What I liked:

A gender-bent Zorro. I was so excited for this plot.

I really like the characters. Lola, Victor, and Alejandro. Lola is so headstrong and brave, which I love in a YA Heroine.

The magic system. I like the idea of balance, and Sal negra, Sal Rosa, and the way they interacted and counter-acted each other.

What didn’t work for me:

Unfortunately, the plot felt like a slog to me. I was pretty bored throughout most of the book. The pacing felt off, and I found myself not really reaching for this one.

The premise for this book had me excited as what could sound cooler than a genderbent Zorro reimagining? After all, I love a bada** female main character! Unfortunately though, this book left a little to be desired and I had hoped for a bit stronger story.

There was a lot of "why?" left unanswered in this book. I loved that Lola was a secret vigilante, but we never really learn why she felt like she needed an alter ego. I felt like the man who Lola took the heirloom pistols from was a loose end/plot hole because why did he not come back after swearing up and down he would? Why was there so few women mentioned at all in the story and why was it so difficult for people to figure out who the mysterious Salvacion was? I just felt like there was too many questions left unanswered and thing just... were. There was no explanations for quite a bit.

Despite the plot holes and the many questions I was left with, it is a cool idea for a story where sal negra takes the place of gold in an alternative to the California Gold Rush. The concept of magical salts that can either heal or kill was cool, but I just would've liked to know more about it. I thought the concept of a genderbent Zorro-esque heroine was cool and I had to remind myself that Lola and this story is considered YA so Lola wasn't the strongest heroine.

It was a really cool concept for a story, but unfortunately needed a stronger execution. That being said, I am certainly interested in seeing how the author grows in future works. While this book may not have been as strong as hoped, I see the potential for more unique yet stronger stories coming from this author!

5 plus. I was always in love with the Zorro movies, and having an inspired YA female Zorro kind of hero in a fantasy (kinda a daughter between magic realism and a fantasy novel) is awesome. Siblings Lola and Victor decide to create a secret hero who can fight for justice. But while they work together, it's Lola who becomes the angel, the face of the people. There is good magic and bad magic, like a balance in nature. One heals, the other consumes faster than fire. Respect for the people, against greed, against cruelty, respect for Indigenous People, fear for war, and love for family. The siblings' relationship is great, and Lola's interest in a new boy in town (but on the side of the enemy) grows into more.

Pretty good story! There were a few parts where the dialogue wasn’t great and a few scenes that were not written well, but overall, a pretty solid story! I loved Salvación and how Lola overcame her obstacles with her family by her side. I love that this book is heavily Latinx inspired, it was such a great story! I think the few weird parts could have been fixed with better editing, so no blame to the author. Great story!

A thrilling tale with a fantastic premise. The characters and story-telling with the world-building is superb. I am very grateful and happy to explore everything this author will write in the future as well!

A special thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for a ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Before I begin, I would like to thank Sandra Proudman for allowing me to read a NetGalley copy of her upcoming book, Salvación, which will be available on May 20th, 2025.

Lola de La Peña doesn’t want to stop being limited by societal expectations of a young Mexican lady of her station. She has to act proper and gentle while her mother heals the sick and injured with black salt (sal negra). Ever since the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed, she becomes Salvación, the brave and free vigilante woman that protects Coloma and ensures that the town is safe and peaceful. When a woman who is barely still alive arrives in Coloma, speaking of how her town was destroyed by red salt (sal roja) that essentially eliminates anything it touches. The man that has it, Damien Hernández, arrives to the town with fifty men, promising that they’ll return Alta California to Mèxico, she knows that he wants to have control over everything. All he needs is the full moon and an ancient amulet to find enough sal roja to seize the land by force. When she meets Alejandro, a young man that traveled with Hernández but doesn’t seem to share his views, she can’t help but falling in love with him no matter how frustrating he can be. When they team up to stop Hernández, can Lola trust him to not betray her and the community? Or will Hernández use his charms and violence to get what he wants?

This book was great. You have Lola de La Peña, a clever, daring, protective, and beautiful young woman that wants to take care of her loved ones and chafes under people’s expectations of her. The interactions between Lola and her family were complex but relatable, and I appreciated how the author showed the complicated relationship that the main character had with her parents. The discussion about the effects of colonialism, especially the benefits it gives to settlers at the detriment of Indigenous people, was honest, accurate, and definitely made me think of the horrors the Indigenous tribes suffered for the States to become what it is today. I wanted to hug Lola and Victor many times throughout the book. I couldn’t help but find similarities between many political issues, and figures, that are around today in terms of immigration, colonialism, and the way that Hernández initially got people to his side. The magical element to the story was brilliant, and the twists were well written. Overall, if you like discussions about the effects of colonialism, manipulation, feminine rage, and nature, Zorro, Latino representation, complex characters, great sibling banter, horses, and sweet romance with low amounts of spice, then I would highly recommend this book. Here’s the link with more information: Amazon.com: Salvación eBook : Proudman, Sandra: Kindle Store

Salvacion is a Coming of age YA historical fantasy novel. I love that it is a Zorro gender-bend retelling. It brought back so much nostalgia of watching the old shows with my dad, but this time, through the female lens. Our FMC, Lola, has donned the mask and persona of Salvacion, along with the help of her brother, to protect their small community. Their parents are too misguided to see the danger they face. It’s up to them, and possibly an unlikely friend, to stop the evil that has come for their magia.

I enjoyed Lola as a character and felt she was very relatable and easy to connect to. The pace of the story was good and kept my interest.

I could have used more world building. I would have liked to have known more about their journey to Coloma and why Lola felt the need to take up the Salvacion mantle. I would have also liked to have seen more female characters within the book. The “romance” between Lola and Alejandro seemed rushed. More scenes with the two of them and getting more of Lola’s thoughts on him would have been nice.

Spice level: two quick kissing scenes.

Favorite quote: “We’re only as good as the people who push us to be better than them”

Conclusion: This is a nice debut novel. I really enjoyed reading about Lola and look forward to reading more from the author.

Thank you Netgalley & Wednesday Books for providing an ARC of this book. I voluntarily read and reviewed it; all thoughts and opinions are my own.

*thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

Salvación had me hooked from the start. The rich setting of 19th-century Alta California felt so vivid, and I loved how the author blended history, magic, and action. Lola de La Peña is such a strong and inspiring character—watching her take on the role of Salvación to protect her people was both thrilling and emotional.

The story is fast-paced, full of action, and has just the right amount of romance. I also appreciated the deeper themes of colonialism and resistance, which made the book feel even more powerful. If you love stories about masked vigilantes, rebellion, and a heroine who refuses to back down, Salvación is a must-read.

Thank you Netgalley for the arc. This cover was giving Zorro, but the female version. If that's your vibe I would recommend reading this book. It was a fun YA fantasy.

the writing was really fun although at times it felt a little bit vague and the love felt a little weak. our protag is awesome. still, 4 stars. tysm for the arc.

I received an advanced copy of this e-book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I overall enjoyed this book, and would recommend it to young adult readers interested in vigilante justice. I found it to be a little slow in parts for my preference, though I found the main characters likable and enjoyed the bits of Spanish incorporated throughout the dialogue to depict a more accurate cultural picture. I did not find myself gripped to finish the book in a timely manner, hence why I gave it 3 stars.

DNF @ 30% It took a long time for this book to pick up… as in, it never really picked up. For an El Zorro inspired piece, you expect lots of action and sword fighting, and there was remarkably very little of that. I could forgive that if the characters and world building had been better, but alas, the magic system is confusing and doesn’t seem fleshed out enough (is Mamá the only one who can use magia or not?) and the world a little lackluster.

Side note—it’s continually mentioned that Loli is one of the only young women in town, and that Salvación is a woman that matches her description, and yet everyone is like “wow, wonder who Salvación could be???”

Lastly, the narration is extensively full of telling, not showing. I wish the author had given her YA readers more credit to understand the characters’ emotions and motivations without explicitly saying them, and not given us every little “stage direction” of how the characters moved.

All in all, an incredible premise that I don’t think was executed as well as it could have been.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. As I didn’t finish the book, I won’t be rating this book out of respect for the author.

Simple, repetitive storytelling with the same thoughts circling over and over in Lola’s thoughts which, while it might be in-character, is also tedious. I understand her worry and love for her mother, her frustration with the magic salt and healing people becoming her mother’s new calling … but it feels like every other paragraph wants to remind me of that as if I hadn’t just read it a dozen times already.

This book reads like it’s geared for an audience on the younger side of the YA scale. Lola’s first thoughts on meeting are Alejandro — a boy her age arriving with a large group of armed men who want to take over the village and the sal nega is to wonder if they could be friends. She’s shockingly innocent with very black and white thinking but little emotional reaction to … anything. Part of that is the writing style which leans heavily on telling, and repeating, and retelling; it doesn’t give much room for the Lola to do much more than monologue and infodump.

Oh, yes, and to remind me on almost every page that she is Salvación, again, in case I forgot it. The writing is fine, if simple and repetitive — have I mentioned it’s repetitive? — and the pace is brisk. It’s an easy read and well plotted, but I found it to be a frustrating reading experience. However, it’s nice to see a book using Spanish alongside English in a book that takes place during the United States acquisition of California. I appreciate the nods to the culture, the food, the folk tales and found that to be one of the better parts of the book.

I regret that I didn’t enjoy this book more, but I do think that I’m not the target audience. If I’d read this in middle school, I probably would have loved it. Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the ARC!

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 <i>La Salvación</i>) 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.

<img src="https://media4.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExczRlbm4yaWs2MHBmaGR0eDcyZDNtb2gxNG5rN3M4ZWsycmtteWdpZSZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/fDqGThpuG6vS/giphy.gif" width="350" height="250" alt="description"/>

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.

Rating: 2.25 out of 5

Thank you NetGalley for sharing this book.

I have to just start off and be blunt - I was disappointed by this read. I loved Antonio Banderas in Zorro and I thought I would be getting the same vibes here but I was completely wrong.

Focusing on Lola or Salvacion, it was an interesting and odd choice that her entire family knew who she was. I think the excitement factor was lost in that her parents knew that their teenage daughter was the vigilante. I know it’s fantasy but it doesn’t align with their characterization of wanting her to outwardly appear like a dainty girl.

I found her character to also be a bit of a paradox. She’s meant to be so sneaky that she gets out of her parent’s home and they don’t know it but if she’s such a stealthy vigilante, why was it so easy for Alejandro to spot her? Overall, I found her to be an annoying character and I think a heavy part of that is because her character lacked depth. We understood that she wanted more out of life but it was not followed up well. To add on, I think all of the characters were one-dimensional making this a hard read.

The crux of the story is about sal negra and sal roja but we never get a history of this magic, it’s purpose, or even the full extent of its abilities.

Firstly, I'd like to send a big thank you to the author, Sandra Proudman, St. Martin's Press (Wednesday Books) and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an early copy of Salvacion. I will share my review to Goodreads, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble upon release. 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!

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.
I do wish Loli did have more dialogue with others rather battle herself with internal dialogue.
One thing I noticed was that others didn’t know she was Salvación but no one mentions other girls her age in town? Was she the only one?
Wouldn’t people assume it was her?

I personally LOVED that both English and Spanish was spoken throughout the book. As a Latina, this felt natural to me. I felt seen.

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 so much.
Goodreads (Brenda (jadore_2read))

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!

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.

HELLO is this a writer whose work i need to start getting into??? i absolutely devoured this, beginning to end! also as a hispanic reader this was too much fun ✨ i need proudman’s next book asap rocky