Title: Lobizona (Wolves of No World #1)

Author: Romina Garber

Publisher: Wednesday Books 2020

Genre: YA Fantasy

Pages: 400

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 

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.

I listened to this on the way back from Indiana. While the book starts fairly slow, I was completely hooked by the time Manu finds herself in the Everglades and encounters a whole new world. This book tackles identity and family as well as cultural heritage, gender constructs, immigration, and body autonomy. Garber deftly weaves together a host of topics to paint a complete picture of one teenage girl. I loved imagining the various scenes (especially those that involved the tree) walking into Manu’s world. I most definitely need to read the folllow-up as this one leaves us on a big cliffhanger. And for the record, I totally called the identity of Manu’s father way before the reveal.

Wolves of No World

• #1 Lobizona

• #2 Cazadora

Next up on the TBR pile: