There was something missing from this that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. I think it lacked a sense of urgency to match the circumstances in which the story takes place. The main character felt a little blank and sparse as well and to me, those two problems are intertwined. I never had a solid grasp on where the character was in her life and she felt much younger than she was supposed to be.

The Human Zoo is a well written and though provoking story. I enjoyed the character development and found the pacing to work well with the storyline.

Immersive and unsettling, this beautifully written novel shines a harsh light on the modern struggles of the Philippines. We follow Christina -- AKA Ting -- as she escapes New York and her impending divorce by staying with her wealthy aunt in Manila. A well-known journalist that just secured a new contract to write a book about the exploitation of the Igorot people, indigenous Filipinos that were once displayed in one of the last "human zoos" in America, Ting tells herself that the trip is for research and to write, but is quickly sucked up into the affairs of her aristocratic relatives and into a web of political intrigue that touches everyone around her.

Gumboc lies at the center of the web as a fear-mongering dictator paying exorbitant bounties for killing anyone involved with drugs -- a clear stand-in for Rodrigo Duterte. As due process is thrown out the window, the country is thrown into a chaos that each of Ting's friends and family members seem to process differently.

Her former boyfriend and (maybe) current lover Chet is a business magnate with shady connections, her best friend Inchoy is a gay socialist trying to fly under the radar, and her cousin's fiancé is a grad student reconnecting with his roots that seems to keep sticking his head into all the wrong places. Each of these characters comes together in an explosive way that brings Ting face-to-face with the terrifying reality of Gumboc's reign and what it means to act on one's ideologies.

Murray's descriptions of the Philippines were so rich and compelling that I felt like I was actually there -- smelling the exhaust on the traffic-choked streets, hearing the click-click of her aunt's calculator, feeling the warm rush of the rain. Because of this, the setting becomes a character itself, which lends more motional gravitas to an already tense tale.

Her dialogue also felt phenomenally real, which helped me to connect with and differentiate the characters early on.

One of my favorite things about reading is learning and stepping out of my lived experience, even temporarily, to inhabit somebody else's perspective, background, and essence. This book taught me a lot about some of the political issues the Philippines is facing and its modern day racial dynamics, contextualized with its past characterized by colonization and exploitation. It was fascinating to learn even a little bit about the Igorots and their way of life and how they came to be part of the "human zoo" where their practices were caricatured and exaggerated for an ignorant American audience.

The only bone I have to pick with the story is that it's told -- up until the end -- from a place of detachment. Ting is an upper class, American, privileged mestizo living in an insulated world. Even when she knows Chet is involved in some shady way with the very regime she despises, she chooses to turn away, to flee from the hard truths of her way of life. She languishes in her aunt's house, avoiding her research and the calls from her husband, who is trying to get her to return to New York, and by the end, we don't really see her act with much agency over her own situation, or the situations of the most vulnerable of her friends. I just wish she was a little more involved, but maybe that in and of itself is a commentary on the pervasive ambivalence of those not directly touched by the issues of society.

This is an enlightening, wonderfully written read I would recommend if you enjoy literary fiction with a dash of mystery/thriller. I'm definitely interested in picking up Murray's other work.

Sabina Murray's The Human Zoo heads in two directions at once. On the one hand, it's the story of Ting (Christina) a Filipino-American journalist who has decided to divorce her husband and has returned to the Filipines to be with family as she considers her next direction in life. On the other hand, it's a novel exploring the violence of the "Gumboc" regime in the Filipines (as far as I can tell, her fictionalized version of the Duterte regime) and the way a significant portion of a population can acquiesce to totalitarianism if it seems the easiest alternative to chaos. I found the book's success mixed along both themes.

Ting is an odd sort of drifter. She *should* be divorcing her husband. She *should* be setting clear boundaries with the ex who's pursuing her romantically from the moment she arrives in the Filipines. She *should* be working on the book she's received an advance for. Instead, she's ignoring mail from her husband; spending a great deal of time with her ex in ways that are convenient for him, not her; and spinning her wheels on the book. By the novel's end, her life seems a bit more directional, but this is at least as much a result of circumstance as of decisions on her part.

Gumboc's Filipines is a dangerous place. Extra-judicial killings of both drug dealers and users are encouraged. If we accept that Gumboc is a stand-in for Duterte, then it's worth looking at what Human Rights Watch has to say about Duterte's use of extra-judicial killings: "According to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), 4,948 suspected drug users and dealers died during police operations from July 1, 2016 to September 30, 2018. But this does not include the thousands of others killed by unidentified gunmen. According to the Philippine National Police (PNP), 22,983 such deaths since the 'war on drugs' began are classified as 'homicides under investigation.'" This is a human rights situation that could make for dramatic fiction, but because readers see the Filipines through Ting's eyes, the violence carries little weight until it begins to affect her personally.

I was engaged while I read this book, but also felt as if I was spying through two very different key holes at once—and not seeing the reality behind either particularly clearly.

I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley; the opinions are my own.

I received a free advanced electronic copy of PEN Faulkner award-winner Sabina Murray’s most recently published book, TheHuman Zoo. I thank Ms. Murray, her publisher Grove Press, and Net Galley for the opportunity to read and review this book. I am posting my review voluntarily.

I had not read anything written by this distinguished author prior to reading this interesting novel. The book’s protagonist is the daughter of a Filipino mother and an absent American father. After spending much of her childhood living in the Philippines, she moves to the US for college, marries an American, and settles into a career in writing and journalism. After publishing her first book, a successful novel, and while seeking a divorce, she returns to the Philippines ostensibly to do research for and write her second novel, also titled The Human Zoo. She intends the book to be about an indigenous Philippine leader and members of his head-hunting tribe who voluntarily go to America to be paid to be gawked at as part of a “human zoo.” However, she finds it difficult to concentrate and work and, after spending months in the Philippines, fails to write any part of her new book. Instead, she finds herself palling around with an old friend and rekindling a romance with her married high school boyfriend. Unwittingly she becomes embroiled in the corrupt politics of the Philippine dictator and his thugs. I will leave it open to other readers to decide whether Ms. Murray’s book title refers simply to her narrator’s book title or to something else.

I enjoyed reading this book and learned many interesting things about the Philippines, it’s politics, it’s society, and it’s background as a former Spanish colony that retains many Spanish influences. I was curious to learn about several characters’ lives and what befell them in this corrupt society. The narrative took a few interesting twists and turns among its short 300 pages, but the ending was somewhat predictable. The book is well-written, although I don’t believe it rises to the level of award-winning. I am interested to read Ms. Murray’s earlier collection of stories, The Caprices, that was the recipient of the PEN Faulkner award.

I love @netgalley for introducing me to books and authors that I might not have paid any attention to otherwise. This book was so tasty; I love a book in which the mundanities of life are the main focus. A middle aged Filipina American journalist, working on getting divorced from her husband, and deciding to take a break from it all to visit her aged aunties in the Philippines. Attending lunches with old friends, going to weekly mass with her aunties and uncle, talking about old times, hanging out with wealthy ex boyfriends... you know, the usual.⁠
.⁠
Even more worth appreciating is that beneath this run of the mill narrative is an exposition of life under Duterte's leadership, the disappearances and extrajudicial killings, the realisation that extreme wealth often comes with proximity to power, and are the hands of your wealthy friends and ex lovers really clean? The main character also delves into the history of the Philippines, and the natives who were taken to the United States to be exhibited to the public, hence the title of the book.⁠
.⁠
As a reader, I dislike lengthy description, especially of landscapes, and I believe that everyone does too, and I am surprised that writers keep writing lengthy descriptions because aren't they readers too and don't they hate to read about the sway of the trees in the wind and how the hills undulated to the East? So, the thing that got me the most about The Human Zoo: not only does Sabina Murray not describe much of the landscape beyond the bare necessities, she also doesn't describe what the characters look like at all. Can you imagine that? The author isn't imbuing onto their reader what they consider to be beautiful or ugly, or how they really feel about fat people or about physical disabilities. The people just are; their lives are more important than how their skin wrinkles or how their bodies jiggle. No, can you imagine??? I'm still in awe.

this was a wonderfully done novel, I really enjoyed reading this as a different perspective. This was a glimpse into Filipino politics and I enjoyed learning about this in a fiction novel.

Overall, I enjoyed this novel as a fast-paced modern-day Bonfire of the Vanities. Some of the jumps between the teenagers and their parents felt unfinished, as did several of the story's sub-plots.

The novel is well-written. However, I found the very detailed references on Philippine nuances contrive and too much. What it successfully highlighted is the current political state of the country – corruption, drug, war, EJK, the economic disparity between the masses and those in power, etc, which is interesting as the 2022 presidential elections approach.

Admittedly, I love any books set in the Philippines, but this one is done extremely well. While set in a fictionalized version of Duterte's violent reign, the details about life in upper class Manila and the effects of his rule ring true.

This book was a slightly clunky but fascinating read. It picks up a lot in the second half, which is not to say that the first half didn't have its merits- I just found the writing to be a little awkward at the start. And while I appreciated the connection between Ting's research on "human zoos" and the events in the novel (as well as current events), I'm not sure the research excerpts added a ton- it slowed the plot down quite a bit. I think some of it needed to be there to for the comparisons to be drawn, and it's a very interesting viewpoint, but the excerpts could have been shaved down a bit.

Three things I loved about this book:
1. It has lot of history about the Philippines in general that I did not know and was very interested to learn.

2. There are excellent and unforgettable characters- from privileged Ting and her wonderful family full of equally spoiled but entertaining people, mysterious and complex Chet, socialist Inchoy, to ill-fated (mild spoiler) but lovely Bibo. And then there's Laird, who I'm still not sure I understand.

3. Twisted humor!!! A few examples:

"The air conditioner was off and the room had reached a temperature that seemed capable of poaching my organs."

"Preparing for an outing to Dad’s World Buffet, as with a colonoscopy, entailed a certain amount of fasting."

"I looked down at Morato, where the traffic inched along, like pork in an alimentary canal."

I was also able to add the excellent word, "prelapsarian" to my vocabulary because of this book, so my thanks to the author for that!

Lastly- I loved Googling all the different foods mentioned. Yummmm.

Thanks to Grove and NetGalley for the review copy!

The book is not published until 26 August in the UK, so my review will be completed and posted on or before publication day. Just a note to ensure you don't think I have forgotten or am not going to leave feedback!

4/5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and Grove Press for providing this e-arc!

The Human Zoo was a great book that made me even more nostalgic for the Philippines. Murray shines in her tiny world-building details for the country which are mostly true from my experience. Despite understanding the main character for not focusing on their novel, I was a bit disappointed that the concept wasn't as profound as i would've preferred it to be. The narration was fine enough that i wasn't with Ting, our main character, making the usual protagonist mistakes. The ending seemed a bit abrupt and out of character which led me to not being fully pleased with the novel. I still definitely reccomend it to anyone interested in DU30 based novels. And on that note the fake names were a bit too confusing.

The Human Zoo by Sabina Murray was not for me. With a title like "Human Zoo," I would have assumed this would be a take on the injustice of immigration laws and the literal placing of people in a human zoo. Or by synopsis standard, the main character researching the story of Timicheg, an indigenous Filipino brought to America to be exhibited as part of a 'human zoo.' But it was more focused on the main character's split life between America and the Philippines.

It was slow-paced and hard to continue as I DNF at 38%. It just wasn't for me.

Ting's marriage has fallen apart and her writing has stalled so she opts to travel back to the Philippines where she finds things very much changed since the election of Copo Gumboc as President. Ostensibly researching the ways that Philippine citizens were exploited in human zoos in the US and elsewhere, she finds herself instead caught up in daily life and family drama. Her family is privileged but that doesn't keep them safe from the autocracy and demagoguery. Murray's packed a lot into a slim volume but it's a rewarding read. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. Good characters and terrific atmospherics.

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.

-------------------------------------------------------

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 in 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 fascinating 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, it's 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.

(I received an ARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.)

The Human Zoo is not a tidy book- it's about a Fil-Am woman who travels back to the Philippines and avoids responsibility, while messy personal and societal politics play out around her. It reads as both a love letter to and criticism of the Philippines, specifically Manila, and even more specifically, the elite of Manila.

I'm not sure how to review this book, but here are my thoughts anyway, as best as I can put them together- Even though it felt, at times, that nothing actually happened in the story, it was nevertheless a compelling read, and full of complexity. Ting is simultaneously aware of her privilege and willingly blind to it. She's Fil-Am and has a lot of complicated feelings about it, especially as she considers staying in the Philippines while everyone assumes she will go back the the US. There is the whole Chet situation, which turns out to be even more complicated than it seemed. And through it all are scenes of everyday life for the well-off of Manila- drivers and trips and family and social cues.

Sabina Murray translates a few Tagalog words and concepts, but she doesn't translate everything, and she doesn't exoticize the Philippines. It's all presented as very normal, which seems to be becoming more popular in non-Western fiction, and I'm glad. I looked up what I wasn't familiar with, and I learned some new things.

Ting is not a proactive protagonist. I went back and forth as to whether I liked that, and I'm still not sure, but it needs to be said. She doesn't so much make things happen as have things happen around her. In the context of The Human Zoo, I think that worked, although I'm struggling to put together why I think it worked. It wasn't about her, even though it centered on her. It was more about Filipino society, and people who want to change it, and the system. She was the proxy by which those things could be explored, and her Fil-Am identity a way of making her simultaneously an outsider and insider. I worry this comes across as a criticism, but I think it was well done. However, I can see a lot of people getting frustrated with Ting, and the book in general, for that.

Gumboc seemed to be fairly transparently a Duterte expy. I can't speak for the accuracy of that, but the brashness and war on drugs and extrajudicial killings all seemed to point there.

Laird. I guessed part of where that storyline was going, but not the whole thing, and I'm not sure how I feel about it. I'm not sure how I feel about the ending in general.

As I said, this was not a tidy book, and for all its strong points, I feel somewhat unsatisfied. I don't need stories to be neatly tied up in a bow, but it feels like there was too much going on, and too much left open-ended. It was like real life, full of things that don't go anywhere and questions that are never answered. I'm sure some people will love it, but I wasn't the biggest fan of that element. That said, I'm interested in seeing what else Murray has written.

Murray's The Human Zoo reads a lot like non-fiction, mainly due to how she writes in the first person POV. I find myself enjoying these types of writings more, maybe because it makes me feel like I'm the character in these circumstances.

We get glimpses of the lives of the upper class in Filipino society through the eyes of Christina, as she grapples between trying to escape a marriage she no longer desires, living with her relatives, and rekindling a romance with former beau Chet, all while trying to write a piece called "The Human Zoo". We also get smatterings of Jollibee cravings and Abu Sayyaf kidnappings.

I haven't read that many books written by Filipino Americans, so I am glad I picked this one. There's a chapter on the brief history of the Philippines, which includes a passage about how there is no "f" sound in Filipino, which is really "Pilipino".

Overall, I enjoyed the writing, mainly the interactions between Christina and everyone around her.

I was incredibly blown away by Sabina Murray’s “The Human Zoo.” I went into the book tentatively, but very curiously. I was very intrigued by the title and the description, and I have been left with a different perspective on, well, life. Sabina Murray’s writing is sophisticated —but not snobby— she writes with an elegance and beauty that makes it hard to stop reading her work, even if you’re tired. I highly recommend reading “The Human Zoo.”

Note: I was proved an arc by netgalley in exchange for an honest and fair review.

Lots and f detail about life in the Phillapines here. But, the plot suffers for it. With scene setting, but not much in the way of character development or plot advancement, this one was not for me.