3.5
I did not know much about Philippines' history before reading this book. I did not know Jorge Rizal, I did not know he wrote this book is Spanish, either, which was a huge surprise and a pang to my heart since I'd bought -unsuspectedly- the English edition. Sadly, since I spent a good amount of money on the book, even though reading it in Spanish would've been a lot better, I read it in English. Nevertheless, I found this book to be very educative and dramatic in its depiction of the tragic hero that must die for his country, in vain. I feel for the people who have to live through such tyranic, horrible times, and the Philippines suffered greatly, under such a barbaric rule.

Still, the book itself was not that enjoyable, the hero's actions were quite ridiculous at times and I just do not really enjoy a character like that and the depiction of suffering for suffering sake. Even so, this book made me learn a lot and I think it's important to read it to understand this piece of history I would not have discovered otherwise, therefore the 3.5 rating.