Locas

by Yxta Maya Murray

A rhythmic, terrifying raw plunge into East L.A. gang life, Locas is the story of two teenage girls, Lucia and Cecilia–the girlfriend and sister of a rising young gangster whose gun trade is about to explode into the big business of drugs. When their world starts to split apart under the vicious pressure of gang warfare, Lucia seizes power, rising to become a jefe in her own right, while Cecilia restlessly seeks meaning first in motherhood, then in a bittersweet romance with another woman. Yxta Maya Myrray’s first novel is a wrenching account of two very different women who are united by one each must find a way to define her identity in a brutal, male-dominated world.

Genres: Fiction, Literary Fiction, Historical, Historical Fiction, College, School, Novels

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Yxta Maya Murray is a professor at Loyola Law School.

Reviews

[Bianca · Rating 5 out of 5]

A little piece of my heart broke at the end of this book. Something about Locas just clicked with me and I couldn't put it down. It's a fast paced book and a fair bit happens over a 17 year time frame but be honest I would have been even happier if the book had been twice as long and we got to know a few more of the other characters in more detail (as well as getting a lot more of the story because it almost goes just that bit too fast ya know?!). But nonetheless it was a great book to end the year with. Now in keeping with my current reading mood of gang related reads, I'm onto 'Always Running' by Luis J Rodriguez to start the new year with.

[Letty · Rating 1 out of 5]

This craptacular book is freaking horrible. This is authored by someone that not only didn't live the life, but apparently doesn't know anyone that has. It truly is cringe-worthy.
Another book, Maravilla by Laura del Fuego has similar subject matter and is infinately better.
This book gave me second-hand embarrassment for the author.

[Jesica Rosas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this book during high school and got all my friends to read it with me because it’s that good.

[Ziskadelic · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this on a flight from DC to SF. I had moved it twice, once across the country, and owned it for 5 years. When I finally got to it I couldn't believe I'd waited that long. It was suggested by Amazon after I'd purchased books for a Women in Social Movements in Latin Am class and a gay LA class. The story is told chapter by chapter from the perspective of the sister and girlfriend of a gangbanger in Echo Park in the 80s and 90s. Sometimes the Spanglish was a bit awkward and rough, much like Spanglish but I found if I tried to say it in my head, instead of just reading it it got better. The story is rough, heartbreaking, heavy with internalized sexism and racism, and hopelessness regardless that each woman saw herself in a completely different way (empowered and in control vs. disempowered and out of place). It was gripping, I dreamt about it, it stuck with me. It touched on issues of feminine and masculine gender identity in women in a male dominated, violent, highly aggressive impoverished immigrant community, romantic and platonic love between women in a heterosexist and sexist reality, strength and weakness of the human spirit, survival, family, pregnancy as a weakness/loss of freedom and as a way of validating oneself, loss of innocence and a ton of other intense and pertinent topics. Not the best written, and there are points when I wanted to know more, or felt the story could have been layed out better, some of the descriptive writing could have captured the scene and story more and been less overt and grasping but all in all it was a "good read" and I'm glad I did.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was another of L.A. Weekly's "Best L.A. Novel" contenders. It was also another of those books that I would likely have passed over on a library shelf. I'm glad to have read this book, though, as it was an excellent story about a subject very foreign to me. I would love to know how the author, Yxta Maya Murray, did research for this novel. Given what appears to be a very distinguished career, I suspect that she is a stranger to the lifestyle that her characters experience. Despite this, and the fact that I may be completely wrong, Yxta Maya Murray has written a book that is gripping and authentic. I highly recommend it.

[Cynthia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well what i liked about this book is that it showed me a lot about how man can be sometimes. In the book Lucia one of the characters in the book strugles with her boyfriend Manny because he treats her really bad.For me this was a really mest up thing that he did to her or that he is doing to her.In my opinion Lucia should of done something about this since she got with him but she didnt because she was afraid of him. At the end she decides to leave him and not depend on him.Lucia is one of the characters i look up to because she showed me how to not let boys treat you bad and that you should always stand up for yourself. Even though Lucia was just a character in the book she showed me a lot.

[callherwallflower · Rating 3 out of 5]

Locas by Yxta Maya Murray dives into the gang life on the streets of Echo Park. Lucia and Cecilia are two complete opposite females. Cecilia desires a simple life of motherhood but is pushed to be a part of the gang life because her brother Manny is the king of Echo Park. Lucia, on the other hand, is a strong-willed female that lusts after power and desiring to be the leader of the gang running the streets. This novel shows what it means to be a follower and a leader in a man's world. A place where rules are set to be followed because you're a woman connects to the lack of respect women are given in Locas. I thought this read was okay, definitely had moments that reminded me of the Mexican customs as well as the role Mexican woman are given. I found Lucia's character frustrating because of her coldness and constant hunger for power. The fight that started between men and women for power somehow became a battle between Lucia and everyone else--including Cecilia. Her desire to be on top at all costs resembled someone with an apathetic heart that constantly battled her human side in order to not appear weak. I, personally, find it to be completely brave to show that human side of yourself rather than push it down so that you don't get hurt. I don't have any knowledge on Mexican gangs but I wasn't so crazy about the direction this novel went. It held promise in the beginning and even some in the middle but it definitely lost its spark after that.

[Ivette · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the subject matter interesting. We never hear about the women involved in gang life-how gender roles are defined, or the socio-economic realities that contribute to this type of lifestyle.

There were moments that made me want more from the characters. I was waiting for Lucia to develop those occasional self-reflective moments and to realize that her pursuit of power through violence was not worth it. But in a society that doesn’t value your worth because of gender or ethnic background, her pursuit of power makes sense.

I wish the author hadn’t left Cecilia’s relationship with a woman until the very end. It felt underdeveloped and forced, it didn’t do much for the plot. I would’ve liked to see what impact a relationship like that could’ve done within that community.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this was gonna be a book about girl gangbangers doing their own thing. Not about just one girl gangbanger who was el jefe's girlfriend who spent the whole book trying to keep up with the menfolk. Then this other bird-brained chavala who was el jefe's sister who was just kind of...there...watching novelas & cleaning houses. So it only gets 3 stars because that's not what I signed up for. It's a decent book otherwise though, if you have no expectations. The contrast between Lucia and Cecilia was food for 1997 feminazi thought, I'm sure.

[Jackie and Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

“But just because you love somebody it won’t change the world. I know that now. Love can’t make you a different person. You wake up the next morning and you’ve still got the same pair of earthbound feet, the same set of square, boxy hands. And it won’t make your heart light, neither. If anything, it gets more heavy, from carrying all that weight.”

🥲

[Virginia Walter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lucia is the girlfriend and Cecilia is the sister of a young gangster in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles in the 1980s, before gentrification has begun. It is not an easy time and place to be a young Latina woman, and this narrative about their struggles for identity and happiness is wrenching -- but touching and very real.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the raw spanglish and narrative between two contrasting personalities of two girls from a “gang” life. But i found the ending abrupt. Nothing about the girl cecilia falls in love and boring ending

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gritty and real. I think this is more geared to a YA audience.

[Marlies · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5

[antoenia · Rating 2 out of 5]

manifesting for a happy ending… I miss my girls they deserve better

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Murray's purpose in writing her book, Locas, is to show people how the gang life is, and the struggles that certain females go through and why they decide to join as well. Another reason I believe is to let the readers know they should never let their surroundings influence them in a negative way. Locas left me feeling on edge, I wanted to just keep knowing more and more about it. She’s really descriptive in many situations; I’m really able to visualize a lot. It will have a lasting value, because gangs will always be around. In the future some people might be able to still relate to how it is to live in cities that are run by intimidating males in gangs.

Locas, is written in “Spanglish”, there’s many Spanish words in the book, but it’s still easy to read for me because I know both languages. I love how every chapter alternates between the two female characters. In many situations they get to, it's really worded well, I could visually see it. The novel is so captivating; it really catches my eye and keeps me hooked on it. In their city when you want to join a gang, you have to prove yourself and they prove themselves by fighting all the members of the gang at once. I found it crazy one of the main characters named Lucia states to another female, “I’ll beat the fuck out of you first,”, and then Star Girl and her went after the girl, their hands reaching out like spiders, gripping her head and her hair and her throat (Murray, 49). Not only was the fighting part interesting to me, but I could see it in my head.

In the book, Locas, I could relate to the character Cecilia because she’s short, doesn’t have the best confidence and is a little crazy. She states “I know I’m not beauty. They call me Muneca because I’m short but that doesn’t make me dainty” (Murray, 55). I can totally relate to her because since I’m short people think I’m dainty or weak, which is not the case at all. The greatest strength of the book, Locas, is how it’s told. The book seems realistic, like it would happen in a city that’s full of gang related violence. I think if anyone that’s actually been in a gang, could read the book and actually say “Oh my, this has happened to me!”. I would recommend this book to anyone that just needs a good book while on a long trip. It shows me that you can really choose who you want to be, and shouldn’t let the negativity around you effect you negatively, ever.

[Yaneli · Rating 4 out of 5]

right now I'm in chapter 10 this chapter is about how Chucho a gang Banger goes to the neighborhood and looks for this guy and he kills him cause he went to Ecko Park and stold chcho's car but it wasn't him who stole the car it was one of his 15 year old brother that just wanted to cruise around. The next day the other gang bangers were looking for chucho cuz he killed the guy which was known as spooky.





I'm In Chapter 12 and is about how chucho and paco his best friend since childhood become drug dealers chucho and paco start running ecko park so does his younger sister Lupe. Lupe is only 16 and her and her friend maria start jumping into the gang.



I'm in chapter 30 righ now and this chapter is about Lupe getting chase by the cops because she got caught selling drugs in the street, Lupe started running and running until she came to this alley where she hid the cops could not find her.



I'm in the last chapter right now and is pretty sad because Lupe's brother Chucho died. He died because he was walking around Ecko Park and one of the rivals was driving around there but he was looking for him he was already ready to kill him,and so as Chucho was walking the rival in the green car pass by him and shot him in the head. When Lupe heard about this she and her gang wanted to take revenge of Chucho's death so they all went into this bar where the rival that shot Chucho was and one of Chucho's friend went up to him and just took out a gun and shot him in the face, they all ran out of the bar and went to Lupe's house and celebrated for their revenge.

[Cristi Zani · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was kind of devastated when I put the book down, and that's a big plus. I had gotten pulled into an in vivo section of raw, uprooted human nature and had to suck in a great deal of oxygen when resurfaced.
There's in fact a ghost fifth star in this review, for the courageous amount of uncomfortable themes the novel deals with. It's not marked because the voices could have been a little less stiff, in my opinion.
The narration is lively nonetheless, the patois effective and not obtrusive: too perfected, maybe, for the setting portrayed.
I'd really like to watch a movie based on this title.

If this book has taught me something, it is how to never sit on my ass, except.. (thank me for avoiding spoiler here). And that we should never negate the evil side in ourselves that can help us survive as well as kill us.
You sure don't see a little devil puff off of any character's left shoulder here. Devil sticks right there like a big talking wart.

"Scratch a hungry woman and you'll find a whore," says Lucia. That's la Llorona, the menace along the protagonists' stories. Two opposed souls steer us through L.A. Latino gangster streets and seem to be dwelling, like battling spirits, inside every woman who's constantly threatened with slavery within the cruel environment she's tossed into. In this case, Mexico-to-US 1980s immigration.

I'm grateful to whoever left this book on the Roma-Ancona train last year.

[Jasmine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although I am not sure that this a particularly accurate account of life in Echo park, it was a lovely read. The prose flows, and the characters are hard and soft in all the right ways. I really love what the author tried to show, and prove with the characters she created even if they were a bit over the top in some ways, I enjoyed that. Both Lucia, and Cecilia, were strong female characters, and important for representing women and their perspectives and struggle. This novel touched on some really hard to swallow and extremely important topics, such as gender roles and identities, internalized sexism and racism, and even on some feminist aspects. (what makes a "sheep", what doesn't, etc) Only thing is the accuracy of these accounts in a place like Echo Park, and while I am fully on board with taking creative license in some places, and am not saying there are not a lot of cold, hard truths in this novel about the reality of living somewhere like this, I do think representing underprivileged people is extremely important and NEEDS to be accurate, novels like this are so important for not only people in these situations, but for those who are not to open their eyes, so because of that, 3 stars instead of 4, however overall, a stunning novel.

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good, gritty read about two young women--the girlfriend and the sister of a gang leader--trying to survive life in male-dominated East L.A. The chapters alternate between each young woman's point of view. Lucia fights the male dominated system by pitting her boyfriend Manny, who seems to be losing his edge, against another gang member to gain control of the Lobos. She is cunning and cold. Cecilia, on the other hand, tries to somewhat distance herself from her brother's gang affiliation by trying to make a life for herself through motherhood, although abuse makes her miscarry, and then experiences a short-lived romance with a young woman from an opposing gang.

The most impressive aspect of this novel is the author's use of language and slang. It's completely legitimate. While reading this book, I was reminded of Ann Petry's The Street in that it also shows various ways that (black) women survive in a(white and) male-dominated world.

[Carolina Orozco · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is really good. It was one of the most interesting books i have read in a long time. The realness of the book is what i liked the most. They show how gang life in Echo Park in L.A really affects the kids living there. The main characters Cecilia and Lucia grow up with borthers and family members in the gang life. They go through a series of phases and events that change their whole life. Cecilia and lucia are good friend at the beginning of the book but later the gang life changes their point of view of each other. At the end they end up having different thoughts about each other that also make conflct. This book is really goog especially because i now a lot of people who relate to it.

[Bianca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Locas is about these two girls named Cecilia and Lucia. This book talks about their child life and why they joined gangs. Cecilia's brother Manuel runs the whole East L.A. Echo Park gang bang crew named Lobos. Lucia is Manuel's girlfriend she too starts a gang herself and tries to take things from Manuel. Cecilia is young got pregnant stopped gang banging and lost her child. After all that she starts going to church and finds the rite man for her.

I liked this book because it is very interesting. I think that people who are trying to turn their lives around, because you can. Never let someone tell you that you cant.

[Bianca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Locas is about these two girl named Cecilia and Lucia. They talk about how their lives were in East Los Angeles. Lucia is Manuel's girlfriend also which is Cecilia's brother. He runs East LA Lobos. Cecilia's child life was kind of not good because she would gang bang and get into trouble.

I really like this book because its interesting. I recommend it to people who are interested into gang bangers and would like to change that. I'm not saying that i like gang bangers but i can somewhat relate to this book.

[Isabel Ayalaa · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I started out on the adventure of reading this book I couldn't put it down. From the way it was written to the character who became a part of me. I loved it all. Coming from a neighborhood much the the one they live in in the book, it made my connection to it even stronger. It also made my drive to finish it even stronger. I have yet to read something like this before but I will definitely read another book like this in the near future!

[Liam · Rating 3 out of 5]

My wife's little brother gave this book to her as a birthday present, and I ended up reading it 'cause it was laying around and I had nothing else to read right at that moment. I was somewhat surprised that I ended up liking it as much as I did, but it was actually a very well written and realistic novel. Definitely not a particularly happy story, but well worth reading.

[Hazel · Rating 2 out of 5]

loved the authors style of writing - but i don't think this is a very memorable book. honestly, i read it for the supposed lezzie relationship in the girl gang, but there was hardly even a paragraph about it (and not even a hot one at that!)

[Avni · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was really well-written and interesting but I lost interest the further into it I got. I think it was a bit too harsh for me...nothing sympathetic to hook onto... I didn't finish it, but it may be worth another's time.

[Angie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't know why I connected with this book so much - I suppose it's because it pulled me in to a world that is completely unfamiliar to me and allowed me to be a part of it for a little while. If you've ever wondered why people join gangs, or what that experience is like, read this book.

[Parallax]

I read this because I liked Murray's other works. I have no strong opinions about this book. It was an interesting look at gender roles in L.A. Mexican-American gangs. Lucia, one main character, was fascinating; brilliant, driven, resourceful, and wasted on something destructive.

[Shanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am still not sure, but I think might have read this before, years ago. It's a brutal depiction of the poverty, hopelessness, and violence of the lives of two gang-affiliated young women in East L.A. It was sad and horrible and I couldn't put it down.