DNF 41%
I see that alot of the people that read the book liked it. I was one of those who did not. I couldn`t connect with the characters, found them boring and annoying at best.

This book made me feel things! It made me feel rage and passion and inspired and angry all at once. Personally, I can appreciate when an author really makes you mad and sets your teeth on edge. The fantasy elements of this novel were incredibly interesting, and I find the themes unnerving but bold. It's clear that Vélez had no intention to remain on the path well taken with her writing, daring to veer off into the unknown and display some incredibly dark thoughts and some very unpopular opinions in her writing.

That being said, I believe this was done effectively. However, the writing style itself wasn't best suited to me — though I think this is more personal preference, and the love interest infuriated me to the point that I just couldn't love this book.

A perfectly enjoyable read, but missing the unputdownable spark I look for in novels.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3454067317

I received a copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review
This was not good at all. the title was misleading in the extreme and Madame Calixta was kind of... tasteless.

i enjoyed reading this but didn't realize that I had read this already. The characters were great and I really enjoyed it.

ARC from NetGalley

This book is preachy and not terribly well-written. DNF at 70% after the second mention of abortion in a negative light. There will be spoilers in this review.

I don't care what you believe, but I don't need to read about it. I should have known with all of the religious allegory and references to heaven and hell. I should have known when her soul darkened every time she had sex, but once they started talking about fetuses being children, I noped out of there really quick. I've read plenty of books that take on angels/demons and do it well without preaching, but this is not one of those books.

Calixta is a prostitute, and in this book she learns that if she just stops fucking people, she will turn out okay and save the world from evil.

Once she discovers she is a vanquisher, every time she has sex with someone, you get a dramatic bit of text that says something like, "and Calixta's aura darkened, and the demons were able to find her more easily." She doesn't go to hell though because despite being a dirty whore, she does some good things too.

I find it interesting that this author seems to be trying to get the reader to understand how awful things can be for women and slaves and especially women who are slaves. She paints almost every single man in this book with the same asshole garbage colours, even the main love interest, and then somehow tries to convince the reader that the same love interest is a decent person even though everything about him screams garbage and he treats Calixta like shit.

As stated above, her love interest treats her like a complete piece of shit, but he keeps her alive because he needs her and doesn't send her packing. Apparently we should be swooning over this.

Never mind all of the above, this book isn't very well written. The dialogue is choppy and stilted, "oh, this smell is horrible, it is my turn to puke," and almost everything is told, not shown.

This book was a series of eye rolls and are-you-fucking-kidding-mes. Read this if you want to develop a complex about sex and evil, because every single instance of sex in this book up to the 70% mark, even consensual sex, is evil. I imagine that the sex in the last 30% when Calixta and her dude are married will be much more pious and won't further darken her soul. Heck, it might even brighten it! Because all we ladies need in life to save our wretched souls is an empty vagina, unless that vagina is full of a man that we are married to.

I picked up this book because the premise intrigued me. I liked the characters and the world but I had a hard time with the writing style. I really wanted to enjoy this book but there were too many (unnecessary) descriptions that put me off. Overall, this book have a potential to be great.

Calixta was a book that I picked up because it had a unique premise that sounded interesting to me even though I had never heard of it. A strong woman who dies saving innocent lives who is then sent back to fight evil? Sign me up! Unfortunately, this book just wasn't for me. I found the writing to do a lot more telling rather than showing and it made it really hard for me to visualize where we were or what the characters looked or sounded like. If there was a bit more descriptive language that would have painted a picture for me, I think I could have really liked or even loved this book. As it stands, I was unable to finish reading the book due to the problems I had with it.

when i say wow i mean really wow! Calixta, a woman who was sold into life of an exotic prostitute, has two unfortunate things happen at once she is killed while trying to defend a friend.Shes kept alive simply because her work is not yet done and there are plans for her life for which she was totally unaware. This is the first in a series that makes for an interesting journey as she learns her true powers while being tracked by demons who wish to make her life ending-permanent. I Enjoyed everything about this book there was nothing I didn't like about the book. I Like the setting,the writing style,the plot,the plot twists and the characters in the book were amazing.I would gladly reread it again.

The book cover caught my eye and the synopsis drew me in.

The world where Calixta, The Vanquishers of Alhambra is set is a richly developed one.
A world with magic and a an almost feudal type of society where people are designated roles by birth and assigned a trade or function for life and kept at that station by a regulatory tattoo. A place where you hope that misfortune or malice doesn't cast you into slavery and keep you there.

This is a world of magic and the fight of good against evil, abounding with religious allegory.
We meet a bunch of not so merry men and women as they fight against demons, encounter fae and try to stop the encroaching darkness from taking over the world.

I wanted to like this book, in fact I wanted to love it given the plot: it had all the themes that I typically enjoy. But I didn't like the way it was written; it was completely off putting - too much show and not enough tell. Pages and pages to describe one scene and a sentence to indicate months elapsing. Characters, especially villains poorly described made it impossible to like or engage with the story.

Which was a crying shame leaving me torn between giving it 1 star for the frustration and disappointment in the execution of a fantastic idea. But the world building in spite of the delivery deserves a 2.

My thanks to NetGalley, Omayra Vélez and Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) for an advance copy of this book in exchange for a candid review.

2 Stars - It Was Okay

Calixta, a woman who was sold into life of an exotic prostitute, has two unfortunate things happen at once—she is killed while trying to defend a friend. She’s kept alive simply because her work is not yet done and there are plans for her life for which she was totally unaware. This is the first in a series that makes for an interesting journey as she learns her true powers while being tracked by demons who wish to make her life’s ending—permanent. She is now on the search for others who have the same talents, and this will make for an interesting series as each story unfolds.

This story tracks Calixta, a woman sold into the trade of an exotic prostitute in Talbert. She is beset by demons who are trying to kill her and has to learn her true powers before the demons are successful. This book is the first part in a series telling this story and chronicles her journey to find others like her and the companions she picks up on the way.

I thought the world created was interesting and the storytelling was pacy, although the style of writing was too direct for my liking. It will be interesting to see how the story develops further beyond this book.

Calixta is a prostitute, but not just any ole prostitute. She is Madame Calixta, the owner of the Shining Star Salon., an exotic! When she is killed while defending a friend, she finds out that God has other plans for her!


I read and reviewed this advanced complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley

A great fantasy read, I really enjoyed this, went in not knowing what to expect but left pleasantly surprised. It’s not an honest easy read but definitely worthwhile. Calixta I loved, strong willed, stubborn just my kind of girl, Dreyden I wasn’t as keen on at first but he does grow on you by the end, he just has a journey to go on first. Great story and I look forward to more.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion