Life got in the way and I could not finish the book. Thanks to the publishers for the chance to read the book.

hmm, this was tough. Some characters were miserable to endure. However, I don't see much in the way of queer Filipino stories so I carried on. I can't say this was love, at times it wasn't even like. However, much of this story needs to be said. I did appreciate some of the more hard conversations being placed in the forefront.

Book was very dark and had alot of factors that had me DNF at 15% wanted to love this one. It however was a bit much for me not even sure this is something I would let my children read even though it’s a YA

I enjoyed this nuanced representation of queer Filipino American experience, bullying, and what happens when your heroes are less than heroic.

It’s so hard for me to enjoy a book when the MC is insufferable.

There was some things I did like about the story, but I couldn’t get past how judgmental Bobby was.
For someone who hates being judged for being gay he sure judged everyone else.
From looks, to calling someone a meth head over and over. I hated that.

Overall I didn’t love it and honestly it was just okay.

There was so many mixed feelings for me as I read this book. I felt really bad for everything that our main character was put through including being outed at his school. I also really resonated with his feelings of not being able to be out and how his boyfriend didn't understand what the issue was. I liked that we got to see someone not understanding what its like to be queer in different contexts and how sometimes being queer affects your safety. I also liked the twist the story takes in our main characters relationship with his favorite boxer and how that gets resolved.

A nice debut about a queer Filipino teen, coming of age story. Lots of characters and the start of discussion of some big and serious topics. Sometimes the writing felt a little stilted or didn't flow as well. Overall this was a nice YA debut.

I really wanted to love this one. One of my best friends loved it and I usually share her views. And while I did finish it, it was….just okay.

I found the main character such a whiney, negative person. His internal monologue was awful. His boyfriend was terrible. The only good person in this story was his best friend.

The bully storyline also seemed really far fetched. The main character is being called horrible homophobic names and slurs and the teachers do nothing? Kid is beaten to a pulp, they know it happened but there’s no punishment other than a few days suspension? Kids chant homophobic slurs and hey, just another day? I’m not saying this stuff doesn’t happen, we know it does. But to this extreme and extent seemed really out there.

I also assumed there’d be more about Pacquiao in the book since that’s the title but found him to be a very small part of this story.

Thank you so much, NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group, Viking Books for Young Readers for the chance to read this book in exchange of an honest review.

Bobby is queer and this put a target on his back. In order to survive his violent school and his Filipino community that frowns on homosexuality, he has to keep his head down, stay out of trouble and hope to survive unscathed. But when he's unwilling outed in an horrible way, he has no choice but to be out and he has to learn how to fight back. Inspired by the champion Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao he decided to take up boxing and to defend himself against his tormentors. When his hero and champion publicly declares he's against queer people, Bobby's world is turned upside down and he has to learn, again, how to survive and be himself.

Chasing Pacquiao is a wonderfuly, poignant and sometimes painful coming-of-age story, with a smart, brilliant and quitty Filipino teenager who has to learn how to be himself, how to protect himself in an unforgiving world, both in school and his community. Between hard moments, sweet ones, humor and sincerity, boxing and ups and down, Bobby is a magnificent and very relatable character and in his brilliant debut, Rod Pulido talks about the joys and sorrows of being a teenager in a complex enviroment where you aren't completely accepted because of your sexuality.
With ups and downs, sadness and triumps, Bobby fights to survive, to be himself, to prove himself in a world able to push him down and the strength of fighting back and be free. Magnificent, important and so relatable.

[TRIGGER WARNINGS FOR 'CHASING PACQUIAO: Alcoholism (Implied), Blood, Body shaming, Broken bones (On-Page), Bullying, Cancer, Child Abuse (Physical - On–Page), Classism (Mentioned), Death (Mentioned - Parental), Depictions of Grief, Domestic Violence (On-Page — Physical & Verbal – Parental), Gaslighting, Hospitalisation, Homophobia (including Religous Based Homophobia, Slurs, and Outing), Manipulation, Physical Assault, Poverty, Theft, Threat (Physical and Verbal), Violence (Verbal, Physical, Knife).]

Thank you to Rod Pulido and NetGalleyUK for sending me an e-arc of 'Chasing Paquiao' to read and review💕 An additional big thank you to Rod for letting me join the 'Chasing Pacquiao' Street Team to help promote his book's release!🥰.

Although this took me a lot longer to get through than I initially intended, I ended up loving 'Chasing Pacquiao' and rated it 4.6 stars.

'Chasing Pacquiao' was the queer Filipino book I didn't know I was craving until I read it. I loved the way Rod wrote about Filipino culture with the use of Tagalog, the tanaga poetry form, getting to see multiple Filipino characters and their family dynamics, and the food! The inclusion of the Tagalog language and Filipino culture in the story was done well staying readable for those unfamiliar with either Tagalog or any cultural specific terms and didn't make the writing feel stilted in any way.

The relationships between friends and family were key to this entire story, despite homophobia and bullying being the plot driver, and were the highlight for me. I loved getting to read about the friendship between Bobby, his best friend Rosie, and his boyfriend Bran. The dynamic between them all was so well done. Even in those moments were they had butt heads over something or other we got to see how they navigated their problems and found their ways back to eachother. With the family, although we had characters' parents present for only a portion of the story, each of them were fleshed out and we got to see the relationships they had with their kids, seeing what both supportive and unsupportive parents can look like. I especially loved the emotinal depth we got to see in those parent-child relationships when it came to Bobby and Rosie where we got to see how each of their families were managing their grief for a departed parental figure; moments that were sad yet tender.

From the blurb we know that the main plot driver is seeing Bobby getting into boxing to take on his bullies, and I worried that it might have been like other training sequences in other books I had read in the past where they slowed down the pace and almost acted as filler material. However, Rod managed to write them in a way that never slowed down the pace of the story and instead, those sequences helped drive up more motivation for Bobby to succeed. Even though we were led to believe we might know how the plot will unfold by the end, there were always small events dotted throughout that led to the story having more depth. This not only helped the characters feel more developed but it also made things feel more reflective of what a high school bullying situation could look like in real life where it's not necessarily just something that stays on school grounds. We got to see how the bullying seeped into other areas of Bobby's life outside of school and the effect it had on not just him, but his friends, family, and work place.

Manny Pacquiao's infamous comparison of gay people to animals was another plot point we know from the blurb and having that in the story gave the perfect opportunity for Rod to showcase the effect it can have when people we look up to end up disappointing/failing us. It helped to highlight how much it can meam to anyone in the queer community to have their own support system in their lives. To say I cried when Rosie showed Bobby the t-shirt (if you read the book you'll know what I'm talking about) is an understatement and was probably my favourite scene of the book.

As someone that knows practically nothing about boxing, I was also a little apprehensive as to just how much of the boxing scenes or technicalities might have gone over the top of my head, but Rod handled it beautifully and got us to follow along with Bobby and learn about the different technicalities of boxing at the same time Bobby did. During any fighting scenes, it meant that everything felt paced right with nothing lasting ridiculously long nor ending really early. The scenes the fights were in helped the reader feel the gravity of whatever was at stake in both the scenes they occurred as well as the overall main plot.

This a brilliant debut that I'd recommend to somone wanting to read a story focused on friendships and family. 'Chasing Pacquiao' is out now physically, digitally, and on audiobook for anyone wanting to get their hands on a copy!

As a Filipino reader, I loved seeing representation in queer books. It also talks about political and societal issues that happened in real life about a homophobic stance with a politician. This was a good read, and though I had reservations with some other parts of it, I'll let people pick this up and decide how they feel about it!

I stopped reading this book at the 10%.mark. The dialogue throughout the story feels stagnant. I found nothing intriguing or thought-provoking enough to continue onwards.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

📍 Read if you like:
• Boxing
• Queer Characters
• Overcoming Struggles
• Filipino Communities

𝙀𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙭𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙚 𝙟𝙤𝙮𝙨, 𝙨𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙨, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙪𝙢𝙥𝙝𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙖 𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙚𝙧 𝙁𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙤-𝘼𝙢𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙩𝙚𝙚𝙣𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙜𝙜𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙝𝙞𝙢𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛 𝙞𝙣 𝙖𝙣 𝙪𝙣𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙.

I don’t know exactly how to feel about this book, part of me enjoyed the premise and the idea behind the book but I also struggled with some moments.

I enjoyed the queer and Filipino rep with our characters. I also liked the love story between our MC and his boyfriend.

This book was a lot darker than I was expecting it to be, there was violence and homophobia with our bully… also, our MC was outed in a homophobic community so it was tough at times to read about.

The dialogue at times felt off and I didn’t love the way these characters were with one another. The protagonists said offensive things to the bully, which I get… but I also don’t think it worked in this situation.

I don’t read too many books that involve boxing so I was intrigued by that side of the story! It was a journey seeing the MC figure out who he is and what he wants. It was an overall decent YA story!

Thank you so much NetGalley and Penguin Teen for the review copy in exchange for my honest review!

•𝗧𝗪/𝗖𝗪: Homophobia, violence, blood, death of parent

I really loved Chasing Pacquiao and the world building, story line. and exposure to different cultures via this story. I really enjoyed it and think it will be vital to many kids growing up.

This was a pretty enjoyable read! I was left feeling a bit underwhelmed but it worked for what it is. I felt that the characters, especially the side characters needed a lot more characterization. Despite this, I enjoyed many of the themes expressed and how raw it was. Thank you so much to the publisher and netgalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

I loved these characters, the main character had my heart I just wanted to give him a hug!! Definitely cannot wait to see what else is in store!

as a queer filipino book reviewer, it was a dream to see a book that exactly reflects my background/cultural identity, that it's possible to see myself and other queer filipinos and feel empowered from the representation in books and publishing. today, i am happy to say that rod pulido did justice in this groundbreaking debut, "chasing pacquiao."

**Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Teen for the eARC. This in no way changes my opinion**

I'm calling it now that this will probably be in my top 10 of the year. The synopsis recommended it for fans of Patron Saints of Nothing, but I think it would also be a good fit for fans of Darius the Great is Not Okay. This book is about Bobby, who is a closeted queer Filipino-American teen. After he is publicly outed at school and beaten by a homophobic classmate, Bobby decides that he's going to learn how to box, coming to identify with Filipino boxer, Manny Pacquiao. With the support of his best friend, Rosie, and his boyfriend, Brandon, Bobby starts to learn to defend himself and gain confidence in who he is as a person.

I will acknowledge that I had very little knowledge of boxing as a sport before I read this book. I still have very little knowledge. I knew the name Manny Pacquiao. I didn't know the extent of his homophobic comments. The synopsis makes it sound like Pacquiao's awful comments were going to be a bigger part of the book. The book is mostly about Bobby's relationship with his friend and boyfriend, his school life, and his life at home with his single mother. This part doesn't occur until about 80% through. So if you're like me and you didn't know, but you kept waiting for the shoe to drop, just know you'll be waiting a little bit.

Bobby is a great character. I really liked how he grew over the course of the story and was able to speak up for himself and others. He has flaws which makes him more human than some other YA character I've read, but they're things that can be worked on (ex. jealousy or insecurity about the class difference between him and his boyfriend). I also loved that he isn't this boxing phenom who is taking down people who trained years left and right in a few weeks. He works hard and at a believable pace. It didn't feel like a superhero movie where he does no training and is amazing at it.

I also really enjoyed his relationship with Rosie, who is an enjoyable friend character with strongly held beliefs, and his mother. As someone who grew up with a single parent, it's nice to see this relationship portrayed in such a sweet light I liked Brandon and understand his character, but I didn't love that he was pushy about Bobby coming out. I realize it might be harder for Brandon as an out gay teen to be with someone who is still closeted because he wants certain things in a relationship, such as being able to publicly kiss or hold hands, but I had a similar issue with You Should See Me in a Crown. Characters who push the other character to out themselves when they're not ready just come across very unsympathetic to me and it makes it harder to want the relationship continue. While they both work on things in their relationship to make it better by the end, this was just the one thing that made it harder to give it a 5 star rating.

Overall, I really liked this book. I will definitely be recommending it at my library. It has so much heart. The story was excellent. The writing was great. I can't wait to see what Rod Pulido writes next.

4.5/5 stars (rounded to 4 for Goodreads)

Trigger Warnings: homophobia, bullying, blood, violence, cursing, cancer, poverty, classism, hate crime, coming out, outing, religious bigotry, past death of a parent, mention of past murder, theft, parental abuse, church, knife violence, fighting

Representation: Queer, Filipino-American

Chasing Pacquiao is a queer contemporary about queer, Filipino-American student, Bobby. When Bobby is unwillingly outed in a terrible way, he no longer has the luxury of being invisible. A vicious encounter has him scrambling for a new way to survive--by fighting back. Bobby is inspired by champion Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao to take up boxing and challenge his tormentor. Then Pacquiao publicly declares his stance against queer people, and Bobby's faith--in his hero and in himself--is shaken to the core.

This contemporary piece shines a light on the ugly darkness that our community continues to face today. Very different than other stories I have read, this author introduces the readers to a new community and the intersectionality of it all. And the use of an actual person with homophobic beliefs was portrayed very well.

Overall, I thought this story was very needed but is not my cup of tea. There is a lot of violence and abuse in this story. I understand the use of it and the place it has, it’s just not something I enjoy. I did think the inclusion of the abusive parent felt a bit simplified and rushed. I wish this had been fleshed out more. Otherwise I enjoyed the story and thought it was written very well.

This book did a wonderful job weaving in filipino culture, food, and mannerisms! As a Filipino-Canadian, this book felt like home (aside from the homophobia) when I'd read the mom say "anak" or the kids playing "pusoy dos". I thought it was integrated so seamlessly that even someone who isn't filipino would enjoy. The homophobia in here was so heartbreaking to read especially being reminded about Paquio's homophobic remarks while he was running for office. The main character's resilience in here was inspiring since he was going through all of that PLUS a major loss in his family. Rod Pulido has become my auto-buy author!