Luchadoras by Peggy Adam has recently been translated from French for Blank Slate Books. It tells the story of Alma, a woman struggling to survive in the infamous Mexican town of Juarez where extreme violence against women has become part of everyday life. I love the art style and the story is certainly thought-provoking, although I don’t think Adam has achieved her aim of raising awareness of the overall situation in Juarez. Much of what goes on in Luchadoras could have been set in Glasgow; the author’s lens is too narrow to give the reader a real feel for the strange and shocking situation in this particular town. However, the thing I admired most about Luchadoras is that there are no pure ‘victims’- every adult character in the book has a dark or selfish side, making this a mature piece of writing. It’s a real shame that there was a printing error with the English version of the book making the cover sleeve look pixelated- it took me a while to work out whether this was a weird artistic choice or not.