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alsira98's review
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Torture, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Gun violence
amberinpieces's review against another edition
adventurous
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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cursing, Sexism, Murder, Grief, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Classism, Alcohol, and Gun violence
Minor: Colonisation, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, and Suicide
phoenixhorizon's review
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Not bad, pretty good ya romance. I didn’t realize it was loosely based on real people until the end. A bit slow at the beginning but really picks up at 30%.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Murder
Moderate: Suicide, Blood, and Alcohol
Minor: Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, and Domestic abuse
blewballoon's review
adventurous
lighthearted
tense
fast-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
3.0
I liked the story well enough, but I wasn't a big fan of the writing. I would probably rate this a 4 if the writing didn't take me out of the story so often. There were a lot of repeated lines used for descriptions of what people were doing, to the point that it stood out, and the dialogue was often clunky. The humor didn't land for me, it didn't fit with the setting and was oddly placed sometimes. I would say that I recommend this to young teen/pre-teen girls who think boys are icky, but there a fair amount of violence and murder.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Death, and Murder
Minor: Confinement, Suicide, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Sexual content, and Torture
soapbox_stories_'s review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide
Minor: Alcohol and Kidnapping
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: Sexual assault, Misogyny, Murder, and Classism
Minor: Suicide and Racism
wizardingwisteria's review
adventurous
mysterious
tense
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? It's complicated
4.0
This was a pretty fun read. I noticed in the author bio that this author also likes to write video game narratives and I felt like that shined through in the writing style. I greatly enjoyed the writing style although the two leading ladies can be difficult to distinguish at times. A few times I had to flip back a few pages and check the perspective because their inner voices are a little too similar. Other than that I felt like the narrative was easy to glide through. If there ends up being a sequel I would be interested in picking it up.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse
Moderate: Suicide and Blood
betweentheshelves's review
adventurous
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? No
4.0
If you want a sapphic historical adventure, you've definitely got it in this book! I mistakenly thought this was a pirate book from the cover, but it's 100% not. It's about two girls who maybe (probably) love each other, and who want to get justice for those that might not otherwise have a voice.
There's a bit of murder mystery here, in addition to vigilantism. Kikki and Ana's voices were distinct enough, not to mention they had great chemistry. I loved them. I would definitely read more books about their adventures. And the fact that they're based on real historical figures? Even better.
There's a bit of murder mystery here, in addition to vigilantism. Kikki and Ana's voices were distinct enough, not to mention they had great chemistry. I loved them. I would definitely read more books about their adventures. And the fact that they're based on real historical figures? Even better.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, and Violence
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Chronic illness, and Suicide
Minor: Abandonment, Sexual content, and Sexism
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: Kidnapping, Murder, Suicide, Violence, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and Death
Minor: Sexism
libscote's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
I knew this book would be for me when I first heard about it--historical fiction sword-wielding lesbians in Potosi (which I thought was Peru but is actually Bolivia)? Sign me up! This book delivers, with dueling perspectives from Kiki and Ana, society ladies by day and swashbucklers by night. Their world is upended when Kiki's engagement is announced, and her brother dies. Now it comes time to figure out that mystery, before someone kills them.
I really, really enjoyed seeing both perspectives and how all the characters interacted. I didn't know a lot about Potosi, but I learned a little about it and there's an author's note at the end to learn more. It's inspired by true events (I haven't fully vetted this website, but it gives a rough idea. https://culturacolectiva.com/history/the-valiant-ladies-of-potosi-ana-lezama-eustaquia-de-sonza/) There were a few moments where I missed the tip from one event to another, but overall, excellent.
I really, really enjoyed seeing both perspectives and how all the characters interacted. I didn't know a lot about Potosi, but I learned a little about it and there's an author's note at the end to learn more. It's inspired by true events (I haven't fully vetted this website, but it gives a rough idea. https://culturacolectiva.com/history/the-valiant-ladies-of-potosi-ana-lezama-eustaquia-de-sonza/) There were a few moments where I missed the tip from one event to another, but overall, excellent.
Content Warnings
Minor: Suicide and Violence