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A review by endlessreader
This Is for the Mara Salvatrucha: Inside the MS-13, America's Most Violent Gang by Samuel Logan
2.0
This is for the Mara Salvatrucha has one thing going for it. It's compulsively readable. Now, I for one adore non-fiction books, but I can see why some people would find them a bit dry to read. I don't think any of those people would have trouble with This is for the Mara Salvatrucha because it does go at a really fast pace and the way it's written is like that of a fiction book, which it makes really easy to get into. On top of that, it's one of those books that can't really put down. When I wasn't reading it, all I could think about was going back to it and finishing it. However, when it comes to This is for the Mara Salvatrucha, the fact that you can't put it down is the only thing it has going for it.
I mentioned that This is for the Mara Salvatrucha is written like a novel which is why it made it so readable. However, the fact that it's written like a novel is one of the reasons I had issues with it. Here's the thing, the author of this book, continually writes what the main players in this book are thinking...whether they're dead or not. Which means that he couldn't have possibly known what they were thinking at any one given time...which means that he made it up...which is a big NO-NO in non-fiction.
Another disappointing thing about This is for the Mara Salvatrucha was that it's a very surface-level book. It doesn't dig deep into the Mara Salvatrucha at all. It's dealings with drugs, prostitution, murders...all of that was pretty much glossed over. This book wasn't as much about the Mara Salvatrucha as much as it was about Brenda Paz, a girl who happened to be involved with the Mara Salvatrucha. This isn't a bad thing, perse, if the book wasn't subtitled as "Inside the MS-13, America's Most Violent Gang". The book doesn't go inside the gang as much as the subtitle alluded to.
So, overall, I found This is for the Mara Salvatrucha to be a disappointing read. While it was a page-turner, it doesn't go very deep into what the book is supposed to be about: the Mara Salvatrucha. Plus, while adding stylish flair to your writing is all great and good, but if you're adding things that you don't have concrete proof happened and don't mention that it's speculative, than you lose a bit of credibility. So, two stars.
I mentioned that This is for the Mara Salvatrucha is written like a novel which is why it made it so readable. However, the fact that it's written like a novel is one of the reasons I had issues with it. Here's the thing, the author of this book, continually writes what the main players in this book are thinking...whether they're dead or not. Which means that he couldn't have possibly known what they were thinking at any one given time...which means that he made it up...which is a big NO-NO in non-fiction.
Another disappointing thing about This is for the Mara Salvatrucha was that it's a very surface-level book. It doesn't dig deep into the Mara Salvatrucha at all. It's dealings with drugs, prostitution, murders...all of that was pretty much glossed over. This book wasn't as much about the Mara Salvatrucha as much as it was about Brenda Paz, a girl who happened to be involved with the Mara Salvatrucha. This isn't a bad thing, perse, if the book wasn't subtitled as "Inside the MS-13, America's Most Violent Gang". The book doesn't go inside the gang as much as the subtitle alluded to.
So, overall, I found This is for the Mara Salvatrucha to be a disappointing read. While it was a page-turner, it doesn't go very deep into what the book is supposed to be about: the Mara Salvatrucha. Plus, while adding stylish flair to your writing is all great and good, but if you're adding things that you don't have concrete proof happened and don't mention that it's speculative, than you lose a bit of credibility. So, two stars.