Lobizona
Books | Young Adult Fiction / Paranormal, Occult & Supernatural
4.1
(363)
Romina Garber
"Garber’s gorgeous novel combines the wonder of a Hogwarts-style magic school with the Twilight-esque dynamics of a hidden magical species that has strict rules about interacting with the human world." - BOOKLIST (Starred Review) Some people ARE illegal.Lobizonas do NOT exist.Both of these statements are false.Manuela Azul has been crammed into an existence that feels too small for her. As an undocumented immigrant who's on the run from her father's Argentine crime-family, Manu is confined to a small apartment and a small life in Miami, Florida. Until Manu's protective bubble is shattered. Her surrogate grandmother is attacked, lifelong lies are exposed, and her mother is arrested by ICE. Without a home, without answers, and finally without shackles, Manu investigates the only clue she has about her past—a mysterious "Z" emblem—which leads her to a secret world buried within our own. A world connected to her dead father and his criminal past. A world straight out of Argentine folklore, where the seventh consecutive daughter is born a bruja and the seventh consecutive son is a lobizón, a werewolf. A world where her unusual eyes allow her to belong. As Manu uncovers her own story and traces her real heritage all the way back to a cursed city in Argentina, she learns it's not just her U.S. residency that's illegal. . . .it’s her entire existence.“With vivid characters that take on a life of their own, beautiful details that peel back the curtain on Romina's Argentinian heritage, and cutting prose Romina Garber crafts a timely tale of identity and adventure.”–Tomi Adeyemi New York Times bestselling author of Children of Blood and Bone
Urban Fantasy
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Author
Romina Garber
Pages
400
Publisher
St. Martin's Publishing Group
Published Date
2020-08-04
ISBN
1250239141 9781250239143
Community ReviewsSee all
"Great book and it kept me reading the entire time without wanting to put it down "
m
maggie
"This book was okay, but it disappointed me a bit. I appreciated a different perspective with a main character who is an undocumented immigrant and the use of Argentinian culture in the werewolf society, and the story was relatively fast-paced once Manu got to the school. Having her find out that her existence in werewolf society as well paralleled with her mundane life in an interesting way (even if it doesn't make much sense for a society that places so much emphasis on reproduction to label any child illegal). All of the scenes involving ICE and the Cazadores (essentially serving the function of werewolf ICE) were appropriately tense and upsetting. <br/><br/>The characters were mostly fun, though the love interest was like a block of wood and some of the background students didn't get much development. The insta-love and pointless love triangle annoyed me.<br/><br/>I can see that the author was going for a feminist message but since their powers are innate it doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Even if Manu gets to play werewolf football that won't pave the way for other girls because they're still not werewolves. The constant description of her power coming from her uterus was off-putting. Did the boys’ werewolf power come from their reproductive organs as well?<br/><br/>It was really weird to me that Manu was cooped up the way she was at the beginning, as many undocumented children go to school. The twist involving Manu’s father was pretty silly, and there were a few dropped plot threads (particularly regarding an identical girl who lived across the street) that I'm hoping get picked up in the next book."
a
awesome_user_984860
"Beautiful blend of folklore and magic school and modern day issues immigrants and immigrant children particularly face. This is the second book I've read that speaks particularly to the children of immigrants and how they are treated and both times, while there's either elements of sci-fi or fantasy surrounding them, the situations and mistreatment, the fear and isolation and the PTSD are believable; history has seen to that. I'm glad they are not forgotten but wow, can we (USA) not be a country that treats people like objects if they are from somewhere else?<br/><br/>Also, I ******* love that Argentina has no requirements to change your gender marker on official documents. I wish more countries did, but wow, glad to hear there is a national understanding ANYWHERE of gender identity as part of people's lives rather than something to fear. The way this book addresses this is both entertaining and thought provoking. And the characters also get to address gender norms through this as well. Just a crazy fun mix of multiple worlds narrowed down to this one young woman's experience. And she is herself walking within and between so many worlds."
"<a href="https://laughinglistener.com/" target="_blank"><br/>The Laughing Listener</a><br/><b>August 2020</b><br/><b>Format:</b> Ebook ARC<br/><br/><b>Story Rating:</b> 4.5 Stars<br/><br/><b><i> “I stopped looking at the bars of my cage and started looking between them. If my life sucks, that just means it hasn’t peaked yet. I’m in the middle of my story. And every tomorrow could be my happily ever after.”</i></b><br/><br/><img src="https://media.giphy.com/media/jrutBd1N7ZhsINAPzs/giphy.gif" width="" height="" alt="AMAZING"><br/><br/>I just… I’m speechless! This book was so good!! I’m not really sure what I was expecting from this story, but it definitely wasn’t this. And I mean that in the best possible way. Romina Garber has blown me away and stolen my heart.<br/><br/>Admittedly, it took me some time to really get invested in this story. The first handful of chapters are slower moving and pretty normal, minus a few minor details. It read more like contemporary/magical realism, which caught me off guard, but intrigued me nevertheless. Around chapter 8-ish, however, the plot takes off running and I’m telling you I COULD NOT PUT THIS DOWN.<br/><br/><b><i> “I’m a passenger not just in this vehicle, but in my body, in this country, in my life. Defined by decisions I didn’t make.”</i></b><br/><br/>This is one of those books that gets better the less you know going in, so this is going to be weirdly vague. But man, what a ride. I can honestly say I had no idea where the story was going the entire time and I got thrown some MAJOR curveballs. It was great. I can’t wait to see what happens next in book two. <br/><br/>The characters were too precious and I found myself falling a little in love with each of them. Manu is such an amazing, relatable protagonist with a huge heart and watching her grow over the course of the story was amazing. And I would pretty much lay my life on the line for everyone in her little found family. Saysa is the best little feminist Tinkerbell, Tiago the most adorable story-loving protector, Cata who’s fiercely loyal, and everyone else in the manada. I JUST WANT TO GIVE THEM ALL HUGS. <br/><br/><img src="https://media.giphy.com/media/XfCiVjkv82ZZjeeAhC/giphy.gif" width="" height="" alt="Group Hug Everyone"><br/><br/>And the world building! I’m so fascinated by the universe that Garber has created. It has pieces of familiar legends and fairy tales, but is something completely new. The descent into this new world was very slow and gradual, which I also really liked. It added to my urgency to keep reading because every new thing I saw made me want MORE. Lately it feels like every fantasy book throws you in head first and I have to struggle to keep up, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it was so nice to get a break.<br/><br/>My absolute FAVORITE aspect of this book though, above all else, was the amazing way Garber wove important messages into the fabric of the story. There are so many different layers to this and I was continuously blown away about how it all connected together. This book is about so many things—immigration, not fitting in, feminism, being from two worlds, gender binaries, self-esteem, friendship, LGBTQ+, found family, and so much more. But it all bleeds together, just like real life. No one fits into a predetermined box, we’re all unique individuals and I LOVED seeing that reflected in this novel. <br/><br/><b><i> “Now go forth and shatter every convention.”</i></b><br/><br/><b>FINAL WORD</b><br/><br/>Such a fun and gripping story with some important things to say. I loved every second and can’t wait for the next book. If you love fantasy, then I definitely recommend. <br/><br/><i>I was graciously given a free copy of this in exchange for an honest review</i><br/><br/>#1 ↦ <i>[b:Lobizona|51179882|Lobizona (Wolves of No World, #1)|Romina Garber|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1571242220l/51179882._SX50_SY75_.jpg|72729786]</i> ↦ ✦✦✦✦✧<br/>#2 ↦ <i>[b:Cazadora|43311447|Cazadora (Wolves of No World, #2)|Romina Garber|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1599329742l/43311447._SY75_.jpg|73342258]</i> ↦ ????"
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