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Final Blog

Books Read:

Ashes of Izalco- Claribel Alegria

A Venom Beneath the Skin- Marcos Villatoro

Home Killings- Marcos Villatoro

Word Count: 287

El Salvador is the smallest country in Central America. It is know as the “little flea” (El Pulgarcito) due to its size. El Salvador is not popular with its literature. Everytime I tried searching up a book that I seemed interested in from El Salvador it would always be at a private university’s library. I called several times hoping I could borrow but I had no luck. I had to buy then at a cheap price of 2$ at a thrift store book website. I chose El Salvador because I wanted to learn more about where I’m from. I wanted to connect with myself more and with my family to create a stronger bond. It did. I’d talked to my dad more often about his childhood stories and how they loved catching armadillos. From the books I read it taught me even more. It’s one of the countries with a lot of volcanoes, the best ocean waves for surfers, and recently I discovered it has ruins and temples frkm centuries ago. I felt more personally connected. I learned more about the culture in El Salvador and how a woman usually sits down and talk about frama. Reading every book made me feel more personwlly connected to mine

Claribel Alegria was one of the first people to pop up when I tired to read Salvadoran literature called “Ashes of Izalco” in English. One of them was called Ashes of Izalco because I thought it seemed an interesting lover story. One thing that stuck with me from this book is how change is important to gw and it’s also okay to outgrown people outtoo. iIt taught me to let myself free and that. The main character wishes they could express the word.

A Venom Beneath my skin was probably one of my favorite book read. She has the same last name as wm and sometimes when shes stressed she lashes it out from. It also taught me important lessons such as how I should spend more time with family and how to be a girlboss. It also taught me that it’s best to let go of someone we love because we know it’s bad for us

Home Killings

Villatoro really must like crime fiction because that's how I got dragged into his series of books. The main character Romili doesn’t let any man underestimate hee. She knows what shes doing and she works ten times but harder. She works super hard even on her offhours to make sure the crime is solved. She is determined just like me. One thing this book taught me how traumatic it must be for people who went through thr El Salvador's civil war. Romilia’s mother has a PTSD flashback and starts to feel nervous. Even though she’s alive today doesn't mean she wasn’t hurt. My grandma would feel worried every time I brougt up how life was like for her during the Civil War. She’s alive and well today but she has so many emotional scars and it take time to get over something that wasn’t even your fault

I learned that I love reading books when it comes to topics such as true crime and main character who isba strong independent woman. I also learned more about Salvadoran authors. Again, it’s not as popular and this country's literature is not the best but after hearing an author such as Villatoro who enjoys the same topics as true crime and being a first generation student. I learned how to truly be grateful about books even though I’m not a bookworm. It also made me think about the future and maybe I could become a writer one day if neuroscience doesn't work oht. Recently I discovered rhe temples and ruins in El Salvador. It made me feel good that our country still has hisotry before it was disrespectfully conquered. Other than that I’m glad I chose my country because it’s literature is not represent or known about as much and I would love to change that

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Week 20 Blog

Home Killings

Marcos Villatoro

Pages read: 140-190

Word Count: 361

Summary:

Romilia keeps trying to make connections with sll the murders being made by Tekun Uman and his helpers who are soldiers from Guatemala. Romilia confronted Tekun while he was in a meeting for the murders and was embarrassed because that mayor was there and was scolded by her boss that she shouldn’t have sone that. We learn more about the Kaibil which is one of these clues left on one of the article drafts made by Saenz. Kaibils (Guatemalan soldiers) and Atactls (Salvadoran soldiers) were joined together during the war to fight against the guerillas yet they killed many innocent people. When the war was over many fled to the U.S and still followed their old ways

Critical Analysis:

Villatoro makes a great historian by bringing the story of the Guatemalan and Salvadoran soldiers and how they used to kill innocent people. Anyone who they suspected that were helping the poor were instantly killed. They also attacked guerillas which were their main targets. He describes perfectly how horrendous it is seeing all the dead bodies and burned down towns in his book when Romilia states “No I thinks that enough. It tells us what we want to know”. He knows she has limits to the horrors of this unfair war. My grandmother was a part of it and her retelling me the story of how she met the dangerous soldiers made her relive some trauma. She has had enough like Romilia and Villatoro.

Personal Response:

I feel like I’m getting closer and closer to finding out who the murder is. My main question is why did they do all of this. I also absolutely love the representation for Indigenous Central Americans in this book. Especially from Guatemala and El Salvador. The author even uses their language sometimes to put emphasis. Representation is important because other readers who are Indigenous specifically from Central America may feel appreciated about themselves. I also really like how Wilson is starting to get more comfortable with Romilia knowing that she is a smart young lady and it’s okay for her to be the bods. He underestimated her for sure but is now being mlre vulnerable

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““You, hija, should be more careful where you step.””

Home Killings, pg 187, Marcos Villatoro

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“My voice froze and locked into my throat.

Home Killings, pg 171. Marcos Villatoro

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““No. I think that’s enough. It tells us what we want to know.””

Home Killings, pg 166, Marcos Villatoro

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“Sarcastic statements and jokes were more hopeful than a cold shoulder.”

Home Killings, pg 150, Marcos Villatoro

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My thoughts raced throughout my head; I felt dizzy

Home Killings, Marcos Villatoro, pg 148

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“Week 19 Blog”

Home Killings

Marcos Villatoro

Pages read: 90-140

Word count: 334

Summary:

Romilia still suspects that Tekun killed Diego Saenz. Jerry Wilson apparently caught the wrong serial killer and accidentally put someone innocent into jail. Thanks to Romilia, the real killer leaves clues behind like a jaded piece of jewelry near the victim’s body. The innocent person was put to jail before Saenz was murdered. So they assumed he was the killer until someone else got killed and left the same clue while the innocent person was in jail. Romilia has been the primary lead in the Saenz case, making Wilson follow her lead. He’s jealous of her because she is so confident and really observant and intelligent meanwhile Wilson is obsessed with the media. Speaking of obsession, Tekun is obsessed with Romilia and has feeling towards her.

Critical Analysis:

Villatoro really knows how to make Central American countries feel included and how each of them are connected and bond with each other. In hus book, he states “Mamá was admiring the supposed indigenous drawings and reliefs on the sides of the vessels.” Here he shows how Romilia’s mom who is Salvadoran uniting with the Mexican store owner. They’re both in awe of Central America’s history with Aztecs and Mayans. Villatoro does an amazing job preserving and adding indegenoud words and more recognition to it in his books

Personal Response:

This series of reading has so many plot twists I love it. It has amazing imagery where I usally come up with my own little actors and actresses in the book and imagine them come to life. I can see how Nashville looks like thanks to Villatoro. Tennessee feels like kr rne middle of nowhere so it takes a lot of guts to move there. I love how nurturing Romila is with her son and mother and how much passion she has for justice. She doesn’t take anyone's bs at all. I aspire to be like her one day. Owning her feminity while working in a prodomitaley career where men try to bring her down

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“He was supposed to be there for me”

Home Killings, Marcos Villatoro, pg 137

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“While you’re connecting the dots, make sure that they spell out clearly ‘drug cartel’ before you start pinning that to Murillo.”

Home Killings, Marcos Villatoro, pg 123

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“Mamá was admiring the supposed indigenous drawings and reliefs on the sides of the vessels.”

Home Killings, Marcos Villatoro, pg 111

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“My eyes suddenly widened”

Home Killings, Marcos Villatoro, pg 105

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“I tossed out words that I thought would be relevant to Sáenz.”

Home Killings, pg 92, Marcos Villatoro

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“She was lying down, her glasses on, a book above her chest.”

Home Killings, Marcos Villatoro, pg 80

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“He stared coldly into my eyes”

Home Killings, Marcos Villatoro, pg 74

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Week 17 Blog

Home Killings

Marcos Villatoro

Pages read: 30-70

Word Count: 364

Summary:

Romilia is still working on the murder case meanwhike she goes jnto detail describing her colleagues. She has one colleague named Jerry Wilson who has gotten super famous for solving a hard serial killer crime case. Serial killer cases are hard to solve because one person can kill random people without having a connection to them and just leave to another part of the world. Jerry got really lucky because he was at the bar when he met the serial killer who was high and who he didn’t know was one until the killer showed his apartment to Jerry and saw a dead body. The news in Nashville went crazy because he solved the case out of pure luck. We also met Tekun Uman for the first time. He’s a successful business man which Atlanta police have an eye out for illegal drug business. However he moved to Nashville and Romilia had to meet him because he’s a suspect in the case.

Critical Analysis:

Marcos Villatoro knows how to describe feelings that words can’t even explain. In his book, he describes how Romilia feels a set of eyes on her. It states, “I felt a set of eyes upon me and my Taurus, fearful eyes, ones that had just learned that someone she knew had passed away, yet ones that scrambled to find reasoning within the chaos of such news.” I could immediately imagine the woman’s look on her face after Romilia broke the news to the Diego Saenz, the news reporter who got murdered. You could really feel someone watching you from behind.

Personal Response:

I enjoyed reading this week’s section. I can see all love opportunities Romilia has with Tekun, Jerry, and Callahan. The main character is very attractive and she’s a powerful woman. She knows when to stand up for herself and I admire her for it. I also really like how much she loves reading Latinx literature. The authors she mentions are real Latinx authors such as Isabelle Allende and Gabriel Garcia. It makes me wonder if Marcos Villatoro was inspired by them to write this incredible series of books. Those authors are also defined in my imaginary list of books to read from.

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“Her hand filled with terror”

Home Killings, Marcos Villatoro, pg 66