The Ethics of True-Crime TV

High school senior Jay Reguero learns that his cousin Jun, who lives in the Philippines, was murdered because of the country’s war on drugs. Feeling guilty that he’d recently stopped corresponding with his cousin, he spends his spring break visiting his family in the Philippines in order to really investigate his cousin’s death. While the mystery thread of what happened to Jun runs throughout, the book is also about Jay’s struggle with identity, culture, and finding his way and place when his roots sometimes feel conflicting to his current life. It’s a great read and I highly recommend going with the audiobook format narrated by Ramón de Ocampo.

(TW addiction/discussions of sex trafficking/past rape, not detailed)

It’s a crime that this book is under the radar! This is a revenge tale told in past and present format starring a mother daughter duo — with the mother sending the daughter to rob houses and help her enact her revenge. Nina returns to the town she grew up in with her daughter Phoenix — except no one is to know Nina is there and Phoenix is to take another identity in order to infiltrate Ellis Bowman’s family so Nina can finally get her revenge…

(TW domestic abuse, not graphic nor on page but a “fleeing” scene/statutory rape/brief mention of past suicide, detail/side character with terminal cancer)