My thoughts on Marikit is that it successfully delivered a wonderfully-woven novel highlighting the significance of friendship, support, and self-belief to a growing kid while also championing Filipino folklore, stories, and myth.

Marikit is unapologetically Filipino and if you read this book, you'll understand what I'm saying because there is no chapter, er, page that is flipped without sighting a reference to our rich repertoire of arts and literature.

Speaking of references, there are minor (mention of a road where the Ibong Adarna frequents) and major ones - my absolute favorite is Juan Tamad as Caris was able to reshape the Philippines' lazy fictional legend as someone who is cursed and is willing to redeem himself by working hard and changing his belief.

Marikit's interaction with Juan Tamad is chaotic and I'm squealing when Marikit accidentally saved him during their first meeting.

Marikit, as a main character, is not flawless - there are moments in the book where her character is borderline annoying but I can't fault Marikit because there are instances and circumstances in life that led each of us to wherever we were today and those usually result to us wanting for something that we can't afford.

Even us, adults, are whiny when it comes to things that we can't get. We just learned how to suppress our emotion and not show it to everyone.

RATING: 5 stars