This book was an incredibly moving and powerful read. I don’t want to give too much away but the main characters growth was incredibly well written and beautifully woven throughout the narrative.

I do not believe I am particularly qualified to be reviewing this in any matter that should be taken seriously.

First of all, I am not Latinx, so while I think this was a unique and powerful way to explore immigration and the (horrible) concept of a person being illegal and this exploration was the highlight of the book for me, I cannot speak for this. Nor can I speak for the integration of Latinx (especially Argentinian) culture into the book. I appreciated both those aspects, but please read Latinx reviewers' reviews for more discussion on that!

While I personally did not necessarily enjoy this book, because it just took a lot of tropes I personally don't like or that rub me the wrong way and pushed them together, I know there are people out there who will love it. I know I am not the voice that should be saying what this book has or lacks where other people can hear, so please keep that in mind when considering this review.

What a wild ride this story was. Thank you to NetGalley and Alexis Neuville with St. Martin’s Press for providing me this eARC in exchange for an honest review.
I completely fell in love with this story within the first chapter. Manu’s struggle of being undocumented in the U.S. was heartbreaking. It’s something that happens to people every single day in this country and it’s absolutely horrible. Manu struggles with this, but loves her mother and respects her mother’s wishes. I loved Manu’s relationship with her mother. They were very close, despite the secrets between them. I was a little sad we didn’t get to see them together after they were separated when ICE took Manu’s mother away. But their love for one another was so obvious, it warmed my heart.
After ICE takes Manu’s mother, Manu finds herself in a world that was supposed to only be a myth. She lies her way into a school for Septimus. After becoming roommates with the headmistress’s daughter, Cata. Cata’s best friend, Saysa, decides Manu is going to be in their friend group. Saysa’s brother, Tiago (who I couldn’t figure out for way too long if he was Saysa’s brother or Cata’s brother) is a part of that group too. He’s the alpha of the pack and takes Manu under his wing. This romance was clear from the start and I really didn’t care for it because at their school everyone knows that Tiago and Cata are end game (but we find out some things that made this untrue and made me okay with their relationship). Though things weren’t kittens and rainbows when Manu first arrived, the four of them developed and really solid relationship and I absolutely loved it. I loved that Manu finally felt like she had found the place she belonged. Sadly, this didn’t last long before she learned that once again, she was something that wasn’t supposed to exist, wasn’t allowed. I really liked that this book point blank discussed that immigration issues within the U.S. but it also talks about the struggle within a fantastical world. The world of the Septimus is a backwards one. Men are werewolves and women are witches, there’s no room for discussion of changing these gender roles what so ever. Those in charge of Septimus are very strict in their thinking and the last person that tried to change the ways of the Septimus was Manu’s father, who Manu believed to be dead until she heard the rumors at her new school. I really liked the full circle of Manu trying to become the change right where her father left off.
Many people had issues with the fantasy world, but I really loved it. I really loved the comparison to Harry Potter and that the author had Manu be a fierce lover of the story so that Manu made the comparisons before the reader could. I thought it was an interesting world, hidden within the world we know today.
Overall, this book was heartbreaking but also incredibly fun. The found family was so wonderful, but there were also strong family values and I loved those too. The conversation this story brings to the table is a hard one but a necessary one. I really hope that so many other people will enjoy this book as much as I did.

I've long been a sucker for any kind of werewolf story, so I looked forward to reading this book, the first in a new series b tased on Argentine folk lore. Hidden away in Miami, Manu and her mother live illegally in the United States, on the run from connections to her infamous father and also hiding from ICE. But nearly seventeen at the book's open, Manu begins to chafe at the constant restrictions in her life. But she doesn't seriously rebel until one fateful day turns her entire world upside down.

The book takes a little while to really get going. And once it does, it follows some familiar young adult fantasy tropes - a school, a love triangle, the search for information on her parents' past - but these don't really detract from the story in their familiarity. If anything, this is when the pacing really picks up. I love the werewolf angle - and the romance works well, too.

The book ends on a pretty serious cliffhanger in a lot of ways, with the ending serving more as a temporary respite than a genuine solution. I am definitely curious to see where the rest of the series will go! I think that this will be a definite discussion starter amongst its readers, too!

The concept of this book drew me into it right away. Often realistic, contemporary problems are reserved for realistic, contemporary books. “Supernatural” tends to invoke images of escapism. But Lobizona by Romina Garber deals with a real, heart-wrenching modern issue, and at the same time, introduces a mystical element that takes the protagonist Manu on an incredible journey of resolve-building and self-discovery.

At the start of the story, Manu is focused on staying hidden from ICE, which is especially challenging given that her eyes look so different from anyone else’s. She also receives special pills from her mother that cause her to sleep during the most painful parts of her monthly cycle. But Manu soon discovers that her family has deep, even magical, secrets that she must uncover. And the medicine she’s been receiving may have other purposes. Manu sets out on a journey to learn who (and what) she is and to find her father, who might have the answers she’s looking for.

The book is quite lengthy, which I’m all for if the story demands it. But at times Lobizona felt like a brilliant short novel that had been asked if it could please stay on stage just a little longer. Manu’s inner monologue stretches–she’ll have a thought or a question, take an action, and then repeat that same thought or question. Sometimes events are repeated in short succession, such as when certain characters distract a group the same way twice in a single scene. The length of time it takes Manu to realize and accept that there are supernatural forces also felt a bit drawn out, although this certainly isn’t an issue unique to Lobizona. It’s a common dilemma in urban fantasy: the audience knows magic exists, but the protagonist doesn’t. It’s hard to hold readers in suspense when something strange happens–we know why it’s happening, after all–and yet, we still want the protagonist to react in a believable way.

With that criticism out of the way, however, there is a lot to admire in this book. I enjoyed seeing Manu’s growth from someone who always let others make decisions for her to someone who takes initiative and owns it. She quickly became a character I could cheer for. I also thought the integration of Spanish within the text and dialogue was very well done. I loved the insights as to why a character might choose to speak in one language or the other in any given situation. My Spanish is strong enough that I usually got the gist of what was being said, but I always appreciated the way Manu translated in her head. It came off as a natural thing she might do, rather than a translation for the benefit of the audience.

Overall, Lobizona is a book I recommend. It’s a story that’s long overdue on the shelves, both for its willingness to tackle real-world issues within a supernatural setting and for its diverse cast and unique ideas.

The premise of the novel is intriguing – teenaged Manuela is an undocumented immigrant from Argentina, living with her mother in Miami. Her mother isolates her in their apartment until one day ICE arrives, spiralling Manu’s life into a direction she never expected (into magic, in this case).

I’ll begin with what I enjoyed. The best thing about this novel is its blatantly unapologetic focus on Latinx culture and mythology while being approachable to anyone. The book raises (valid) points about how dehumanizing the word “illegal” is and how unempowered it can make people. I found the parallels between Manuela’s “magical” illegality and her status in the United States to be poignant (yet heavy-handed, which attribute to it being YA). And while I appreciated the attempts at dismantling patriarchy and gender roles in regular society by depicting an even stricter set of norms in the magical society, it too felt rather didactic (but, again, perhaps not to a YA audience).

The book was very easy to read, the setting is well-described, and the first quarter was engrossing. Unfortunately, where it took a downturn for me was when Manu’s story entered magical realism.

I’m not fond of this genre. In fact, I’d rate it as one of my least favourites. I’m also not a huge YA person. I’ll admit, I did not realize this was YA when I requested it on NetGalley (I believe I was swayed by the gorgeous cover). I was expecting an adventure with horror aspects (given there’s werewolves). Yet, these things wouldn’t have mattered if the novel hadn’t fallen into cliché YA tropes.

I give YA novels some leniency regarding tropes when it comes to narrative craft, but at the same time, my personal enjoyment of the novel faded when I could see every plot twist and character development coming.

This novel includes:
- A “chosen one” concept.
- “Instalove” with the popular boy (but something vague is keeping them apart!)
- mean-popular-girl-turns-friend.
- a magical school that explains everything.
- the chosen one doesn’t have to train or learn to use their abilities, despite everyone else having honed their skills their entire life (this particularly irked me).
- the chosen one taking half the book to realize their true self, despite the audience already knowing it because it’s the title of the book.

Despite these tropes, the novel is easy to read and moves at a fast, fun pace, so I wasn’t bored or struggling to finish it. I just wasn’t engaged.

Would I recommend it to my daughter when she’s 14 or so? Definitely! But for an old lady like me, it's a bit too formulaic.

(There also seems to be a trend now where authors are leaving their novels unresolved to force you to read the series. I understand wanting to encourage repeat sales, but having your novel end on a cliff-hanger, without stating in the blurb that it’s part of series, is downright annoying and bordering on cheap. This didn’t affect my rating, but I wish publishing companies would stop pushing this marketing tactic.)

Lobizona is 100% my favorite read of 2020! This book addresses serious topics such as the struggles of undocumented immigrants, homophobia, and misogyny, while also delivering a fascinating magical world full of brujas and lobizones. I adore this book and I need the sequel immediately!

Welcome to a magical world based on Argentinian folklore that's like Harry Potter but add in more werewolves! (And that cover 😍)

Manu has always felt different- forced to wear sunglasses over her stunning, bright eyes that don't look human. An undocumented girl in the US, constantly hiding from ICE.

She is swept into a new world in a search for her missing father. Where there are (always women) witches and (always men) werewolves..... Or is that entirely true?

Armed with new friends in the world of Septimas , Manu will need to navigate her new being while being forced to hide once again. Yet you know at the end that she will go about bringing change!

I loved this magical tale and am excited for book #2!

“It’s about everyone who doesn’t fit inside the box they were born into.”

I did not want this book to end—I wanted to exist in this world forever! This is a beautiful story about a girl searching for her identity when all she feels is that she doesn’t belong.

All her life Manu has known she was different, but as her world falls apart when her mother is arrested by ICE, she is left with even more questions about who, and what, she is. As Manu begins to uncover secrets, and the Argentine folklore she grew up knowing becomes reality, Manu begins to discover who she really is—and that she may be the answer to a long awaited uprising.

Lobizona is an enchanting story that unfolds perfectly, as the author builds and creates a spectacular world that you want to get lost in. This was a story I found myself binging well into the wee hours of the morning because I was in-vest-ed, and let me tell you, it did not disappoint!

This book has it all: fantasy, mystery, adventures, love, friendship, loyalty; but most of all, it’s a story of equality, tolerance and empathy. I felt it all when I read this book!

This book really dove into some of the issues of today's world, all while painting a wonderful paranormal picture.

Wow, just wow. This book jumps right into the action. I felt the terror of being chased by ICE in the begging of the story. The author really painted the picture of what the character was going through and it made me understand more of what its like to live in this constant fear. There was a nice use of Spanish phrases, that were explained in a way that didn't make me feel like I was being lectured.

As the book progressed into the paranormal side, the character finds herself in a similar situation in the paranormal world, where she has to hid who she is to fit in. It was incredible to see how the two stories overlaid each other, different, but similar.

The world was interesting and unique. Bringing to life the witches and werewolves we all know and love, but in a new way that I haven't heard it told.

This was a great read. I can't wait for the sequel.

My review will go live on the Book Confessions blog on 7-28-20.

First of all, thank you to Wednesday Books for an ARC of Lobizona!

Manuela has spent her whole life hiding. Raised in Miami, she and her mom are undocumented immigrants, and to top it all off, Manuela's eyes are strange, golden suns with stars at their center. She and her mom stay with Perla, an older Argentine woman who took them in years ago and helped teach Manuela. Every full moon, Manuela gets her period and she experiences lunaritis, a 3-day stretch of time where she is sedated because of excruciating pain.

When Perla is attacked, Manuela flees to her mom, forced to run again when ICE is tipped on the business her mom has been quietly working. With nowhere else to go, Manu follows the man she saw attack Perla to a secret academy where brujas (witches) and lobizones (werewolves) go. With nowhere else to turn to, she sneaks in.

Lobizona is touted as a Harry Potter with Argentine folklore and modern challenges face undocumented immigrants. I really liked what Romina Garber was trying to do, but did it come across well?

I had some difficulty getting into the book. I'm not sure if it's just a probelm of flow or if it had something to do with the writing style, but I literally had to force myself through this book. There were sections where I just skimmed pages to get through it because I was bored, but I wanted to at least hit the halfway mark, because some other reviews mentioned it picked up there.

And it did, and I really started to enjoy the story. Without spoling anything, I'm going to let you figure out why the book is titled Lobizona when lobizones is the plural male word for werewolves. Did I spoil it for you? Good, because it does that on its own!

Ugh, I know I'm being harsher than usual, but this book was just trying to be so many things. It wanted to be the feminist Harry Pottter with LatinX characters, but it just felt so forced for me. To top it all off, it has LGBTQ representation, but oh, wait, it happens in the last 40 pages, and there were never any clues hinting that the characters were LGBTQ. Ugh, I just...there's also a scene at the end with the MC, and it mentions phrases like "alpha" and "dominance" and it's trying to be sexy, but it felt so WRONG. I had my husband read it to make sure I wasn't seeing something that wasn't there, and he said it seemed creepy and domineering, and to fit this into a story trying to have a feminist agenda? It felt so very wrong. The world Manu steps into is ruled by gender, and to be honest, it bothered me the whole book.

I dunno, everyone. I was really bothered by this book. I'm all for books telling us the difficulty of feeling like you never beong, and enlightening the world on the lives many undocumented immigrants live, but this just didn't sit right with me at all.

THIS IS A TRANSLATED VERSION FROM MY REVIEW (ORIGINALLY IN SPANISH)

Score: 4.6 stars.

First of all, thanks to Netgalley and St Martin's Press for the Arc!
As soon as I saw the author's name, I knew I wanted to read this advanced copy. I remember with great emotion when I read Zodiac a couple of years ago.

On this occasion, Romina Garber brings us a story based on an Argentine tradition that has both mythical and real foundation. It is the decree that states that the seventh son (or daughter) of a family is adopted by the first president of the nation.

The first thing I want to say is that I love it when a book teaches me something without me expecting it. From the first pages, I learned about this decree and about the Argentine legend that gives it its origin as it is known as its real origin.

In this novel we will follow Manu, a girl brought to Miami by her mother during the first days of her life. The first problem we see here is that neither Manu nor her mother are US citizens, which means that they are illegally in the country (they do not have papers). Due to this, and because Manu has a very extreme condition in her eyes, which are yellow and that instead of circular pupils are shaped like a grayish star, the mother decides to keep her "Hidden" from the authorities and the outside world. Every time Manu goes outside, she should wear sunglasses to cover her eyes.

Lobizona has many elements of Harry Potter, I could even say that it is Latin Harry Potter, in Spanglish and with werewolves. I´m sold already for this. In addition, Romina appropriates many of these elements, adapting them to her history and making them work perfectly with the world they are creating. (I would love to visit El Laberinto).

The last 100 pages of the book are full of revelations. Information that makes the story take other directions and taking the reader to the climax of the novel. I have been very satisfied with Lobizona, I have enjoyed this book from start to finish.

I look forward to its publication and much more to its publication! I highly recommend this story to young readers, I'm pretty sure they'll enjoy every page of it. Also, every Harry Potter fan would lov this book!

Thank you Netgalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I have to say I wasn't incredibly sure what to expect from Lobizona. I was pleasantly surprised. This book was incredibly interesting and covered a wide variety of social issues from immigration policies to sexism and homophobia. I found the core of the book, Manuela's search for identity, extremely moving. I will admit that I found the first quarter of the book the least interesting part. That's mainly because contemporary stories just don't interest me and a lot of the first quarter read like a contemporary novel about an undocumented girl and her mother trying to survive in the United States. Once the book enters it's paranormal storyline I was much more engaged. This could also be because I'm such a sucker for a magical school so the second Manu stepped foot in El Labertinto I was hooked.

Manu was a wonderful main character. She desperately wants to live her life but she understands (through a particularly bad childhood experience) that her mother keeping her under a strict set of rules is what's for the best. Of course that all goes down the drain when her mother is captured by ICE and she has no one else to turn to. Her decision to try and take control of her own destiny and find out about her father's family sets in motion her discovery of her true self. In the Everglades she discovers the Septimus, a community of people made up of lobizónes and brujas, who all happen to share Manu's striking star-shaped pupils.

The world building is probably my favorite element in this book. My copy of Lobizona has so many highlights because anytime something came up about the world I was fascinated and needed to mark it. From the living library at the school to the elemental powers of the brujas to the reason behind a Sepitmus's eye color I fell in love with this magical world. Of course there were plenty of elements that were less than magical like the rampant sexism in Septimus society. The world is very strictly divided into traditional male and female roles. Males are the protectors and females the healers. The brujas are stifled in this society and it was awful to see just how constrained they were by society's cage.

Overall I really enjoyed this book. The side characters were a lot of fun! I love a good icy character, Cata was perfect! There's also of course a swoony guy in Tiago who's actually perfect at everything he does yet is somehow still humble and sweet. Beyond the obvious representation of Argentinian and other Latinx people there's also great queer rep in my favorite couple of the book. There's some small things I was unhappy with like the concept of Alpha werewolves and some abilities special to them that felt shoved in and not explained very well. The Harry Potter references were fun at first but at a certain point I grew a little tired of them. That said this was a great read with some lines that really hit me and I'll be thinking about for quite sometime. The second I finished this I immediately preordered a finished copy and I can't wait to place it on my shelf in August.

I really enjoyed this one. The imagery was great and the world building was really cool. The author seamlessly combined our world with a fantastic one while keeping her feet on the ground. The characters and relationships were well written as well. It's a wonderful story about finding your place in the world and your real family, or pack, if you will.
There were a couple small complaints: the commentary could have been a bit more subtle, it was in the hit-you-over-the head territory and a few things got repetitive. The other complaint is that I wanted so much more. More of the fantastic world and beasts within. But hopefully I will get that in the next book because I will definitely be reading book two.

Lobizona
Rating: 4 stars

Thank you to the publisher for the ARC given through NetGalley for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Lobizona was an awesome and fun read! It was so unique and while reading it I had a hard time putting it down. Manu's world is turned upside down when she is pulled in to the world of werewolves and witches. She begins to learn about her past and finally realizes in which world she truly belongs. She had felt so alone for some time. It was nice to see that she finally felt she could be herself.
I loved reading about the mythology that revolved in this world.

It was a great start to the series and I look forwards to the next one.

I went into this book with an expectations that's only tied in with the summary, only to find out that it was more than that. This books surprised me in a good way. It doesn't only talk about Manu's life, but also her search for her true identity. It magically-infused book was powerful in every singe way that I could think of.

I couldn't recommend this book more. Please do get a copy once it's released. The release date was pushed back to August, so we have to be patient. But I can see this book on my shelf once it reveals itself to the world.

**I received an eARC of 'Lobizona' by Romina Garber through NetGalley and Wednesday Books, in exchange for an honest review**

Immigration and family separation are very heated topics in America today, and Romina Garber addresses these issues wonderfully in 'Lobizona'. Manu and her mother are undocumented immigrants in Maimi, and a twist of fate leads her in a search to seeking out her origins. Fantasy elements are beautifully woven together, as Manu experiences supernatural life changes that she cannot explain for herself. Romina Garber also blends urban fantasy very well into this supernatural tale, as Manu is brought into a magical school of witches and werewolves, a life drastically different from her life in Miami, Florida.

I love that 'Lobizona' ties in the issues of gender roles and feminism. Although women are more liberated in the magical realm, they are classified in a set role (as are the men). A woman to cross into a 'man's world' is considered risky, and vise-versa, and this issue is covered extensively as the story progresses. As Manu navigates between the world of humanity and the supernatural, she learns that standing out can have a risky meaning. She lives a life destined for sadness as being undocumented, yet her search for community in the supernatural world brings forth a different meaning of belonging.

'Lobizona' carries a powerful message: while the road to acceptance may seem difficult, your impact in life is significant to everyone you meet. It is such a strong book that gives diverse characters a powerful voice as they move forward in their journeys.

The reader already knows what Manu is based on the title and it takes a while to build up her world as an undocumented loner who has some seriously painful menstrual cycles that are tamed with pills that knock her out for three days. Add strange recurring dreams, people vanishing into smoke, secrets galore and you have a perfect set-up for a fantasy story based on Argentinian lore with brujas (witches) and lobizones (werewolves).
Once you get to where Manu belongs, the pace moves fast and is full of adventure, magic and love. I liked the use of Spanish even if not all sentences were translated. Readers can get the gist through context. This is one of those reads where I'd stay up late at night and the only thing that stopped was the e-reader dying and making me go to sleep. I eagerly got back to finishing it the following day. Definitely worth a purchase to add to YA collections.

Manuela Azul has special eyes. Eyes that her mother made her hide behind sunglasses. Raised in Miami to a single Argentine mother, Manu dreamed of the day when she would be a U.S. citizen and the end of her almost 17 years of hiding. But when her "grandmother" was injured and mother taken away by ICE, Manu was left to fend for herself for the first time in her life. A life she understood almost nothing about.

On the surface, "Lobizona" is a fantasy novel about undocumented immigrants, but in truth, it is so, so much more than that. This book belongs to all immigrants, biracial people, feminists, queers, and every fighter who believes in equality. I don't think I've ever read anything where all these identities blend so well into a single story. Garber certainly did that, and it blew me away.

"Sometimes reality strays so far from what’s rational that we can only explain it through fantasy."

I expected this book to be good, but I didn't anticipate it to be absolutely breathtaking. Manu, Saysa (I love Saysa), Tiago, Cata, and all their friends are extremely loveable characters with their own beliefs, ideologies, as well as flaws and insecurities. They are a force of change as they join each other to fight for equality. To fight for liberation from their cages.

“[W]hy settle for being a son of the system, when you can mother a movement?” – Saysa

"Lobizona" is one of the best novels on people who were supposed to belong but deemed otherwise by law. It is a book on being utterly undocumented, on feminism, on queer rights, on equality, and on fighting back. It is a revolution under the guise of fantasy, rooted in love and stretching into every injustice. Very well-written and well-thought-out, "Lobizona" is undoubtedly a YA no one should miss out on.

Arc provided through Netgalley, all opinions are my own.

"Sometimes reality strays so far from what’s rational that we can only explain it through fantasy.”

This is a magical realism story inspired by Argentinian folklore and it uses Manu's illegal existence in this world as a parallel to her undocumented status in the United States. It's a story about a girl that has to study at home and hide everytime ICE goes to her complex. A story about a girl trying to imagine a better future where she belongs but that is constantly afraid of her living situations. A girl that has no past and an uncertain future and how she discovers a world where she could truly belong for the first time and she finds friends, love and passion. It's heartbreaking to see her experiences because they are so close to what I see online about immigrants.

Manu is 17 and as she has been in her apartment her whole life, she's nos knowledgeable about living out of it. She spends her time reading and escaping to fictional Victorian worlds and Hogwarts. Then, she finally decides to make decisions for herself and stumbles into the  adventure of her life.  I like how she's not an annoying main character that sees Cata as a challenge or tries to come between her and Tiago.

I have to say that this story centers around family and belonging and this message is spread throughout the book. How her friends are going to support her and put themselves at risk and how she knows she shouldn't put them at risk (and says so) but she's just a scared girl.

This book definitely thrives in its folklore, the descriptions of Lunaris and El Jardín are as beautiful and enticing as the cover. This is a book that will resound with a lot of Latinx kids living in USA and for that I have to give it props.

This book does reads a tad young with its tropes and clichés about chosen ones and instalove, it didn't annoy me thaaat much but it does put a bit of damper and that's why I took of some stars.

Really recommend it!