Scan barcode
A review by queer_bookwyrm
Lobizona by Romina Garber
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? No
3.75
3.75 ⭐ CW: Menstruation, misogyny, HP references, ICE/deportation, police brutality
Lobizona by Romina Garber is book one in the Wolves of No World duology. I really enjoyed this book, but I docked a partial star, because this book was chock full of HP references, and it was distracting. I will be so happy when we can get to a place where authors realize they can reference other magical books instead of the one written by a Transphobe.
We follow Manu, an undocumented girl living in Miami, FL, where she is cooped up in a small apartment and can't risk being seen. According to her mother, being noticeable = deportation, and Manu's yellow star shaped eyes definitely make her noticeable. When her mom is arrested by ICE, Manu finds herself in a world where everyone has eyes like hers. A secret world where boys are werewolves and girls are Brujas, but the problem is, Manu finds herself to be an outsider here too.
I love coming back to Romina's writing, her world building is always spectacular! She really sucks you in with her descriptions and imagination. Romina put a lot of her Argentine culture in here, and it seems like it's a love letter to undocumented kids everywhere who straddle an impossible line. We get messages about the horrors or deportation and the absurdity of claiming a human is illegal.
A big theme in this book is the idea that binary thinking is limited and oppressive. In the world Manu ends up in, girls are only allowed to do certain things and boys are only allowed to do certain things, so when Manu's very existence challenges those traditional binary notions, she doesn't get the support she wants. I'm so glad the gender essentialism in this book is challenged, because there is a lot of it. Manu's story is about living in the in between, about not fitting in, and about growing up and figuring things out without your parents to guide you.
I'm excited to start Cazadora, and hopefully there will be fewer (ideally none) HP references.
Lobizona by Romina Garber is book one in the Wolves of No World duology. I really enjoyed this book, but I docked a partial star, because this book was chock full of HP references, and it was distracting. I will be so happy when we can get to a place where authors realize they can reference other magical books instead of the one written by a Transphobe.
We follow Manu, an undocumented girl living in Miami, FL, where she is cooped up in a small apartment and can't risk being seen. According to her mother, being noticeable = deportation, and Manu's yellow star shaped eyes definitely make her noticeable. When her mom is arrested by ICE, Manu finds herself in a world where everyone has eyes like hers. A secret world where boys are werewolves and girls are Brujas, but the problem is, Manu finds herself to be an outsider here too.
I love coming back to Romina's writing, her world building is always spectacular! She really sucks you in with her descriptions and imagination. Romina put a lot of her Argentine culture in here, and it seems like it's a love letter to undocumented kids everywhere who straddle an impossible line. We get messages about the horrors or deportation and the absurdity of claiming a human is illegal.
A big theme in this book is the idea that binary thinking is limited and oppressive. In the world Manu ends up in, girls are only allowed to do certain things and boys are only allowed to do certain things, so when Manu's very existence challenges those traditional binary notions, she doesn't get the support she wants. I'm so glad the gender essentialism in this book is challenged, because there is a lot of it. Manu's story is about living in the in between, about not fitting in, and about growing up and figuring things out without your parents to guide you.
I'm excited to start Cazadora, and hopefully there will be fewer (ideally none) HP references.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Police brutality
Moderate: Misogyny