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Salvación
In this Latinx YA fantasy inspired by El Zorro, Lola de La Peña becomes the masked heroine Salvación in order to save her family and town from a man who would destroy it for the magic it contains...if she doesn't fall in love with one of his men first.
Lola de La Peña yearns to be free from the societal expectations of a young Mexican lady of her station. She spends her days pretending to be delicate and proper while watching her mamá cure the sick and injured with sal negra (black salt), a recently discovered magic that heals even the most mortal of sicknesses and wounds. But by night, she is Salvación, the free-spirit lady vigilante protecting the town of Coloma from those who threaten its peace and safety among the rising tension in Alta California after the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.
But one night, a woman races into Coloma, barely alive, to tell the horrifying tale of how her town was obliterated by sal roja, a potent, deadly magic capable of obliterating anything it comes into contact with and the man who wields it: Damien Hernández. And when Hernández arrives the next day with a party of fifty strong and promises of returning Alta California to México, Lola knows it’s only a matter of time before he brings the region under his rule—all Hernández needs is the next full moon and the stolen, ancient amulet he carries to mine enough sal roja to conquer the land. Determined to protect everything she loves, Lola races against time as Salvación to stop his plans. What she didn’t count on was the distracting and infuriating Alejandro, who travels with Hernández but doesn't seem to share his ambitions. With the stakes higher than ever and Hernández getting closer to his goals, Lola will do anything to foil his plans, even teaming up with Alejandro—who she doesn’t fully trust, but can’t help but fall in love with.
Lola de La Peña yearns to be free from the societal expectations of a young Mexican lady of her station. She spends her days pretending to be delicate and proper while watching her mamá cure the sick and injured with sal negra (black salt), a recently discovered magic that heals even the most mortal of sicknesses and wounds. But by night, she is Salvación, the free-spirit lady vigilante protecting the town of Coloma from those who threaten its peace and safety among the rising tension in Alta California after the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.
But one night, a woman races into Coloma, barely alive, to tell the horrifying tale of how her town was obliterated by sal roja, a potent, deadly magic capable of obliterating anything it comes into contact with and the man who wields it: Damien Hernández. And when Hernández arrives the next day with a party of fifty strong and promises of returning Alta California to México, Lola knows it’s only a matter of time before he brings the region under his rule—all Hernández needs is the next full moon and the stolen, ancient amulet he carries to mine enough sal roja to conquer the land. Determined to protect everything she loves, Lola races against time as Salvación to stop his plans. What she didn’t count on was the distracting and infuriating Alejandro, who travels with Hernández but doesn't seem to share his ambitions. With the stakes higher than ever and Hernández getting closer to his goals, Lola will do anything to foil his plans, even teaming up with Alejandro—who she doesn’t fully trust, but can’t help but fall in love with.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published May 20, 2025
47 people are currently reading
8731 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 195 reviews
January 23, 2025
Hi Everyone!
We're less than 4 months away from the release of SALVACIÓN, my long-form and fantasy debut!
I'm thrilled that you've added or are considering adding it to Goodreads and so appreciate it :]
For those wondering what you'll find in the book:
SALVACIÓN IS. . . a historical romantasy with magical realism.
It's
A story about a fierce feminist who always stands up for what's right
A story about a boy who begins to find redemption
A story about a brother who will do everything for his family
A story about a family that begins to understand their destiny isn't what they thought...
I hope that you fall in love with Loli, Alejandro, and Víctor's adventure as much as I've loved writing it! And to everyone who grew up loving Zorro like I did, I hope that you find snippets that'll ring true to the Zorro stories that have inspired SAL!
Thank you for reading!
XOXO,
Sandra
We're less than 4 months away from the release of SALVACIÓN, my long-form and fantasy debut!
I'm thrilled that you've added or are considering adding it to Goodreads and so appreciate it :]
For those wondering what you'll find in the book:
SALVACIÓN IS. . . a historical romantasy with magical realism.
It's
A story about a fierce feminist who always stands up for what's right
A story about a boy who begins to find redemption
A story about a brother who will do everything for his family
A story about a family that begins to understand their destiny isn't what they thought...
I hope that you fall in love with Loli, Alejandro, and Víctor's adventure as much as I've loved writing it! And to everyone who grew up loving Zorro like I did, I hope that you find snippets that'll ring true to the Zorro stories that have inspired SAL!
Thank you for reading!
XOXO,
Sandra
May 3, 2025
Finished Reading
Pre-Read notes
I was attracted to this one purely by the cover. A dazzling young woman in mostly shadow, but obviously dressed like a hero, like Zorro. I really just couldn't resist. I'm enjoying it so far, the style offers a few bits of its own magic! I'm in love with Salvación, the caped crusader and magical healer!
Final Review to come
No one would unmask me unless they caught me— and I was not one to be easily captured. p94
Review summary and recommendations
Without people, rooms were meaningless. p123
Reading Notes
Five things I loved:
1. Wonderful theme work! I’d been called “a lady” all my life outside my home: señorita Lola this and señorita Lola that. Back in Sonora, las monjas at school demanded that I talk, act, walk, eat, sew, cook, like a señorita. My tutors were just as adamant. But out here in Alta California, at least at night, at least while I was Salvación, I’d become the type of girl I wanted to be: free as the wind to be whomever I pleased, no rules holding me back just because I was female. My whole body felt better when I was dressed as Salvación; even the knot at the back of my neck, always so painful in Sonora, was gone. The first time I realized this, I also understood I deserved to feel this way: completely unburdened. p24 It's a great way to invite the character to be vulnerable with the audience, also, making her more relatable.
2. I really love how the authors weaves in Spanish here. Often, a rough translation is possible from the context on the page. This approach engages the audience and sometimes teaches them something new. Like Dora, like Lola!
3. Her motion made me reach for my pistol too. It was strange, to be face-to-face with someone who wasn’t white, who was Mexican, and still feel imminent hostility. The hair on my neck stood straight. My head tingled with anticipation. p90
4. This book uses style and story and character development to create a sophisticated YA novel that doesn't write down to its audience.
5. Papá once said that bears live in the trees. That they were up there, you just couldn’t see them. p94 What an excellent metaphor, and delivered with subtlety. Figurative language is strong here in general.
One quibble:
1. I've read a lot of reviews complaining about the writing style in this book, but I found it completely appropriate to the story and intended audience.
Notes
1. This book is inspired by El Zorro, a Mexican myth about a caped crusader who helped those being oppressed.
2. genre: YA magical realism
Rating: 🦸🏻♀️🦹🏻♀️🦸🏻♀️🦹🏻♀️ /5 caped crusaders
Recommend? yes
Finished: May 1 '25
Format: accessible digital arc, NetGalley
Read this book if you like:
🦸🏻♀️ heros for the common good
🪁 elevated YA
😍 love at first sight
💪🏻 strong female characterization
Thank you to the author Sandra Proudman, publishers Wednesday Books, and NetGalley for an advance digital copy of Salvación. All views are mine.
--------------
Pre-Read notes
I was attracted to this one purely by the cover. A dazzling young woman in mostly shadow, but obviously dressed like a hero, like Zorro. I really just couldn't resist. I'm enjoying it so far, the style offers a few bits of its own magic! I'm in love with Salvación, the caped crusader and magical healer!
Final Review to come
No one would unmask me unless they caught me— and I was not one to be easily captured. p94
Review summary and recommendations
Without people, rooms were meaningless. p123
Reading Notes
Five things I loved:
1. Wonderful theme work! I’d been called “a lady” all my life outside my home: señorita Lola this and señorita Lola that. Back in Sonora, las monjas at school demanded that I talk, act, walk, eat, sew, cook, like a señorita. My tutors were just as adamant. But out here in Alta California, at least at night, at least while I was Salvación, I’d become the type of girl I wanted to be: free as the wind to be whomever I pleased, no rules holding me back just because I was female. My whole body felt better when I was dressed as Salvación; even the knot at the back of my neck, always so painful in Sonora, was gone. The first time I realized this, I also understood I deserved to feel this way: completely unburdened. p24 It's a great way to invite the character to be vulnerable with the audience, also, making her more relatable.
2. I really love how the authors weaves in Spanish here. Often, a rough translation is possible from the context on the page. This approach engages the audience and sometimes teaches them something new. Like Dora, like Lola!
3. Her motion made me reach for my pistol too. It was strange, to be face-to-face with someone who wasn’t white, who was Mexican, and still feel imminent hostility. The hair on my neck stood straight. My head tingled with anticipation. p90
4. This book uses style and story and character development to create a sophisticated YA novel that doesn't write down to its audience.
5. Papá once said that bears live in the trees. That they were up there, you just couldn’t see them. p94 What an excellent metaphor, and delivered with subtlety. Figurative language is strong here in general.
One quibble:
1. I've read a lot of reviews complaining about the writing style in this book, but I found it completely appropriate to the story and intended audience.
Notes
1. This book is inspired by El Zorro, a Mexican myth about a caped crusader who helped those being oppressed.
2. genre: YA magical realism
Rating: 🦸🏻♀️🦹🏻♀️🦸🏻♀️🦹🏻♀️ /5 caped crusaders
Recommend? yes
Finished: May 1 '25
Format: accessible digital arc, NetGalley
Read this book if you like:
🦸🏻♀️ heros for the common good
🪁 elevated YA
😍 love at first sight
💪🏻 strong female characterization
Thank you to the author Sandra Proudman, publishers Wednesday Books, and NetGalley for an advance digital copy of Salvación. All views are mine.
--------------
March 8, 2025
As soon as I heard that this book was coming out, it instantly become one of my most anticipated releases for 2025. I absolutely LOVE Zorro and this is a gender swapped YA reimaging of it. In this AU United States, magical salt is found rather than gold during the gold rush. The main character Lola and her family (parents and brother Victor) have moved to a mining town where Lola's mother (who has an affinity for magic) works as a healer using the magical salt. Lola takes on the Zorro identity (in this reimagining she uses the moniker of La Salvación) to protect the townspeople from threats to the salt mining operation.
I think?
I had three major problems with this book.
1) confusing world building
2) MAJOR suspension of disbelief required. Too much.
3) a disappointing heroine
With regards to the world building, I was definitely confused at first. The story just sort of takes off, beginning with Lola's mother healing a bunch of people with the magical salt. There is no explanation of what it is, why they moved there, or why Lola felt the need to have a vigilante alter ego. It was only from reading the back cover that I learned that this was AU and this magical salt was in place of the gold rush. A lot of the magical elements of the salt didn't make sense and there were also some loose ends. (Why did that guy never return for his heirloom pistols that supposedly meant so much to him and that he said he would come back for?)
As far as the suspension of disbelief goes, WOAH. We're talking Hannah Montana levels of suspension of disbelief. We are told repeatedly that there are three women in the town. THREE. The three women are:
Lola
Her mother
an old grandmotherly lady
In addition, everyone knows that La Salvación is a girl. But yet no one has any clue whatsoever that Lola could possibly be la Salvación??? There are literally 3 women in the town and they can't piece it together!
But wait! There's another clue to her identity!
La Salvacion relies on Victor for backup. Victor, otherwise known as Lola's brother. And you're telling me no one could figure this out??? It's like Miley putting a wig on and no one has any idea that she is Hannah Montana.
Was this intentional? Does everyone in the town actually know who she is and they pretend they don't? I'm not quite sure. But it was odd the way it overemphasized that there were only 3 women in the town and that everyone knows this vigilante is a woman but someone no one knew it was Lola.
And finally, the character of Lola herself was a bit of a disappointment to me. Or maybe it was the fact that we barely get to see her being her vigilante self. There were quite a few scenes where she had to be rescued or whatnot which really detracted.
I did enjoy the book overall, but my expectations were very high so I was let down a bit. I thought the beginning was interesting with Lola actually acting as a vigilante, and the story was overall engaging and pretty well written. It was a fast read that I completed in only a couple of sittings. If there had been more scenes with Lola acting Zorro-like, and less suspension of disbelief required, this probably would have been a 4 star read for me.
I think?
I had three major problems with this book.
1) confusing world building
2) MAJOR suspension of disbelief required. Too much.
3) a disappointing heroine
With regards to the world building, I was definitely confused at first. The story just sort of takes off, beginning with Lola's mother healing a bunch of people with the magical salt. There is no explanation of what it is, why they moved there, or why Lola felt the need to have a vigilante alter ego. It was only from reading the back cover that I learned that this was AU and this magical salt was in place of the gold rush. A lot of the magical elements of the salt didn't make sense and there were also some loose ends. (Why did that guy never return for his heirloom pistols that supposedly meant so much to him and that he said he would come back for?)
As far as the suspension of disbelief goes, WOAH. We're talking Hannah Montana levels of suspension of disbelief. We are told repeatedly that there are three women in the town. THREE. The three women are:
Lola
Her mother
an old grandmotherly lady
In addition, everyone knows that La Salvación is a girl. But yet no one has any clue whatsoever that Lola could possibly be la Salvación??? There are literally 3 women in the town and they can't piece it together!
But wait! There's another clue to her identity!
La Salvacion relies on Victor for backup. Victor, otherwise known as Lola's brother. And you're telling me no one could figure this out??? It's like Miley putting a wig on and no one has any idea that she is Hannah Montana.
Was this intentional? Does everyone in the town actually know who she is and they pretend they don't? I'm not quite sure. But it was odd the way it overemphasized that there were only 3 women in the town and that everyone knows this vigilante is a woman but someone no one knew it was Lola.
And finally, the character of Lola herself was a bit of a disappointment to me. Or maybe it was the fact that we barely get to see her being her vigilante self. There were quite a few scenes where she had to be rescued or whatnot which really detracted.
I did enjoy the book overall, but my expectations were very high so I was let down a bit. I thought the beginning was interesting with Lola actually acting as a vigilante, and the story was overall engaging and pretty well written. It was a fast read that I completed in only a couple of sittings. If there had been more scenes with Lola acting Zorro-like, and less suspension of disbelief required, this probably would have been a 4 star read for me.
July 12, 2025
⋆.˚✮ 3.5 stars ✮˚.⋆
⤿ Thank you to Wednesday Books for the arc through netgalley and a physical arc in exchange for an honest review!
while i know the classic story of El Zorro, i have never read a retelling of it, and so i was very intrigued to see what this story would be like. also, as someone who is bilingual in Spanish, i was very excited to see how many words of this story were in that langauge. if you aren't a speaker- don't worry! the story explains what each term means by either giving you a definition or giving context clues, it was just really rewarding as someone who is bilingual to read a book like this. me gusta leer in espanol, especialmente historias españolas, porque es importante en el contexto del presente.
the concept of the Legend of Zorro with a woman lead and magical salt that can cure ailments that comes from the earth sounded really unique. i always love when authors are able to come up with new magic-like systems, and while this one was very rudimentary, i still liked how the salt was used in everyday use, and how the main characters discovered more about it. the protection of familia and the pueblo was really important for the story too, but i thought it also really important the author recognizes how complicated family can be. my heart hurt sometimes for lola and her family, not just with what they were going through in THEIR relationships, but the threat of manifest destiny for the United States on their doorstep. while none of them are perfect people, i think this was actually one of the main drivers of the story, as it showed they were real people.
unfortunately, the actual plot itself felt really slow, and there were multiple plot points that didn't feel fully developed or were plot holes that were just a little too much for me to completely overlook. in the beginning for example, Lola takes away the guns of some man that was threatening her family, and he vows to come back as they were an heirloom. while of course he could have decided not to, it just felt like a strange beginning, as it made the threat that came later feel less intense- if this man was too scared to come back just for someone in a costume. other than that, the plot dragged at points and i wish there had been even more happening at some points, other than just the same thing over and over.
beyond the plot, i did not see the chemistry between Lola and the male lead Alejandro. i understand it's possible, and enemies to lovers does sometimes in situations that may be ridiculous but i end up loving, but i didn't see the chemistry in this case. especially when we find out more about the male lead and his past, i thought that it would have been just too much of a gap between the characters to fully connect.
i did like the representation in this book, i thought it was well done for the latinx individuals. i will say though - i wish there had been more discussion about the indigenous people that appeared in this story, and more follow up with trying to get their land back. the main character encounters an indigenous man who helps her, and she vows to help him, but it's not followed up on so i was a bit disappointed by that- as an indigenous woman who is very aware of the history of my people on now American land. i did appreciate the mention of the atrociiteis that my ancestors faced though, i just wish there was a little more too it.
while i think this story was interesting still, i think it falls short in quite a few areas. it was a quick read so that was good, and i will definitely keep my eye out for other books this author writes.
↬ trigger warnings: death of parents and parental figures, war themes, injury and violence, murder and torture, mass murder mentioned
⤿ Thank you to Wednesday Books for the arc through netgalley and a physical arc in exchange for an honest review!
while i know the classic story of El Zorro, i have never read a retelling of it, and so i was very intrigued to see what this story would be like. also, as someone who is bilingual in Spanish, i was very excited to see how many words of this story were in that langauge. if you aren't a speaker- don't worry! the story explains what each term means by either giving you a definition or giving context clues, it was just really rewarding as someone who is bilingual to read a book like this. me gusta leer in espanol, especialmente historias españolas, porque es importante en el contexto del presente.
the concept of the Legend of Zorro with a woman lead and magical salt that can cure ailments that comes from the earth sounded really unique. i always love when authors are able to come up with new magic-like systems, and while this one was very rudimentary, i still liked how the salt was used in everyday use, and how the main characters discovered more about it. the protection of familia and the pueblo was really important for the story too, but i thought it also really important the author recognizes how complicated family can be. my heart hurt sometimes for lola and her family, not just with what they were going through in THEIR relationships, but the threat of manifest destiny for the United States on their doorstep. while none of them are perfect people, i think this was actually one of the main drivers of the story, as it showed they were real people.
unfortunately, the actual plot itself felt really slow, and there were multiple plot points that didn't feel fully developed or were plot holes that were just a little too much for me to completely overlook. in the beginning for example, Lola takes away the guns of some man that was threatening her family, and he vows to come back as they were an heirloom. while of course he could have decided not to, it just felt like a strange beginning, as it made the threat that came later feel less intense- if this man was too scared to come back just for someone in a costume. other than that, the plot dragged at points and i wish there had been even more happening at some points, other than just the same thing over and over.
beyond the plot, i did not see the chemistry between Lola and the male lead Alejandro. i understand it's possible, and enemies to lovers does sometimes in situations that may be ridiculous but i end up loving, but i didn't see the chemistry in this case. especially when we find out more about the male lead and his past, i thought that it would have been just too much of a gap between the characters to fully connect.
i did like the representation in this book, i thought it was well done for the latinx individuals. i will say though - i wish there had been more discussion about the indigenous people that appeared in this story, and more follow up with trying to get their land back. the main character encounters an indigenous man who helps her, and she vows to help him, but it's not followed up on so i was a bit disappointed by that- as an indigenous woman who is very aware of the history of my people on now American land. i did appreciate the mention of the atrociiteis that my ancestors faced though, i just wish there was a little more too it.
while i think this story was interesting still, i think it falls short in quite a few areas. it was a quick read so that was good, and i will definitely keep my eye out for other books this author writes.
↬ trigger warnings: death of parents and parental figures, war themes, injury and violence, murder and torture, mass murder mentioned
gave-up-on
February 4, 2025I'd like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me a chance to read this.
I've had this book on on my look-out list for a year. Now that I read 75% of it, I realized... it's not the Zorro-inspired tale I wanted. Sure, it has a strong female, family, injustice... but the story is lackluster and confusing.
Item one: The magic salt. The whole crux of the story rests on this magic salt that can heal someone. That's in a mountain... which her family mines. How did the salt get there? We don't know... but it's not given any sort of backstory in this 99.9% historical setting. That bugged me a lot, because to challenge the said salt... you have the RED salt that eats away at people. How is it the US government, or any one else has not figured out about said salt? You got people who speak to other people, hell - one of the plot points (a girl from a different town) finds out about the healing salt! Why is it this is the only magical thing here and we're supposed to accept it?
Item two: Our female lead is the only talked about female in this city, the only female that fits the bill of being Salvacion. Yet everyone is like 'WhO iS sHe?' Come on. The author doesn't try to flesh out the town / settlement, give her friends, enemies. She just does what she does and it's like the whole town knows but doesn't know? It's a very badly kept secret in my opinion.
Item three: Nothing really happens. At 75% in, the weakness of the group that comes in to befriend the female lead's father, they're so tame... lacking any sort of agency or fear for her town. Sure, they have access to the red salt, and soon the black, but I wanted Hernandez to be a better written foil
Item four: Alejandro was toted as swoony, mysterious 'is he bad or is he good' love interest. He doesn't show up a lot in the book.
The things I liked was the family scenes and the female lead's agency to protect her town. But the author didn't really give you a story that made you feel the Salvacion lead was Zorro. I was ready for a Zorro female, but I remember the Zorro show, and the countless films - old and new. We could have had a kick ass female lead, instead... we have ... this.
All in all: if you're walking into this expecting a female inspired Mask of Zorro this ain't it.
Due to not finishing the book, I will not be rating this out of respect for the author.
I've had this book on on my look-out list for a year. Now that I read 75% of it, I realized... it's not the Zorro-inspired tale I wanted. Sure, it has a strong female, family, injustice... but the story is lackluster and confusing.
Item one: The magic salt. The whole crux of the story rests on this magic salt that can heal someone. That's in a mountain... which her family mines. How did the salt get there? We don't know... but it's not given any sort of backstory in this 99.9% historical setting. That bugged me a lot, because to challenge the said salt... you have the RED salt that eats away at people. How is it the US government, or any one else has not figured out about said salt? You got people who speak to other people, hell - one of the plot points (a girl from a different town) finds out about the healing salt! Why is it this is the only magical thing here and we're supposed to accept it?
Item two: Our female lead is the only talked about female in this city, the only female that fits the bill of being Salvacion. Yet everyone is like 'WhO iS sHe?' Come on. The author doesn't try to flesh out the town / settlement, give her friends, enemies. She just does what she does and it's like the whole town knows but doesn't know? It's a very badly kept secret in my opinion.
Item three: Nothing really happens. At 75% in, the weakness of the group that comes in to befriend the female lead's father, they're so tame... lacking any sort of agency or fear for her town. Sure, they have access to the red salt, and soon the black, but I wanted Hernandez to be a better written foil
Item four: Alejandro was toted as swoony, mysterious 'is he bad or is he good' love interest. He doesn't show up a lot in the book.
The things I liked was the family scenes and the female lead's agency to protect her town. But the author didn't really give you a story that made you feel the Salvacion lead was Zorro. I was ready for a Zorro female, but I remember the Zorro show, and the countless films - old and new. We could have had a kick ass female lead, instead... we have ... this.
All in all: if you're walking into this expecting a female inspired Mask of Zorro this ain't it.
Due to not finishing the book, I will not be rating this out of respect for the author.
February 28, 2025
Well that was disappointing. I nearly gave it 2.5 stars, but I do admire the themes and messages, so 3 it is.
The writing style left a lot to be desired. It felt like an awful lot of telling and not showing, almost like we as the audience were not expected to be able to come to our own conclusions. It's not like there was a lot of lush descriptive imagery to grasp onto, either, despite how important the setting was to the story. The characters, too, felt flat and lackluster. It was hard for me to believe Loli was in love with Alejandro, because neither I nor Loli knew literally anything about him. I don't understand how she became so infatuated with him when there was nothing infatuating about him. And despite the high stakes of the novel, nothing felt that exciting. It was weird.
All that being said, I did enjoy the perspectives given, especially considering the time period this was set in. It was nice to read a Western that was self-aware of the colonialism and oppression that was so present.
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.
The writing style left a lot to be desired. It felt like an awful lot of telling and not showing, almost like we as the audience were not expected to be able to come to our own conclusions. It's not like there was a lot of lush descriptive imagery to grasp onto, either, despite how important the setting was to the story. The characters, too, felt flat and lackluster. It was hard for me to believe Loli was in love with Alejandro, because neither I nor Loli knew literally anything about him. I don't understand how she became so infatuated with him when there was nothing infatuating about him. And despite the high stakes of the novel, nothing felt that exciting. It was weird.
All that being said, I did enjoy the perspectives given, especially considering the time period this was set in. It was nice to read a Western that was self-aware of the colonialism and oppression that was so present.
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.
January 31, 2023
I was privileged enough to have an early read of this beautiful story. Not only is Salvación full of action, high-stakes, and dangerous magic, it’s full of heart and soul too. The family dynamics within the story feel real and honest, and I adored the fight and spirit the main character possessed. I CANNOT WAIT for the world to get to read this book!
Want to read
November 26, 2024"Inspired by El Zorro, Lola de La Peña becomes the masked heroine Salvación to save her family and town from a man who would destroy it for the magic it contains...if she doesn't fall in love with one of his men first."
this cover is badass
this cover is badass
March 3, 2025
I was SOLD on the fact this is a female version of Zorro but with magic. I was rooting for Loli all the way through.
This book is filled with action, emotions, family dynamics, Spanglish (which I personally loved) and a bit of love 💕
I can’t wait for others to read this gem.
And the epilogue feels like there could be a pt.2?
(Wishful thinking)
Thank you, NetGalley for the early copy.
This book is filled with action, emotions, family dynamics, Spanglish (which I personally loved) and a bit of love 💕
I can’t wait for others to read this gem.
And the epilogue feels like there could be a pt.2?
(Wishful thinking)
Thank you, NetGalley for the early copy.
July 11, 2025
this was a quick read on audio that i really enjoyed. lola is such a fierce heroine and this felt perfect as a standalone!
March 5, 2025
I loved the idea of a female Zorro, however, the execution of the story wasn’t quite everything I’d hoped it might be.
This touches on California being taken from the Indiginous by the Mexicans and then from the Mexicans by white people, but it doesn’t explore that or the time period with nearly as much depth as I wished it would have, it’s not like there was so much else going on here that there wasn’t room to dig in to any of that on a deeper level.
There was decent chemistry in the romance, however, the pacing felt off, there weren’t really enough shared scenes for me to really buy in to the depth or growth of their feelings for one another.
Initially it seemed like the mom was the only one who could wield magic then everyone seemed capable of using it to heal themselves, so I didn’t really understand why people were lined up waiting for her to help them? Maybe I missed some important detail over the course of reading this, but to me, for the most part it felt like rather than there being any sort of “rules” with the magic it’s just whatever is convenient to the story. It’s not like its wrong to have it in the novel whatever way the author wants to use it, it’s just for me, some clearcut parameters provide more tension than a story where there are somewhat easy outs if a character is in danger or otherwise written into a corner.
Too much of this felt like repetitive filler, lounging around in Lola’s thoughts, circling the same stuff over and over, does Alejandro know she’s Salvacion, the villain needs to be defeated, how her mom feels about her, how her dad feels about her, how much she wants to wear pants instead of dresses, etc. Time and again the story went back to these subjects adding little new to them and therefore making it feel like the novel was just plodding along when you’d think a Zorro reimagining might have a zippy page-turning quality to it, this decidedly did not.
Also, you’d think a reimagined Zorro would be involved in plenty of action and adventure, we’d see example after example of Salvacion’s heroics, but actually you hardly see any of that from her, more often than not in the novel’s dire moments, it’s others who come to the rescue, others who deliver the fatal blows, and that was so strange and disappointing.
I received this arc through a Goodreads giveaway.
This touches on California being taken from the Indiginous by the Mexicans and then from the Mexicans by white people, but it doesn’t explore that or the time period with nearly as much depth as I wished it would have, it’s not like there was so much else going on here that there wasn’t room to dig in to any of that on a deeper level.
There was decent chemistry in the romance, however, the pacing felt off, there weren’t really enough shared scenes for me to really buy in to the depth or growth of their feelings for one another.
Initially it seemed like the mom was the only one who could wield magic then everyone seemed capable of using it to heal themselves, so I didn’t really understand why people were lined up waiting for her to help them? Maybe I missed some important detail over the course of reading this, but to me, for the most part it felt like rather than there being any sort of “rules” with the magic it’s just whatever is convenient to the story. It’s not like its wrong to have it in the novel whatever way the author wants to use it, it’s just for me, some clearcut parameters provide more tension than a story where there are somewhat easy outs if a character is in danger or otherwise written into a corner.
Too much of this felt like repetitive filler, lounging around in Lola’s thoughts, circling the same stuff over and over, does Alejandro know she’s Salvacion, the villain needs to be defeated, how her mom feels about her, how her dad feels about her, how much she wants to wear pants instead of dresses, etc. Time and again the story went back to these subjects adding little new to them and therefore making it feel like the novel was just plodding along when you’d think a Zorro reimagining might have a zippy page-turning quality to it, this decidedly did not.
Also, you’d think a reimagined Zorro would be involved in plenty of action and adventure, we’d see example after example of Salvacion’s heroics, but actually you hardly see any of that from her, more often than not in the novel’s dire moments, it’s others who come to the rescue, others who deliver the fatal blows, and that was so strange and disappointing.
I received this arc through a Goodreads giveaway.
June 27, 2025
Rounding up 2.5
Relentless Spanglish is at the heart of this story, and even though my heart wanted to love it, my brain was just tired of constantly trying to interpret a language I don’t speak. Sure, most of it is clear from context - but the sheer repetition made it a chore. Sal negra and sal roja are LITERALLY on every page.
The story itself was predictable and, despite the marketing, had basically nothing to do with Zorro (aside from the mask). If you're going in hoping for swashbuckling rebellion and vigilante drama, adjust expectations.
Might still resonate more with readers looking for cultural symbolism.
Relentless Spanglish is at the heart of this story, and even though my heart wanted to love it, my brain was just tired of constantly trying to interpret a language I don’t speak. Sure, most of it is clear from context - but the sheer repetition made it a chore. Sal negra and sal roja are LITERALLY on every page.
The story itself was predictable and, despite the marketing, had basically nothing to do with Zorro (aside from the mask). If you're going in hoping for swashbuckling rebellion and vigilante drama, adjust expectations.
Might still resonate more with readers looking for cultural symbolism.
February 9, 2025
I was lucky enough to win the ARC copy giveaway and by god is this an amazing Zoro retelling!
It was an amazing read! The drama and acción and the fact that this was the first ever Spanglish book I’ve read!? I loved it! It was mejor de lo que me imaginaba!! And I’m so looking forward to buying it once it’s released!!!
It was an amazing read! The drama and acción and the fact that this was the first ever Spanglish book I’ve read!? I loved it! It was mejor de lo que me imaginaba!! And I’m so looking forward to buying it once it’s released!!!
June 4, 2025
Salvacíon never quite managed to hook me on any front.
There’s much I can forgive in a book when other attributes can pull it through— loveable characters and their dynamics with each other, an engaging writing style, or an excitable plot, could all easily sway me and cancel out flaws in the other— but none of these were present in Salvacíon. Out of respect to my preference for providing reviews with a fully formed and educated opinion, I saw this book through to the end, but had I happened to have picked it up on my own, I imagine I wouldn’t have.
Unfortunately, I had quite a few grievances with the main character, some minor enough that I might have been more willing to overlook were my frustrations not emboldened by the more glaring issues. Lola de Pẽna, when beneath the mask of her vigilante alter ego Salvacíon or not, was riddled with internalized misogyny— and I wasn’t entirely convinced she ever grew out of it. Such a topic is an important one, and can certainly have its place in literature, fiction included. That being said, there were undertones to the messaging which I could never be sure were Lola’s thoughts or the author’s. It could perhaps have been interpreted as an attempt at a storyline dismantling internalized misogyny, but it simply never committed to it accurately, and it left me with doubts that it had its place in the story at all. It was hard to parse precisely what the end goal and message to the reader might have been, for there were no developed female characters present in the novel besides— or rather, including— our protagonist, which raises questions on its own. On the surface, it seemed at the halfway point Lola had, without any apparent outside reason, decided she had misjudged herself. “I didn't like wearing a dress. I preferred to wear pants, but there were lots of girls back in Sonora who had loved the gowns and the makeup and who felt at home in their bodies. There was a time when I did, too, and wanted to fit in with them—and there was nothing wrong with that. If I had confessed that I was Salvación, would Alejandro have judged me so harshly? I reconsidered the way I judged myself when I wasn't Salvación, the girl that Mamá and Papá wanted me to be in the eyes of everyone else. That girl wasn't less kind for it; she was just a girl being a girl. I might not have liked the dress myself, but I wouldn't have been rude to anyone just for wearing one.” I suppose this might have been intended as her moment of understanding and acceptance, but there are issues to this statement alone. Reducing girlhood to gowns and makeup— and in several passages in previous pages and those following, obsessions with boys— and still seeking male validation by pondering what the opinion of Alejandro might be if she assured him of her disconnect from femininity, a stranger who is looking down on her for presenting as outwardly feminine in this moment. Part of me wants to express disappointment at the lack of present and prominent female characters, and yet I find myself having reservations regarding how I imagine they might have been portrayed based on what is present in the novel. Lola’s own love interest displays disdain towards her for her femininity when she’s not under the guise of Salvacíon, and she is rightfully offended, but not for his ignorant generalizations of women, girls, and their interests, but because she feels slighted to be compared to them, thinking herself superior.
In looking back on her life before donning the mask of Salvacíon, she ponders what her fate would one day have been: “. . . find a suitable husband, marry, have children, and barely lift a finger throughout it at all.” Not every woman wishes to marry, or to have children. This is a simple fact which ought to be accepted and respected by far more than it is. However, this is simply a blatant show of a lack of respect and comprehension of the work mothers do, and only solidifies that neither Lola nor the author have adequately worked through their internalized misogyny. There are many different kinds of strength, and many different kinds of strong women. There are those who are brusque, who wield swords, expressing strength through defiance and physicality, and there are those who are mothers, who are gentler and understanding, patient and compassionate, working day and night to provide for themselves and their families, displaying their strength inwardly. Neither one is above the other, and to choose the latter is not “giving in” or whatever else this book seems to imply about feminine women and mothers.
Internalized misogyny is a very complex and complicated issue, there is no denying that. It is quite possibly impossible to get it right, because it is not black and white. But this decidedly missed the mark. Salvacíon is NOT a feminist book. I was left with the impression that this topic might have just been too complicated to be addressed properly in this book and devoted the time and development needed to warrant its inclusion, and perhaps the author might not have had the experience to portray it accurately and respectfully at all. Lola’s attitude towards herself, other women— absent as they were— and femininity as a whole, made her very off-putting, and that was only one such trait that made me struggle to sympathize with her.
Much of Lola’s supposed arc is implied to revolve around her identity as Salvacíon, the vigilante alter-ego she and her brother created for reasons the reader is not privy to, for it occurred off page and is never expanded upon in any of her reminiscent ramblings in her internal monologue. Much mention is made to her family’s perilous journey to Coloma, but no more. Despite being so central to Lola’s very involvement with the plot, we do not see any of the fierce protection of the town that she and so many other characters make constant mention of. Salvacíon is sought out by a woman in peril, Salvacíon is targeted by the antagonist, Salvacíon is revered by the people and feared by her enemies— but why? We are provided many minimal looks into her life and routine as a vigilante, and in none does she perform any exceptional feats, and in most she is either saved by a side character or they at the very least get the job done for her while she watches on. it was difficult to suspend my disbelief enough to believe these characters so admired this vigilante, when we see so few instances of her competently providing her town any service. This, unfortunately, made her unearned ego come across as naiveté at best and arrogance at worst, and it was quite frustrating to get through.
Much of the book felt similarly unearned. Any “development” of the characters or their relationships with each other was merely recited to us by Lola internally rather than earned and displayed through action, and it would then be doubled down upon— internally— in cased we hadn’t already pieced it together. This lack of faith in the audience’s ability to read between the lines and put things together themselves was a definite hinderance to the flow of the plot and progression overall. The first person perspective and how it was put into effect made for a largely introspective look at the book, which was perhaps ill-suited to what was meant to be high stakes and action-packed. It read rather like diary entries, or someone recalling a half-forgotten dream— repetitive, roundabout, and yet somehow still unclear. It left the reader very disconnected from the present moment, and it was hard to muster any sense and semblance of investment in it and the characters involved when they were viewed at such a surface level. Lola perhaps did change from the beginning of the book to the end, but I could not possibly point out when, where, or why, and not because it was integrated naturally into the book as to feel gradual, but because it would manifest as seemingly sudden epiphanies, but even these moments were discarded at the whim of the present moment. Nothing felt lasting or consistent. Lola’s every thought, opinion, and even perception of those around her, no matter how important in her life, seemed entirely determined by, and dependant on, the present demands of the plot. There was no care to continuity or established characterization— flimsy as it was— unless it served whatever was happening externally. To quote the book: “Papa exhaled loudly, as if sometimes, when I wasn’t playing the part of being a lady, my existence felt too hard to deal with.” And yet, her father is presented throughout the entirety of the former half of the book as Lola’s favourite parent because he was always on her side, encouraged her to be herself, and had been the one to teach her the “unladylike” indulgences which became the foundation for her identity as Salvacíon. Supposedly, this one instance negates these facts, or is at least considered enough for Lola to justify disregarding them— a recurring theme of a lack of self-awareness and gratitude towards the invaluable sacrifices of her family and allies which made her hard to like, let alone root for. When much and more is presented as so insubstantial and easily dismissed by your own main character, none of the plot will carry any weight, and readers will find it difficult to make themselves care.
The pacing was entirely off. Everything managed to feel too easy and yet drawn out all at once. The stakes of the book were, on paper, rather high— even if we are at no point made aware of the villain’s true goals or motives— and yet I never managed to make myself excited or invested, because the writing style simply didn’t allow for any feeling of involvement in the story. Lola herself felt barely there with how much time was spent in her own head talking in circles. It really slowed things down, even in moments of active action, which she was also distanced from, leaving other characters to deliver final blows whilst she was sidelined. The writing style itself did not lend itself to this. It was incredibly stilted in both prose and dialogue, breaking apart what could have been a single sentence into three (or more) brief and jarring micro-remarks void of any detail. The overuse of dialogue tags was a consistent problem, feeling amateur and, again, leaving little room for any exploration of thought or feeling, detail, or description. In fact, nothing in the book, from the setting to the characters, was described adequately, which is disappointing in a work of historical fiction with the potential to showcase the richness of the culture and time period through clothing, architecture, food, and more of a glimpse into every day life. The world felt very untouched. Had I a lesser imagination, this story would have taken place in a white box with featureless characters and the occasional tree. If not for the cover art, I would have no inclination as to the main character’s own appearance. Nothing felt real, felt lived in. Something that draws me into a historical fiction, even those with a touch of fantasy, is the glimpse into what our world once was, yet Salvacíon provided only vague context clues through brief reference to the Treaty of Guadalupe— signed in 1848, as I learned through my own search— and no other indication of era. I do not expect encyclopedic levels of accuracy in a work of fiction, but these smaller details would have enriched the reading experience while providing further clarity at once. The dialogue itself was also a massive barrier in maintaining any sense of immersion in the belief that this was taking place in the past. With the use of phrases such as “Same here.” and a general casual tone to their vocabulary, I would not expect someone would open the book to a random page and guess this was a historical fantasy, let alone what era it represented. It simply wasn’t consistent.
The magic system suffered the same issues. Theoretically, a deposit of salt with healing quantities taking the place of the California Gold Rush (again, personal research) was an intriguing prospect, but the book never seemed to commit to a set of rules for the salt’s capabilities, or who could use it. At first, we’re set up to believe that perhaps Lola’s mother has a special affinity for it— it was her intuition which drew them to Coloma in search of the magic, and it is before her which the sick and injured line up to be healed with the sal— but that suggestion is quickly swept aside when we learn that anyone can mine it, many are shown to use it, and several seem to carry it on their person outside of the family. Had this been less a matter of ability, and rather a hint at the wrongful ownership her family had laid claim to, this might have made for a fascinating premise, but instead it goes unaddressed. Such as direction might have tied into the faintly touched on issue of colonialism, and the inadequately addressed topic of hypocrisy of Mexican settlers in fearing their land being taken by Yankees, when they stole it first from Indigenous peoples. A people who, mind you, go unnamed until the epilogue, and have no agency or involvement in the plot beyond convenient appearances to provide wisdom and exposition to aid the MC and further the story through the mouth of a man referred to as nothing more than “The Indigenous Man”. Which is… A choice. Lola and her family exploit the land by mining sal negra and later sal roja, and she learns no lesson by the end, still taking some for herself and giving some away— to her own people, not the natives— despite the danger of the substance and the fact that she spends the whole book thinking the villain irredeemably evil and “el Diablo himself" for taking and abusing sal roja when it doesn’t belong to him. It was at once naive and hypocritical, and frustratingly dead-ended. From the perspective of an Indigenous woman, if the Indigenous people were not going to be humanized, respected, and given the apology they deserved, they may as well have not been included. We are shown one single man who given speaking lines, but they are utilized only ever to provide wisdom and aid to the main character and her allies in times of need, like some deus ex machina embodying outdated stereotypes of the spiritual guide. He has no name, no family, no personality, no discernible features beyond being shirtless and having tanned skin, and it was kind of infuriating to see mention that his people cleaned up after Lola and yet they considered her a hero.
Circling back to the characters, and by extension, the romance. The romance between Lola and Alejandro— Hernández’s right hand, or so we’re told— was a selling feature of the book to be sure, being mentioned in the blurb and tagline alike, but frankly it shouldn’t have been. The relationship between the two was underdeveloped to the point of hardly warranting the word. Despite Lola’s repeated disdain for boy-obsessed girls, the moment she lays eyes on Alejandro, she thinks to herself that she might have fallen in love, finding herself frequently distracted by his looks or thoughts of him. They have few interactions, and in none of which are we treated to a sense of chemistry or camaraderie, common ground or conversation. Lola knows little of him, and by extension, so does the reader, so it was difficult to take it seriously let alone relate when Lola fixates on him so intensely when she has no reason to. Some of their longest conversations with her as Lola consist of Alejandro mocking her for being a girl, something we never see him grow out of, because Lola is decidedly not the feminist she’s marketed to be, and she lets it slide, somehow finding him charming. Neither character was likeable, or had much of a distinguishable personality, and so I had no investment in their getting together— which might have been for the best, considering I’d have been sorely disappointed by the utter lack of any development between them. A cute romance might have pulled me through this book, but there was simply nothing. It is as I said before, I can forgive a lot in a book if the characters make it worth it, but I just never felt like I knew them enough to care, especially the side characters. This was another area where the writing did a disservice in disconnecting me from the characters. There was a definite overuse of the terms “As if”, “It was as if,” “It was like”, providing the reader with near-omnipotent information which read as unrealistic and borderline ridiculous assumptions being made when from the first-person perspective of a character who had no way to know these things with certainty. It was yet another display of the aforementioned lack of trust for her readers’ ability to piece things together for themselves, and also felt like a cop-out from digging deeper and allowing her characters to express themselves openly through dialogue. And it was CONSTANT. The writing was juvenile in a way that YA has no need to be. Salvacíon had the subject matter of a typical YA, written in the tone middle-grade.
And, lastly, I would be remiss if I did not mention that which many other reviewers have; the absurdity that is her identity as Salvacíon. I have already brought up how little work she actually seems to do in the book, but beyond that, it boggled my mind how, in a town which is noted to have only three women shown on page— one of which being an elderly woman, and the other Lola’s own mother— not a soul seems to put together that the young, female vigilante might be Lola herself, especially considering she wears a mask which conceals none of her features, she removes it in plain sight under the justification that no one seems to be around, and her sole ally is her undisguised brother, with whom she often has very loud conversations revealing her identity right in front of Alejandro, who I suppose they told tocover his ears. The logistics of her identity and how she keeps it hidden are so poorly kept, it becomes a disservice to the characters who somehow remained unaware, becoming a mockery of their intelligence rather than a show of Lola’s (disproven) cleverness. Part of me had hoped that the gag would be everyone in town had indeed known, including Alejandro, but alas. Lola is either an unreliable narrator, or I am expected to suspend my disbelief far beyond what is possible.
In truth, gathering the loose ends of this book to form a coherent review that encompassed all I wanted to bring up was difficult, and I myself am not entirely sure I managed it, but I best stop while I’m well ahead before my review begins shaping up like a novel of its own.
As always, thank you very much to Wednesday Books and Netgalley for the arc.
1.5 stars rounded up to 2.
There’s much I can forgive in a book when other attributes can pull it through— loveable characters and their dynamics with each other, an engaging writing style, or an excitable plot, could all easily sway me and cancel out flaws in the other— but none of these were present in Salvacíon. Out of respect to my preference for providing reviews with a fully formed and educated opinion, I saw this book through to the end, but had I happened to have picked it up on my own, I imagine I wouldn’t have.
Unfortunately, I had quite a few grievances with the main character, some minor enough that I might have been more willing to overlook were my frustrations not emboldened by the more glaring issues. Lola de Pẽna, when beneath the mask of her vigilante alter ego Salvacíon or not, was riddled with internalized misogyny— and I wasn’t entirely convinced she ever grew out of it. Such a topic is an important one, and can certainly have its place in literature, fiction included. That being said, there were undertones to the messaging which I could never be sure were Lola’s thoughts or the author’s. It could perhaps have been interpreted as an attempt at a storyline dismantling internalized misogyny, but it simply never committed to it accurately, and it left me with doubts that it had its place in the story at all. It was hard to parse precisely what the end goal and message to the reader might have been, for there were no developed female characters present in the novel besides— or rather, including— our protagonist, which raises questions on its own. On the surface, it seemed at the halfway point Lola had, without any apparent outside reason, decided she had misjudged herself. “I didn't like wearing a dress. I preferred to wear pants, but there were lots of girls back in Sonora who had loved the gowns and the makeup and who felt at home in their bodies. There was a time when I did, too, and wanted to fit in with them—and there was nothing wrong with that. If I had confessed that I was Salvación, would Alejandro have judged me so harshly? I reconsidered the way I judged myself when I wasn't Salvación, the girl that Mamá and Papá wanted me to be in the eyes of everyone else. That girl wasn't less kind for it; she was just a girl being a girl. I might not have liked the dress myself, but I wouldn't have been rude to anyone just for wearing one.” I suppose this might have been intended as her moment of understanding and acceptance, but there are issues to this statement alone. Reducing girlhood to gowns and makeup— and in several passages in previous pages and those following, obsessions with boys— and still seeking male validation by pondering what the opinion of Alejandro might be if she assured him of her disconnect from femininity, a stranger who is looking down on her for presenting as outwardly feminine in this moment. Part of me wants to express disappointment at the lack of present and prominent female characters, and yet I find myself having reservations regarding how I imagine they might have been portrayed based on what is present in the novel. Lola’s own love interest displays disdain towards her for her femininity when she’s not under the guise of Salvacíon, and she is rightfully offended, but not for his ignorant generalizations of women, girls, and their interests, but because she feels slighted to be compared to them, thinking herself superior.
In looking back on her life before donning the mask of Salvacíon, she ponders what her fate would one day have been: “. . . find a suitable husband, marry, have children, and barely lift a finger throughout it at all.” Not every woman wishes to marry, or to have children. This is a simple fact which ought to be accepted and respected by far more than it is. However, this is simply a blatant show of a lack of respect and comprehension of the work mothers do, and only solidifies that neither Lola nor the author have adequately worked through their internalized misogyny. There are many different kinds of strength, and many different kinds of strong women. There are those who are brusque, who wield swords, expressing strength through defiance and physicality, and there are those who are mothers, who are gentler and understanding, patient and compassionate, working day and night to provide for themselves and their families, displaying their strength inwardly. Neither one is above the other, and to choose the latter is not “giving in” or whatever else this book seems to imply about feminine women and mothers.
Internalized misogyny is a very complex and complicated issue, there is no denying that. It is quite possibly impossible to get it right, because it is not black and white. But this decidedly missed the mark. Salvacíon is NOT a feminist book. I was left with the impression that this topic might have just been too complicated to be addressed properly in this book and devoted the time and development needed to warrant its inclusion, and perhaps the author might not have had the experience to portray it accurately and respectfully at all. Lola’s attitude towards herself, other women— absent as they were— and femininity as a whole, made her very off-putting, and that was only one such trait that made me struggle to sympathize with her.
Much of Lola’s supposed arc is implied to revolve around her identity as Salvacíon, the vigilante alter-ego she and her brother created for reasons the reader is not privy to, for it occurred off page and is never expanded upon in any of her reminiscent ramblings in her internal monologue. Much mention is made to her family’s perilous journey to Coloma, but no more. Despite being so central to Lola’s very involvement with the plot, we do not see any of the fierce protection of the town that she and so many other characters make constant mention of. Salvacíon is sought out by a woman in peril, Salvacíon is targeted by the antagonist, Salvacíon is revered by the people and feared by her enemies— but why? We are provided many minimal looks into her life and routine as a vigilante, and in none does she perform any exceptional feats, and in most she is either saved by a side character or they at the very least get the job done for her while she watches on. it was difficult to suspend my disbelief enough to believe these characters so admired this vigilante, when we see so few instances of her competently providing her town any service. This, unfortunately, made her unearned ego come across as naiveté at best and arrogance at worst, and it was quite frustrating to get through.
Much of the book felt similarly unearned. Any “development” of the characters or their relationships with each other was merely recited to us by Lola internally rather than earned and displayed through action, and it would then be doubled down upon— internally— in cased we hadn’t already pieced it together. This lack of faith in the audience’s ability to read between the lines and put things together themselves was a definite hinderance to the flow of the plot and progression overall. The first person perspective and how it was put into effect made for a largely introspective look at the book, which was perhaps ill-suited to what was meant to be high stakes and action-packed. It read rather like diary entries, or someone recalling a half-forgotten dream— repetitive, roundabout, and yet somehow still unclear. It left the reader very disconnected from the present moment, and it was hard to muster any sense and semblance of investment in it and the characters involved when they were viewed at such a surface level. Lola perhaps did change from the beginning of the book to the end, but I could not possibly point out when, where, or why, and not because it was integrated naturally into the book as to feel gradual, but because it would manifest as seemingly sudden epiphanies, but even these moments were discarded at the whim of the present moment. Nothing felt lasting or consistent. Lola’s every thought, opinion, and even perception of those around her, no matter how important in her life, seemed entirely determined by, and dependant on, the present demands of the plot. There was no care to continuity or established characterization— flimsy as it was— unless it served whatever was happening externally. To quote the book: “Papa exhaled loudly, as if sometimes, when I wasn’t playing the part of being a lady, my existence felt too hard to deal with.” And yet, her father is presented throughout the entirety of the former half of the book as Lola’s favourite parent because he was always on her side, encouraged her to be herself, and had been the one to teach her the “unladylike” indulgences which became the foundation for her identity as Salvacíon. Supposedly, this one instance negates these facts, or is at least considered enough for Lola to justify disregarding them— a recurring theme of a lack of self-awareness and gratitude towards the invaluable sacrifices of her family and allies which made her hard to like, let alone root for. When much and more is presented as so insubstantial and easily dismissed by your own main character, none of the plot will carry any weight, and readers will find it difficult to make themselves care.
The pacing was entirely off. Everything managed to feel too easy and yet drawn out all at once. The stakes of the book were, on paper, rather high— even if we are at no point made aware of the villain’s true goals or motives— and yet I never managed to make myself excited or invested, because the writing style simply didn’t allow for any feeling of involvement in the story. Lola herself felt barely there with how much time was spent in her own head talking in circles. It really slowed things down, even in moments of active action, which she was also distanced from, leaving other characters to deliver final blows whilst she was sidelined. The writing style itself did not lend itself to this. It was incredibly stilted in both prose and dialogue, breaking apart what could have been a single sentence into three (or more) brief and jarring micro-remarks void of any detail. The overuse of dialogue tags was a consistent problem, feeling amateur and, again, leaving little room for any exploration of thought or feeling, detail, or description. In fact, nothing in the book, from the setting to the characters, was described adequately, which is disappointing in a work of historical fiction with the potential to showcase the richness of the culture and time period through clothing, architecture, food, and more of a glimpse into every day life. The world felt very untouched. Had I a lesser imagination, this story would have taken place in a white box with featureless characters and the occasional tree. If not for the cover art, I would have no inclination as to the main character’s own appearance. Nothing felt real, felt lived in. Something that draws me into a historical fiction, even those with a touch of fantasy, is the glimpse into what our world once was, yet Salvacíon provided only vague context clues through brief reference to the Treaty of Guadalupe— signed in 1848, as I learned through my own search— and no other indication of era. I do not expect encyclopedic levels of accuracy in a work of fiction, but these smaller details would have enriched the reading experience while providing further clarity at once. The dialogue itself was also a massive barrier in maintaining any sense of immersion in the belief that this was taking place in the past. With the use of phrases such as “Same here.” and a general casual tone to their vocabulary, I would not expect someone would open the book to a random page and guess this was a historical fantasy, let alone what era it represented. It simply wasn’t consistent.
The magic system suffered the same issues. Theoretically, a deposit of salt with healing quantities taking the place of the California Gold Rush (again, personal research) was an intriguing prospect, but the book never seemed to commit to a set of rules for the salt’s capabilities, or who could use it. At first, we’re set up to believe that perhaps Lola’s mother has a special affinity for it— it was her intuition which drew them to Coloma in search of the magic, and it is before her which the sick and injured line up to be healed with the sal— but that suggestion is quickly swept aside when we learn that anyone can mine it, many are shown to use it, and several seem to carry it on their person outside of the family. Had this been less a matter of ability, and rather a hint at the wrongful ownership her family had laid claim to, this might have made for a fascinating premise, but instead it goes unaddressed. Such as direction might have tied into the faintly touched on issue of colonialism, and the inadequately addressed topic of hypocrisy of Mexican settlers in fearing their land being taken by Yankees, when they stole it first from Indigenous peoples. A people who, mind you, go unnamed until the epilogue, and have no agency or involvement in the plot beyond convenient appearances to provide wisdom and exposition to aid the MC and further the story through the mouth of a man referred to as nothing more than “The Indigenous Man”. Which is… A choice. Lola and her family exploit the land by mining sal negra and later sal roja, and she learns no lesson by the end, still taking some for herself and giving some away— to her own people, not the natives— despite the danger of the substance and the fact that she spends the whole book thinking the villain irredeemably evil and “el Diablo himself" for taking and abusing sal roja when it doesn’t belong to him. It was at once naive and hypocritical, and frustratingly dead-ended. From the perspective of an Indigenous woman, if the Indigenous people were not going to be humanized, respected, and given the apology they deserved, they may as well have not been included. We are shown one single man who given speaking lines, but they are utilized only ever to provide wisdom and aid to the main character and her allies in times of need, like some deus ex machina embodying outdated stereotypes of the spiritual guide. He has no name, no family, no personality, no discernible features beyond being shirtless and having tanned skin, and it was kind of infuriating to see mention that his people cleaned up after Lola and yet they considered her a hero.
Circling back to the characters, and by extension, the romance. The romance between Lola and Alejandro— Hernández’s right hand, or so we’re told— was a selling feature of the book to be sure, being mentioned in the blurb and tagline alike, but frankly it shouldn’t have been. The relationship between the two was underdeveloped to the point of hardly warranting the word. Despite Lola’s repeated disdain for boy-obsessed girls, the moment she lays eyes on Alejandro, she thinks to herself that she might have fallen in love, finding herself frequently distracted by his looks or thoughts of him. They have few interactions, and in none of which are we treated to a sense of chemistry or camaraderie, common ground or conversation. Lola knows little of him, and by extension, so does the reader, so it was difficult to take it seriously let alone relate when Lola fixates on him so intensely when she has no reason to. Some of their longest conversations with her as Lola consist of Alejandro mocking her for being a girl, something we never see him grow out of, because Lola is decidedly not the feminist she’s marketed to be, and she lets it slide, somehow finding him charming. Neither character was likeable, or had much of a distinguishable personality, and so I had no investment in their getting together— which might have been for the best, considering I’d have been sorely disappointed by the utter lack of any development between them. A cute romance might have pulled me through this book, but there was simply nothing. It is as I said before, I can forgive a lot in a book if the characters make it worth it, but I just never felt like I knew them enough to care, especially the side characters. This was another area where the writing did a disservice in disconnecting me from the characters. There was a definite overuse of the terms “As if”, “It was as if,” “It was like”, providing the reader with near-omnipotent information which read as unrealistic and borderline ridiculous assumptions being made when from the first-person perspective of a character who had no way to know these things with certainty. It was yet another display of the aforementioned lack of trust for her readers’ ability to piece things together for themselves, and also felt like a cop-out from digging deeper and allowing her characters to express themselves openly through dialogue. And it was CONSTANT. The writing was juvenile in a way that YA has no need to be. Salvacíon had the subject matter of a typical YA, written in the tone middle-grade.
And, lastly, I would be remiss if I did not mention that which many other reviewers have; the absurdity that is her identity as Salvacíon. I have already brought up how little work she actually seems to do in the book, but beyond that, it boggled my mind how, in a town which is noted to have only three women shown on page— one of which being an elderly woman, and the other Lola’s own mother— not a soul seems to put together that the young, female vigilante might be Lola herself, especially considering she wears a mask which conceals none of her features, she removes it in plain sight under the justification that no one seems to be around, and her sole ally is her undisguised brother, with whom she often has very loud conversations revealing her identity right in front of Alejandro, who I suppose they told tocover his ears. The logistics of her identity and how she keeps it hidden are so poorly kept, it becomes a disservice to the characters who somehow remained unaware, becoming a mockery of their intelligence rather than a show of Lola’s (disproven) cleverness. Part of me had hoped that the gag would be everyone in town had indeed known, including Alejandro, but alas. Lola is either an unreliable narrator, or I am expected to suspend my disbelief far beyond what is possible.
In truth, gathering the loose ends of this book to form a coherent review that encompassed all I wanted to bring up was difficult, and I myself am not entirely sure I managed it, but I best stop while I’m well ahead before my review begins shaping up like a novel of its own.
As always, thank you very much to Wednesday Books and Netgalley for the arc.
1.5 stars rounded up to 2.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 1, 2025
Overall: 4.25⭐️
Characters: 4.25👥
Plot: 4.00💥
World: 4.00🌎
This is the book I’ve been looking for over half my life. Growing up as a latina, I always wanted more books with latine characters specifically written by latine authors. Today there are more latine authors with wonderful stories but what makes this one stand out to me is how much I love the writing style.
The author includes plenty of Spanish words and phrases without needing to directly translate or explain every word. It really feels like a book written for latines who don’t want our culture and language over explained or paraphrased back to us. It flows naturally and is easy to understand for Spanish speakers and non-speakers alike. I listened to the audiobook version and the narrator did a great job with clear pronunciation too.
This is a YA historical fantasy book about Lola and her family protecting their town in Alta California and the magical healing Sal Negra from anyone who tries to take it for their own gain. Lola, with her brother Victor’s help, has been working under the guise of Salvación to run bad men out of town. Her mother disapproves of her being a vigilante while ignoring the fact Victor is also out there with her. Lola’s father who taught her how to use a sword is quietly proud of her but not willing to go against his wife and openly encourage her.
Lola’s relationships with her mother, father, and Victor are very familiar and relatable to me. While they all love each other, like any family, they have clashing opinions and thoughts on how to best protect the town and the Sal Negra they mine there.
This book was a great blend of family bonds and a young girl coming of age against the backdrop of an old western with light fantasy elements. There’s horse chases, gun fights, vigilantes, villains, mystery and even some love. I definitely recommend giving this book a read!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the Advance Listener Copy. All opinions are my own.
Characters: 4.25👥
Plot: 4.00💥
World: 4.00🌎
This is the book I’ve been looking for over half my life. Growing up as a latina, I always wanted more books with latine characters specifically written by latine authors. Today there are more latine authors with wonderful stories but what makes this one stand out to me is how much I love the writing style.
The author includes plenty of Spanish words and phrases without needing to directly translate or explain every word. It really feels like a book written for latines who don’t want our culture and language over explained or paraphrased back to us. It flows naturally and is easy to understand for Spanish speakers and non-speakers alike. I listened to the audiobook version and the narrator did a great job with clear pronunciation too.
This is a YA historical fantasy book about Lola and her family protecting their town in Alta California and the magical healing Sal Negra from anyone who tries to take it for their own gain. Lola, with her brother Victor’s help, has been working under the guise of Salvación to run bad men out of town. Her mother disapproves of her being a vigilante while ignoring the fact Victor is also out there with her. Lola’s father who taught her how to use a sword is quietly proud of her but not willing to go against his wife and openly encourage her.
Lola’s relationships with her mother, father, and Victor are very familiar and relatable to me. While they all love each other, like any family, they have clashing opinions and thoughts on how to best protect the town and the Sal Negra they mine there.
This book was a great blend of family bonds and a young girl coming of age against the backdrop of an old western with light fantasy elements. There’s horse chases, gun fights, vigilantes, villains, mystery and even some love. I definitely recommend giving this book a read!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the Advance Listener Copy. All opinions are my own.
June 9, 2025
Thank you Netgalley and Wednesday Books for the Arc!
This was so good!! I don’t know why I’m not giving it 5 stars but I feel like 4 is perfect for it! This book was a little bit hard to get into because Sandra frequently threw in Spanish phrases out of nowhere but once I was used to it it was good considering it happened the rest of the book. Which I actually admired because it really got to the heart of the story as well as the authors personal history.
Anyway… Lola was such a strong character! She was fierce! She fought for what was right! She loved with everything! And she cared deeply for her family! Seeing her fight evil with everything she had and still have hope despite everything was a beautiful story of perseverance! She went into the night to face bad people just to save others.
Her family had an interesting dynamic but what really showed through is her relationship with her brother. Familial bonds are a centerpiece of this book. The story revolves around this family working and often not working together as a unit and therefore is what makes them have consequences. Victor grows a lot as a character too and realizes he needs to trust his sister!
Alejandro… he was the love interest but for a lot of it he wasn’t. The tension between him and Lola definitely kept me going because I was hoping that something maybe would happen. Hehe! (The dance scene) I’m a sucker for a couple dance scene they get me every time!
And to top it all off they have to save the world! They fight evil once it enters town and everything is put to the test! Family, loyalty, love, and friendship. And this book weaved the perfect tale for all these things!
4/5⭐️
This was so good!! I don’t know why I’m not giving it 5 stars but I feel like 4 is perfect for it! This book was a little bit hard to get into because Sandra frequently threw in Spanish phrases out of nowhere but once I was used to it it was good considering it happened the rest of the book. Which I actually admired because it really got to the heart of the story as well as the authors personal history.
Anyway… Lola was such a strong character! She was fierce! She fought for what was right! She loved with everything! And she cared deeply for her family! Seeing her fight evil with everything she had and still have hope despite everything was a beautiful story of perseverance! She went into the night to face bad people just to save others.
Her family had an interesting dynamic but what really showed through is her relationship with her brother. Familial bonds are a centerpiece of this book. The story revolves around this family working and often not working together as a unit and therefore is what makes them have consequences. Victor grows a lot as a character too and realizes he needs to trust his sister!
Alejandro… he was the love interest but for a lot of it he wasn’t. The tension between him and Lola definitely kept me going because I was hoping that something maybe would happen. Hehe! (The dance scene) I’m a sucker for a couple dance scene they get me every time!
And to top it all off they have to save the world! They fight evil once it enters town and everything is put to the test! Family, loyalty, love, and friendship. And this book weaved the perfect tale for all these things!
4/5⭐️
June 11, 2025
Seeing a young Latina (Mexicana) FMC play such a significant role in her community was so empowering!
I read this during a time where I needed the proper representation.
Today, my people are fighting for their own rights and have been putting their own lives on the line for our current and future generations.
This book involves a family who had to migrate to Alta California after the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which today is still relevant. This book is a reminder that what is known as California today used to belong to us Mexicanos and that the loss of the land was a result of colonialism taking place.
Lola de la Pena is a fighter, she's intelligent and brave. She understands her duty as Salvación yet does not view herself a superior to her community. Which is so incredibly important because as Mexicanos we understand that our family's and community are everything.
This book is more fantasy than romantic and I need people to be aware of that before reading. You won't understand the book if your main intrigue is the romance.
The plot of the sal negra y roja was so interesting, and the way it concluded was really well written. The end was such an important emphasis as to critiquing colonialism and doing what's right.
This book will always have a special place in my heart. Sandra put a lot of thought and care into this book and I appreciate her for it.
I read this during a time where I needed the proper representation.
Today, my people are fighting for their own rights and have been putting their own lives on the line for our current and future generations.
This book involves a family who had to migrate to Alta California after the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which today is still relevant. This book is a reminder that what is known as California today used to belong to us Mexicanos and that the loss of the land was a result of colonialism taking place.
Lola de la Pena is a fighter, she's intelligent and brave. She understands her duty as Salvación yet does not view herself a superior to her community. Which is so incredibly important because as Mexicanos we understand that our family's and community are everything.
This book is more fantasy than romantic and I need people to be aware of that before reading. You won't understand the book if your main intrigue is the romance.
The plot of the sal negra y roja was so interesting, and the way it concluded was really well written. The end was such an important emphasis as to critiquing colonialism and doing what's right.
This book will always have a special place in my heart. Sandra put a lot of thought and care into this book and I appreciate her for it.
April 22, 2025
A female version of Zorro?? Love!!
I thought that the Spanglish throughout the novel was so fun and immersed me more into the story, especially when Lola or other characters were talking with one another. I also liked the idea of magical salt - I thought that was really fun!
Something I wish had happened towards the beginning of the novel was the explanation of where the salt came from or how they discovered it - aside from explaining that Lola’s mother felt pulled towards it and its healing properties.
Overall it was a really wonderful and fun book!
Thank you NetGalley for the arc!
I thought that the Spanglish throughout the novel was so fun and immersed me more into the story, especially when Lola or other characters were talking with one another. I also liked the idea of magical salt - I thought that was really fun!
Something I wish had happened towards the beginning of the novel was the explanation of where the salt came from or how they discovered it - aside from explaining that Lola’s mother felt pulled towards it and its healing properties.
Overall it was a really wonderful and fun book!
Thank you NetGalley for the arc!
February 17, 2025
Lola de la Peña has a secret. Her family mines for the magical sal negra in the small town of Coloma. The sal negra allows her mother to heal the sick and injured, from the blind to those who have been shot. But Lola has another secret as well. She is La Salvación, the hero who protects Coloma and its magical salt. When outsiders arrive speaking of liberating Alta California from the Yankees Lola finds herself swept up into the fight of a lifetime, not just for Coloma or the sal negra, but for her own family and perhaps her life as well!
I was a huge Zorro fan growing up, so when I found Salvación was inspired by the show I immediately wanted to read it. While I think the world building was done well and the magical salt was actually pretty inspired, those were about the only things I enjoyed in the book. The pacing seems to stagnate in several parts, and Lola seems to fight her parents almost as much as she does Hernandez and his men. In fact, as I continued to read it seemed more like she became Salvación just to gain her mother’s love and approval.
The romance felt rather muted as well. Her feelings seemed more akin to attraction than actual romance. I will acknowledge that she was young and claimed to not be interested in boys, but then later on contradicts herself by saying that was all she was interested in back in her home town. Alejandro was a bit harder to read—since we only get to see through Lola’s POV—and tends to flip flop between his feelings for her and for Hernandez, who he acknowledges many times as being evil. Also it appeared as though he and Isabella had some sort of relationship as well, though she is never mentioned again.
One of the things I felt was done very well was Lola’s character arc. She matures very quickly once she realizes how dangerous Hernandez really is. She even stands up to her own parents over and over again, despite her love for them and how hard it must have been to do so. She refuses to back down even when nobody seems to believe her about Hernandez.
Overall it was a solid read and I did enjoy parts of it. However I would not continue the series if there would be another book.
I was a huge Zorro fan growing up, so when I found Salvación was inspired by the show I immediately wanted to read it. While I think the world building was done well and the magical salt was actually pretty inspired, those were about the only things I enjoyed in the book. The pacing seems to stagnate in several parts, and Lola seems to fight her parents almost as much as she does Hernandez and his men. In fact, as I continued to read it seemed more like she became Salvación just to gain her mother’s love and approval.
The romance felt rather muted as well. Her feelings seemed more akin to attraction than actual romance. I will acknowledge that she was young and claimed to not be interested in boys, but then later on contradicts herself by saying that was all she was interested in back in her home town. Alejandro was a bit harder to read—since we only get to see through Lola’s POV—and tends to flip flop between his feelings for her and for Hernandez, who he acknowledges many times as being evil. Also it appeared as though he and Isabella had some sort of relationship as well, though she is never mentioned again.
One of the things I felt was done very well was Lola’s character arc. She matures very quickly once she realizes how dangerous Hernandez really is. She even stands up to her own parents over and over again, despite her love for them and how hard it must have been to do so. She refuses to back down even when nobody seems to believe her about Hernandez.
Overall it was a solid read and I did enjoy parts of it. However I would not continue the series if there would be another book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 15, 2025
This book made me thirsty 🧂
August 9, 2025
3.75 rounded up! This was a fun time, I love a badass FMC
coming-back-to
June 17, 2025
°˖✿˚⋆ June 2025 ⋆˚✿˖°
I just started this yesterday but I am putting it back on my shelf. The Owlcrate exclusive prologue was really interesting and did a great job at making me want to read more. My issue right now is that there is Spanish woven in the text, and while from what I've read, and with my limited high school Spanish lessons, there are enough context clues to get most words. But I am already tired and in a slump so I don't feel like translating the book atm.
♡pre-read♡
I am in a reading slump unfort. Hoping my May YA Owlcrate book will help me out of it. It sounds fun and looks beautiful.
I just started this yesterday but I am putting it back on my shelf. The Owlcrate exclusive prologue was really interesting and did a great job at making me want to read more. My issue right now is that there is Spanish woven in the text, and while from what I've read, and with my limited high school Spanish lessons, there are enough context clues to get most words. But I am already tired and in a slump so I don't feel like translating the book atm.
♡pre-read♡
I am in a reading slump unfort. Hoping my May YA Owlcrate book will help me out of it. It sounds fun and looks beautiful.
July 17, 2025
*yawnnnn*
May 6, 2025
Big big thank you to the author, Sandra Proudman, the publisher, Wednesday Books, and Goodreads for the opportunity to win a copy of Salvacion in a giveaway. I was instantly won over by the Zorro-inspired cover and summary, because as a child, I was/am a huge Zorro fan. The main character, Lola de la Pena, is a young woman from a more privileged background who takes on the persona of Salvacion by night, a masked vigilante. I appreciated the historical setting and the overall cultural themes of the book, which kept me reading and wanting to find out how the bad guys would be held accountable. The world-building was fun and unique, using a dash of fantasy and magical realism with the addition of a magic system centered around salt (both black and red). There's a blooming young romance, some adventure, some thrills, and a coming of age story all women into the narrative. Of all the characters, I appreciated the relationship between the main character and her brother, Victor. In the end, I'm not sure I found the Zorro story I was hoping for, but I was entertained along the way. I would say that Salvacion could be read/appreciated by teens and young adults above age 13 or so. The violence is pretty mild, as well as the romantic tension. If you liked books like Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas, Furia by Yamile Saied Mendez, or We Set the Dark on Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia, you'd probably enjoy reading about this heroine's journey.
Major themes & tropes:
- hero's journey/masked vigilante
- slow-burn romance
- endearing sibling relationship
- coming of age/identity
- colonialism and rebellion
- magical realism
- culture and tradition
3.7 out of stars, rounding up!
Major themes & tropes:
- hero's journey/masked vigilante
- slow-burn romance
- endearing sibling relationship
- coming of age/identity
- colonialism and rebellion
- magical realism
- culture and tradition
3.7 out of stars, rounding up!
August 15, 2025
I'm still not sure how I feel about this...
I'll share more of my thoughts in my wrap up. In the meantime, check out more videos on my channel and subscribe: ✨ May YA TBR 2025 ✨ My Most ANTICIPATED YA Books For May!
I'll share more of my thoughts in my wrap up. In the meantime, check out more videos on my channel and subscribe: ✨ May YA TBR 2025 ✨ My Most ANTICIPATED YA Books For May!
August 5, 2025
I was very excited to read this book. A YA book inspired by the legend of Zoro but gender swapped? Sounds great! Unfortunately this book delivered nothing.
Lola de La Peña is the most boring heroine ever written. And the most anti-climatic heroine as well. This book is full of telling and not showing and that is its biggest weakness. We're told that Lola's alter ego Salvacion is considered an angel in their town and drives out bad guys. However, we're given one very underwhelming instance where we see her in action and it's so unconvincing. Nothing that Lola did as Salvacion was worth the way the townspeople talked about her. All the moments we see Salvacion in action almost nothing happens and when things go wrong (they always do) she's saved by someone else. We're also told many times that Lola's father taught her how to shoot, wield a sword, fight, and basically be unladylike. However, we never see Lola or Salvacion use these skills that apparently make her the amazing heroine she's supposed to be. It's another example of is being told her skills, but never seeing them on the page.
My other issue with Lola is when she's Lola she is unbelievably boring! We are told MULTIPLE times how she's not like other girls and hates dresses and heels and longs to wear pants. Literally, that's all she ever thinks about! I get that we're trying to show how she yearns for more which is why she's Salvacion, but when can we move on from the trope that for a woman to be seen as more she has to hate being feminine?
My other issue with the book is the writing itself. It was very clunky and many times I laughed out loud at the absurdity of things Lola either said or did. Here's an example of her weird infatuation with pants "For all I knew, he'd fall in love with Salvacion in a blink, the one who wore pants and fought and was obviously so completely like the person who I was to everyone else." I sincerely doubt any man is looking at her and impressed because she is wearing pants. Here's another example of the author trying to describe the male love interest Alejandro doing something seductive "He nodded, coming close, sticking his tongue out just a little between his bottom and top lip in a way that made my stomach swoop." I had my fiance act this out to make sure I wasn't going crazy, I can confirm there's nothing swoon worthy over seeing a little tongue between the lips.
I also feel like the world-building was lacking and honestly confusing. I was lucky enough to get the Owlcrate edition which had a prologue that the regular edition does not. Even that chapter didn't shed enough light on the why of them being there. And I can't imagine how a reader must feel without that chapter providing a crumb of more information. I don't fully understand Lola's grandfather and them shipping sal negro back to him so he can make a fortune especially since by the end of the book no one mentions that at all and they just go their separate ways.
We're introduced to an Indigenous Man whose people initially inhabited the land they were on. This could have been a good storyline but unfortunately it felt like an after-thought or that he was put there specifically to aid Lola/Salvacion and then disappears from the story. It also felt wrong to not give the man an actual name. At one point we are told that Alejandro told Isabela to find Salvacion but we're never told how he knew Salvacion existed. While we know other towns and settlements exist we're not told (as far as I remember) that Salvacion is widely known so the way Isabela's character comes into play in the storyline doesn't fit.
Lastly, the romance. You honestly can't even call it that. Lola and Alejandro have maybe 5 short interactions in the span of a week and yet she can't stop thinking of him and by the end thinks maybe it's love? And half of those interactions are when she's Salvacion. No interaction that they had was worthy of them ending the book in any sort of relationship. The romance is seriously non-existent. All we get are "I know he's staring at me" or "we locked eyes" and "his finger brushed mine when he was grabbing something and maybe I feel butterflies" it was underwhelming.
I'll end here... Lola as Salvacion was so obvious the fact that Alejando didn't put two and two together shows just how stupid he is. He comes upon Salvacion and she's almost always with her brother Victor and when they are together "Lola" is conveniently missing.
Overall, the writing, the romance, the story, just everything was lacking and I would not recommend this book to anyone.
Lola de La Peña is the most boring heroine ever written. And the most anti-climatic heroine as well. This book is full of telling and not showing and that is its biggest weakness. We're told that Lola's alter ego Salvacion is considered an angel in their town and drives out bad guys. However, we're given one very underwhelming instance where we see her in action and it's so unconvincing. Nothing that Lola did as Salvacion was worth the way the townspeople talked about her. All the moments we see Salvacion in action almost nothing happens and when things go wrong (they always do) she's saved by someone else. We're also told many times that Lola's father taught her how to shoot, wield a sword, fight, and basically be unladylike. However, we never see Lola or Salvacion use these skills that apparently make her the amazing heroine she's supposed to be. It's another example of is being told her skills, but never seeing them on the page.
My other issue with Lola is when she's Lola she is unbelievably boring! We are told MULTIPLE times how she's not like other girls and hates dresses and heels and longs to wear pants. Literally, that's all she ever thinks about! I get that we're trying to show how she yearns for more which is why she's Salvacion, but when can we move on from the trope that for a woman to be seen as more she has to hate being feminine?
My other issue with the book is the writing itself. It was very clunky and many times I laughed out loud at the absurdity of things Lola either said or did. Here's an example of her weird infatuation with pants "For all I knew, he'd fall in love with Salvacion in a blink, the one who wore pants and fought and was obviously so completely like the person who I was to everyone else." I sincerely doubt any man is looking at her and impressed because she is wearing pants. Here's another example of the author trying to describe the male love interest Alejandro doing something seductive "He nodded, coming close, sticking his tongue out just a little between his bottom and top lip in a way that made my stomach swoop." I had my fiance act this out to make sure I wasn't going crazy, I can confirm there's nothing swoon worthy over seeing a little tongue between the lips.
I also feel like the world-building was lacking and honestly confusing. I was lucky enough to get the Owlcrate edition which had a prologue that the regular edition does not. Even that chapter didn't shed enough light on the why of them being there. And I can't imagine how a reader must feel without that chapter providing a crumb of more information. I don't fully understand Lola's grandfather and them shipping sal negro back to him so he can make a fortune especially since by the end of the book no one mentions that at all and they just go their separate ways.
We're introduced to an Indigenous Man whose people initially inhabited the land they were on. This could have been a good storyline but unfortunately it felt like an after-thought or that he was put there specifically to aid Lola/Salvacion and then disappears from the story. It also felt wrong to not give the man an actual name. At one point we are told that Alejandro told Isabela to find Salvacion but we're never told how he knew Salvacion existed. While we know other towns and settlements exist we're not told (as far as I remember) that Salvacion is widely known so the way Isabela's character comes into play in the storyline doesn't fit.
Lastly, the romance. You honestly can't even call it that. Lola and Alejandro have maybe 5 short interactions in the span of a week and yet she can't stop thinking of him and by the end thinks maybe it's love? And half of those interactions are when she's Salvacion. No interaction that they had was worthy of them ending the book in any sort of relationship. The romance is seriously non-existent. All we get are "I know he's staring at me" or "we locked eyes" and "his finger brushed mine when he was grabbing something and maybe I feel butterflies" it was underwhelming.
I'll end here... Lola as Salvacion was so obvious the fact that Alejando didn't put two and two together shows just how stupid he is. He comes upon Salvacion and she's almost always with her brother Victor and when they are together "Lola" is conveniently missing.
Overall, the writing, the romance, the story, just everything was lacking and I would not recommend this book to anyone.
April 23, 2025
I first heard about Salvación from a fellow author friend that was really excited for the story, so I jumped on the audiobook! This coming of age historical fantasy takes place in Alta California shortly after the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed and inspired by El Zorro, and it takes advantage of those vibes with a solid setting, unique magic, and well developed characters.
Lola de La Peña was raised to be a proper Mexican lady, but her journey to Alta California has changed her to become a masked hero, Salvación, helping to protect her town from trouble. However, she soon finds herself in a situation that she might not be able to solve alone.
Lola was a great protagonist. She used to simply accept her role as a proper lady back home, even though she did unladylike things. However, the dangerous and deadly trip to Alta California ignited a sense of justice in her, and forces her to live two lives. The girl that helps her mother heal people during the day, and a masked hero at night, keeping the people of the town safe. It makes her think about the life she wants to live going forward and further complicates her daily activities.
Due to this being sold as a romantasy, I was led to believe that the romance was going to be the primary relationship, and while it is significant, Lola's relationship with the rest of her family takes priority, and those dynamics are well developed. I love how Salvación is a two person job with her brother, Victor, even though Lola is the only one dressing up, and the sibling relationship is my favorite. I love how complex Lola's relationship with her parents, ever changing throughout the story. Also, Lola's relationship with the love interest, Alejandro, is complicated, especially considering that Alejandro is a companion of the main antagonist, Hernandez, and Lola is playing secret identity and Alejandro is only interested in one of the identities. Hernandez himself is very terrifying and I got nervous when he showed up.
As mentioned earlier, this takes place in the late 1840's, likely 1848-1849 based on some context clues. The town of Coloma feels like a town in transition from being controlled by Mexico to the USA. I'm not super familiar with the era, but it does have an old west town feel to the area. I do like the fantastical elements of the healing sal negra (black salt) and the destructive sal roja (red salt), and while simple, the magic system is easy to follow and very effective.
The pacing was excellent: rather quick despite several chapters running nearly an hour long on the audiobook. The prose was descriptive and helped me sink into the setting without too much trouble. I could visualize myself into the story. It did feel like it could fit in as a spinoff of Zorro with the masked hero vibes and the action scenes being super intense at times. Fits with the stakes escalating throughout the story. The themes of self discovery, coming of age, embracing one self, and about how much we mere humans know about the Earth, were rather clear.
I believe this is a standalone, but I could easily see some follow up material following Lola or some other characters. Either way, the ending was satisfying, even if nothing further comes of this world or characters.
Victoria Villarreal did an outstanding job on the narration! The regular switches from English to Spanish and vice versa was flawless, and she was great with the range of each character.
Really enjoyed this story and highly recommend this one for those looking for a gender bender Zorro story with some fantasy, or someone interested in this time period or setting with some fantastical elements.
*I received an ARC from Netgalley and Macmillan Audio. All opinions are my own.*
Lola de La Peña was raised to be a proper Mexican lady, but her journey to Alta California has changed her to become a masked hero, Salvación, helping to protect her town from trouble. However, she soon finds herself in a situation that she might not be able to solve alone.
Lola was a great protagonist. She used to simply accept her role as a proper lady back home, even though she did unladylike things. However, the dangerous and deadly trip to Alta California ignited a sense of justice in her, and forces her to live two lives. The girl that helps her mother heal people during the day, and a masked hero at night, keeping the people of the town safe. It makes her think about the life she wants to live going forward and further complicates her daily activities.
Due to this being sold as a romantasy, I was led to believe that the romance was going to be the primary relationship, and while it is significant, Lola's relationship with the rest of her family takes priority, and those dynamics are well developed. I love how Salvación is a two person job with her brother, Victor, even though Lola is the only one dressing up, and the sibling relationship is my favorite. I love how complex Lola's relationship with her parents, ever changing throughout the story. Also, Lola's relationship with the love interest, Alejandro, is complicated, especially considering that Alejandro is a companion of the main antagonist, Hernandez, and Lola is playing secret identity and Alejandro is only interested in one of the identities. Hernandez himself is very terrifying and I got nervous when he showed up.
As mentioned earlier, this takes place in the late 1840's, likely 1848-1849 based on some context clues. The town of Coloma feels like a town in transition from being controlled by Mexico to the USA. I'm not super familiar with the era, but it does have an old west town feel to the area. I do like the fantastical elements of the healing sal negra (black salt) and the destructive sal roja (red salt), and while simple, the magic system is easy to follow and very effective.
The pacing was excellent: rather quick despite several chapters running nearly an hour long on the audiobook. The prose was descriptive and helped me sink into the setting without too much trouble. I could visualize myself into the story. It did feel like it could fit in as a spinoff of Zorro with the masked hero vibes and the action scenes being super intense at times. Fits with the stakes escalating throughout the story. The themes of self discovery, coming of age, embracing one self, and about how much we mere humans know about the Earth, were rather clear.
I believe this is a standalone, but I could easily see some follow up material following Lola or some other characters. Either way, the ending was satisfying, even if nothing further comes of this world or characters.
Victoria Villarreal did an outstanding job on the narration! The regular switches from English to Spanish and vice versa was flawless, and she was great with the range of each character.
Really enjoyed this story and highly recommend this one for those looking for a gender bender Zorro story with some fantasy, or someone interested in this time period or setting with some fantastical elements.
*I received an ARC from Netgalley and Macmillan Audio. All opinions are my own.*
April 23, 2025
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy
Salvación by Sandra Proudman is a first person-POV YA historical fantasy set in California in the mid-nineteenth century inspired by El Zorro. Lola has taken up the mantle of Salvación to be free of the expectations put on her as a young Mexican woman and help protect the newfound peace in her town. But people with nefarious purposes want the healing sal negra and there’s a new salt, sal roja, that is creating new kinds of harm.
The second I saw this was inspired by Zorro, you best believe that I requested a copy. I’ve been a fan of Zorro for most of my life and I want all the adaptations exploring all the nuances of the time period. In this version, there is a light magic element with sal negra and sal roja that adds a touch of fantasy/speculative but doesn’t rewrite history. The two salts were discovered by miners and Lola remarks that as helpful as sal negra has been, it still belongs to the Earth and they were removing something that doesn’t belong to them. This creates tension between Lola and her parents as well as the people looking to take Salvación down and take the salts for themselves. An unnamed Indigenous Man does come into the plot and says that the salt needs to stop being mined, which Lola agrees with and she is determined to do the right thing by the people who lived on that land.
Lola finds a love interest in Alejandro, a young man who is very gifted with horses but is working for Hernandez, a man who is determined to destroy Salvación. When he meets her as Lola, he doesn't have the most positive impression as she uses her real identity to pretend that she’s self-centered and uninterested in what is happening outside of high society. As Salvación, Alejandro is drawn to her and she is certainly drawn to him as well. The romance is on the sweeter side and more of a slow build, which gives the story room to explore the more realistic aspects of enemies-to-lovers in this scenario without going full enemies-to-lovers.
There is some gender exploration but nothing that veered into Lola referring to herself as Enby or trans. While I’m sure some readers might be disappointed by that, I did appreciate that Lola was finding she had no desire to wear dresses anymore and she liked wearing pants and performing more traditionally masculine activities. She never says that ‘she/her’ doesn’t feel right, but as someone who is also Enby, there is a wide variety in which we present and I feel that there is a strong possibility she is in the middle of figuring out her identity within the context that she exists in. ‘Latinx’ as a marker in the marketing feels very apt and I’m excited that we got a Latinx Zorro YA historical fantasy.
I would recommend this to fans of YA historicals who like a lighter touch of fantasy and readers of Zorro adaptations looking for a YA fantasy
Salvación by Sandra Proudman is a first person-POV YA historical fantasy set in California in the mid-nineteenth century inspired by El Zorro. Lola has taken up the mantle of Salvación to be free of the expectations put on her as a young Mexican woman and help protect the newfound peace in her town. But people with nefarious purposes want the healing sal negra and there’s a new salt, sal roja, that is creating new kinds of harm.
The second I saw this was inspired by Zorro, you best believe that I requested a copy. I’ve been a fan of Zorro for most of my life and I want all the adaptations exploring all the nuances of the time period. In this version, there is a light magic element with sal negra and sal roja that adds a touch of fantasy/speculative but doesn’t rewrite history. The two salts were discovered by miners and Lola remarks that as helpful as sal negra has been, it still belongs to the Earth and they were removing something that doesn’t belong to them. This creates tension between Lola and her parents as well as the people looking to take Salvación down and take the salts for themselves. An unnamed Indigenous Man does come into the plot and says that the salt needs to stop being mined, which Lola agrees with and she is determined to do the right thing by the people who lived on that land.
Lola finds a love interest in Alejandro, a young man who is very gifted with horses but is working for Hernandez, a man who is determined to destroy Salvación. When he meets her as Lola, he doesn't have the most positive impression as she uses her real identity to pretend that she’s self-centered and uninterested in what is happening outside of high society. As Salvación, Alejandro is drawn to her and she is certainly drawn to him as well. The romance is on the sweeter side and more of a slow build, which gives the story room to explore the more realistic aspects of enemies-to-lovers in this scenario without going full enemies-to-lovers.
There is some gender exploration but nothing that veered into Lola referring to herself as Enby or trans. While I’m sure some readers might be disappointed by that, I did appreciate that Lola was finding she had no desire to wear dresses anymore and she liked wearing pants and performing more traditionally masculine activities. She never says that ‘she/her’ doesn’t feel right, but as someone who is also Enby, there is a wide variety in which we present and I feel that there is a strong possibility she is in the middle of figuring out her identity within the context that she exists in. ‘Latinx’ as a marker in the marketing feels very apt and I’m excited that we got a Latinx Zorro YA historical fantasy.
I would recommend this to fans of YA historicals who like a lighter touch of fantasy and readers of Zorro adaptations looking for a YA fantasy
August 7, 2025
1.5 stars
salvacion markets itself as a genderbent zorro retelling—what i've grown to know as a justice-seeking hero with fun sword fights and heists. there is NONE of that here. salvacion was doomed from the start when it cornered itself down the YA route, making it afraid to take the story further. if an older audience were the target demographic, there would be less meandering, no one for the mc to answer to but herself, the stakes would be higher, and an older audience would be more familiar with the legend of zorro. for those who don't know, zorro is a mexican anti-capitalist and anti-cop masked vigilante who frequently defends the poor and indigenous people. salvacion would have actually been fun had it stuck the landing as an adult novel.
while lola has a just cause, she's a child who doesn't know how to handle a sword and she just scares people into running away without doing anything. the majority of this book is her planning failed heists, talking about magic salt, speaking to/about her family, swooning over one of the dullest love interests i've read, and rambling on about the same things. it's fine to have flawed characters but the main character isn't a main character. she is a passive bystander in her own story, the world and characters moving around her while we're stuck in her pov. lola makes her brother do the bulk of the heavy lifting when she's masked up. i'm the oldest child and i could never imagine casually putting my siblings in harm's way the way lola does. it was as if she was actively trying to get her brother killed. i cannot emphasize enough that she's a child going up against dangerous adults so i couldn't take her seriously. i also didn't understand how her mother is a healer and her father is a defender of the town, yet they didn't see a white colonizer as a big threat to their home?? lastly, i was repulsed by the "romance" because it came out of nowhere, it wasn't well-developed, and i simply did not care about the villain's boring lackey who doesn't show up for most of the novel.
i wanted so badly for this to be good. now i'm just hoping another latine author will take this idea and not be afraid to run with it.
----
original cover artist: roxie vizcarra
owlcrate cover artist: lynn nguyen
relit cover artist: valentino lasso
salvacion markets itself as a genderbent zorro retelling—what i've grown to know as a justice-seeking hero with fun sword fights and heists. there is NONE of that here. salvacion was doomed from the start when it cornered itself down the YA route, making it afraid to take the story further. if an older audience were the target demographic, there would be less meandering, no one for the mc to answer to but herself, the stakes would be higher, and an older audience would be more familiar with the legend of zorro. for those who don't know, zorro is a mexican anti-capitalist and anti-cop masked vigilante who frequently defends the poor and indigenous people. salvacion would have actually been fun had it stuck the landing as an adult novel.
while lola has a just cause, she's a child who doesn't know how to handle a sword and she just scares people into running away without doing anything. the majority of this book is her planning failed heists, talking about magic salt, speaking to/about her family, swooning over one of the dullest love interests i've read, and rambling on about the same things. it's fine to have flawed characters but the main character isn't a main character. she is a passive bystander in her own story, the world and characters moving around her while we're stuck in her pov. lola makes her brother do the bulk of the heavy lifting when she's masked up. i'm the oldest child and i could never imagine casually putting my siblings in harm's way the way lola does. it was as if she was actively trying to get her brother killed. i cannot emphasize enough that she's a child going up against dangerous adults so i couldn't take her seriously. i also didn't understand how her mother is a healer and her father is a defender of the town, yet they didn't see a white colonizer as a big threat to their home?? lastly, i was repulsed by the "romance" because it came out of nowhere, it wasn't well-developed, and i simply did not care about the villain's boring lackey who doesn't show up for most of the novel.
i wanted so badly for this to be good. now i'm just hoping another latine author will take this idea and not be afraid to run with it.
----
original cover artist: roxie vizcarra
owlcrate cover artist: lynn nguyen
relit cover artist: valentino lasso
March 1, 2025
E-Arc provided through NetGalley - 3.5 stars
A fun YA adventure inspired by the legend of Zorro - this time a teen girl looking to protect her young mining town and family from a dangerous man with dangerous magic.
While the summary pushes the romance aspect of this - the story is definitely focused on Lola's relationship with her family more than anything else. She has already shed her innocence and became the mysterious hero Salvacion in the beginning of the book, protecting the town and magical "sal negra" black salt that has the power to heal. Now she has to balance her family's idea for the future vs her own, all escalated when a bad man with a small army comes into town welding dangerous magic.
Lola is a great main character. She's strong, she's independent and opinionated - but also still a young girl. She doesn't always know when to go along with her parent's plans and when to fight back. She doubts her own abilities, wants to give up, and makes mistakes like a realistic young hero.
I especially enjoyed the relationship between her and Victor, her older brother. The book is clear with the fact that they are BOTH Salvacion together. They make plans, adjust to problems, and talk through everything together. Their trust and love is palpable, I loved seeing a strong sibling dynamic.
The romance with Alejandro is more of a subplot. Lola is attracted to him at the start, but is focused on her goal to protect her town first and foremost. Their relationship grows naturally and I still really enjoyed seeing them become close.
The world is great as well. The use of salt as magic feels unique, and I especially liked the commentary about how just because humans FOUND something powerful, doesn't mean they should actually use it. It's nice to see the acknowledgement of indigenous people and practices as well.
My biggest issue with this that keeps me from 4 and 5 stars is that there is a TON of telling, and not showing. Like mentioned previously, this starts with Lola already comfortable as Salvacion - she tells us over and over again that she's no longer the privileged society girl she was, but we never see that. She tells us how each of her relationships with her family has changed, but I just have to take her word for it. The bonds we DO see are strong and I enjoyed them, but didn't appreciate being repeatedly reminded that these were new developments.
Some of her parents views seem to turn on a dime as well. I didn't quite understand why her mother would be extremely protective and watch her at all times, then just give it up a few chapters later.
Overall I still highly recommend this thrilling YA adventure!
A fun YA adventure inspired by the legend of Zorro - this time a teen girl looking to protect her young mining town and family from a dangerous man with dangerous magic.
While the summary pushes the romance aspect of this - the story is definitely focused on Lola's relationship with her family more than anything else. She has already shed her innocence and became the mysterious hero Salvacion in the beginning of the book, protecting the town and magical "sal negra" black salt that has the power to heal. Now she has to balance her family's idea for the future vs her own, all escalated when a bad man with a small army comes into town welding dangerous magic.
Lola is a great main character. She's strong, she's independent and opinionated - but also still a young girl. She doesn't always know when to go along with her parent's plans and when to fight back. She doubts her own abilities, wants to give up, and makes mistakes like a realistic young hero.
I especially enjoyed the relationship between her and Victor, her older brother. The book is clear with the fact that they are BOTH Salvacion together. They make plans, adjust to problems, and talk through everything together. Their trust and love is palpable, I loved seeing a strong sibling dynamic.
The romance with Alejandro is more of a subplot. Lola is attracted to him at the start, but is focused on her goal to protect her town first and foremost. Their relationship grows naturally and I still really enjoyed seeing them become close.
The world is great as well. The use of salt as magic feels unique, and I especially liked the commentary about how just because humans FOUND something powerful, doesn't mean they should actually use it. It's nice to see the acknowledgement of indigenous people and practices as well.
My biggest issue with this that keeps me from 4 and 5 stars is that there is a TON of telling, and not showing. Like mentioned previously, this starts with Lola already comfortable as Salvacion - she tells us over and over again that she's no longer the privileged society girl she was, but we never see that. She tells us how each of her relationships with her family has changed, but I just have to take her word for it. The bonds we DO see are strong and I enjoyed them, but didn't appreciate being repeatedly reminded that these were new developments.
Some of her parents views seem to turn on a dime as well. I didn't quite understand why her mother would be extremely protective and watch her at all times, then just give it up a few chapters later.
Overall I still highly recommend this thrilling YA adventure!
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