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adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
salvacion markets itself as a genderbent zorro retelling—what i've grown to know as a justice-seeking hero with fun sword fights and heists. there is NONE of that here. salvacion was doomed from the start when it cornered itself down the YA route, making it afraid to take the story further. if an older audience were the target demographic, there would be less meandering, no one for the mc to answer to but herself, the stakes would be higher, and an older audience would be more familiar with the legend of zorro. for those who don't know, zorro is a mexican anti-capitalist and anti-cop masked vigilante who frequently defends the poor and indigenous people. salvacion would have actually been fun had it stuck the landing as an adult novel.
while lola has a just cause, she's a child who doesn't know how to handle a sword and she just scares people into running away without doing anything. the majority of this book is her planning failed heists, talking about magic salt, speaking to/about her family, swooning over one of the most dullest love interests i've read, and rambling on about the same things. it's fine to have flawed characters but the main character isn't a main character. she is a passive bystander in her own story, the world and characters moving around her while we're stuck in her pov. lola makes her brother do the bulk of the heavy lifting when she's masked up. i'm the oldest child and i could never imagine casually putting my siblings in harm's way the way lola does. it was as if she was actively trying to get her brother killed. i cannot emphasize enough that she's a child going up against dangerous adults so i couldn't take her seriously. i also didn't understand how her mother is a healer and her father is a defender of the town, yet they didn't see a white colonizer as a big threat to their home?? lastly, i was repulsed by the "romance" because it came out of nowhere, it wasn't well-developed, and i simply did not care about the villain's boring lackey who doesn't show up for most of the novel.
i wanted so badly for this to be good. now i'm just hoping another latine author will take this idea and not be afraid to run with it.
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original cover artist: roxie vizcarra
owlcrate cover artist: lynn nguyen
relit cover artist: valentino lasso
while lola has a just cause, she's a child who doesn't know how to handle a sword and she just scares people into running away without doing anything. the majority of this book is her planning failed heists, talking about magic salt, speaking to/about her family, swooning over one of the most dullest love interests i've read, and rambling on about the same things. it's fine to have flawed characters but the main character isn't a main character. she is a passive bystander in her own story, the world and characters moving around her while we're stuck in her pov. lola makes her brother do the bulk of the heavy lifting when she's masked up. i'm the oldest child and i could never imagine casually putting my siblings in harm's way the way lola does. it was as if she was actively trying to get her brother killed. i cannot emphasize enough that she's a child going up against dangerous adults so i couldn't take her seriously. i also didn't understand how her mother is a healer and her father is a defender of the town, yet they didn't see a white colonizer as a big threat to their home?? lastly, i was repulsed by the "romance" because it came out of nowhere, it wasn't well-developed, and i simply did not care about the villain's boring lackey who doesn't show up for most of the novel.
i wanted so badly for this to be good. now i'm just hoping another latine author will take this idea and not be afraid to run with it.
----
original cover artist: roxie vizcarra
owlcrate cover artist: lynn nguyen
relit cover artist: valentino lasso