A review by lezreadalot
Valiant Ladies by Melissa Grey

3.0

When Kiki pulls her hand back, it’s as though she takes a part of me with her, a little piece of my heart suspended on a string.

3.5 stars. Or like, 3.25? Not gonna lie, a lot of the enjoyment I got out of this stems from the fact that I knew it was based on real women, and that was super fascinating to me. The Valiant Ladies of Potosi, teen lesbian vigilantes in 17th century Bolivia who went around fighting bandits, seems like something a baby dyke would dream up, but they were real! I did mostly enjoy the plot of the book and what the author did with their story, but I wasn't the biggest fan of the writing.

Which is a complaint that I have about a lot of historical fiction, particularly when it comes to the dialogue. If I'm reading historical fiction, I want to feel immersed in the time and the language. And half the things that came out of these characters' mouths seemed like they belonged in 21st century America, not 17th century Bolivia. It was modern to a degree that just felt annoying and jarring. Granted, I don't know a lot about Latin American Spanish, and I guess you could make the argument that what we're reading is just a translation of what would have been said in Spanish. I guess. But I still just didn't like the writing much. Some of the plot events seemed so haphazard, and it was a little difficult to connect with some of the decisions they made. I guess there needed to be come conflict in the romance, but the way it was drawn out seemed to artificial and stilted, even more so because they eventually resolved it with so little fanfare. I also felt like... idk, this would have been a lot more effective without the constraints of being a YA book. It's not that I wanted it to get super graphic about the fights and the other types of violence that the girls witnessed, but I really felt like the book was perpetually holding itself back.

It wasn’t hell, I think . The phantom sensation of her skin against mine that tormented me so after she kissed me in the orange grove. It was heaven all along.

But there was a lot to like in the book. I really loved the two main characters, how stubborn and strong and headstrong they both were. Friends to lovers is one of my favourite tropes, and even though the way the romantic arc was written wasn't my favourite thing, I still loved all the mutual pining, and how they were both so desperately gone for one another from day one. Lots of little things in the plot weren't particularly difficult to figure out, but it was still pretty entertaining. Lots of exciting moments. And again, I loved that they were both so capable. They did make mistakes and get themselves into bad situations, but they got themselves out, without anyone to save them but each other. That was great.

Listened to the audiobook as read by Almarie Guerra and Frankie Corzo, and it was really good. I loved both narrators and their renditions of the characters. Even though the book wasn't a new favourite, I still feel like I'm not ready to leave these characters, so they definitely made an impression on me. I'd definitely check out other books about the Valiant Ladies, if they're ever written.

Content warnings:
Spoilerdeath, blood, violence and gore, sexual violence and rape (off page, implied and not explicit


“I’m with you,” says Ana. “Every step of the way.”