A really moving queer YA romance between a nonbinary muralist in Texas and the undocumented Mexican immigrant they fall for the summer before they're supposed to go off to college. A tender romance between two queer teens of color who just want the freedom to love who they want and have to fight against ICE. Highly recommended for fans of Aristotle and Dante discover the secrets of the universe or Somewhere between bitter and sweet. Great on audio too. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for early digital copies in exchange for my honest review!

I really enjoyed this book and at times it had me emotional. This is a very important read. I loved the characters and how the author described the different places in the book. Ander and Santi's relationship did not feel rushed and I loved how it evolved through the book.

DNF 50%

Slow pacing that I found hard to keep interested in
Didn’t feel any chemistry between the main character, and could’t get invested into their story.
Alot of unrealistic dialogue, and second hand embarrassment humor which is my Least favorite as a reader. I alos can’t stand when writers try to throw in a ton of pop culture and social media refs into YA to try to sound like a teen.

I’m glad this story exists and is being told, but it did not work for me

Ander & Santi Were Here was one of my anticipated reads of the year and it didn't disappoint. This book was so good that I forgot I was even reading, I wanted more, I needed more.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Ander & Santi Were Here was such a beautiful story. It highlighted so many important topics that I almost never see in anything I’ve ever read.

I never felt so shook in my entire life after reading this. Especially towards the end. I almost cried, and that says a lot.

Ander was such an amazing character to follow throughout their journey and seeing them grow with his art, and his skills of being more independent.

Santi, literally, is such a sweetheart. I just wanted to go up and give him a hug. What he’s been through is so sad, and Ander’s family being so supportive of them is amazing.

The ending. That. Ending. I’m a loss of words. It’s so good that you just need to read it for yourself. This is seriously one of the best books I have ever read, ever.

Thanks NetGalley for an eARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

Jonny Garza Villa is such a talented writer. The atmosphere in this book was incredible - I felt like I was there with Ander and Santi and Zeke and Mami and Tita and Pa in a neighborhood full of delicious food, colorful murals and even more colorful characters. He combines the beautiful and heartbreaking with humor and love. 4.5 stars because I did feel the beginning was a little slow but ultimately a really beautiful, heartfelt and important story that I would highly recommend.

This was a beautiful, bittersweet story about two lovers facing all odds to be together. Ander is a brilliant artist with an incredibly supportive, loving family. Santi arrives in town with no support and is promptly swept into the fold. They are drawn to each other and then forced apart by immigration, while their family bands together to keep them in the same place.

I felt this was definitely more new adult than YA. There are heavy themes and very horny (late) teens. Most of the spice is fade to black, but Ander is keen for it and that is front and centre. Love that for them!

Bilingual text is a huge part of this story and as someone with no background in Spanish I was able to get most words though context, however I was grateful to have an e-ARC where I could translate phrases directly. This did not detract from the story in my eyes - I really loved the translanguaging that was happening, it felt truly authentic.

This was a beautiful book and I felt all the feels. Definitely recommend.

CW: racism, transmisia, ICE/deportation, death of a grandparent (mentioned), death of a parent (recounted), death of a sibling (recounted), kidnapping, recreational drug and alcohol use

I would like to thank NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with a free e-ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

My heart is so full after reading Ander & Santi Were Here and you absolutely need to read this book.

Ander & Santi Were Here is a bittersweet, queer BIPOC love story about Ander and Santi falling in love and fighting to stay together when ICE threatens to deport Santi back to Mexico. From the first page, I fell in love with Ander & Santi’s story and you could clearly see that they were made for each other. Every interaction between the two has you feeling a wave of emotions from super cute to bittersweet to heartfelt. Additionally, I absolutely loved the cast dynamics that tie everything together.

To be clear, there are very mature themes that Garza Villa addresses in Ander & Santi Were Here that aren’t as addressed in other YA novels (though I would argue that this title could fall appropriately under New Adult) and I understand that this title might not be for everyone. Yet, I think Garza Villa really conveys a message of love and belonging by telling Ander & Santi’s story and I think that makes reading Ander & Santi Were Here worth it.

Also, I know people who reviewed this title have mixed feelings about the bilingual text that Garza Villa includes in the book. Personally, I really liked this approach because it provides more authenticity to the story as well as creates an inclusive reading environment for Spanish readers. Additionally, since I have more familiarity with Spanish, I didn’t think it was that big of an issue to follow along or was able to get most of the context clues that Garza Villa provides so that you can kind of get an idea of what they’re saying. Though, I can understand that if you aren’t as familiar with Spanish that you would have a hard time reading the book.

Ander & Santi Were Here is a book we need now more than ever. For fans of Felix Ever After, readers will appreciate the themes/motifs of finding identity in art as well as fighting to be who they’re meant to be. For fans of the They Both Die at The End series, readers will feel all the feels for the bittersweet love story. And for anyone looking for a great new read, you came to the right place.

What a beautiful story. I love when authors do such a great job balancing heavy themes and topics with light hearted ones. I loved Ander and Sanyo’s dynamic with eachother and I always enjoy stories that revolve around families and communities which this one definitely did!

The only reason I’m giving this 4 stars instead of 5 is that I felt some of the writing was a bit repetitive and there were moments where not too much was happening in the story and I hoped for it to be more engaging.

With that being said, this is an amazing story about coming into your own, overcoming adversity (while still rightfully saying “f*ck the institution that is causing this adversity), and love between two beautiful souls and the family and friends that surround them and I highly recommend it.

DRC provided by St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

We do not deserve authors like Jonny Garza Villa. They created such a moving tale, I bawled my eyes out.

Ander is taking a gap year, so their family "fires" them so they can focus on their murals and prepare for college. That is, until they meet Santiago Garcia, the new waiter who has replaced them at the family restaurant. Falling in love with each other becomes as natural as breathing. Until ICE agents come for Santi, and Ander realizes how fragile everything is.

This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year, but I have to say I have mixed feelings about it. I'll start with the positive. This book exudes a queer joy in a way, it also has some really difficult parts for the main character and love interest, however I loved the way Ander is always supported by their family, the love and acceptance they have was great. Which brings me to the next part, the family. Family is very important in this book, family, friends and community, I loved seeing those relationships. The love that Ander’s parents have for them, the support system they have, is incredible.

Now the romance I feel like it was a little rushed at first, I'm not the biggest fan of instalove so that's something I wasn’t particularly fond of, I still think there are cute moments and as the story goes we see that relationship between Ander and Santi blossom into something big, which I loved for both of them. It's a very emotional story in many ways, the characters have to go through bad times and that was really heartbreaking, but you can also feel the good times and those are incredibly heartwarming.

The main character, Ander, when I first heard about this book, all I really knew was that it followed a queer Mexican artist. And that was enough to convince me. Ander is a great main character, they’re funny, confident and a bit of a mess. I loved the growth they had with their art and discovering what they wanted to do with it.

Now, what I didn't like. Honestly, I'm not sure, first of all, this book took me almost two full months to finish, which is maybe my fault, but I read several books between this one and faster so. The pacing felt off, I was really bored at first because everything felt slow somehow, it wasn't until around 40% that it really started to pick up, but I was underwhelmed for most of the book. I didn't love the writing style either; you know how there’s books where the writing feels timeless? Well, this isn't one of them, which isn't necessarily a bad thing I guess, but it's not my favorite either. One thing I will say about the writing is that I loved the way the author described things, from Ander’s art to the setting, it made the story really come alive that way. Next, the use of Spanish. Spanish is my first language, it is what I use the most in my day to day. I feel some of the phrases a bit awkward? I don't know how to explain it, but considering the fact that Santi grew up primarily in Mexico, some of the sentences didn't make sense to me personally.

Overall, it wasn't the best read for me and there's nothing technically wrong with it, but my experience with the writing and pacing of the book and the structure as a whole wasn't the best. Nonetheless, I think the story itself was good and impactful, so I would still recommend it.

I was really excited to read this novel based on the description. This was both a heartwarming and heartbreaking. The relationship between the two main characters was lovely but did feel rushed. The conflict with ICE was well done and obviously well-researched. The book has well-developed characters and flows very nicely. I did find the ending a bit too pat and perfect but again, that's probably not an issue for most readers.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this arc

Ander & Santi We're Here by Jonny Garza Villa
ARC BOOK REVIEW

Queer love and social issues is something that I would say I hold very deeply to my heart especially being queer myself so seeing that play out in this story really made me emotional and I did cry a couple times while reading this. However, I do feel that the story moved to slow for me and I felt a little like "I could just stop reading right now" at some point, but really I wanted to finish their love story so I am glad I did. Overall, it was not a bad experience and I am glad I read it.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I cried until my eye were red and my shirt was soaked! This was such a good book, a sweet Ya/New adult book about queer love admist the tenous living situations of the undocumented. I just wept so much. I cant wait for more from Villa.

Wow. This is honestly one of the best books I’ve read this year. And I suspect it will continue to be in my top faves come December. It was colorful, heart aching, and wonderfully loud.

From the beginning, the writing was immersive. I felt sucked into Ander’s world, and I had no complaints about it. Reading through Ander’s eyes was a constant ride of highs and lows, cheering and laughing, sometimes even choking up. They were so unapologetically themselves, and it was consistent from page one. No matter the kind of scene happening—a happy scene that had me grinning or a devastating scene that saddened me—it was all depicted in a way that was true to Ander’s character.

Speaking about character, every single member of Ander’s family literally jumped off the page. They were all so unique. And it warmed my heart to see them be so loving toward their kids and one another. The love that radiated from them, even from everyone at the taquería, was special. Now Santi was the man of the hour, of course. I absolutely adored watching him come out of his shell after what I can only assume as a grueling journey as he made it to Lupe’s. And I loved that Ander was the one who showed him how to let down his walls and allow love in.

As for plot, I had a great time going from scene to scene. I was switching from happiness to anger to sadness within seconds. I was expecting to see more internal conflict between Ander and Santi that wasn’t just that part in the beginning where Santi was hoping to get Ander off his back because of his situation. And even that was resolved easily. I thought maybe that moment after the situation with Santi’s mom and his sister, but then…well, that happened. I guess I expected more on that front. However, I did like that their relationship was just simply wholesome. They fell into love and did not want to come out of it. They made each other better. I couldn’t help but root for them from the very beginning.

And my favorite part about this book was the world building. The way it felt like I was standing in between all of it was incredible. It all exploded in color. I think it was made even better because Ander is such an artist, so watching them go from mural to mural, focusing on the scenes before them in detail, and bringing it all to life was the cherry on top.

Truly an incredible read. This is definitely a book I will want to reread time and time again.

“What's worth fighting for? What's worth losing?”

From reading the synopsis, I knew that this book would hurt me but… wow it sure did creep up on me. My first impression of Ander and Santi was of a story that focuses on an incredibly hard and heavy subject, but still stays pretty lighthearted and surface level. As I got further in, I was definitely proved wrong. I was taken from a hot and heavy quickly blossoming young romance to an absolutely devastating and powerful fight to protect what you love. My absolute favorite, most impactful scene from this entire book was the shower scene. The powerful, gorgeous descriptions of queer intimacies, the small touches and holding of each other, the safe space that we make with each other. It brought me to tears and reminded me of how safe I feel in my own love’s arms despite all the chaos in the world around us. “And with every touch, I am reminded that we are powerful. That our existence is powerful… It's also him reminding me and me reminding him that we exist. Together. Right here and now, with each other. And no man or government or racist ideology can ruin this.”

(vague spoiler ahead) I didn’t expect this story to get a happy ending but god I’m so glad it did. Ander and Santi deserved one so badly. Throughout this book I felt like I was repeatedly getting the rug pulled out from under me, which I think is exactly how the characters felt; being given the promise of safety and having it taken away over and over again. The frustration. The anger. The hopelessness. The grief. I felt all of it. To see two brown, queer people find safety and joy and peace is so needed and so much more important than any other ending could’ve been.

“We loved here, and no one and no amount of hate can ever erase that.”

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an eARC in exchange for an honest review :)

Ander & Santi We're Here by Jonny Garza Villa
ARC BOOK REVIEW

"So I scream. To let it all out. To make sure that sound still exists. To let out everything that's been holding itself in. To remind myself that I'm still here. Until my throat hurts to remind myself that I can still feel."

This book tells the story of Ander, an 17 year old non-binary queer artist and their Latinx family living in a Texas border town. While aware of the struggles of their undocumented neighbors, Ander really kept themself naive until their new boyfriend, Santi, reveals he's undocumented. ICE becomes a personal threat as they both face the risks of being separated.

I absolutely loved Ander and the journey they went on to accept themself as an artist. They learned, with Santi's help, that art is most powerful when created from the heart. The flirty friends-to-lovers journey of Ander and Santi was sweet and genuine. In fact, all the relationships in the book felt genuine. Ander's relationship with their large, loud, Latinx family, their best friends, and their community, all felt solid and real. I appreciated that Ander's gender and sexuality, while important to the story, wasn't the catalyst for strife and conflict.

The only real challenge for me while reading was so crucial to the telling of the story, that I want to make sure this isn't read as a complaint. The amount of Spanish used in conversation was so important in the representation of Latinx families and neighborhoods and I could typically get the gist from the rest of the conversation. I found myself going from book to online translator, however, because I just had to know the endearing nicknames Santi and Ander were calling each other!

I received this ARC from Netgalley and St Martins Press. Ander & Santi Were Here will be released May 2, 2023.

DNF @20%
This book has great representation and I like that some of the dialogue is Spanish. I know some people might complain that ts not translated to English in the text, but I think it's easy to understand through context and if you want to know exactly what was said, you can use Google. I don't care about the plot and it felt like nothing was happening.

I appreciated the queer romance, as well as the addressing of timely social issues. But the rest of the plot was a bit dull. Not that this is a bad book, but it just ultimately wasn’t for me.

“I think, if this is my last day, the last day of life as I know it, the last few hours of happiness and having things and people who can take my mind away from the worries and mierda out there, then at least I know I’ve made the best out of it.”
ander and santi were here is, at it’s heart a story of figuring out your future when you’re in a foggy place. when you don’t know what’s the right move and when the fog will produce something that is meant to hurt you. it’s raw & terrifying, but most importantly it’s real. ander and santis stories have been told by many people just like them. this book was a good read, giving me moments where i knew what was happening next, and then throwing it out of the window.