[2] While traveling around the Philippines under Duterte's regime, two women — Magsalin, a Filipino translator, and Chiara, an American filmmaker — collaborate and argue over a screenplay they are writing about a massacre that occurred during the Philippine-American War.

"[6] Malaysian writer Tash Aw shared his review in The Guardian, calling the novel a "thrillingly imagined and provocative inquiry into the nature of stories and the unfolding of history in our collective consciousness".

Aw noted that while Insurrecto "is tackling the issue of cultural appropriation, [...] it never ventures close to anything like a crass attempt at resolution, instead using the complexity of its narrative and thematic structure to hint at the difficulty in understanding the confluence of history, power and the individual.

According to Publishers Weekly, the "layers of narrative, pop culture references, and blurring of history and fiction make for a profound and unforgettable journey into the past and present of the Philippines.

"[5] Booklist's Terry Hong indicated that the novel's "multilayered challenge, enhanced by the presences of Elvis, Muhammad Ali, various Coppolas, and a sprawling cast of characters both historical and imagined, proves exceptionally rewarding".

[4] Jen McDonald, writing for The New York Times, referred to Apostol as "a magician with language", comparing her skill to Jorge Luis Borges and Vladimir Nabokov as she "can swing from slang and mockery to the stodgy argot of critical theory.