Lobizona: A Novel

4.5 stars — I’ll explain in too much detail at the end, but the start was super slow for me, and I set this book aside *twice*. But once I got over that initial hump, I just kept getting more and more into it, until I was racing to the finish. So definitely give it until chapter 5 or 6 before you judge (even better if you get to phase 2). Manu was a pretty solid heroine. I had a hard time initially connecting with everything she was going through being kept away from the world. The literal immigration troubles she and her mother were facing were very visceral. I also appreciated how her illegal status was paralleled in the other world. Sometimes she was a bit angsty, but other times I totally felt her emotions with her. It was a mish mash. I appreciated everything she was going through, learning things about herself she never knew, and being introduced to a whole other world. And I appreciated the time she took when thinking about how she wanted her own story to play out — especially the consideration for illegals who might not be as wow as her. There were a lot of interesting relationships in this book, along with interesting and vital secondary characters. While we didn’t get to see a lot of her relationship with her mom, I was so glad we got some glimpses in other ways. And while Perla’s role was short, I loved how she was there for Manu. It was the friendships she formed at El Laberinto that really sold me — because they were by no means perfect, but that made them feel more authentic. I honestly thought we were going to have obvious girl enemy, and boy crush, but things veered off the traditional book course and I couldn’t be happier. I loved that they were all so different, but they all brought something to Manu’s life. I also appreciated that we did get to see some girl friendships, she wasn’t just alone. I was initially frustrated with her back and forth with Tiago, even though I could feel their chemistry. But that whole story went in interesting directions I wasn’t expecting either, and I liked it. The world was rich and fairly well developed and described. I will admit I’m still confused on some things, but there’s so much to love it doesn’t even matter to me! I enjoyed the school setting, I can see why some people have compared to Harry Potter. And Lunaris was weird and crazy and wonderful! I am so sucked in and wanting to know what’s going to happen next. There were quite a few things that I didn’t predict at all, which is kind of fun! All in all, I was so pleasantly surprised and relieved with how the book played out, I’m just excited for more! So here’s my little story about how my reading experience went, just cause I feel like telling it. I started this book near release back in August 2020…and I just couldn’t get into it. I’m the kind of reader that likes to know *everything*, and so I would stumble on the different cultural references, the spanish phrases that weren’t *exactly* translated, that kind of thing. I also like to pretend to sound things out in my head, but I was doing a terrible job of it. So at about chapter 4 I decided to try to get the audio from the library, thinking that someone who could pronounce things properly might help. Course, I had to wait a couple months. And while I loved hearing all the words spoken authentically, the narrator wasn’t quite my jam, and I wasn’t getting sucked in yet again. I was officially bummed. Fast forward a year and a half, and I found a friend to buddy read it with me. I decided to start at chapter 3, and this time I managed to let my “need to know everything” go, and just keep reading unless I was super confused…because honestly, in general you can at least figure out the gist with context. And it was going better! I still wasn’t wowed, but I kept motoring. I got into chapter 5, and things really started to pick up. There was action, more emotion, I was definitely more intrigued. By the time I got to Phase II (chapter 10), I was so much more excited about the book.

Great book, so sick I have to wait for book 2

good book