My second book by Catherine Dellosa had me sobbing uncontrollably in the last couple of chapters, making my Sunday morning coffee a bit more salty than usual.

It also has one of the most striking opening paragraphs I’ve ever come across: “Fate is fixed, love is a thunderstorm, and Cheetos are mankind’s greatest invention since medicine and stuff.”

The line contains trademarks of what I’m beginning to recognize is Dellosa’s signature style: lyrical, humorous prose with a lot of heart and depth, and an enormous amount of technical skill, hidden behind the seemingly everyday story of an eighteen-year-old experiencing a death in the family and the beginnings of a life-changing love affair.

Love and loss. So many stories have been written with these twin heartbreaks, but in Dellosa’s skillful hands the trite becomes truth, the reminder of reality’s cruelty resonating powerfully in readers who have keenly felt Life’s knife that spares no one.

At first, this reader did not have high hopes for the book. The cover is so very “YA,” and may turn off more mature readers initially (you know, the “literary fiction” literati who ask the bookstore cashier if they have any Booker Prize long listers in stock). The protagonist is a “lost” girl about to graduate from high school, who seemingly has first-world problems. In her own words, our heroine says, “I’m choosing to take a year off because I want to, but more importantly, because I can. College will be waiting for me, here or with my aunt in Texas.”

She speaks with the haughtiness of youth, but then Dellosa swiftly outlines what lies beneath the privilege, and we come to understand that protagonist Kali has suffered an incredible loss that prevents her from even thinking of the future.

The plot initially felt contrived, with trope elements like the meet-cute with her magnetic part-time boss (Luca is a Cebuano Darcy, lord of Milk Tea), the predictable forced physical proximity, and especially the part where the boy swoops in to save Kali from total humiliation when she treats a business meeting like a high school class report.

But the last few chapters elevated the book from not-another-high-school-love-affair-between-tortured-souls to art. Dellosa makes pain a fire that burns yet illuminates, her deft treatment of despair an acknowledging hug combined with a loving, gentle nudge forward.

The bright orange cover, then, makes sense. It’s a vibrant color that screams LIFE. And yes, the book is indeed YA done well, making it a rewarding reading experience for this thirty-something reader, as well as an eye-opening book for younger readers. There’s romance, yes, but it stops at kissing, which makes it a fun yet deeply educational book for teenagers to read.

Fans of her previous book For the Win (this reviewer included) will smile at the references to our favorite game-yet-to-be-made, Mitolohiya. Dellosa is on to something great here! We hope it gets made into a real game. I’m totally joining Team Aswang. And yes, we can so relate to signing in for the dailies as part of sanity-saving routine, ever more essential in such a mad world.

The curious thing about tragedy is how darn personal it feels; a blackness so total, it’s easy to wallow in it and take offense at the rest of the globe for turning, as if it’s business as usual.

And so, Dellosa’s book is a much-needed reminder to anyone who has experienced this self-altering pain, that no one is exempt, and yet life and all its wonders do, indeed, go on.

[The writer received an ARC of The Summer of Letting Go. It is readily available for P447.00 from Fully Booked . Copies will also be available at the Manila International Book Fair (MIBF) this week, just in time for the author’s book signing event.]

(Images from Penguin SEA and Catherine Dellosa)

ABOUT THE REVIEWER:

Gabi Francisco is a classically trained soprano who now performs in the English / Music / Drama classroom. On weekends she soaks in as much art and literature as she can, so she can pass her love for the arts on to her students. She passionately believes in the transformative role of arts education in nation-building. (IG: teacher.gabi.reads )