I enjoyed the sequel to the Omte Origins series a bit more than the first book. I feel like it’s because this book had *more oomph* — if that makes sense. The relationship between Ulla and Pan is better developed and actually discussed between them in a very mature, commendably responsible way that I rarely see in fictional relationships. While the characters themselves don’t come across to me as super complex, their fierce loyalty to one another really makes the book for me.
I enjoyed getting to see more insight into this world. The mysterious magical elements felt darker (where I feel like the envelope wasn’t quite pushed enough in the first book). However, I still had some of the same issues of the worldbuilding feeling vague and intangible. The different cultural groups for the trolls were further explained and seem to be like a microcosm of our society. However, I think the lack of interaction between the troll world and human society prevented the narrative from really *going there* with this concept.
I participated in the blog tour and posted my review last week. Make sure to check it out here if you haven’t already!
Here is a little bit of what the book is about (provided by the publisher):
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.
Author bio:
ROMINA GARBER (pen name Romina Russell) is a New York Times and international bestselling author. Originally from Argentina, she landed her first writing gig as a teen—a weekly column for the Miami Herald that was later nationally syndicated—and she hasn’t stopped writing since. Her books include Lobizona. When she’s not working on a novel, Romina can be found producing movie trailers, taking photographs, or daydreaming about buying a new drum set. She is a graduate of Harvard College and a Virgo to the core.
Early Praise: “With vivid characters that take on a life of their own, beautiful details that peel back the curtain on Romina’s Argentinian heritage, and cutting prose that shines a light on the difficulties of being the ‘other’ in America today, Romina Garber crafts a timely tale of identity and adventure that every teenager should read.”–Tomi Adeyemi New York Times bestselling author of Children of Blood and Bone
“Romina Garber has created an enthralling young adult fantasy led by an unforgettable Latinx character Manu. In Manu we find a young girl who not only must contend with the injustice of being undocumented she also discovers a hidden world that may explain her very existence. I fell in love with this world where wolves, witches and magic thrives, all in a rich Latinx setting!” –Lilliam Rivera, author of Dealing in Dreams and The Education of Margot Sanchez
Daisy Jones & The Six was one of my favorite books of 2019, so I wanted to make sure to read some of Reid’s previous novels. I listened to Evelyn Hugo as an audiobook and could not help but feel sucked into the story. She is just such a compelling character and everything that happened in her life was enrapturing.
I actually haven’t read that many sequels so far this year as I’ve been exploring a lot of new series and standalones. The second book in The Mirror Visitor Quartet (first book being A Winter’s Promise) was a lot of fun. I felt more connected with the characters and the world-building. I feel like this is a quieter series in the YA space, but it has a lot of really fun twists and turns!
I recently reread The Beautiful, which has made me feel even more excited for this newly released sequel! I have heard exciting tidbits from attending Ahdieh’s virtual author tour events that this book explores the fantasy of this world to an extent that we haven’t seen yet so I’m feeling ready to dive in.
Most anticipated release for the second half of the year
While I enjoyed the first three books, I have been pretty disappointed in the Shatter Me spin-off books. This final installment seemed a bit all over the place to me. In fact, it took away from some of my favorite moments in the early series. I’m still a fan of Mafi’s writing, but this one just didn’t do it for me!
I’ve written a review about this graphic novel, so I won’t go into too much detail. But, basically, I picked this one up on a whim and really enjoyed it.
Favorite new author
Nnedi Okorafor
I read Okorafor’s novella Bintiearlier this year and was really impressed by her unique, transformative writing style. Very excited to read more of her books!
I recently posted my review of HOEAB, so make sure to check that out! I’ve always enjoyed Maas’ characters and I thought Ruhn was a really great one, so I’ll go with him! He also reminds me a bit of Dorian Havilliard…
I LOVED THIS BOOK (review posted here), so I thought it would be a shame not to mention it. Sid stands out to me as a very memorable and beloved character as someone who is entertaining, snarky, and unafraid to speak their mind!
I devoured the Saga comic series at the beginning of the pandemic and that last issue made me SOB LIKE CRAZY. I just got so attached to the characters and did not expect that emotional ending! Really hoping new volumes of this series are published soon.
This webcomic turned published book is absolutely adorable. Whenever I read it, I feel giddy and absorbed into Nick and Charlie’s world. Rooting for them!
Most beautiful book you’ve bought so far this year
I’m excited to read this one soon, not just because it has a gorgeous cover, but also because I adore Acevedo’s writing style! Will be picking this beauty up soon.
What books do you need to read by the end of the year?
These are just a few anticipated books that I’d like to read by the end of 2020. I also have posted my summer TBR recently with some more choices I’d like to get to soon!
I was very excited to be invited to be a part of the blog tour for Lobizona because I have been hearing buzz all over about this book (and also just look at that gorgeous cover!!!). I enjoyed reading this new spin on a paranormal fantasy school. The concept was cool and I found the beginning to be particularly gripping and difficult to put down. The narrative angle of Manu struggling with her identity of being viewed as an outsider (both within the grounded-to-reality immigration storyline and the fantastical structure of the society based around the bruja and lobizón) was a great launching point for the plot.
I did find that the balance between these two threads became much more lopsided in the paranormal school setting toward the latter half of the novel. From the onset of my reading, I wasn’t expecting this setting to be as present and it took away some of the urgency of the beginning of the novel to me. Obviously Manu was in a precarious situation with her hidden identity, but it didn’t have the same urgency as I felt during the exposition since the school was a bit of a safe haven (at least for her magical peers).
Altogether, I have pretty positive takeaways from this one and am interested to read more books from this author!
I loved the expansive worldbuilding throughout the novel. I found the story to be super addicting which was absolutely essential for me to stay invested since the book is over 800 pages! The characters were complex and the mystery of it all was soooo good. I could totally picture this fantasy world and the investigation plot as like a crime-fighting procedural show that would be so fun to binge-watch.
I have some mixed feelings about sensing a lot of similarities in the character traits and thematic elements that were also present in Throne of Glass and A Court of Thorns and Roses. I think this may be in large part because I have such a strong familiarity with these series. Maas’ writing style is definitely very distinct, so I could see that signature humor and snarkiness ring through in the dialogue and characters’ voices. I could probably write up a whole blog series about the parallels between the three book series (actually maybe that would be a fun project to work on as I wait for her next book hmm….)
Back to this individual book, I thought it was a great start to a new series. It definitely got me hooked to the world and the characters. The main story also felt contained enough to satisfy me for however long it may take for the sequel to come out. The ending left me interested, but also a bit confused. I predict, similar to her other series, that the plot will pivot more toward the fantasy origins of the world now that the major present-day conflict has been resolved.
Needless to say, I will definitely be continuing on with this series!
Definitely not a comprehensive TBR list for me, but I did want to set a few goals for books I’d like to read this summer (or more likely, just sometime this year since the summer is kind of already halfway over somehow??). Without much further ado, let’s get into it:
I have heard amazing things about this books — particularly that it’s perfect for lovers of YA fantasy like myself. I’ve had a copy for a while now and it really needs to get read ASAP!!!
I was so excited about this book when I got it on release day last year. I love fantasy and fashion, so this story sounds like the perfect mix for me. Clearly, with the genres in this TBR list, I’m hoping to go on a fantasy reading run soon.
This is another must-read that I’ve heard nothing but amazing things about. I will definitely be getting to this one soon! I have also been seeing so much buzz about the sequel lately. I feel like this is the kind of book I will get sucked into and never want to leave its world.
As a huge fan of The Song of Achilles and Madeline Miller’s writing in general, I viewed this as one of my most anticipated reads when it first came out. I remember pre-ordering it and salivating at its beautiful gold foil cover… then it just sat on my bookshelf (I know… shame on me!). This will be the year that I actually read it!
I did a whole reread of the Red Rising series last year just in anticipation of this book! I loved the experience of listening to the first three books on audio, but then my library didn’t have the Iron Gold audiobook on its Overdrive, so I had put off rereading the physical version for a while. Now, I’m a bit intimidated by the size of this behemoth, but I will be attempting to read it by the end of the year.
This has been one of my favorite reads of 2020 so far! I just adored the characters and couldn’t help but feel giddy at being taken back to the world of The Winner’s Curse series, which is one of my all-time faves. The Midnight Lie was a bit slow to start, but it really picks up and then you won’t be able to stop.
I thought this story set up the foundation for a great expansion of the fantasy world from The Winner’s Curse series. I liked the way it was a spin-off, yet it wasn’t necessary to read the original series, so anyone can just jump into this story. And it definitely had its own original fingerprint, apart from the previous series. The romance is so sweet and features two really distinct, multi-dimensional characters with bold, unforgettable voices of their own.
As always, I’m a huge fan of Marie Rutkoski’s writing and can’t wait to see what she comes up with next!
My next reading recommendations graphic brings you some comics and graphic novels to try! I’ve been really into more visual books lately and I’ve found all of these very enjoyable.
The Lost City was a pretty feel-good fantasy in that the stakes didn’t seem super high, but it was still enjoyable to read. The characters are charming and while the plot didn’t totally grip me, I feel like tonally this was a nice pandemic read that let me ponder a while about a fantasy world that is parallel to our own world.
I should say that this is my first Amanda Hocking book and I believe this is the start of a spin-off series to her earlier books. So I didn’t have the background of previous knowledge about this fantasy work. While I don’t think this greatly deterred my enjoyment, I did struggle a bit with understanding the scope of the world-building. It felt like there was lots of info-dumping at times in the narration or even just in the characters’ dialogue that felt kind of unnatural for me to believe that these characters would actually explain to one another verbatim. I do think this world has interesting potential with a lot of background and history for the different groups of trolls and other creatures featured in the story.
My major gripe was that it felt like a middle grade read, even though the main characters were firmly in YA. The language often seemed juvenile and the plot seemed to steer clear of taking risks and getting into the real nitty-gritty of what I think was intended to be a pretty dark fantasy world.
Overall, I was underwhelmed, but still intrigued enough to keep reading Hocking’s other novels!
UnapologeticallYA Book Reviews! 