When the narrator Auxilio Lacuture began Amulet by describing that she was telling a horror story I thought it would be a story of a homicide or a murder mystery. But I was wrong, the horror Auxilio faced was much more painful than a murder mystery.
Auxilio seems like a drifter, she has no concrete home and travels around Mexico. She works odd jobs and stays with friends where she makes sure not to overstay her welcome. The university, UNAM in Mexico is where the climax of the novel takes place. Auxilio is in the bathroom of the university where the riot police came and began killing and brutally capturing students and staff. She stays in the bathroom for 10 days to avoid the police who would take her away if they saw her. This is pure horror, Auxilio was not lying when said in the beginning that she was telling a story of horror. The trauma Auxilio suffered from this egregious incident allows her to never forget it because throughout the novel she goes back to mentioning the traumatic event.
One thing I really enjoyed about Amulet was the suspense and mystery that continue throughout the novel. For instance when Auxilio goes with Arturo and Ernesto to visit the King of the rent boys. The interaction is quiet yet intense. And when she passed her knife I for sure thought someone was going to get stabbed. The suspense continues in the novels when she goes to Lilian Serpas’s apartment and meets her son Coffeen. The interaction between Auxilio and Coffeen was also pretty mysterious. Coffeen tells her the greek story of Orestes, and at first, she seemed kind of confused especially when he closed his eyes while telling the narrative. There was a point when she did not know if she should stay or leave. I found all this to be interesting because it added to the mystery of Auxilio’s life.
Overall, Amulet was very entertaining and the horror that Auxillio faced was egregious. However, I believe her ability to overcome and survive the police raid on the university contributed to making her stronger and a better poet. My question for this week relates to the plot of the novel. What happened to the sick boy Auxilio and her friends rescued from the King of the rent boys? I wasn’t sure what the contribution of the sick boy from the hotel room adds to the novel.
Hi Jaisleen,
I agree that reading this story and witnessing the events that unfold for Auxilio was much more painful than a conventional horror story. I think this is because the reality of Auxilio’s situation and how we can connect it to what is going on in the present day with Ukraine.
– Aliyah
Hello!
I really enjoyed reading your post on Amulet. This novel was definitely a horror one in regards to her being stuck in that washroom for days. But I also enjoyed the memories she reminisced about as she was in hiding.
-Yasmin Ahmadi
Hey! I definitely thought that this book continuously kept surprising me. It starts off by saying its horror while deviating from typical horror and then switches direction by talking about other things like her memories. Similar to you, I was shocked by the rent King part because she follows them without telling them only to be in the background.
Hey! Really enjoyed reading your post and I definitely relate to how the mystery that continued throughout the novel made it a very easy read. I also was intrigued by the sick boy and what happened to him. As well as the king of the rent boys not being as scary as i thought? Like you said I thought someone would definitely get stabbed but nothing really happened there!