Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC copy!

I don’t often read contemporary or romance books, but when I saw the description for this book, it sounded really interesting and I just couldn’t resist when it was listed as ‘read now.’ This was an incredibly charming book with a wonderful blend of heart, zest, and wit, and I’m so glad I picked it up on a whim.

I had so much fun reading this! Right from the first paragraph, the reader gets a fantastic sense of Ander and how they view the world around them. I don’t think I’ve ever read a character with such a distinct, vibrant narrative voice. I absolutely adored the seamless fusion of the English and Spanish language as well as queer terminology. The fact that Ander’s family so comfortably used -e endings made my heart full. I also really enjoyed all of the character relationships: Ander and Santi are tooth-achingly sweet together, Ander’s family and their interactions are delightfully hectic and honest, and multiple times I laughed aloud at Ander and Zeke’s banter.

As fun as this book was, it also approached the topics of gender, sexuality, race, culture, immigration politics, and the intersection of all of these with a great deal of tenderness, grace, and respect. I really appreciate that the author explored the difficulties and fear, the beauty and hope, and everywhere in between with these issues to create a nuanced glimpse into the everyday lives of strangers who could just as easily be friends.

Despite all of the good with this book, I think it could have been taken to the next level if we got a little more about Santi. Because everything is from Ander’s point of view, sometimes the romance feels a little unbalanced or under-developed. A relationship is built on two people, but so much of Ander and Santi’s relationship felt like it was focused on Ander. I wanted to know more about how Santi felt about certain events since he is probably the most reserved character in the story and doesn’t always verbally express what he’s feeling or thinking.

I would definitely recommend this book!

First of all let me say that the cover is breathtaking. Immediately, I knew I had to read this book. The writing is beautiful and realistic. The whole time I read it I felt as if I was standing right there with them. I appreciate that they take time to flesh out the characters and backstory but I think it took too long and affected the pace of the story. By the time things start moving in the story it feels like Ander and Santi have barely been together at all. This book touches on an important issue and I believe it was addressed well. I wish the ending was a little longer and delved a little deeper but it was a great story.

Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for the ARC.

𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐞: ★★★★

Thank you for allowing me to read this novel. I was ecstatic when I received the email that I would be able to read my first arc! I love the cover art and I enjoyed the story.

Jonny Garza Villa does a great job at showing heartbreak in difficult situations while also adding romance. I thought it was refreshing to read from a nonbinary artist struggling with finding her voice in San Antonio. These two main characters struggle to face the adult world while also encountering the cruelty of America, as society tries to mold them into a box.

This novel raises a lot of difficult topics and expresses culture, family, love, and friendship.

DNF @ 20%.

I lost it at the part where the main character describes warm weather in winter as spring "putting the tip in" "before pulling out and letting winter keep rearranging our guts for a few more weeks."

The writing is long, tedious, and not that funny, and nothing has happened yet. I'm not intrigued.

This was such a beautiful and heartbreaking love story. I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about it at the beginning because it started rather slowly. However, I think this touches on themes that are important and meaningful. It’s heartbreaking that stories like this exist in the real world but it’s important to talk about these matters and give them a voice. Ander and Santi are great examples of realistic characters.

One thing I absolutely loved is the voice this was written in. This book uses Spanish mixed into the English. While I don’t speak Spanish, I was able to understand what was happening. I adore that the integrity of the characters and writing was kept and not forced to change things to make it more accessible. A wonderful example of realistic literature.

*4.5/5

Okay, I’m going to try to get through this review without crying. Again. This book was a rollercoaster of emotions. In a beautiful way.

The way these characters’ emotions are written make them feel so real. I could feel the love these characters had for each other, their sadness was palpable, their happiness made me glow. And yes, I cried. But that’s not a surprise.

I loved the realness of the topics in the book. They’re so current and important to talk about. The anger the characters were feeling is deeply ingrained in the immigration system in the US. And the representation in the book was great, having multiple sexualities and genders and pronouns and races and backgrounds. Love it!!

The ROMANCE! Oh man, the love was so real. At first I thought it was a little insta-love-y, but as I read on, the feelings between these characters felt so realistic and developed and all-consuming.

One complaint I have about this book- really the only one- is that there were no translations for the Spanish parts. I loved the realistic-ness of having the characters speak Spanish to each other and it really added depth to the story, but since this is a book published in English, I struggled understanding like 1/6 of the book because there were no translations for full sentences/paragraphs in Spanish. Again, I have no problem with books incorporating other languages, I think it’s important, but definitely either translate or have clear context clues so the (English) reader knows what is being said.

I definitely predicted the end of this book from like halfway through, but that didn’t make it any less impactful and BEAUTIFUL. Such a well written ending that wrapped up the book so well and stayed true to the nature of the story.

Finally, aside from the narrative, the COVER!!! Alone this cover is stunning, but reading the book and having that visual for the end was invaluable. So beautiful, one of the best book covers I’ve ever seen.

Overall I HIGHLY recommend this book. I know I’ve said this already but it’s such a beautiful and tragic story that deserves more attention.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me to read this book!

This was undoubtedly one of the most beautiful novels I've ever had the pleasure to read. I got the arc a while ago and sat on it for months. Mostly because I was afraid. I knew it was going to make me <i>feel</i> and that it might make me <i>cry</i> and neither of those things are high up on my list of experiences lol. But ... today was the day and I'm so glad.

I've been reading YA novels for a really long time. I started out reading Dessen novels in the early aughts. I'm not new to YA or New Adult novels. But when I tell you that this is among my top five YA novels, I am very serious. I have a very long list and the moment I finished reading this... I ached. I still ache. I'm not going to tell you the plot or give you a summary, I am going to tell you how this book made me feel.

Ander and Santi were so much FUN. They made me laugh nonstop. Ander's observance of life was hilarious and his interactions with his family brought a needed lightness to a very serious and timely novel. This family was understanding and sweet and his parents loved one another and their children so much. It was so evident in how they expressed their love for Ander. There is a scene where Ander and their mother are talking and Ander's mother explains WHY she does not want Ander to see Santi anymore and as a mother myself... it made my heart actually hurt. It was so real and genuine, her love palpable.

The yearning and pining through the first half of this novel is so beautiful. It's young. It reminded me of the first time I fell in love. Life is so daunting and vast at that age. So much left for you to discover. And yet, the curveball Ander is thrown by falling in love with Santi.. and them deciding to give in and actually pursue one another... they had to grow up so fast. No longer at the end of their teens but fully blown adults. The romance in this was so beautiful. They were both so tender with one another, understanding, and unabashed with their feelings for one another. And there were so many moments I held my breath out of genuine fear for them. I cried when Ander cried. I cried when Santi cried. But my god, I grinned when they were happy. Because they deserved it so badly. And I was so afraid because I got to 90% and thought... how will this end happily? But... oh it did. I will be thinking about them for a very long time.

Johnny wrote a very timely and moving novel. And I am a better person for having read it. I will be purchasing a copy and adding it to my ever expanding book collection and cannot wait for the day that my daughter will be able to read it. That is the kind of book Johnny has written. Thank you. I simultaneously feel like I've said too much but not enough. Just know that you won't regret reading this book.

I received an arc from Wednesday Books and Netgalley and this is my honest opinion.

Thank you to Netgallery and the publisher for a free review copy. All opinions my own.

Ander and Santi Were Here has a good story. I really enjoyed the dynamics of the family, the total acceptance of Ander being queer and nonbinary without any hesitations, and Santi being who he is.

Their summer romance is adorable, and I'm glad I read 65% of the story, but I did end up DNFing anyways.

I requested this book without knowing that there would be lots of Spanish sentences through the book. Another language is completely fine - but the problem is that we don't have any sort of translation guide, for those people who don't speak Spanish. One word here or there is okay without any translation, but there is easily one sentence on each page of the 221 pages I read.

With this being published to a general audience, it needs to be accessible for those people who don't speak the language. I also found without the context, I was missing a good portion of the story itself, and it kept kicking me out of the story because I had to guess what they were saying which is frustrating.

Sadly due to that reason, I did not finish the book.

I'm incredibly happy young people get to grow up with stories like this, stories about belonging, and love, and community, and family, and bravery, and identity and what all those things mean wrapped up together. This book made me emotional in so many ways and I'm so grateful I got to read it.

I will say the description of it made me nervous but I went in with eyes, mind and most of all heart.

This book is so devastatingly beautiful. There are parts where you are reading about two people falling in love and then you realize there is something so much bigger happening and the story itself evolves into so much more.

The ending I didn’t see coming but that was because I was both broken snd put back together so many times throughout this beautiful story.

I have learned so much and my favorite chapter is an early chapter because it is filled with hope.

Thank you for sharing Ander and Santi.
Thank you for sharing their story.

this book was one of my most anticipated reads of the year and it did not disappoint.

cw: ICE, deportation

this book deals with a lot of heavy topics, but at the same time was very beautiful and poignant. from the synopsis, i spent most of the book waiting for the other shoe to drop, and when it did, my heart broke along with the characters’. this is one book that will break your heart but put it together again by the end.

ander is gay, nonbinary, and mexican-american. i love how ander is unapologetically themself and how they have an amazing support system. the queer representation in this book was so good, and i love how their identity was something to be celebrated among their family and friends. ander and santi’s relationship development was very realistic, and despite everything they went through, they come out of it stronger than before. i felt that the ending was appropriate for the story, as it wasn’t a perfect ‘happy’ ending, but was optimistic and i felt that it was the best scenario for them with everything that happened.

<i>‘and the words ‘Ander & Santi Were Here’ are written along the top. Big and bright and bold. Wanting the world to know that we gave it our best and that that has meaning. That we loved here, and no one and no amount of hate can ever erase that.’</i>

i can’t wait to buy a physical copy of this book when it comes out. this is one book i’ll be thinking about for a long time. (also the cover is so beautiful, when ander describes their mural, i had to flip back to the cover to see the visual)


(thank you to Netgalley for the eARC)

Thank you netgalley for this ARC this was an arc i really wanted to read this year so when i got approved for it i had to read it asap and im so glad i did..

This book had everything you need in a book this book was detailed and written so amazing this book follows AJ and santi also want to say loved the NB rep in this novel and everyone who identifies as NB can feel seen in these novels. This novel was so beautiful and the relationship did not feel forced EVER and felt so authentic even through all the hardships usually alot of books just feel so forced and boring when it comes to love stories but this one was amazing. I loved all the food being talked about in this book it sounded delicious all the culture and art the author wrote in this novel was beautiful as well. I really look forward to other books in the future by the author of this novel they really wrote such a beautiful important book regarding stories we see that happen in society and it was so sad to read about. I cant express how much i LOVED this book seriously it was cute, sad, emotional at times but overall its a very important novel. One of my favorite things of this novel was the family dynamics the restaurant everything was perfect ugh. The murals were so detailed and had so many messages behind them.

Also can we talk about how cute the cover is????? The detail is so good.

Seriously such an amazing piece of work. I cant say much more because i dont want to spoil the novel for anyone but if you like YA novels READ THIS.

Classic tale set in modern times. I love the Mexican American experience being talked about and the the budding relationship between the two main characters. Even though it’s told in contemporary times you can tell the author pulled inspiration from ancient tales. A lovely read.

Thank you to Wednesday Books and NetFalley for the ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

This book. My heart feels broken and put back together. Jonny does such a phenomenal job at crafting a romance that truly pulls at the heartstrings and I couldn't help but fall in love.

This is the perfect blend of tender and heart with so much passion. An absolute can't miss!

I ABSOLUTELY LOVED THIS ONE! There was an incredible amount of depth to Ander and Santi's characters and I was absolutely drawn into this complex, raw, and real story. Villa does not shy away from reflecting on cultural or political realities, which is where I think this book draws its strength from. I was in awe of Villa's writing throughout, which I don't often experience when reading YA. The representation in this book was handled masterfully and I will definitely be picking up more from this author.

As someone who recently came out as non-binary, I can’t tell you how nice it was to come
across a book that features a non-binary main character. In this novel we follow Ander and Santi as they get swept up in a beautiful love story.

This novel was heartfelt, realistic, and full of both funny and emotional moments. The social commentary within this novel is so important and I found the use of Spanish throughout really effective and provided poignant cultural representation.

Thank you to the publisher for allowing me to read an ARC of this novel which I have no doubt will be a key piece of queer YA literature.

This book was a fairly interesting read for me.
I really enjoyed how many cultural elements were apart of the world building and the diction of this book, and the characters struggles felt very tangible and real through the page. I did find that the pacing of the book was much slower than I would have like though. Overall, I think its incredibly important, especially in today’s world, for stories like this to be told.

I’ve been searching for a good contemporary romance to read and I’m so happy that this is the one I got to pick up. If you're a fan of Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, They Both Die at the End, and/or I'll Give You the Sun, this book is for you.

Ander & Santi Were Here follows Ander, a nonbinary artist, in San Antonio, Texas, as they take a gap year before going to art school to do a residency with a local queer advocacy organization. This includes helping at their family’s taqueria…until Ander is “fired” so they can spend more time on their art, and a cute new boy is hired to take their place.

What a beautiful and fun story! I love Ander so much. Their passion for art is central to the story, and I appreciate the commentary on Ander being a token Latinx artist in college as well as their realization that they don’t want to be treated that way. They are not the next Frida or Diego, they are them and they'll paint what they want and how they want. Ander is also so funny and relatable, and I love their interactions with their family members, who are equally as funny and very supportive of them & their (sometimes outlandish) choices.

Pushing the story is Ander & Santi’s romance, how they fit so well together and yet are afraid of losing each other all at once. Their shared heritage brings them together, too, as well as Ander’s art, and I loved when they had their little moments together and talked not only about art, but books and family and having pride in themselves for being Latinx and LGBTQ+.

All the characters often speak in a mixture of English and Spanish, and although I'm not a native Spanish speaker and have little knowledge of the language, the language changes didn't take me out of the story. It made everything feel more real, and didn't feel like the author was throwing it in there to make the characters seem more Latinx--they just were, and unabashedly so. Which was refreshing, for them all to be themselves in a world that is sometimes unkind to them.

There was also a poignancy to it all because of the current racist migration policies in the US, meaning at every turn, Ander and Santi were worried about ICE being at the backs, and how they managed to love and be happy despite it all was wonderful, and yet heart wrenching at times. My heart sped at times and I couldn't swipe through the pages fast enough to see what was happening and make sure everything was okay. Ander & Santi grabbed me and didn't let me go, even at the very end, and it's a book that'll stay with me as I go forward, in both my reading and in life.

2.5 stars - ANDER AND SANTI WERE HERE is undeniably a book with a lot of heart, great message and intentions, giving a much needed humanizing depiction of an undocumented person, unfortunately its execution just does not do it for me.

The novel brims vibrantly with art and culture, a love letter to art that portrays and uplifts the community despite external ideas and pressure, to Mexican food and music that bring people together, and to community that shows up for one another even against state violence. It is a joy to read all the aforementioned and learn how the main character Santi is raised by, fed, thriving in all this, and it is a breath of fresh air indeed.

And of course the portrayal of an undocumented person here is almost monumental for me, so rare it is, let alone a fleshed out and humanizing one as is the case here with Santi. Similar to Ander, the topic of undocumented people seems like a concerning but distanced one from me, never something personal, but this book completely changes that, depicting both the minutiae and pressing aspects of being undocumented, shedding a more revealing and informative light on it.

While the book's intentions are heartfelt and well-meaning, however, I think its execution leaves quite a bit to be desired. The pacing is inconsistent, very slow at times with constant, repetitive internal monologues and reflection by Ander peppered with him doing art, going to Lupe's and hanging out with Santi, and only with rare bursts of development peppered in. It gets boring after a while, waiting for something concrete to actually happen. The last arc also ends too abruptly in my opinion, and more time could have been given to the ending.

The writing is also surprisingly juvenile. I get that this is YA, but at times the language simply does not fit the depth and sometimes seriousness of the story, and could have articulated in a better way. And while Ander and Santi's relationship is a major part of the book, despite it being a mostly health one and effortlessly queer, I am not a fan of the instalove and sometimes fail to comprehend or understand their bond. I think more focus could have been given to Santi's aspirations for the future as well, instead of only focusing on his past.

To sum up, this is a book with good message, with its love for food, culture, art, community, queer love that sheds a rare light on being undocumented, but one whose execution hampers its full potential.

Sometimes I adore a book, and then other times I am utterly consumed by it. My DNA is unwound until the pieces of me that didn’t fit quite right before begin to align perfectly with the shape of this book. I just…

I have loved a lot of books, and I have felt so many emotions for a lot of books - but a lot of books are not this one. And a lot of the things I have said or could say will never quite begin to encompass what this book did to me. For me. What it will do to you, and for you.

Ander and Santi Were Here is a story unlike any other. Filled with gorgeous prose, characters whose vibrancy shines both on the page and in your heart, queer joy, queer sorrow but most importantly, I think at its heart, it is filled with hope.

I think it’s safe to say I cried from the 65% margin onwards, Santi and his pain, Ander and theirs - the way they find each other, comfort each other and care for each other in the only way they both know how. I just will forever be in awe.

This book explores the lives of two Mexican people, as they meet in a glance and are then sucked in from that point onwards. Not only does it discuss so many important topics, such as the impact that ICE, and the police force in general, have on undocumented folks' lives, the injustice of limiting an artist to their culture as if that's all they are and so many other things, but It shares a message that most other books shy away from. A brutal truth that is laid out in its simplicity, fed to you in a way that is not delicate and nor should it be.

But, alongside that, this story is a love story. One that follows challenges, and art, and warmth and tender moments and heartbreaking ones. Truly everything you could think of and wish for. It is as brutal as it is kind and it is something I will be forever grateful I have read and cherished.

Anyways I think you guys should probably pick this one up when it comes out, i’ve got a good feeling about it, don't ask me why.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this E-ARC, it is out 4TH APRIL 2023. Mark your calendars.