The beauty of having such a HUGE backlog of books in my TBR? I can read the first and second books in a series together! Lobizona and Cazadora are about a teen named Manuela who has been in hiding for most of her life, waiting for documentation to prove that she’s not an “illegal” person. While on the run from ICE, after they have arrested her mother, she encounters a strange school where she starts to feel like she belongs for the first time in her life. Part Harry Potter part Shiver - All the fantasy, adventure, romance, heartbreak, and social justice you need in a book.

As in Lobizona, book 1 in the Wolves of No World trilogy, Cazadora effortlessly merges Argentine folklore and real-world issues in an exciting, emotional, and powerful story.

This picks up right where Lobizona left off (scroll back on my profile to my review of it last year). Manu and her friends are on the run from the Cazadores and time is running out in their fight for her right to be accepted as equal despite not falling into the rigid gender binary laws and responsibilities of their world.

Cazadora expands on Lobizona's themes of what it means to be labelled one way or another, what it means to not fit in and have to fight for your belonging in a world that largely views your existence as an aberration and hence dangerous, something to be feared and controlled, what it means when beliefs are harder to change than laws.

I particularly appreciated how Manu and her found family and friends were not labelled as the be-all-end-all Chosen Ones, and instead, flawed people who join an in-progress battle for the space and the voice to be nonconforming, different. Manu, by her very existence being proof of a needed change to a system that has always denied anyone outside its narrow boundaries, is a figurehead to the movement, but she is a part of a multigenerational ecosystem of Septimus fighting for true change.

I did think there were some pacing issues, resulting in a lack of time with characters who needed it for their mutual development, and an inability to breathe and digest some of the bigger story beats. But this was an absorbing read and Garber continues to ace it with vivid world-building, beautiful diversity and representation, and characters we root for.

By the end of this book which sets up the stakes for the finale in a tantalising way, Manu and her crew start taking back their narratives, reclaiming their stories.

There is no label, in any language, with the power to liberate. That must come from within, from outside, from without. I cannot wait to see what the next installment brings!

I loved the sequel of this book. This book is great for readers that are looking for how to define themselves, and to learn no to let others tell them who they are. This book contains magic, romance, and adventure set in a Hispanic inspired world.

This book made me laugh, cry, and feel all the emotions in between. I love Garber's books, so I knew I was going to love this book as well, but I didn't expect to love it this much! The first book had me reeling and desperate for the next book. I reread Lobizona before reading this one, so I know I'm going to have another reread on my hands when the third book comes out, and it can not come out soon enough! That ending had me screaming and wanting to through my Kindle across the room. I love these characters, the plot, the world, everything!

If you liked Romina Garber's Lobizona, you will not be disappointed by this next installment! I really enjoyed Lobizona and was so excited to continue reading about Manu in Cazadora. She is such a badass lead and it was a blast to be dragged further into her world. This book was a journey chock full of lovable characters and adventure. Overall just a very satisfying read that I know fantasy fans will enjoy.

This was such a good follow up story to Lobizona. The characters in this story are so good and each have such distinct motivations it made the story that much more enjoyable to read. I love Garber’s writing!

Loved this second installment of this Wolves of No World series. After loving Lobizona so much, I was hesitant that I would love the second book as much, but it did not disappoint. Lobizona begins right where Cazadora left off. There is the original group from the first book, along with a crew of new characters. These characters seamlessly embody diversity in both societal classes and identities. Manu's bravery is is ridiculous, and I can't wait to see what the future holds for her.
I need a third book to this series, and I need it soon!

Cazadora is written in such a way that I could not put the book down. Following Manu through this adventure filled with twists and turns made my heart race. When I first finished Lobizona, my heart dropped when I found out I had to wait almost six months for the second book. Now that it's finally out, I am by no means disappointed. I suggest Gardber's 'Lobizona' and 'Cazadora' to every reader.

I wanted to love this one more than I did. I think one thing I really struggled with was that this was marketed as a duology when it very clearly is not. There is no resolution in this book and it seemed more like it was setting up a long series than anything else.

The world Garber has created is so great but the characters went so many places in this book that I felt like the character development suffered as a result. The new characters introduced didn’t have enough space to be developed the way the original gang was fleshed out in the first book. Even major plot moments (ex: character deaths) didn’t really hit the way they should have because I wasn’t emotionally invested in the characters.

I love the writing, I love this world, I just wanted more out of this one after how excellent Lobizona was.

So, I finally got around to reading the sequel, and I'll admit that it was hard for me to get through for a lot of the book. Again, I'm not a huge fantasy reader, so my review comes with a grain of salt.

To start, I will at least give the book credit in that some of the issues I saw in the first book were actually better in the sequel. I felt like we got more out of the romance and more out the characters in this book, so I was happy about that. I could actually start to root for Manu and Tiago when they interacted. There were also new side characters that I felt had more interesting backstories and qualities, even if there were still a few of them that felt very two dimensional.

However, the pacing was still so hard for me to read through in this book. It seemed like things were moving much faster this time, but the events were written in a confusing way. I found myself struggling to understand some of the "calmer" moments in the text because they were rushed or had too much happening, but I also felt like the moments that should have been fast paced did not have the urgency that I was looking for. As I m reflecting on the book, I think a large part of this pacing problem comes from the fact that we never feel like Manu might win. Without spoiling anything, it just feels like she and her friends face obstacle after obstacle and very rarely encounter enough success to keep us hoping things will work out for them in some way. I wish there were more of these moments that could build that tension, even though I can see the argument that was being made for the countless, never ending trials that marginalized people face.

I will say that the ending still somehow impacted me deeply. As I read the final chapter and epilogue, I did feel what I think the author was intending. It definitely leaves a lot to the imagination and has left things open enough that I could see Garber writing another book in this series.

I absolutely loved this book, and it's one of the best middle grade fantasy books I've ever read. It's the followup to Lobizona and continues with Manu and her friends on the run from the Cazadores. Garber is a master at worldbuilding and creating amazing images in the reader's minds. The story is perfect and important, and the themes are long lasting and relatable to readers. I want more books in the series!!

I'm sort of conflicted with this book. The ending wasn't my favorite, and it was a bit sluggish at times. However, this book does show promise. I hope to see the author write more books one day.

Ugh, I hate writing reviews like this. I loved loved loved Lobizona so much, but Cazadora to me was just ok. I switched between reading audio and ebook and neither way was able to keep and grip my attention. It felt like a whole lot of filler, and I had thought that this was supposed to be a duology, but apparently it will be a trilogy. So sadly, in my opinion, Cazadora is yet another book I was anticipating that falls victim to "second book syndrome." That's not to say, however, that there weren't things I liked. I really liked seeing the dichotomy of Manu's identity both in the first book and and in this one. In the world of Lunaris, her hybrid status as a Lobizona makes her as abhorred and feared as does her identity as an undocumented immigrant does in the United States. Watching Manu process these things in the midst of hate and racism in both of the worlds she inhabits and watching her become more confident in who she is was really good character development. This book is definitely more character driven than the first, which as I've said is good and bad. I loved seeing Manu's positive relationships with her family, her friends and Tiago and how they form a community around her. I will say that, while the pacing in this one leaves a lot to be desired, the last quarter or so of the book does pick up and the ending leaves us on an intriguing note. I still am very interested in where the third book will take Manu and remain a fan of Garber's writing and consider her a super important voice in the YA fantasy genre.

4.3 stars
I really enjoyed the first two books in this series!

Firstly HISPANIC! So much Hispanic culture, it made my heart melt. And all very well represented!

Secondly, there is quiet some relevant topics and social commentary that is well weaved with the story, and not "in your face" about political unrest, immigration and identity (feeling adrift and unrooted, not feeling accepted or belonging, etc.), racism, privilege and gender inequality (misogyny, binary system, gender roles, etc.).

Thirdly, I loved that the genre was a crossover between my fav Magical Realism and Fantasy

Then there was the imaginative world, packed with entertainment: a magical school, vampires, werewolves, witches... yes!

If you liked Romina Garber's Lobizona, you were required to read this one and of course it's totally worth it. I felt like I needed something more (obviously) after Lobizona and it's great to finally get it. Manu is a great character . Getting to see her and her friends as they enter Kerana and tackle their new stance on illegals like Manu is a fun journey that brings out a lot of emotion. Enjoyed this one a lot.

I enjoyed Lobizona, it wasn't a favourite but it was good and I was looking forward to Cazadora. It took me a while to get into this one, i'm not sure I ever fully did. It just wasn't pulling me in enough. It may just be me and I might have to give it another read sometime, maybe a reread of both books one after the other will help.

The book has a great message but it's really heavy handed. It felt like it was bring drilled into you rather than part of the experience of reading (if that makes sense?).

I liked the characters and the world, the magical world was more fully introduced and developed.. There's some twists and some excitement but it's missing something that I can't quite put my finger on. It didn't feel like there was enough substance to the plot.

I thought this was a duology, and I found a Q&A with the author from August that says it is, so i'm confused with the ending. So I assume it's now a series with an undetermined length which i'm not sure how I feel about that.

I loved Lobizona so when this was released I was all over it like hotcakes, I am so glad that it did not disappoint. I loved diving further into the world of Argentinian folklore that Romina Garber created and I feel like in the first book we really just scratched the surface. I loved discovering the new world with Manu and her friends and loved going on the journey with Manu as she struggled to figure out where she belonged and who she was in a world that told her she wasn't natural and didn't belong anywhere.

Oh my goodness was this book ever a roller coaster!

Admittedly, I was beyond excited for Cazadora because I absolutely adored Lobizona, and yet it really took me a while to get into this book. At first I thought it was just because it had been too long since Lobizona, so I re-read it, but in the end I think it was actually because the book didn’t provide the same escapism the first one did, especially at first.

This book is a lot more overtly forward with its messaging and while I think it’s so vital that books have a depth that applies to the real world, the powerful subtlety of that depth in Lobizona was kind of lost here. Furthermore, in being so overt with its messaging of challenging the “norms,” it kind of made the metaphor of Manu being an aberration in septimus society representing those we call outsiders in ours seem more muddled and a little overdone. It’d be like if someone telling the story of little red riding hood continued to emphasize that it’s bad to talk to strangers, to trust strangers, to tell them your address, etc. All those messages are found in that story, but just writing them out like that kind of pulls you away from learning those lessons experientially rather than solely cognitively.

That said, while I’m not a huge fan of overtly forward books (that might not be the right word I’m looking for but we’ll run with it), I know many are, so that doesn’t make this a bad book, it’s just something for prospective readers to be aware of especially if you’re just looking for some escapism that will unknowingly leave you challenged to see the world in a new light but will not tell you that you should change your perspective.

Beyond that though, the book was really great. A lot of things happened in this book and it definitely moved and travelled far more than the first one did. We finally got to explore Kerana, and see more of the Septimus world in a lot of different ways. Plus the ending of the book is INSANE. Truly, truly, truly, I cannot wait long enough for the third book and am both terrified and excited for what’s in store for these characters.

Special thanks to the publishers and netgalley for an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

this was a beautiful sequel to Lobizona, it had what I enjoyed from the previous book and the characters were just as good as the previous on.

I really loved the first one, but I tried multiple times to read the second book, and I could not get into it. The first half of the book is very “informational” and not in a good way. It was, honestly, very boring. When it finally got going, it was okay, but it was nothing like the magical first book. This was almost a DNF for me—I won’t be picking up the next one.