is a lot here to like, but the book is WAY TOO LONG and filled with language and cultural references that will provide a rich reading experience for those with deep personal knowledge or interest in Filipino history and culture, but became difficult to follow and sometimes confusing. #AmericaIsNotTheHeart #NetGalley

Fabulous. In a word marvelous, and I’m telling everyone.....bravo! I can’t wait for the next one. One powerful new voice on the literary scene

Both boldly assertive and overwhelming, this novel charms and challenges simultaneously. Its second person opening delivers a thrilling sense of place, culture and character. But once the book settles, into a different person (in two senses) it seems less gripping, the family history and surrounding characters more dense. Nevertheless, this is a notable debut, that could have worked better with a firmer editorial hand.

I wanted to like this but the writing seemed clunky. I couldn't get into the story because of it, which was a shame because I liked the plot description.

For fans of third world literature, you might want to dive into this novel for there seems to be a void of Filipino novels. It opened up a world that I was not familiar with as it broached the immigrant experience, the horrors of insurgencies and conflict, familial ties, and also lesbian relationships. This is a multigenerational saga filled with many characters but chiefly Paz, the nurse who has settled in the Bay area with her husband, Pol,who formerly a surgeon but now acted as a security guard in this new environment. Pol's niece, Hero, who was studying to be a doctor in the Philippines, got caught up in the revolutionary fervor, was disowned by her parents and then suffered costly injuries at the hands of the enemies. She was offered sanctuary at Pol and Paz's home with no questions asked. The rest of the book focuses on the interfamilial relationships, the secrecies, the sacrifices made in the name of family and Hero's blossoming relationship with Roslyn. The fierce but tender relationship with Roslyn and Hero created a beautiful visual scene of two women finally allowing themselves to be true to their own selves .Admittedly, I am conflicted about the book. I kept wanting to read it and figure out how this family would survive but I found myself irked at the Tagalog and Philippine words and sentences used heavily throughout the novel that were presented without explanation. The author might have thought this made it more authentic but for the average reader it was only frustrating and distracting.

This book was the only one I read in years that had a truly terrible middle. It started strong and ended strong, and the mess in the middle was the hardest part to get through. I wanted to love this book, and was thrilled to receive an ARC through Netgalley. However, despite featuring strong Filipina characters, and despite talking about delicious food on almost every page, the story wasn't as strong as I wanted it to be, although by the end I was mostly satisfied.

The story starts with a nice rhythm, a second person narration by Paz, a woman quickly running over her life to remember how she came to a place called America. This lyrical writing is interrupted with the third person narration of Hero, a recent arrival in California from the Philippines. She is coming to live with her beloved uncle Pol, and his family; his wife Paz, and his seven year old daughter Roni. To make herself useful to the family, Hero offers to drive Roni to and from school, and to take her to a local healer in hopes of helping her horrible eczema. Hero and Roni are both struggling to find their place in a world that isn't quite theirs. Together they find friends and purpose in the restaurant run by the healer, Adela.

Watching these two characters change and find their way is the slow burning beauty of this book. There are plenty of characters: Paz and Pol, Boy and Adela, Jaime and Roslyn, among many, many others. However, these characters seem very minor in comparison to Roni, and especially Hero. Hero struggles with memories of her past, and the life she left behind in the Philippines. It's hard to call her haunted, but she definitely has some complicated memories of her home country. She draws comfort from Roni's strong personality, and from her friendship with Roslyn. One of my complaints about this book was that it talked very little about Filipino history, although it alludes to a lot of it. The New People's Army is talked about a lot, but not really explained, although readers who know something about the recent political history of the Philippines will have an idea of what this book alludes to. Hero is in her head so much of the time remembering her life as the wealthy, privileged daughter of an Ilocano family, and then as a member of the NPA, but I was only able to piece together why these things caused her so much inner turmoil by looking at the story through her recollections, not through her traumas. In other words, I felt somewhat detached from her pain, which may have been why I found the middle of the story so boring.

There were things that were frustrating about this book. Roni's dislike of Paz's sister Gloria and her family was the number one complaint I had about this book. I so wanted this to be addressed, especially after the events toward the end. I was also confused by why this book randomly addressed some memories from some of the minor characters like Paz and Roslyn. I still have no idea why this title was chosen, and I'm a little annoyed that it references such a classic of Filipino-American literature when this book should stand on its own. However, there were plenty of great things, such as the depictions of the strong sense of family and celebrations is such a major part of Filipino culture. (I also loved that Hero reflects several times that the Filipino food she eats in the USA is the stuff she would only see at fancy parties and major celebrations in the Philippines.) As in The Leavers by Lisa Ko, the story is structured around the connections and communities formed by the immigrant community. Hierarchies are established, and I got a good feeling for how classes are carried over from the Philippines, and how favors are traded. I liked seeing how the friendship between Hero and Roslyn developes, and how Hero forms relationships with other members of Roslyn's group.

Seeing Hero grow was the high point of this book. Although this book would have been three stars for me, the skill of a writer who writes such an amazing Filipino woman, bumps it up to four stars.

AMERICA IS NOT THE HEART by Elaine Castillo is a debut novel that received starred reviews from Kirkus and Publishers Weekly. However, I found a sadness mired here, too, and I am honestly not sure that it will hold our students' interest due in part to the several languages and unusual tenses employed. Castillo begins the story in the Philippines and describes life for a young girl and eventual nurse trainee named Pacita/Paz, writing in second tense (e.g., "You think about ignoring him, ... You should ignore him, ... You don't know yet ...."). Next, the American Dream is explored as Castillo shifts the story to California when former political prisoner Hero arrives to stay with her uncle Pol, his now wife Paz and their young daughter, Roni. Perhaps try this challenging, new title with adult book groups; it offers potential for discussion and interpretation, plus perceptive observations: "Baggage means no matter how far you go, no matter how many times you immigrate, there are countries in you you'll never leave."

"I knew I could trust a gambler because I had been one of them." -Carlos Bulosan, America Is In the Heart

With this epigraph, Castillo begins her wonderful novel of the Filipino immigrant experience in America. I was intrigued by why she chose this quote, having read America Is In the Heart several years ago in grad school, and remembering the portrayal of how unjust and terrible life was for the characters in Bulosan's America. Would Castillo illustrate these same types of things, but without the optimistic and ironic love of America?

The answer is both yes and no. Life for the tight-knit Filipino community of Milpitas, California seems difficult but happy. Many of the families support each other, celebrating holidays, finding jobs for each other, lending money, and connecting immigrants still arriving from the Philippines. But this lifestyle necessitates an incredible amount of hard work, and the rewards sometimes seem to be few.

The book opens with the life of Paz, a hard-worker from a small village in the Philippines who arrives in California to work as a nurse. This section is the only part of the book where I think Castillo struggled- she gives us Paz's background and then suddenly transitions us to our true protagonist, Hero, who is related to Paz's husband, Pol. While this does give the reader an emotional tie to Paz, it is a rather abrupt transition to Hero, and means that it takes some time to understand who Hero is and why the reader should care.

However, once this is established, the book is wonderful. Hero becomes the caretaker of Paz and Pol's daughter, Roni, whose delightful personality was a joy to read, bringing light to both Hero and other friends in the Milpitas community. Castillo moves easily between Filipino dialects and English, a treat for even a reader with very limited knowledge of the Philippines. Hero's journey to the U.S. as an undocumented immigrant, her past and its influence on her life, and her relationship with a woman in the Milpitas community are beautifully wrought. Not knowing much about Filipino history before reading this, I was interested in Hero's past as a member of the New People's Army, and her time spent in a prison camp before moving to the U.S. The Filipino history is included without it seeming like a history lesson, and was a great reason to spend some time on Wikipedia to learn more. Castillo's prose is also so effortless; I found myself highlighting so many passages. It is simple, straightforward prose with a big emotional punch.

Interestingly, Castillo's response to Bulosan's novel seems to be almost more optimistic. By the end of the 20th century, when this book is set, Filipinos have established themselves in California and are able to succeed without the excessive and constant racism and discrimination Bulosan illustrated. While this has not entirely gone away, as shown through comments made to Roni by some ignorant classmates, Castillo seems to have crafted a community where prosperity and joy are possible. Pol, who was a doctor in the Philippines, does miss the status he enjoyed in his home country as both a doctor and a son of a wealthy family, but I found the ending of the novel suggested a positive outlook even for Pol. America might not be the heart, but your heart can still be full in America.