Lobizona (Wolves of No World #1)
Romina Garber
Wednesday Books
Published August 4, 2020
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About Lobizona
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.
My Review
As I’ve heard stories about what it’s like to come to the US as an immigrant, I’ve been moved, felt sympathy, wanted to change things. Nothing has ever made me feel like I’ve slipped into someone else’s shoes the way this book did, though.
Manu is smart. She’s vulnerable, yet fierce. She loves her family, but she’s always felt like an outsider who did not belong, even among them. More than anything else, this is the story of a girl who has never belonged not just finding her place, but carving it out of the landscape and building a true family around her.
I really, really like this book. The magic was fascinating, and again and again the story comes back to questions about what makes a person valuable. Is it where someone was born? What gender they are? Whom they love? What they can do for someone else?
LOBIZONA explores all that and on top of it delivers a sizzling romance set in a dazzling landscape. If you like found families, revolution, and unexpected alliances, this is one you’re going to want to grab, fast.
This book is a great fit for fans of WOVEN IN MOONLIGHT or GIRL OF FIRE AND THORNS.
Content Notes
Recommended for Ages 14 up.
Representation
Manu and most other characters are Latinx. A few side characters are gay.
Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used infrequently.
Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. Kissing between two girls. One scene shows some intense kissing between a boy and girl.
There’s a brief reference to a rape that happened in the past.
Spiritual Content
Because of a demon who fell in love with a human, seventh consecutive daughters become witches with nature-based magic abilities, and seventh consecutive sons become werewolves.
Violent Content
Some intense scenes involving running from ICE and police. Battle scenes. Situations of peril.
Drug Content
Manu takes a medication every month that knocks her out for three days. Some characters drink mate, which heightens their magic.
Note: I received a free copy of LOBIZONA in exchange for my honest review. This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support the costs of running this blog.
About Romina Garber
ROMINA GARBER (pen name Romina Russell) is a New York Times and international bestselling author. Originally from Argentina, she landed her first writing gig as a teen—a weekly column for the Miami Herald that was later nationally syndicated—and she hasn’t stopped writing since. Her books include Lobizona. When she’s not working on a novel, Romina can be found producing movie trailers, taking photographs, or daydreaming about buying a new drum set. She is a graduate of Harvard College and a Virgo to the core.