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visorforavisor's review
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
To be clear: despite the criticisms I have, Melissa Grey writes very well and I would read more of hers.
However, there was a clear lack of any level of research about the general context in which the story is set. There does seem to have been research done on the real Ana de Lezama and Eustaquia de Sonza, to a good enough extent to be able to riff on it and do her own thing with it (kudos to Ms Grey for that), but the historical research seems to have been very little beyond what is required to make the plot work.
This book falls into the classic “corsets are evil and therefore women have it really tough” trope. Corsets didn’t exist at this point in time (centuries out, sorry), and the precursors to their precursors had only really just begun to permeate class boundaries and be worn by those other than the ultra-rich. They certainly weren’t any sort of a cultural norm at this point and nobody would be having a conniption if a girl in her late teens wasn’t wearing one. (Not even taking into account the time it would take for fashions to travel from Europe to colonial Peru.) Additionally, those boned garments that did exist were not worn beneath a dress but rather were the bodice itself of the outfit.
I understand absolutely that the book is not trying to be historically accurate, but to show (real) female oppression by utilising a heavily unresearched trope that was not the case at any point in history seems like little effort was put in, especially given the use of terms such as “breeches” for the male clothing worn.
Basic research on horses was also not done. (If a horse is bolting, don’t flatten yourself to its neck. That is telling the horse to speed up.)
However. I can recognise that accuracy is not in any way the point of this book, and so long as you’re not pulled out of a story by innacuracies like I (historical clothing nerd) am, then you should be fine!
The story-telling and prose of the book is really good. I cared about the characters, thought Sebastian was extremely well-written. I appreciated the discussion of wealthy women’s pressure to marry in order to properly support the many people who would be dependent on them. The inclusion of sex workers in a historical story is something not done often enough and it was really beautifully written in this case.
Fictional exploration of real-life queer historical figures is something I love too and would really like to see more of!
However, there was a clear lack of any level of research about the general context in which the story is set. There does seem to have been research done on the real Ana de Lezama and Eustaquia de Sonza, to a good enough extent to be able to riff on it and do her own thing with it (kudos to Ms Grey for that), but the historical research seems to have been very little beyond what is required to make the plot work.
This book falls into the classic “corsets are evil and therefore women have it really tough” trope. Corsets didn’t exist at this point in time (centuries out, sorry), and the precursors to their precursors had only really just begun to permeate class boundaries and be worn by those other than the ultra-rich. They certainly weren’t any sort of a cultural norm at this point and nobody would be having a conniption if a girl in her late teens wasn’t wearing one. (Not even taking into account the time it would take for fashions to travel from Europe to colonial Peru.) Additionally, those boned garments that did exist were not worn beneath a dress but rather were the bodice itself of the outfit.
I understand absolutely that the book is not trying to be historically accurate, but to show (real) female oppression by utilising a heavily unresearched trope that was not the case at any point in history seems like little effort was put in, especially given the use of terms such as “breeches” for the male clothing worn.
Basic research on horses was also not done. (If a horse is bolting, don’t flatten yourself to its neck. That is telling the horse to speed up.)
However. I can recognise that accuracy is not in any way the point of this book, and so long as you’re not pulled out of a story by innacuracies like I (historical clothing nerd) am, then you should be fine!
The story-telling and prose of the book is really good. I cared about the characters, thought Sebastian was extremely well-written. I appreciated the discussion of wealthy women’s pressure to marry in order to properly support the many people who would be dependent on them. The inclusion of sex workers in a historical story is something not done often enough and it was really beautifully written in this case.
Fictional exploration of real-life queer historical figures is something I love too and would really like to see more of!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny, Sexual assault, Murder, and Classism
Minor: Racism and Suicide
krysley's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Thank you to NetGalley and RB Media for allowing me to listen to this audiobook in exchange for an honest, unbiased opinion.
This is a fun romp of two teenage girls fighting back against the classism and sexism of 17th-century Potosí, Peru. Kiki and Ana are both strong characters in their own rights, but I thought Ana was the more interesting of the two. She faced a lot of hardship and seemed more layered than Kiki, who was young and rich though very sweet.
While I really enjoyed the setting, sometimes the author would go a little overboard with various details. For example, it was reiterated over and over again how the girls' corsets dug into their ribs within a single scene. The same could be said about the beginning of the book when we're first introduced to Kiki and Ana. The young women's feelings for each other were written in a heavy-handed way to get the point across, rather than allowing it to unfurl throughout the story. While that heavy-handedness lightens up as the story moves along, it just made the beginning of the book seem unbalanced with the rest.
As for the narration, Frankie Corzo and Almarie Guerra both perform beautifully throughout, nailing their character to perfection. My only complaint would be that when those performances are paired together, sometimes their voices were hard to distinguish between each other since they were similar in pitch.
Overall, I really enjoyed listening to Valiant Ladies and my issues were minor when compared to the story as a whole.
This is a fun romp of two teenage girls fighting back against the classism and sexism of 17th-century Potosí, Peru. Kiki and Ana are both strong characters in their own rights, but I thought Ana was the more interesting of the two. She faced a lot of hardship and seemed more layered than Kiki, who was young and rich though very sweet.
While I really enjoyed the setting, sometimes the author would go a little overboard with various details. For example, it was reiterated over and over again how the girls' corsets dug into their ribs within a single scene. The same could be said about the beginning of the book when we're first introduced to Kiki and Ana. The young women's feelings for each other were written in a heavy-handed way to get the point across, rather than allowing it to unfurl throughout the story. While that heavy-handedness lightens up as the story moves along, it just made the beginning of the book seem unbalanced with the rest.
As for the narration, Frankie Corzo and Almarie Guerra both perform beautifully throughout, nailing their character to perfection. My only complaint would be that when those performances are paired together, sometimes their voices were hard to distinguish between each other since they were similar in pitch.
Overall, I really enjoyed listening to Valiant Ladies and my issues were minor when compared to the story as a whole.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Suicide, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Colonisation
Minor: Sexism
rey_therese07's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Vomit and Religious bigotry
Minor: Murder and Colonisation
foreverinastory's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Ugh I loved this so much!!
Rep: Spanish-Peruvian sapphic female MC, biracial Dutch-Peruvian (indigenous) lesbian female MC, Spanish cishet male side character with gout who uses a walking aid, Spanish and Peruvian cast, mute Peruvian female side character who uses sign language.
CWs: Alcohol consumption, blood, body horror, colonisation, cursing, death, grief, injury/injury detail, kidnapping, lesbophobia/lesbomisia, misogyny, murder/ritualistic murder, sexism, suicide, violence. Moderate: past death of parent(s), chronic illness, fire/explosion, forced institutionalization (at a convent), gun violence, pregnancy mention, religious bigotry, sexual content (not graphic).
Rep: Spanish-Peruvian sapphic female MC, biracial Dutch-Peruvian (indigenous) lesbian female MC, Spanish cishet male side character with gout who uses a walking aid, Spanish and Peruvian cast, mute Peruvian female side character who uses sign language.
CWs: Alcohol consumption, blood, body horror, colonisation, cursing, death, grief, injury/injury detail, kidnapping, lesbophobia/lesbomisia, misogyny, murder/ritualistic murder, sexism, suicide, violence. Moderate: past death of parent(s), chronic illness, fire/explosion, forced institutionalization (at a convent), gun violence, pregnancy mention, religious bigotry, sexual content (not graphic).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Chronic illness, Gun violence, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury