I ended up DNFing this one at 20% mainly because this ended up not being the type of story for me. This definitely leaned much more historical fiction with politics of the time versus kind of what I was hoping for. I wanted more of an adventure story with some fantasy in it, so it just wasn't what I was hoping for. The writing was very dry and stated everything very matter of fact, which also leant more into the historical side of things. That being said, I'm giving it a 3 star because there are quite a few people who I think this would work for since they enjoy historical fiction more than I do.

DNF at 62%

I’ve been a huge fan of Zorro since I was a kid, and was so excited to read a gender swapped Zorro story, but unfortunately this fell flat for me. It felt like we had been dropped in book 2 instead of the beginning of a story. The worldbuilding around the magic and sal negra and sal roja wasn’t clear. Why was it only there? Has it ever existed in the world before? Why did her mother know it was there? Why was only her mother allowed to use it to heal even though anyone could? It felt like the characters were trying to be so many things, that it felt superficial and contradictory. Our main character complained constantly about hating dresses and her boots and felt very not like other girls and didn’t seem particularly pressed to keep her secret identity as Salvacion a secret.

Thank you to Netgalley and St Martin’s Press for the e-arc.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martins Press for an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was ultimately a very wholesome story about 17 year old Loli growing into a self-assured young woman while learning to navigate challenging familial dynamics and the fact that the world is constantly changing around her.

The messages and themes of this book, surrounding how siblings can have different relationships with their parents, how people can deserve second chances should they want to change for the better, and how nature should be left alone and left to be wild without human interference are very important and I felt as though the messaging got through and gave the book lots of depth. I really did enjoy these aspects of the book.

However, I just don’t think I was as engaged as I wanted to be with the plot itself. It felt like sequences were happening just to happen and Loli was making wild and not thought-through decisions in order to get those things to happen.

In addition, Loli’s narration was at times really repetitive, just saying the same sentence again with slight variation.

Overall, enjoyed the themes and messages of this book. Loved seeing Loli and Victor’s complex sibling relationship and how that tied into their relationships with their parents. The siblings were definitely a highlight of this book. I thought Loli’s learning to accept herself and be self-confident in an environment where women are expected to fulfill a singular and specific role was relatable. Like I said, the plot itself just fell flat for me.

I do recommend this book if only for the themes of the story, but I can see plenty of people enjoying the plot as well!

Salvación is a powerful, evocative journey of healing, faith, and resilience. Sandra Proudman’s lyrical storytelling beautifully captures the struggles and triumphs of finding salvation in unexpected places. A deeply moving read that stays with you long after the last page.

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⭐️

Thank you to the author, publisher, and Net Galley for an ARC of this book. I have mixed feeling regarding this book. I love the premise of the story. The concepts of the magic salts was interesting. I felt that the author told more than she showed. I had high expectations, and it didn't quite meet them. There weren't enough small, build-up Zorro like moments. Not quite sure if the town really didn't know that she wasn't Salvacion or not. I do like how the brother/sister relationship developed and the relationship with her mother improved. I will purchase it for our library. Lola is a strong female character and I had to keep reminding myself that she is a teenager and they do make impulsive decisions. 2.5 stars

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.

The villain, much like everything else, ought to have been fleshed out. From beginning to end we are left questioning his motives, his end goal, how he came to be in the position he is, and any other foundational trait required to craft a believable villain. I neither cared for him nor feared him, and Alejandro’s supposed familial relationship with him did not make me sympathize with either of them, because it was so underdeveloped it may as well have not been there. We’re provided no context, no backstory, no show of emotion from Alejandro or Hernández himself. We’re meant to fear the possibility of Alejandro's betrayal as Lola does, but why should we when we are given no reason as to why he might be loyal to Hernández? I could not help but be left with the impression that there were tropes and dynamics that the author wanted to include in the book, but she simply didn’t know how to get there, and so they just… Are. No suitable explanation, no satisfying payoff.

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 to cover 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.

A HUGE thank you to St Martins Press and NetGalley for a copy of this ARC. Rounded up from 4.5 stars. Wow! I didn’t know what to expect with this book but I was blown away. I l loved the world building. I loved the historic elements. I loved the magic system. It reminded me of Dread Nation in the best ways. I did find the dialogue a little repetitious at times with how Lola feels about herself and her family. Lola also felt a little too immature at times which I’m sure is meant to show her growth throughout the story and highlight that she was still young. I loved the incorporation of Spanish into the dialogue. It is YA but I feel like I’ll be recommending this so wholeheartedly to anyone who will listen.

3.5 ⭐️

I was extremely excited for Salvación as someone that grew up watching Zorro (played by Guy Williams and later Antonio Banderas) with my dad. As someone that loves female empowering stories, I was intrigued for this gender swapped version and had extremely high hopes.

However, there were parts of this story that felt brushed over first off about the journey to Coloma and why Lola's mama felt drawn to go there. I would love to possibly have a prequel to the story that could cover this journey and a lot of the trials her family faced leading up to picking up the part of becoming El Zorro.

I also didn't realize until reading other reviews that there was another detail that had bothered me. Aside from not having the fun sword fighting scenes (that were some of my favorite in the TV show and movie), there was the fact that only 3 women lived in this town but NO ONE not even the love interest had any idea it was Lola.

The story was very promising and I appreciated the slight nods to the original Zorro, but I wish that some details would have been a bit more thought out and better explained.

Thank you Netgalley for letting me read the e-ARC for this book.

This book wasn’t my favorite. I was really excited about a Zorro retelling but overall this book was not as well executed as I had hoped. This book read very young to me which is something that I am on the fence about with YA recently. I enjoyed the romance in this one but I struggled quite a bit with the pacing for it and for the story itself. I also had a hard time meshing with the writing style in this book which would take me out of the story quite a lot. While I did enjoy the concept I needed a bit more of the plot and charcaters to be developed and explored. Overall this was a good concept for a book that missed a bit for me in the execution. Would still definitely recommend checking since this book was just not my style of read but do see it having some good aspects that others may enjoy!

Salvacion

"Perhaps that was what life was, just a line of days when you have the chance to evolve and become someone else, someone better."

What a delightful adventure! This is a Latinx YA twist on El Zorro where Lola de la Pena must become the masked heroine, Salvacion, in order to protect her city.

Frustrated with being reduced to a silly senorita, who is only concerned with dresses and boys, Lola spends her evenings reveling in her masked identity, known to the townspeople as a powerful protector. She is called on to rise up when a dangerous man comes into their city, posing as a savior, while brandishing a dangerous magic that brings nothing but harm and destruction.

Alongside her brother Victor, Salvacion works to defeat Hernandez, despite her undeniable pull to one of his right-hand men, Alejandro.

This was such a delightful YA fantasy adventure! The twist of romance between Lola and Alejandro was just icing on the cake of this story about standing up for what is right, fighting for what you believe in, and believing in your loved ones.

The audio was absolutely magical - I loved hearing the Spanish narrated and the accents were so delightful, keeping me invested in the story. I alternated between audio and digital but highly recommend either formant.

Check this one out for:
- YA fantasy romance adventure
- The power of family
- Latinx FMC

Thank you to Wednesday Books for this ARC! My opinions are my own.

Salvación by Sandra Proudman is a great YA historical fantasy set in California in the mid-nineteenth century inspired by El Zorro.
A fast paced story that was honestly very intriguing and easy to devour.
I was hooked from the beginning!!
It was amazing and engaging.
I was instantly sucked in by the atmosphere and writing style.
The characters were all very well developed .
The writing is exceptional and I was hooked after the first sentence.

A very fun and creative fantasy spin on the classic Zorro story!

While most vigilante stories are stories of intense isolation — characters constantly having to hide their double lives, living in fear of their secret being discovered, refusing to get close to people to avoid implicating others in their vigilante activity — "Salvación" is actually a story about togetherness and community. The larger-than-life figure of Salvación actually doesn't (and can't) exist on her own; she requires the assistance of her brother and her parents in able to pull off all that she does.

I absolutely loved that touch. While Salvación is a strong, independent vigilante, she's only able to *be* strong because she has so many people in her corner who believe in her and support her pursuit of justice.

The fantasy elements in this story were also fascinating. There's a kind of magic unleashed by the two opposite elements, sal negro and sal rojo — one of which heals and the other destroys. I really appreciate the way that magic was employed in the story, particularly because it reveals a moral quandry of how destruction and despair seem to spread so much faster and further than their counterparts of love or hope. So in a way, the story is asking a bigger question regarding what it means to pursue justice in a world where corruption is so prevalent and so overpowering? Where do we find strength and how do we continue finding the will to fight back?

And as with any Zorro story, I think it also opens up questions about our concepts of "good" and "evil," especially because a figure like Salvación is often considered to be a criminal, because she's operating in defiance of the law, even though she arguably exacts "justice." She has to break the law in order to bring people to justice in the first place, which feels oxymoronic. So the story is also exploring how far she's willing to go in order to achive that sense of "justice." Is pursuing justice truly worthy any cost if it means hurting people, destroying things, endangering people and the land, and potentially using the enemy's very same weapons or tools against them? These are really interesting moral questions, and I appreciate how the story gives Lola space to explore them in her own time.

While I think the underlying romance could have been swoonier and more emotional, overall I really appreciate everything this story is doing. The audiobook, read by Victoria Villareal, is absolutely sensational as well. Can't wait to see what else Sanda Proudman writes in the future!

Salvación introduces a rich world of magic, culture, and resistance set in the turbulent aftermath of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Lola de La Peña is a fierce protagonist, torn between her duties as a proper young lady and her secret identity as a masked vigilante. The historical setting and the idea of magical salts—sal negra to heal, sal roja to destroy—bring a fresh and imaginative flair to the genre.

However, despite its strong foundation, the novel struggles with pacing and cohesion. The action and stakes feel high in theory, but the urgency often gets lost in repetitive inner thoughts and a romance that overshadows the central conflict. While Lola’s fiery independence is admirable, her emotional arc—especially her feelings toward Alejandro—feels underdeveloped and rushed.

Damien Hernández’s villainy is clear from the start, yet his motivations and backstory remain thin, which weakens the tension. And though the book aims to explore themes of legacy, justice, and identity, those elements occasionally take a backseat to less compelling romantic drama.

That said, Proudman’s passion for Mexican history and culture shines through, and there are moments—particularly involving Lola’s family and her struggle with inherited expectations—that are genuinely moving. This book may still appeal to readers looking for historical fantasy with a strong cultural identity and a rebellious heroine.

Final verdict: Salvación is an ambitious debut that blends magic and history in a unique way, but it doesn’t always strike the right balance between romance, plot, and world-building.

During the day, Lola de La Peña meekly helps her mother heal visitors with the magical substance sal negra. At night, she is Salvación, a masked vigilante who chases away those who would threaten the piece of her home. A desperate woman arrives one night to warn of a destructive substance called sal roha, wielded by a man called Damien Hernández. Torn between her two roles and racing against time, Lola must stop Hernández.

There’s a lot of heart in this, from the strong female character, realistic family dynamics, and the thoughtful respect for Indigenous wisdom. I also appreciate seeing more age-appropriate YA books.

But there isn’t much substance or structure. This takes place in an alternate United States shortly after the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The main difference from reality is that magic exists. In this world, Lola’s family “discovers” black salt, which has the power to heal any injury and cure any illness. This black salt essentially replaces the 19th century gold rush to some degree, I guess. It didn’t seem very well fleshed out and I was constantly distracted. How was Lola’s mother “called” to the salt? Why is she the main healer even though anyone can apparently use it? Why don’t they triage the line of people waiting for healing? Why on earth is there a magical ritual that needs to take place on the full moon so Hernández can collect even more sal roja even though it seems like he has plenty? Why can NO ONE recognize Lola as Salvación even though she’s one of only three women in town? Even as a middle grade or teenage reader, I would find all of this frustrating.

SALVACIÓN by Sandra Proudman

Pub date: May 20th, 2025
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Rating: 4 / 5


"I didn't think I was a warrior. But I did know that Salvación could be a hero."

Lola de La Peña lives in a small town in Alta California rich with magical sal negra. By day, Lola aids her mother's use of sal negra to heal the sick and injured. At night, she dons her mask as Salvación—the protector of her town. When signs of a new evil begin leeching into Alta California, a caravan led by one Señor Hernández arrives with the promise of taking back land for México. Lola doesn't trust Hernández, though she cannot stand against him herself. But perhaps she can as Salvación; Salvación will always defend her people.

SALVACIÓN is a Zorro-inspired YA tale, swapping a masked man for a heroine vigilante who seeks to protect her culture and family. The writing of the story is direct and action unfolds in a way that will likely appeal to younger audiences. As a narrator, Lola is feisty, cares deeply about her people, and proudly honors her heritage. Lola's arc also explores strong themes of natural vs unnatural, the destruction of greed, and standing against injustice. A prominent part of the book's marketing is a romance between Lola and Alejandro, the right hand of Hernández. While definitely present, the relationship between Lola and Alejandro is not nearly as developed or focused on the way Lola's familial relationships are. But the romance does add sweetness, and tension, to the plot. Readers looking for a story that celebrates Mexican heritage, fierce young women, and historic adventures are sure to enjoy Sandra Proudman's YA fantasy debut.


(Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review!)

3.75 stars

Thank you to the publisher for gifting me an eARC via NetGalley to read and review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I enjoyed this one, but it took me quite a while to get through. Part of it was me falling into a slump, but I also didn’t think about this book or pick it up for around a week. When I did go back to it, I found that I wasn’t lost and slipped right back into the story where I had left off.

The writing style was interesting. I liked the way the author incorporated the Spanish words into the narrative, but as someone who doesn’t speak Spanish at all there were a few times that I had no idea what the characters had said. Most things I was able to figure based on context, but a few had me lost. I could have looked them up, but it takes me out of the story to have to constantly be translating the words that are used.

The pacing was good. There was tension building as Lola and Vincent tried to figure out why Hernandez was in Coloma and what his true motivations were. I did find that the chapters that had more action moved really fast and kept me hooked, but the chapters that had less seemed to drag at times.

I liked the sibling dynamic between Lola and Vincent. They truly cared for each other, and they always had each other’s backs. I thought they worked well together. I liked the hints of romance between Alejandro and Lola, but wish there had been more development.

I struggled to connect with Lola’s character. I related to her not wanting to conform to society, but the way that she described herself as Salvacion didn’t sit very well. She came across like she was trying too hard to convince the reader and herself that she was Salvacion for purely selfless reasons. I also didn’t buy that nobody had realized that she was Salvacion. It seemed too obvious for such a small place that no one had made the connection.

Overall this was a fun read. The magia and the sal were super cool, and I really liked how it played such an important role. The setting was awesome, and the family dynamics were well written

3.5 Stars

After traveling from their home to a mining community called Coloma in order to pursue their Mother's call to healing the sick, Lola de La Peña and her brother Victor have taken it upon themselves to keep the magic of sal negra safe from encroaching Yankee forces. The black salt heals all wounds, new and old, and in the wrong hands, could mean doom for the small town. As Salvación, Lola finds her true purpose in life. Is her determined nature enough to keep evil forces at bay?

My feelings for Salvación are pretty mixed. This novel is marketed for a young adult audience. It's absolutely perfect for that age. As an adult I found many continuity errors that distracted me from the overall plot and some unbalanced pacing in the novel, although I would still describe the story as fast paced.

I had a difficult time with the inner monologue of a character who strives for confidence in her alter ego, but constantly worries about a few very distinct problems: her need to wear pants, her relationship with her parents/brother, and keeping her town safe. The relationships between Lola and her Mother and Father also didn't seem as desperate as she made them out to be. Honestly though, her take on her problems was probably age appropriate.

The discussion about invading forces on indigenous people, and claiming land as yours when it isn't, is very important. And the book has a very strong “girl power” vibe that I can get behind. A lot of events wouldn't have been possible if Lola’s family hadn't, even begrudgingly, supported their daughter. I also didn't know anything about Alta California, and plan on remedying that soon.

I think I absolutely would have eaten this up as a younger person, I just wasn't the optimal audience!

A Zorro gender bent retelling set in America with magical salt instead of gold, definitely a unique twist. This initially intrigued me because I love a vigilante story with a twist and this definitely had potential. I was definitely interested in the first half but it just got kind of boring for me. The world building was a bit meh and the whole Zorro aspect was really lacking. The romance didn't really feel all there for me either. I just wasn't ever really hooked and found myself just kind of getting bored with the overall story. I wish I could say I liked it better but it just felt kind of lackluster in the end. While this one missed the mark for me, I do think that if you want a Zorro retelling/vibes you should give it a try because you just might end up liking it!

Release Date: May 20, 2025

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

*Thanks Netgalley and St. Martin's Press | Wednesday Books for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

This fast-paced Zorro retelling had me hooked from the very beginning! It was easy to read and connect with Lola. Her relationships with her family were relatable and honest. We love a FMC who takes care of herself and those she loves!
The world building was minimal and was confusing at times. Not everyone enjoys a lot of world building but I would’ve loved to read more about the town and Lola’s life as La Salvación.
This was a great stand-alone geared more towards middle/upper YA.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC!