What a beautiful book! I don’t think I will end up rating this book on Goodreads, but on Netgalley I’m giving it 3.5 rounded up to 4 stars.

I really enjoyed the overall themes of this book. I loved the queer and non-binary rep, and Ander’s family was so wholesome. Santi was also such a sweet character, and I LOVED the art component of the novel.

What lost me was believability. The narrative about Santi’s undocumented status was incredibly disjointed and almost gave me whiplash at times. He’s being hunted by ICE, then he isn’t, he’s being deported, then he isn’t, then he’s voluntarily going to Mexico, then he isn’t. It was all too much. And the ending……. A 19 year old randomly moving to Mexico by himself to be with his boyfriend?! It just didn’t sit well with me.

However, I still loved the representation in this book and *will* recommend it to my bookstagram followers! Thank you so much for the ARC :)

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the opportunity to read this heartbreaking but lovely story of Ander and Santi and all the obstacles in between. Jonny Garza Villa brings readers a genuine tale of first love-- from the honeymoon stage to the inevitable heartbreak that life deals you alongside it. There are hard looks at gender and the roles it plays in our society, peeks into Mexican culture, and of course, commentary on the current politics that preside over the United Sates as we know it. This may be a love story, but that's far from all you'll get.

We meet Ander Martinez in their home of San Antonio, Texas. They are getting ready to leave it all behind in order to go to art school, but are taking a gap year to prepare. Ander's parents give them leave from the taqueria they work at to focus on their murals and creativity in general-- and in the process, hire a new waiter. Santiago Lopez Alvarado captures Ander at once, and through the novel we get swept up in their raw and unbridled emotion. While it is mostly positive, things take a dark and heady turn as ICE turns its gaze on Santi. The couple must figure out a way to stay above the water that the world is trying to push them under.

This was such an amazing book to read. I cannot emphasize enough how refreshing it was; how deeply rooted in today's issues and speaking the truth of the LGBTQ+ community. As a pansexual and gender-questioning person myself-- it hit home. I think it will feel like such a safe space for not only young adults who are finding themselves, but for readers of any age who have felt that spark of love, belonging, fear, and angst. You can relate to the witty and free spirited main characters, but also the strength and compassion of the parental roles. There are so many types of people represented here, and it makes it such a fulfilling read. I would recommend it to anyone seeking a place that feels like home.

Hi, my name is Victoria and I have personally had my heart put through the ringer by Ander and Santi Were Here. I survived to tell you, I loved every second of it.

This is the kind of 5 ⭐ book that makes you go back through your other reviews and go "no WAY does that other book deserve to be in the same league as this pure perfection on a page."

Everything about this book was incredible, I loved:

🌵 Ander and their family loving themselves wholly from start to finish. We need more romance featuring nonbinary leads where they just get to be damn happy and confident. I adored reading about their career as a badass muralist.

🌵 A friends to lovers I can get behind! It was so sweet to watch these two take their time with one another, respecting each other's space and needs every step of the way. The restaurant setting along with the roof was also so cute for this love story.

🌵 The absolutely SACCHARINE level of sweetness and cuteness between Ander and Santi is so very perfect. They are the couple that are so in love you want to hate their PDA but you simply cannot. Every passing touch had me squealing.

🌵 There is something about the prose in this romance that had me captivated from the very beginning. The pacing, the storytelling, the language, the seamless switch between dialogue and inner monologue. I will now read anything Jonny Garza Villa writes.

🌵 Santi is a precious baby angel and I will protect him with my life. His storyline is so powerful and I just find my heart breaking for him over and over. ABOLISH ICE. No human is illegal. How very devastating that this work of fiction is not fiction but reality for so many.

Thank you so much to @netgalley for the eARC! This book publishes May 2nd, 2023. You ABSOLUTELY need this one!

This breathtaking novel follows Ander, a nonbinary street artist who is taking a gap year before art school to work on murals around their city and help run their family's taqueria business. When the taqueria hires Santi, Ander is instantly smitten with him. Cue head-over-heels romance, painting dates, and late-night rooftop conversations. But Ander and Santi's bliss is constantly threatened by forces outside of their control -- from elitist art schools to ICE agents -- that impede BIPOC and queer people's happiness.
I honestly thought the romance was the weakest aspect of this novel. It starts as insta-love and we never see their dynamic develop much beyond the initial honeymoon phase. The tension, instead, comes from external forces, mainly the fact that Santi is an undocumented immigrant, putting him and his family at risk. I loved how these serious, life-changing issues were woven in between cute romance scenes and general teenage antics -- it's a heartbreaking way to show how much a part of people's lives they are.
I also loved Ander's family, especially Tita. I wanted them to adopt me the way they adopted Zeke and Mo and Santi. The non-romantic relationships were the highlight of this book for me, so I was disappointed when they started to fade into the background towards the ending. It definitely felt like this book was too long -- there were scenes at around 60% and 80% where I kept thinking to myself, "how is this not over yet?", and while the plot did develop beyond that, it still felt unstructured.
Although this book was definitely too slow and romance-heavy for me, I still think it brilliantly covered the issues it handled and would recommend to anyone looking for a powerful, emotional read.

One of the things that I wish for this book was that the premise wasn't so openly shared on the back of the book. From the beginning you know that Ander is going to fall in love with Santi, who is illegal, and because of this I felt like I was waiting the whole time for it to happen. It reminded me of Splash Mountain, when you go down the first fake drop, you know it's coming and you can't really focus on anything else. I personally think the book would have been more powerful if there was a little more mystery.

Ander & Santi Were Here by Jonny Garza Villa is a moving Queer YA contemporary about a Mexican American teen falling in love with an undocumented Mexican boy. Filled with low steam , art, sunflowers, flirting, painting dates, flower crowns, dancing, fear, hope and a hard fought for ending.

Oh this book, my heart, yes I spent the last few chapters wiping away tears but let me start at the beginning. Our nonbinary main character Ander is such a bright personality full of love and creativity. Art is their passion and it bleeds from the pages of this book. I loved their relationship with their parents, their sister, their grandmother and their best friend. They struggles with insecurities around their art and their future. Then we have Santi, who broke my heart as his struggles with his feelings for Ander when his future is lived day to day as undocumented with fear always in the back of his mind. The two have a sweet relationship that goes from friendship to more quickly, but it's all done lightly and with low steam. There's hope and happiness among the heavy and real fears that ICE brings to their reality.

Ander & Santi Were Here manages to perfectly combine the sweet and fluffy experience of first love with the very real injustices that undocumented people face. This book is beautiful and heartbreaking . It portrays how documented or not , everyone should be treated with humanity and kindness. Everyone deserves love and a happy ending.

This book was beautiful, this book was powerful, this book was sexy, and it was so so important. i loved the art, the language, the culture, all interspersed so naturally within the story. absolutely loved each character in it too!

I absolutely loved this story about Ander and Santi. I liked their characters individually and together.

Ander and Santi Were Here was beautifully written. And I loved watching Ander and Santi’a relationship develop while dealing real crappy life situations.

I think the ending was my favorite part. I didn’t see it coming but it definitely fit the story perfectly.

Thanks to Netgalley and Wednesday books for a copy of Ander and Santi Were Here in exchange of an honest review.

I got an ARC of this book.

DNF at 61%.

I just don't really care what happens to anyone. By this point I should have strong feelings about the characters or the plots, but I just don't. The characters I like are side characters that don't really have anything happening. The main couple made zero sense for me. They saw each other and were magically in love. They had no reason to be into each other. The more the book went on the more I expected to like the main couple, but by half way through I still had zero reason to ship them. They weren't bad characters, but why were they together? I just didn't understand.

The cover and the idea for the book were amazing, but it really just didn't pan out for me at all.

I feel like I should have known from the author's first book that this book was going to cause me significant pain. And it did. Definitely hurts. But as heavy as this book is it is still very emotional and with a wholesome romance at the center. Highly recommend.

I received an ARC and I’m leaving an honest review.

Some dialogues were a little awkward, the pace felt very slow at times, and I definitely disagreed with Ander's behavior in that one chapter towards the end when Santi tells them about his mother, but despite all of this I still loved the book. There's no denying that "Ander and Santi Were Here" is powerful and heartbreaking in the story it tells and in its portrayal of a beautiful love story that fights and survives with the terrible and scary reality that is living as an undocumented citizen.

I loved reading about how supportive and open the family, friends and communities in the story were, and I loved the focus on the food and on the art. I was also extremely happy that so much Spanish was included -especially without any translation.

If the book had been written and marketed as new adult, instead of young adult, I believe it would have been able to develop some of those plots points more and it would have brought out its real potential. Young adults deserve this type of stories too, obviously, but it this case it felt forced in a category that wasn't completely its.

There were also problems with the ARC, but those didn't have to do with the story itself. A few parts were formatted a little weird which made it difficult for me to read — I had to re-read those parts a couple of times to get where a text was starting and the other finishing, and things like that. (In the version sent to my kindle the parts that were supposed to be messages were in three different fonts and many times they mixed up when they weren’t supposed to. In the book downloaded in the NetGalley app, the fonts were messed up in a completely different way, and were still hard to read.)

Actual rating: 4.25 stars.

[arc review]
Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Wednesday Books for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.
Ander & Santi Were Here releases May 2, 2023

Set in San Antonio, this YA novel features the relationship between a nonbinary muralist, and an undocumented worker who are both 19 years old.

Landing on this rating was not easy for me. I think the underlying message here was good and the intentions were there — ultimately fighting for love and for the right to belong and take up space. But as a whole, it didn’t quite work for me and here are some reasons why:

I might have enjoyed this story more had I actually been able to fully understand it. A lot of it was written in Spanish, and without any direct translations for any of these words, phrases, and complete sentences, I felt like I was missing a lot of the nuance to this story and therefore wasn’t able to be as immersed into it as I would have liked. I’m all for diversity and I definitely think very specific readers looking for a sense of familiarity will enjoy what is here, but it wasn’t 100% inclusive which was unfortunate.
Being transparent, realistically I am not going to pick up my phone to manually translate something from every other paragraph for over 300 pages. It completely takes me out of the story.

As for the plot, I found the romance to be very insta-lust and physical based, and for the first 30% it felt one-sided. I wanted more depth and actual on-page conversations that were meaningful. Who is Santi as a person? What are his likes and dislikes? What is his background and aspirations? Why does Ander even like him if not for his looks and the close proximity of them both working at the taqueria?
It wasn’t even until 40% that we were even told that Santi was undocumented. I kid you not, the extent of knowing Santi is that he eats a lot of food, takes photos at odd angles, and has a sister.

I had a difficult time discerning whether this wanted to be a YA novel or not. The characters read like they’re 15 as opposed to post-secondary individuals, but there are lines that stick out like a sore thumb such as “I get the immediate urge to ask him to spit in my mouth, please”, as well as things like “thotty shorts” and “Spring Slut is my ideal aesthetic” that made this less believable as a lasting romance rather than a short term fling/”I want you in my pants right now” vibe.
For a YA novel, there was a lot more sexual content and commentary than I was initially expecting and it took away from the more serious tones and discussions in my opinion.

A scene I did love was the final mural which depicted the book cover. The sense of community was really strong all the way through, and the support from all the side characters was refreshing.

cw: underage drinking, deportation, ICE, kidnapping, racism

This was a truly delightful warm hug of a book, and even better in audio. Thank you so much for the ALC, can't want to recommend this to everyone! Amazing rep and lovely writing.

4.5⭐️

Boy oh boy did I cherish the love story between Ander and Santi, two queer young adults who simply deserve to exist in a world where they both can feel safe and secure. I felt overjoyed, heartbroken, and immensely grateful all at the same time while reading their story.

The story was a bit slow at the beginning, which is why I didn’t give it a full five star rating. I’m so glad I kept reading, though! The chemistry between Ander and Santi was there from the beginning. I loved how Santi was shamelessly flirting with Ander and the signals were clear. The lip biting has me giggling and kicking my feet! Goodness did I love reading about how much these two love and adore one another.

I could FEEL Santi and Ander’s panic when ICE showed up the first time at Lupe’s. My heart was racing for them. And Santi being terrified of being taken away had me absolutely sobbing. And then that ending? Wow. Such a great way to wrap up the story and it was so satisfying.

The story of Ander and Santi Were Here handles the very serious topic of the terrifying reality of being and undocumented immigrant in the US. this narrative is also filled with great quips, a stunning romance, and all the joys and pains that come with being queer. A must read for everyone and anyone.

“Through happiness and destruction.”

Té amo, Ander and Santi. Té amo.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Wednesday Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Thanks to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for the free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Ander & Santi Were Here by Jonny Garza Villa follows the titular Ander and Santi in San Antonio during Ander's gap year. After being fired from their family's restaurant, Ander meets Santi, and they have an immediate connection. Their relationship is very sweet, though it feels a bit insta-love. (Teens do fall into crushes with little to no reason, so it's not really a ding against the book!)

At times serious and others silly and heartfelt, this book really finds the perfect line between how fun and fearful this time in Ander and Santi's lives is. I feel like the ending comes a little too quickly? But on the whole, really enjoyed this book.

Ander & Santi Were Here is well written and chock full of beautiful characters, but it lost me at the insta-love...

The world will be a better place once this book is in it. Ander and Santi Were Here is a YA contemporary fiction book that highlights the power of love in all forms. All of the characters, big and small, were well developed and I felt a personal connection with each one. When they succeeded, I was happy. When they faced hardship, I cried along with them. Readers of all backgrounds should pick up this book and every YA section in schools and libraries should carry this title. I hope Ander and Santi Were Here receives the hype it deserves and gets into the hands of the readers who need it most.

The story follows Ander, a nonbinary teen artist, who falls in love with Santi, an undocumented Mexican boy working at his family's restaurant.

I really liked this one as it balances heavier themes (immigration, ICE, racism) with lighthearted moments. Ander could be a bit much at times but I think that's just the age/generation difference in this YA story. I loved the art component and learning about the murals they painted.

The story did drag out a bit and I don't usually enjoy an instant love connection, but overall it's a powerful story about love and community that's important to hear.

IM FINE IM TOTALLY FINE IM NOT CRYING (I’m lying)

This was a trip, bittersweet and beautiful and so stressful and also incredible, I can’t remember the last time a book just wrapped itself around my heart like this. I’m going to be thinking about this for a long time and it has made me Mentally Unwell (affectionate)

“ander & santi were here” is a queer YA romance between a nonbinary person and a gay undocumented immigrant. the way that jonny garza villa incorporates gender neutral and nonbinary terms and word endings in both english and spanish is truly wonderful and warmed my nonbinary linguist heart.

for me, the insta-love was a bit much. i felt that ander is a very developed character and that they feel real, but santi felt… a bit one dimensional. they’re both young and i just felt that when i was 19, my mother would have never let me dedicate my entire life to one person in an instant.

the inclusion of ICE was horrifyingly brilliant. i truly felt the fear that santi did as he faced these fascist agents. as the child of an immigrant mother, i cannot imagine if anyone in my family faced deportation back to russia. villa directly confronts the racism within ICE as a system of oppression.

the pop culture references were a bit cringe for my tastes, but this is YA. the ending is what upset me the most. it was incredibly powerful until the epilogue.