Sirena Selena: A Novel

Este libro nos dio a nuestro club de lectores bilingues un buen discurso sobre los efectos de la pobreza y la falta de oportunidades a la gente ya aislada por ser 'diferente.' Bien escrito y nos afectó.

Great novel. Had me reading late at night. Just the ending is confusing. I was assigned this book for a class.

I love how Mayra writes. The ending was a bit of a disappointed, only because I always want that happy ending.

Not my type of literature. However it is well written by a talented author. I would not recommend this as a read for pleasure. I had to read it for a lit class

This book is an easy read and very descriptive which can be good or unnncessary at times. It is very easy to get into and paint a picture in your head.

"We all wanted to be something else, to be somewhere else... The thing was always about denying our miserable reality, to disguise it with...glitter. or, better still, to invent a new past, dress ourselves up to the hilt, head out, and be someone new, among the spotlights and the dry ice, mirrors and strings of lights, to start out fresh, newly born".Synopsis (From Goodreads):Discovered by Martha Divine in the backstreets of San Juan, picking over garbage, drugged out of his mind and singing boleros that transfix the listener, a fifteen year old hustler is transformed into Sirena Selena, a diva whose uncanny beauty and irresistable voice will be their ticket to fame and fortune. Auditioning for one of the luxury hotels in the Dominican Republic, Selena casts her spell over Hugo Graubel, one of the hotel's rich investors. Graubel is a powerful man in the Republic, married with children. Silena, determined to escape the poverty and abuse s/he suffered as a child, engages Graubel in a long seduction in this mordant, intensely lyrical tragi-comedy - part masque, part cabaret - about identity (class, race, gender) and "the hunger and desire to be other things."I really enjoyed this translated Caribbean tale that tackled themes of transexuality, homophobia, poverty, sex tourism, childhood abuse, grief and rape in the underground trans and queer community in Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic during a time where homosexuality is taboo and unspoken. The author excelled in setting tone and place. Her descriptive writing made the scenery and music come to life. You could almost envision the sound of the protagonist Sirena Selena's boleros. The story is told through brief vignettes from the POV of several different characters that you meet throughout the story. My heart broke for them. Each one is well written and adds depth to the story. I had to take my time with this one because the prose was so magnificent. It made me savor every word and pay attention to every detail. The only criticism I have is that the ending just fell short. It felt like the protagonist's story just came to a brief stop. Overall, this was a beautiful and emotional story. This bookdragon rates it 🔥🔥🔥🔥.

I loved this book. It has the feel of an anthopological study on street living and the glamour that is always elusive and fleeting. Martha is indeed divine, as a character and the wisdom that she imparts. A great look at a very vibrant part of society which most of us don't know. It has many tragic and unjust moments, but it all goes towards making that perfect performance. Great book.

This book was a recommended read for an Ethnic literature course. I fail to see its relevance because I didn't realize that tranvestites qualified as an ethnicity. The entire book was about the homosexual abuse of an underaged boy and went into horrifyingly graphic details. I was shocked and appalled, and wish I could open up my head and scrub this book out of my brain. DON'T READ IT!!!!

A dark but brilliant novel about the life of drag queens, Dominicans, and the impact of sex tourism. Definitely worth a read.