Reviews tagging 'Deportation'

Lobizona by Romina Garber, Romina Russell

21 reviews

hagwife's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

I picked Lobizona up on a whim at a local used bookstore and am so, so glad I did – it's a powerhouse YA fantasy steeped in Latine culture and folklore. Manu's quests to belong and to protect her family (both blood and found) are beautiful and heartbreaking. I didn't expect how deeply the parallels would run between her status in Miami and her status in El Laberinto. Rivera explores what it means to be Other in not one, but two cultures, showing the light and dark sides of each;

trust me, you're going to be just as mad at the Cazadores as you are at ICE

.

What holds everything together is Manu's found family and their support of each other in crafting and stepping into their own identities. The love she and her friends have for each other doesn't preclude or erase any disagreements but instead makes it safe to have those disagreements, authentic security rather than inauthentic perfection. 

One of the most powerful aspects for me is the conversation around tradition and heritage versus individuality. Manu is struggling against two worlds that she loves deeply but whose values and rules don't seem to love her back. In this, Lobizona joins a pantheon of great YA novels who demonstrate that the right to be yourself doesn't have to be at odds with your personal, familial, or cultural history, something that is important for all of us to remember and extremely important for teens and young adults to believe in. 

If you liked Cemetery Boys, you'll love this, and vice versa!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deportation and Confinement

Moderate: Sexism

ghostlyprince's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Classism, Deportation, and Police brutality

Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, Hate crime, and Bullying

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Biphobia

A character reports the main protag's mother for being undocumented

caroliiineb's review against another edition

adventurous

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Minor: Violence and Deportation

leesibadom's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

One thing I can’t deny is that this book has good bones, the premise of this book is a story that deserves to be told in any form of media available to us. 

But did it feel a bit rushed to me? Absolutely. 

Did I enjoy this? It was fun, if only a bit underdeveloped

Will I be reading book 2? Oh absolutely.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Deportation, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Lesbophobia, Misogyny, and Bullying

Minor: Abandonment and Violence

tiller's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring lighthearted mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I loved it! It's a little tropey and I think they could have used another 30-60 pages to make the ending feel a little less "OK LETS WRAP THIS UP WE GOT PLACES TO GO" but its fun!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deportation

caseythereader's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deportation, Abandonment, Confinement, Misogyny, and Sexism

Moderate: Cursing

corngod31's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence and Deportation

marlisenicole's review against another edition

emotional fast-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Bullying, Deportation, Sexual harassment, Abandonment, Drug use, Misogyny, and Homophobia

karwc's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Minor: Blood, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Deportation, Misogyny, Sexism, and Violence

carolined314's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny inspiring 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? It's complicated

4.5

While featuring a lot of (justified) fear around being undocumented and deported, this book also has a ton of complex fantasy world and some fascinating character development. Great fun.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement

Moderate: Lesbophobia, Abandonment, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Sexism, Deportation, and Sexual assault

Minor: Violence