Selena – Bella's Book Obsession

Title: Selena’s Secret

Author: Maria Celeste Arraras

Publisher: Atria Books

Pages: 240

Rating: 2/2

I was really excited to have purchased this book because it was about Selena. I haven’t read anything from her surprisingly and I thought this book was going to be really good considering that I was a big fan of Maria growing up. I started reading a few pages and instantly all my emotions and memories of Selena came rushing back. I was very disappointed to see that this book just ran around in circles and never really gave us what we wanted….TO KNOW THE DAMN SECRET! At times I felt like Maria was favoring Yolanda. In my head all I can think is how she could feel bad for someone that murdered in cold blood someone else? Especially someone like Selena. Granted I also learned a few things I didn’t know about the case, such as her relationship with the Doctor and her business dealings in Monterrey. I will agree though, I do not like Selena’s dad at all. To me he’s just a money hungry individual who likes to just make money off his dead daughters name, and basically wants to own rights to every single thing out there with Selena’s name on it. All in all, I really don’t recommend this book because the title is very misleading and there’s just too much running around in circles.

Title: To Selena, With Love

Author: Chris Perez

Publisher: Penguin Group

Pages: 320

Rating: 5/5 (If I could a 20/20)

I bought this book around the time it came out(2013) but didn’t get to read it till now. I am so glad I made the decision to pick up this book. I’ve always loved memoirs, biographies, and autobiographies. I love to see what a celebrity or an important person’s lives are behind the scenes. Sure we know them at these great superstars but sometimes, us as fans and as individuals forget that these people too are human. This great piece of work was exactly like that. Chris took us further than the stage and let us into their lives before and after being man and wife. I love the little things about Selena, like her love for animals and helping people out. The way she was so spontaneous and determined to work hard for everything in life. Reading this also gave us a glimpse also behind the scenes when the family and the band toured together and how it was for them. Chris Perez is such a great writer. His words are so finessed together and he makes you visualize yourself right at the moment that he’s talking about. After watching the movie Selena, everything that he would describe and I would remember from the movie I visualized it. This book made me feel so many different things. Anger, happiness, frustration and sadness, but that’s what a great books does right? At the end Chris makes you really think, and I too thought if things were done differently we would still have Selena with us. It makes you angry when you think about it, but things happen for a reason I suppose; it sucks.

If you’re a huge fan of Selena, I urge you to pick up this book and read it; it’s definitely a shelf keeper. I’ve never had another book (besides Matilda) that made me stay with a book hangover and that touched me in such a way that I never knew a book could.

Original Review Published:10/13/2016