Salvación was one of my most anticipated reads of the year and it did not disappoint! Proudman did a wonderfully weaves magic and mystery with discussions on colonialism, a bit of a slow burn romance, and a masked vigilante who inspires a rebellion to save her community.

I loved Lola and Victor! While this is a story of fighting against oppression and colonialism, this was also a beautiful story of family. The sibling bond was impenetrable and Lola and Victor trusted each other implicitly as they fought side by side to not only save their family, but to save their community and those beyond from those who sought to bring harm and death.

Proudman’s storytelling was quite captivating and I switched between reading with my eyes and ears, and I really enjoyed the narration of the audiobook. The story is slower at times as the suspense builds but then really takes off towards the end.

Lola and Victor, who are siblings, make the decision to create a secret hero who can defend justice. However, as they work together, Lola emerges as the angel and the public face. In nature, there is a balance between good and bad magic. One heals, while the other devours more quickly than fire. Fear of conflict, love for family, respect for Indigenous people, greed, brutality, and respect for the people. The relationship between the siblings is excellent, and Lola's interest in a new kid in town—who is on the enemy's side—develops into more.

Salvación by Sandra Proudman is an action-packed adventure featuring strong family dynamics. I enjoyed this book from the beginning. Sandra Proudman incorporated the magical aspects into the story. The writing was clear and conveyed the internal turmoil of our main character. Salvacion is a persona created by two siblings looking to take care of their community in the face of threats.
The characters were well fleshed out, and the complicated relationships were the forefront of this story. The character development in this book is terrific.
There is a romance element in this story, tho it is not the primary focus of the book, it shines through. I enjoyed the highlight of indigenous knowledge and the fight to protect the gifts of the land.
I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a Zorro-inspired tale of belonging and adventure in times of uncertainty.

I would like to thank the publisher for giving me an audio-arc in exchange for an honest review through NetGalley.

Lola's whole family moved themselves to Alta California after hearing about magic being there. Now, she spends her days with her mamá as they heal people who come to them for help using the sal negro that can heal just about all ailments. During the day, Lola dresses and acts like a proper lady, but, in order to protect the people she cares about the most, at night she dresses as the vigilante Salvación. Driving away the people that come to their town threatening others, alongside her brother, the two of them have been keeping wicked people off of the streets, protecting the sal and the community. When a stranger comes to town with an army, convincing her father that they're fighting for good it's up to Lola, her brother, and Alejandro (a mysterious stranger who came to town along with Damien Hernández) to stop him from taking all of the salt for himself especially, since he's looking for sal roja -- a salt that's used to kill rather than heal. And if Hernández succeeds, all life will forever change.

I liked the plot in this so much and the way Lola handles the situation. When she helps the stranger/woman who comes looking for help from the sal roja, we get this deeper look into her mind and how she feels about what her mom is doing and it really humanizes her for me. I like the fact that she isn't an overpowered/unstoppable machine and still feels like a teenage girl. The romance felt a little instalovey in the beginning, but the more we got to see of Alejandro the more I was okay with everything going on between them. I really enjoyed the magic aspect, and I enjoyed the action. This was pretty fast-paced from start to finish, and I definitely would recommend this.

I really wanted to love Salvación. The concept, the cultural setting, and the themes all sounded incredibly promising. Unfortunately, the story just didn’t pull me in. The pacing felt slow right from the start, and I struggled to connect with the characters or find momentum in the plot. The narration was clear, but even in audio format, I found myself zoning out and having to rewind more than once.

This simply wasn't the right fit for me, but I can see how readers who enjoy richly layered fantasy with a slow build might appreciate it more. I’m grateful for the chance to sample it early and wish the author much success with this release.

🗡️Inspired by the legend of Zorro, Salvacion is a Young Adult reverse gender historical fantasy, set in the late 1840s shortly after the Mexican-American War, when Alta California was ceded to the Americans. I love the premise and idea, and the story kicked off strong.

The world is built quickly and clearly. The pacing moves well and was engaging the whole time, with history and magic weaved seamlessly together. I love the Spanglish! It lends authenticity to the story, strongly connects the reader to the culture and setting, and brings the world to life.

❤️‍🔥As for relationships, the romance is definitely YA. There was an immediate attraction to him right away. Despite constantly pointing out how she does not trust Alejandro, she continues to act contrary to it over, and over again, and brings up how special he is somehow. It's a little cheesy to me, but it wasn't horrible, and made sense for the YA style of writing that this book is geared for.

The relationship with her parents felt a little under-developed and one note. It often felt like she was being an insolent teenager who thought her parents simply wouldn't understand her side of anything, and so she didn't even bother to really try to communicate - not just say what she feels but to really listen to them as well. Her father, who is supposed to be a respected leader of their town, suddenly changed drastically in his personality and it wasn't really explained why he did that, other than to move the plot along for Lole and the decisions she made. It was such a contrast in behavior that it felt like some sort of deeper understanding for his choice was needed. Maybe as a parent now, who watches The Little Mermaid and finds Ariel 🧜🏻‍♀️ annoying instead of sympathizing with her, it is a sign that I'm just getting older, LOL!

I love the relationship between Lole and her brother, Victor. This was the strongest relationship in the entire story, and I'm all for that! Their bond was special and unique as siblings, and Victor clearly loves Lole very much as her big brother...even when she doesn't make the best choices. He shows her genuine and valid concern about her choices but often, she believes she is making the best decisions because she's so much more mature now after leaving Sonora (which is brought up maybe too many times). But he loves her so much, and he still supports her fully when she throws herself into dangerous, almost thoughtless situations.

📕With it being a YA book, I appreciate that the language was largely clean (maybe 3 mild curse words I remember correctly) nor any content that would be too mature or disturbing.

I was waiting for real retribution a la Zorro (a vigilante who was as clever, charming and sly as a fox!), but La Salvacion felt anything but. Her plans don't work out and others bail her out often, and honestly, she makes some not-great decisions. Her plans were serious, but she often backtracks and realizes that it risks those around her, whether it be her family or her horse. She wants to act like a hero for the sake of saving those around her, but it often feels like her choices are more risky than heroic, and not considering those that get pulled in with her. Perhaps it makes her more human, and relatable as a teenager...but that detracts from the supposed "legend" of Salvacion that is supposedly already established, and makes her much less of a sword wielding Zorro than I hoped for. She had a little bit of action at the end, but well, she missed her shots *face palm* when she had a chance, nor did she swing out a sword.

Certain phrases are repeated too much for my liking - such as "speaking with their eyes", and how much she hates wearing dresses 💃🏻and heels. Honestly, I think it would have been sly if she relished in all the girly things by day and was completely opposite as Salvacion, but hey, I get it, she doesn't like them. However, the more she brings up how much she hates wearing dresses (which was a LOT), the more it felt like a teenager whining about what her mom forces her to wear; it takes away the gravitas of the serious plans she hopes to accomplish. The Treaty was brought up more than needed too in the first half of the book, as if our audience would forget about it. I also kept waiting for her to use her sword that she was supposed to be amazing with...but the most that happened was that she pressed a knife deeper into a drunk man's face and unintentionally cut it a bit more since she he goaded her a bit into anger, and she stabbed someone once. With a knife, mind you. Not a sword. 🤦‍♀️

In the whole reading, I really didn't understand why she didn't just become La Salvacion completely early. She clearly yearns for it and there didn't seem to be too many limitations. She still didn't do what her parents wanted (her to not be La Salvacion) anyway, nor did the narrative show her acting as a "lady" much at all, other than just holding back an impulse to grab a weapon tucked in her skirts. She kept coming up with excuses to "not be herself". I think there wouldn't be too many people upset nor too surprised if she revealed herself to be La Salvacion, as her family is so well respected in general. There didn't seem to be too many females in their small town, and she didn't seem to disguise her voice. There is an advantage in keeping your identity as a vigilante a secret, but that wasn't her reason at any point. It felt more like a teen figuring out who she wanted to be. However, I suppose that's part of the journey of this book.

Some unresolved things for me:

I kept waiting for that blonde Yankee to come back. But he never did. Was he just to establish one story of what Salvacion did other than giving her a revolver (that she well, didn't really put to use too well)? I wish he was more significant of a character because he felt like a villain that I just wanted to see some retribution happen to, ahahahha! I clearly did NOT feel that letting him go was the best choice, and would rather her dole out some real justice using Zorro like methods, but that didn't happen.

There were some instances where the sal negra didn't work as fast as it should, like at the very start. Other than the same thing happening again with Isabella (but that was explained with sal roja), it was never brought up again.

Overall, it is a good light YA read, even appropriate for younger teens. I really love that because often things marketed as YA sometimes feel like it should be for an audience that was a little older than 12 or 13; this is appropriate! More mature readers may want to see a deeper delve into character development and resolving some of the plotholes as mentioned above, The epilogue hints to a new adventure, which gives an opportunity for those things to be addressed!

In giving it a fair rating as a YA book for YA readers, I'd give it 4 stars.
(For my own personal rating, I'd give it 3 stars)

I was actually given the audio ARC via NetGalley for an honest review. The narrator was AMAZING in giving the story's voice, and if I saw her name on a future audiobook, I'd be happy to listen to her again!

The plot had promise but the writing is so heavy-handed and repetitive that it’s difficult to get into the story. Lola’s constant rumination about what’s happening really bog down the pacing and do nothing to enliven the character. There were two moments where I believed the romance but it was mostly just instalove without any build or basis. Overall, very forgettable. The audio narration was competent but the vocal characterizations were not as strong as I would have liked; all the men sounded similar.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC! Actual rating closer to 3.5-3.75.
I received the audio version which is my favorite format for books with Spanish themes. I’ve always loved the language so it makes it that much better to hear someone saying Spanish words.
It was a breath of fresh air to have the magic be part of the land rather than a person’s magical ability. This allowed the main characters’ actions/bravery to shine through. That being said, I didn’t totally gel with the FMC. She was a bit whiny but I appreciated her love and loyalty to her family.
Overall, an enjoyable story that isn’t a series!

This unfortunately was not the book I thought it was going to be and was not for me. I do think others might enjoy it and I don’t necessarily have any huge grievances aside from it was a struggle to believe nobody knew who she was when all that changed was her clothes and a mask on her face (I felt the same during Zorro lol but I loved the banter in that one) I think what made it not as enjoyable is it was more serious than I thought it was going to be. There was no banter or wit that breaks up the serious parts.

Inspired by Zorro and the Gold Rush, this book had the potential to be really intriguing and fun. Lola becomes La Salvacion in order to protect her town with her brother Victor. Their mother has magical instincts and uses the salt they’ve found to heal other villagers. One day a man and his army come making promises but Lola discovers he carries a dangerous magic. She and Victor work together to try to prevent catastrophe. There wasn’t much world building to it took me awhile to really figure it out what was going on. Also, it was a bit hard to believe the town didn’t know that it was Lola as La Salvacion. It was pretty obvious. Also there aren’t many scenes that show Lola as La Salvacion which I expected since it was a large part of the premise.

*3.5 stars*

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

DNF at 46%

The writing in this felt both incredibly reparative and weirdly disjointed. Within the first half alone it felt like Lola only ever thought of 3 things; how her family had traveled to the Sal Negre, how she wanted to wear pants but her mom was against it (even though her mom wore pants?), and how important being Salvación was to her. Repeat ad infinitum. It was annoying! It was also contradictory, she went from defying her mom nightly to basically saying she puts her mom first in all decisions? Huh? Deeply upsetting when the dad switched up on her over her being exactly as defiant as she had been the whole time.

And for being a Zorro reimagining, there was very little Zorro level action. We see Salvación apprehend one (1) guy in the middle of the night without any fuss what so ever. Later on we’re told she’s gotten rid of like 5 people like that, and somehow that’s enough for people to call her an angel? And to make posters of her in other cities? How do they even know she was doing it! In the middle of the night when no one was ever around?! HOW DID NOBODY IN THE SETTLEMENT KNOW SHE WAS SALVACIÓN WHEN WE WERE TOLD AGAIN AND AGAIN THERE WERE ONLY 3 WOMEN THERE?!

I also really struggled to reconcile her mom traveling hundreds of miles for her calling of magical healing salt, but not believing her daughter could have a magical calling to idk help the common people? Why are only you allowed to follow your dreams? Also plain did not understand why her mom was trying to keep her in such a femme role when they’re in a gold rush mining town, this is the place to relax mama wtf? And for her to “pretend”(?) not to believe about the evil red salt? I don’t get it! Nothing made sense! She was opposition just to give Lola something to struggle against.

DONT GET ME STARTED ON THE LOVE INTEREST/ROMANCE. It was NONSENSE. He did NOTHING but be unrelated to her and she was immediately obsessed with him. Ho is you a horse?!

Very frustrating read. I kept intending to pick it back up, but I have no interest in seeing where this is going and I don’t want to hear Lola talk about pants some more.

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.

3.5 stars. I enjoyed it, but not enough to give it 4 stars (rounded up, so it gets four stars :p).

I was really excited about this book, and it did live up to the excitement in a couple of ways. Maybe it’s just me, but I haven’t read a lot of historical fiction/fantasy Latinx books, and I love that Salvacion is a little more mainstream. It adds a flavor that books are missing, and I loved that.

On that note, I will highly recommend the audiobook to any non-Spanish speakers who want to read this book. I don’t speak Spanish. I didn’t even study it in high school, so my accent is atrocious. I loved the audiobook narrator because she helped me correct the pronunciation, at least in my head.

I really loved that although Lola wore the mask, both Victor and Lola were Salvacion together. I love the idea of Salvacion being bigger than one person, and being an idea and an ideal more than a physical being.

That said, there were a couple of things that rubbed me the wrong way.

The book is SLOW to start. I almost DNFed it, but I was lucky enough to get the audiobook, and the narrator pulled me through the slow spots. 10/10 for the narration.

After that… I don’t think Lola was a very compelling main character. She makes choices and plans that didn’t seem particularly well thought out. The bad guy wasn’t compelling, the love interest wasn’t interesting… I’m glad I read it, I’m glad I finished it, but I won’t be reading it again.

Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC and audioARC. All opinions are my own.

I enjoyed this book for what it was: a girl coming of age in a small town and grappling with how the world is changing around her. The message was respecting the land and protecting it from those who wish to destroy it because... well because they're evil and don't care if everything is destroyed all long as they are the last man standing? Even if that means the land is blighted?

I guess I'll chalk the one dimensional villain up to being corrupted by the cursed amulet he stole.

I highly recommend the audiobook because the narrator was top notch. I also enjoyed the siblings being Salvación together as YA and fiction in general doesn't have enough siblings working together and caring for each other.

However, if you, like me went in expecting Queen of Swords (2000 TV show with female Zorro) well, think again. It started out promising enough: the Mexican American War has been lost and Alta California is now American territory. Lola does acknowledge that Mexican land was stolen from the indigenous people (of whom we see one man referred to as "the indigenous man"). But her Papa promised they would leave once they finished exploiting the sal negra!

This I chalk up to Lola being young and naïve because she does with a twinge of guilt acknowledge her beloved small town has been growing and maybe they aren't so noble after all.

Don't exact any swashbucking here. Lola barely goes out as Salvación and she is not protecting the people as much as the land. The story was setting up a Yank invasion she is trying to protect her people from but that never materializes.

Also, it is not enemies to lovers. That would have been if Alejandro was Alexander the Yank, part of the arriving American army of victors, forcing Lola to choose between her land or her heart. (Instead, it's more like girl falls for the mob boss' right hand because he's a good guy forced into a bad situation.)

Given the set up, had the author chosen to continue in this direction, this could have been an exploration of what it means when borders shift after wars are lost and you find yourself in a land no longer yours. It could have even explored what it means to "own" land or be a nation. Yes, the Mexicans lost the land but as Lola says, they had stolen it too. So what does that mean for who is "allowed" to live on it?

Unfortunately, this book went down a less controversial path instead of Lola trying to keep the sal roja from killing the land and how she grows up and becomes a better person for it. And to me, that made the story a bit bland, even if the coming of age themes was well done.

So there was some language uses which I found distracting but chose to think of as "I am reading a modern translation of a story written in Spanish". The use of "indigenous" is great for modern times but not historically accurate, in fact I think she'd use the native people's name for themselves, which I would have loved to know. Also she kinda brushes off white salt as 'doing nothing' which is really weird for the daughter of a Mexican-of-Spanish-decent healer? The Romans knew salt was important for people, how does she not know? Especially since her mom makes her help her? Also I spent wayyyyy too much of this story wondering how they got there, and was kind of unsatisfied by "my mom had a vision quest or something and we followed her here to where other people were already living and then we made sure to share the mineral my mom was following was shared with everyone". Does that include the people they pushed out? Or only the Spanish speaking people-- or those who don't speak Spanish but wave a gun around (don't get me wrong, I wanted her to shoot and kill the blond guy. It was just weird that the Indigenous folks conveniently vanished until needed and only showed up well out of town.) I also wasn't sure what was dictating the "some day we will leave" date. It just seemed like they were was never any intention to leave until the plot got going, was it meant to show that they were in denial about how attached to the place the mom was? Or foreshadowing that the family had to be kind of broken, first?

Anyway, the relationship between the siblings was good, and the love interest was well done, too. So, it was a good read. I just had a distractingly high number of questions as I read it.

What’s absolutely wild about my experience with Sandra Proudman’s <i>Salvación</i> is that, despite the story being incredibly high-stakes through near every single page, I never actually <i>felt</i> it. For me, I think a lot of this came down to my own personal lack of connection to the characters—brought about by an introduction that was a bit of a drag and a general lack of understanding for what, specifically, brought about the main character’s motivation to become a vigilante in the first place. See, the high-stakes don’t actually begin at the onset of the novel, but rather arise later on as the exceptionally dark villain comes into play.

One thing that <i>Salvación</i> does brilliantly is the lore of the world. Magical salt, referred to as sal negra and sal roja, can either heal or rip a person apart. Presented as a stand-in for the craze of the goal rush, this sal negra and sal roja bring about a litany of desperate and/or greedy sorts whose ambitions inspire a great deal of problems and concerns for the people who live there. The world building is excellent, the power hunger of the villain, Damien Hernández, are both exciting and terrifying.

But even with all of that, I simply wasn’t able to feel a connection to Lola de Peña, her brother, or the boy, Alejandro, at the center of everything. It doesn’t help, either, that there are comparisons made to the Zorro stories and I never once felt like Lola was a reasonable or accurate representation of a gender bent retelling. Not only is it made clear that Salvación is not <i>just</i> Lola, but her brother, Victor, as well, but there is little endearing her to take on the mantle of a character who is exceedingly charismatic and driven when in mask and spends his days purposefully acting foppish in his real life. Lola needs to be saved so much that her role as this vigilante felt like a joke at best and forced at worst. It leaves me genuinely wondering whether it was Proudman’s intention to be inspired by the Zorro legends or if this was a push from the publisher for sales.

If the first, I’m left cringing. If the second, it was a mistake.

The narration overall was pretty good. I enjoyed the tenor and pacing—I just think the characters, themselves, were ones that I couldn’t connect with. Which is such a shame because I feel like this world was pretty exceptional and had so much potential.

4.25/5 stars

Do you ever just love a book because of the feelings you get from experiencing it? This book did that to me. While listening I felt so immersed in the story and the audiobook narrator brought so much to life with her voice that I couldn't help but love it. There was something so comforting about the spanglish in this novel. This was a beautiful coming of age story that explores what it means to be a hero/protector. 

I also enjoyed how this book began exploring how we view land, complex family dynamics, and how we manage complicated emotions and ideas. Salvación (Lola De La Peña) also explores what it means to fit in expected societal gender roles and what it means when you push back against those. 

Lola and her brother work together to protect the town of Coloma from those who would threaten it,  they are fiercely protective of the place and the magic it holds. When new travelers come to town they have to work together to protect their home. This was a beautiful story that brings up complex questions and allows you to sit with those thoughts long after you finish. 

I highly recommend you pick this up if you enjoyed Zorro, strong female characters, coming of age stories, and stories about families. Thank you to the publisher for providing an ALC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this story so much! I have never seen “El Zorro” but after reading this, I might just go watch it later. I was hooked from the beginning and I’m glad that I never stopped reading. The narrator did an amazing job at bringing these characters to life. There was a lot of topic I could relate to, the biggest one would be how moms are always closer to their sons and dads are closer to their daughters. The concept of Sal negra and Sal roja is spectacular and so unique! I love that even the concept of “everything needs to be balanced” was brought in. This book would have gotten 5 stars if it would have had a bit more action and romance instead of the repetitive self doubt with herself and parents. I wanted more of Salvacion in action, instead of hearing about it. Alejandro and Lola needed more banter and connection. The dad caught me off guard but his stubbornness was completely accurate. I just found it hard to understand the shift from the beginning of the parent’s relationship to the end. The ending was satisfying in the fact that I can see it play out like a movie type ending. I was left with a lot of questions at the end, I hope that there is another book planned!

I definitely recommend this book! It sounds like there might be a second book and I cannot wait !


Thank you to Sandra Proudman, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for this audiobook.

Lola de La Peña and her family temporarily live in Coloma, a small town in Alta California after the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, where her mother uses sal negra to heal the people of the town. By day, Lola pretends to be the proper young lady her mother expects, but by night, with the help of her brother Victor, she acts as the town vigilante Salvacion. After a woman shows up on the brink of death and tells Salvacion about the dangerous sal roja, and then mysteriously disappears, Lola will have to find a way to save her town while convincing her family that the newly-arrived Hernandez isn't who he seems to be.

I was super excited to pick this one up as it was toted as a female version of Zorro. While I enjoyed the writing style and the overall storytelling in the book, there were a couple of things that didn't really work for me.

First was the inability of anyone to figure out the identity of Salvacion. Coloma is a mining town full of men and apparently only three women - Lola, her mother, and an elderly woman who collects herbs and runs a general store. Meanwhile, everyone knows that Salvacion is a young woman. So who else do they think it is besides Lola?

Second, the magic of sal negra and sal roja have clearly been known by someone since Hernandez has been searching for them for 20+ years. It seems like there would be more people (or maybe even the US government) searching for them before now. The people of Coloma haven't exactly kept the healing that Lola's mother does a secret, and with Salvacion running people out of town, someone should have put two and two together sooner.

I listened to this one on audio, narrated by Victoria Villarreal. The narrator did an excellent job bringing the story to life, and it was easy for someone like me who doesn't speak fluent Spanish to pick up the Spanish words that were spoken throughout the story.

Read if you like:
YA FMC
Latin American rep
Vigilante
Healing magic
Good vs. evil
Strong family bonds

Encanto vibes but waaaay darker with a side of vigilante heroism. The book is a fantasy Western with a salt based magic system.

I love the depiction of familial relationships and how having a crush is described.

Read for the bold main character and stay for the emotional familial healing, redemption, and the many forms of love.

Genre: Western Fantasy
Age: Young Adult
Topics: Magic, good vs evil
Spice: None
Tropes: Enemies to Lovers
Themes: Redemption, family relationships, discomfort with gender norms
Read for: Netgalley
Obtained from: Thanks to Macmillan Young Readers and Netgalley for the ALC