Selena’s Secret: The Revealing Story Behind Her Tragic Death

Seriously, don't bother. At the risk of sounding like a thirteen-year-old Selena fanatic, I direct you instead to Chris Perez's autobiography about his life with Selena. It is one thousand percent more believable than this supposed journalist's tale of intrigue and soap opera crap, which reads like it was written by a tabloid broadcaster. Rarely have I felt an author was simultaneously so self-satisfied and so horrifically duped, but this one appears to have been. She comes across as desperate to sound legit, not to mention important (if you count the number of times she compliments herself, I am positive they outnumber the times she compliments anyone else), but she is taken in by someone who clearly has Borderline Personality Disorder. She also comes across, at least to me, as desperate for dirt. She claims to have been merely 'following the story where it took her' and 'staying above the fray' and 'finding Saldivar innocent until proven guilty', but she continuously dives headfirst into the muck, and dismisses Abraham Quintinilla's heartfelt question, 'why must you all look for what isn't there' as unfair to her. I think it's incredibly fair, especially to her.I wish to hell I'd listened to all the reviews. Unfortunately, I mistook all of them being what some of them definitely are: complaints by people who think Selena is a saint, rather than a 23-year-old girl who was murdered by someone she'd been taken in by. Chris Perez put it best when he said that Abraham had once called him a cancer on the family; 'I turned out to be benign', but the real cancer wasn't detected until it was too late. (I'm paraphrasing, naturally.) Between all the garbage about lesbian dalliances (silly, because an obsessed fan can be obsessed without admitting to sexual feelings... perhaps they can be obsessed without having sexual feelings, I don't know), this author continually focuses on the close, personal relationship between Selena and Yolanda. Yes, we know, the entire family will be hating themselves forever for not seeing the danger in time. But that doesn't mean Yolanda Saldivar is anything other than an obsessed fan who lucked out and met her idol... and then, as fanatics do, took her life in what no sane and intelligent person thinks was an accident.People with BPD can fool many people. They can be charming. They can be loving family members and friends... to a point. Until you cross them, at which point you become their mortal enemy, as Selena became to Yolanda. While she was just beginning to mistrust her after months of being manipulated and lied to, Yolanda had already decided Selena was the enemy now. Based on the activities and encounters in the days beforehand, I think Yolanda considered killing her 'daughter' (another thing: Arraras lets her get away with the repulsive epithets; I don't think of myself as overly sentimental, and it made me feel sick to read the words of the killer) but was thwarted by Selena's husband's presence several times (you know, the one she was on the verge of divorcing).Oh, whatever. I'm wasting my time refuting a book that is thinner than one of its pages, which just aren't worth my energy. If this review does anything, I very much hope it convinces the next person not to buy this book. I sure wish I hadn't.

This is more a self serving book than anything else! The author constantly pats herself in the back as well as the company she works for. Basically covers the trial of Selena's murderer, but IMO, muddys the waters even more than they've been. The most useful info I found is in chapter 10, "Abraham Quintanilla responds ". In that chapter Abraham's theory on the reason Yolanda killed Selena is the most logical, I had no idea Yolanda made more than one attempt to murder her and that's according to Abraham! The interview between the author and Yolanda is a joke, she uses the excuse of the "secret" throughout the interview to avoid answering anything regarding what happened in room 158 on March 31, 1995. I read this book with an open mind, and in the end I was not convinced that the shooting was an accident on Yalanda's part. I'm even more certain she planned and murdered Selena! There is a quote I read that applies here more than ever, " IF YOU CAN'T TRUST THE MESSENGER, YOU CAN'T TRUST THE MESSAGE"!

If you're expecting to get a straight answer of what "The Secret" is, you won't find it here. This is basically a recount by the author about how well she handled the reporting of Selena's death and trial. Many times while reading it I couldn't help but roll my eyes. Maria Celeste Arraras is the queen of the humble brag.

I would give it a 0 if i could

I DO NOT recommend this books!!! Just another reporter trying to cash in on a tragic situation... I actually bought the kindle version not this one. To be honest, i knew i would hate it. So yes,i spent 12 bucks just to make a point and the only reason i wont try to get a refund is because i dont want my review taken down. im sorry i dont believe it is right for a reporter to try to cash in on Selena's death. Think of her family, her husband and her fans who are still greiving over the loss of their family member who was a human being first. To read about reporters who started calling and camping out at her home, before the family even made it back from the hospital that day, make me sick to my stomach. Of course Mrs. Arraras wrote in her book she wasn't one of them. Do i believe her? No!!! After all, she admitted to celebrating being first to break story, and praised her team over and over and over for their great coverage on this heartbreaking story. Dont even get me started on her feeling sorry for that murderer. Really!!! To be honest, i think its a shame that Yolanda is still breathing air that could be used for someone else. To even print some of the garbage that woman said, was just wrong. I live 1500 miles from Corpus and can tell you... 1. Mr. Quintanilla did not touch that woman. Look at his wife, she ia a beautiful older version of Selena. Come on!!! 2. Selena wasn't going to leave Chris nor was she messing around with that doctor. Leave him alone, he's hadithard enough without these lies. 3. Selena didn't call that thing Mom. I can't even imagine how badly those words her her real mom, who she was very close to. And one more thing, I read that this book was written almost 20 years ago. i have a feeling Mr. Quintanilla fought this aurthor on publishing this book, i hope he sues her for fraud or something and gets at least half of her profit. All fifty bucks of it. i truly dont believe there ever was a secret. I believe its all lies.

Spoiler alert she never said the secret Yolanda said to her in jail yes interesting information but no secret Yolanda told her

Never told what the secret what a rip off. Just wanted money from her death greedy people

A whole lot of talk and bs and *spoiler* there is no secret

Right off the bat, I have to confront the fact that this book does not contain 'Selena's secret'. Its existence is alluded to, but never revealed. The chapter entitled 'The Secret' is barely three pages long, and only implies that the reader is being disrespectful to Selena's memory for wanting to know what the secret is. Well okay Miss Arrarás, if you really feel that way, then maybe don't entitle a book 'Selena's Secret' then spend 200+ pages hyping it up?! That being said, I doubt there even is a secret. I am certain it is just the invention of Yolanda Saldívar for the sake of giving her a means of keeping herself in the headlines whenever she feels like hinting at it. The book obliquely references what the secret is; I won't repeat my inference here in case I'm mistaken, but even if I am right, and even if Yolanda is being truthful (which I highly doubt), it in no way lowers my opinion of Selena or in any way goes to explain or justify her assassination.The author did the right thing in treating Yolanda Saldívar as a person with her own thoughts and feelings. Miss Saldívar does get a fair hearing in this book. There is no need to rant and rave about what a monster she is, the facts alone speak to Saldívar's true nature. Prior to her intrusion on Selena's life, Yolanda was quite a sad individual who, by her own admission, "had no social life". Selena's stardom offered her a way out of that, but Yolanda being who she was, she was soon overcome by an envy that demanded Selena's destruction. This is why I don't get the sensationalism over 'Selena's secret'. The book is a perfectly interesting examination of Yolanda Saldívar's machinations and Selena's assassination without the need for any of that.Another thing that unfortunately stood out was the author's sniping at her media competitors as well as anyone who wouldn't talk to her in interviews at the time. At one point, she describes a (named) lawyer's dandruff in a moment that I can only think was included as a way of insulting him for not granting her an interview. Furthermore, she spends a lot of time boasting about her own career and the success of her TV station. Like 'okay, that's great, but it's not really relevant though is it'. Most of the book is devoted to Yolanda's trial, with both Yolanda and Selena receiving brief biographies before that. I would still recommend this book for the facts it contains, but would urge readers to disregard the veiled melodramatic references to unsubstantiated rumour.

Enjoyed reading it.

Written well but really did not answer any questions. More like showing off how moral of a reporter she is. It was a good read but left me disappointed and left me with more questions than answers.

It is a very good book of the Selina murder coverage and trial from a noteworthy journalist. 👍

good book so far haven't finished reading yet, but is well written