Review: Lobizona

Lobizona by Romina Garber
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Lobizona is author Romina Russell's, aka Romina Garber's, foray into a new series, Wolves of No World that takes a paranormal fantasy world and imbues it with political realities of racism, sexism, and the struggles of immigrants and their children to both enter and assimilate into a new country while retaining elements of their culture.

Set partly in Miami, we see a young woman, Manu, who lives along with her mother in the home of an elderly woman, Perla. Manu suffers from terrible menses that require heavy sedation. Her mother is, in theory, trying to apply for a green card for them. Manu's father disappeared and all she knows is that his name was Fiero (which means wild in Spanish). Manu lives in hiding and dreams of belonging. One of the barriers to her belonging are her strange eyes, which she is forced to perpetually keep covered with sunglasses. After Perla mysteriously falls and sustains a head injury, Manu and her mother are separated due to an immigration raid. Her mother is caught up in the raid and is being held in a detention center. Manu, desperate, goes looking for answers about her situation and lands in a special Septis school for brujas (witches) and lobizones (werewolves). There is magic practice (frustrating for Manu, who has no magic and relies on cheating with the help of a friend) and an aggressive game played by the wolves, reminiscent of quidditch. Brujas are always female and lobizones are always male. Except. Hmmmmm. Maybe not.

There were aspects of this book I loved, in particular Manu's perpetual feeling of not fitting in any world she finds herself in. In America she is an illegal immigrant, forced to live in the margins, and among the Septis she also has to hide her truths and live on the margins if she is to survive. Her feelings of struggling to immigrate into either culture because of who and what she is are well-drawn. Other aspects of the story seemed overly derivative of the Harry Potter world (which Garber openly states was the first fantasy world she engaged with as a child. The view of the Septis world as being sexist and racist echoes the mudblood biases of Rowling's world. Manu is, by virtue of her very existence, caught between worlds, much like Harry was. It will be interesting to see where Garber takes the story in future books, as Manu's identity crisis is partly resolved and she has gained stalwart friends who accept her as she is and who will help her stay safe.

Overall, this book offers a good opportunity for young adults who love paranormal fantasy to contemplate terms like "illegal" and "aberration." Manu is forced to run from the human ICE and from the Septis equivalent of it. She is a refugee in both worlds and all she wants to do is live her life and know her parents are safe. We can never have too much of this message.

I also listened to the audiobook, narrated by Sol Madariaga. She captures the Argentine accent nicely.
I received a digital review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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