I don’t really know what to say. This was such a beautiful read. As a person born and raised in mexico and the u.s I could connect so heavily with a lot of the pain and fears in this book. Everything felt so real and authentic, none of it ever felt forced. Ander and Santi have such a beautiful heartbreaking story that I can’t even fully explain.
My only critique was that a lot of the conflict that happened seemed to be resolved too quickly. But honestly I think thats just a me problem, I live too much for the drama and pain.
Anyway, I enjoyed this a lot and definitely recommend. Please read this if you can, you won’t regret it.

Queer MCs + Latinx joy + YA! 🫶🏼

Ander has only ever known their home in the Santos Vista neighborhood of San Antonio. Their home, the mix of Spanish & English, & their family’s taquería is what inspired them to be a muralist.

As Ander’s gap year slowly comes to a close, their family “fires” them from the restaurant so they can focus on their murals & preparing for art school. But then Ander meets Santi. Because of Santi, Ander begins to really learn who they are & what they want as an artist. For Santi, Ander helps him find safety & a home in Santos Vista.

Ander’s life is stable until ICE agents come for Santi & everything they’ve ever known becomes fragile.

Read if you love…
- queer MCs & side characters with non-binary, gay, bi, & ace rep
- Latinx joy
- MC artist
- YA, post high school
- so much food & a family taquería
- insta-lust but a slow burn
- texts on page

I genuinely don’t know if I’ll ever have coherent words for Ander & Santi. This book ripped my heart out, had me crying so hard I couldn’t see words on the page, and managed to put it back together bruised and mangled.

Ander & Santi will make you question everything about immigration, make you Google and learn as much as you can, & make you want to fight, rally, and march for immigration rights.

The queer rep is beautiful & wonderful with so much rep - Ander is non-binary and gay & Santi hasn’t put a label on his sexuality, along with many queer side characters and the MCs attending Pride. I adored the way Ander’s family has always supported them.

The Latinx joy is beautiful & wonderful. So much food! Every scene at the taquería & with their family was just wonderful. I love how close they are, how much shit they give each other, & how deeply they love each other.

This book will be one of the best books released in 2023! It needs to be at the top of your TBR to read in April. I highly recommend you also read Jonny’s debut book.

Jonny, thank you for your beautiful words; I will read everything you ever write!

Thank you to Netgalley, St Martins Press, & Wednesday Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

PUB day: April 4, 2023!

Trigger warnings: racism; deportation

Ander has postponed their plans for art school for a year, taking the time to paint murals for their neighborhood as a resident artist for a local nonprofit. While their family isn't happy that they put off school, everyone wants them to succeed with their artwork, and suddenly Ander finds themself replaced at their Tita Lupe's taqueria with a new -- and really cute -- waiter, Santiago. But the budding romance between Ander and Santi is frowned upon by Ander's family for reasons they don't understand...

After a slow start, the book hits its stride with Ander and Santi's mutual attraction and builds into a lovely romance with deep, painful undertones. I really appreciated how the author explored the full experience of Latinx life and identity and the impact of current US policies on citizens, immigrants, and undocumented workers. (Please do NOT skip over the author's note -- they have an important message to share there as well.)

3.5 stars (for the very slow start and the sometimes overwhelming descriptions), rounded up.

Thank you, Wednesday Books and NetGalley, for providing an eARC of this book. Opinions expressed here are solely my own.

Ander and Santi Were Here had me hooked and loving the characters from the very start. It is many things: tender, hilarious, heartbreaking, beautiful, and sadly, realistic. I absolutely adored Ander and Santi, their chemistry and flirting had me giggling and kicking my feet. I loved seeing their relationship evolve throughout the story.

Once again, Jonny Garza Villa wrote a novel I feel a deep connection with as a queer Mexican. The story is very well written, so many beautiful quotes that I can’t wait to annotate the shit out of; I am beyond excited to get my signed copy!! I can’t put into words just how much I absolutely loved this book. Definitely my top read of the year. I’m looking forward to their next projects (cough cough, canto contigo).

I enjoyed this book! The atmosphere it created in the taqueria and while Ander was paining murals is cozy, comfortable, and sweet. It also certainly had its sad, stressful, dramatic moments. Still, I left the story feeling good.

Thanks to NetGalley and Wednesday books for the ARC!

This has just cemented. Jonny Garza Villa as an auto buy author for me, I love his writing style and character work, it really shines.

Let’s start with this gorgeous cover. It’s so beautiful and breathtaking. I feel like it should be hanging on a wall.

Next this story… the author was so vivid in describing the people, and scenery; I felt like I was there. I could imagine everything so clearly. The emotions and love shown between the two main characters had all of my emotions on display. I absolutely loved this book.

Arc provided by Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.

4.5 stars rounded up**
This book was such a lovely and tender story about first love. i was really surprised at how much i enjoyed this. it’s definitely on the more mature side of YA, and it was a very sweet portrayal of an artist growing confident in themselves and their work. It had some heavy themes but i loved the emphasis on the happy moments. i loved both ander and santi together and as their own characters, and neither one felt flat outside of the relationship.
Despite the heaviness i loved the optimistic ending and genuinely felt better after reading this.

Such a sweet and powerful book that I wish existed before., but I’m happy it exists now! And that cover! So beautiful! I’m more excited to read more from the author after this genuinely made me feel all of the emotions.

Romance, art, tragedy, and sacrifices. Ander Lopaz has only known two things : the Santos Vista Neighborhood of San Antionio, Texas and their love of part. Ander has worked in their family’s taquería and has given them inspiration as a muralist who is preparing to leave for art school... but Ander is hesitant to leave all of this behind. Ander has taken a gap year and to keep Ander from being complacent their family fires them so they can transition from restaurant life to focusing on their art and preparing for college... but then Ander meets their replacement at work, the cute new hire named Santiago Garcia. Santi and Ander form a connection and soon find that they are falling in love... but then an ICE agent comes for Santi and Ander realizes just how fragile the sense of home is. Can their love work when the world is fighting against them and can they find a way to be together despite everything? This was a pretty sweet story that dealt with heavy topics and I did enjoy the bittersweet ending , but it very much ends with a happy ending for them, as much as it can be in their situation.

*Thanks Netgalley and St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

Thank you to NetGalley for the E-Arc!
Absolutely fantastic book. this book was extremely well-written and impactful; They do a wonderful job of making the characters likable. You want them all to succeed and be happy and feel so strong for all of them. I think this book does a wonderful job of making you care about the events in the story and tackles some very difficult topics.
The representation in this book is amazing and I can see this being a huge hit among my friends and fellow readers. The queer romance is well done and the undocumented struggle in the story in this is a very real one for many people reading this makes your heartache. There is so much love and acceptance in this book. Can't wait for more by this author!

The romance between Ander and Santi was adorable. I also really enjoyed reading about Ander's murals and artistic process. It was also lovely to see such a supportive family with Ander's parents, sister, and abuela.

First, I want to say that I really loved this book. It did take me a while to finish it, but I am participating in NaNoWriMo so I wasn't necessarily always in the reading mood. However, I loved this book from beginning to end. Ander is so incredibly funny and lovable. I connected with them a lot in the queerness department. I enjoyed a lot of their banter with Santi. I think the author did an amazing job of conveying how serious immigration issues are and how ICE handles things. Books like these are so incredibly important. I loved that Ander and Santi's romance felt so natural and smooth. I think the only thing for me is I wish Ander and Santi were a little bit older. Of course, love can come at any age, but it's just a personal preference of mind. I highly recommend this book if you're looking for a queer Latinx romance.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, & Wednesday books for approving me for this ARC. I have no idea where to start for this review. I'm so happy I decided to do a "Netgalley November" because this book was everything. I absolutely loved " Fifteen Hundred Miles from the Sun" so I knew I had to request a copy for Ander & Santi Were Here. There wasn't any "sophomore slump" with this book. The book follows Ander's point of view in guiding his life through growing up, the hardship of living in San Antonio, Texas, falling in love, and following his dreams. Still, it also deals with heartache, being an undocumented immigrant, and dealing with ICE.

Honestly, this book made my heart so damn full. The love between Ander and Santi is very strong in this book, and they would absolutely do anything for each other and nothing will come in their way of loving each other. Even though Santi is an undocumented immigrant, it doesn't stop Ander from falling in love with Santi. It seems like they fall in love with him more and realizes he will do anything to protect him from any harm that comes his way. You feel for these characters. Even though I don't know how it feels to be put in that type of situation, all you can feel is heartbreak for these characters for what they go through. Ander stands up for the rights of Santi and being an undocumented immigrant and you can tell how passionate he is to put light on these types of situations. I love the LGBTQ+ aspect of it. I love that Ander is non-binary, and even though it's a part of them, it's not overly mentioned in any way. They are just non-binary and that's that. His family accepts him, his best friend accepts him, and there is no animosity between anyone because of it.

Overall, I absolutely love this book. Jonny Garza Villa handles all these topics very well and it's so well written you get lost in the story. You root for these characters like they're your family and you want what's best for everyone. I can't wait to see what's next from him. I know it's going to be amazing.

Ander & Santi Were Here by Jonny Garza Villa

⭐️⭐️⭐️

* Thank you to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for providing a digital copy of Ander & Santi Were Here in exchange of a honest review.

If you are looking for an inclusive, non-binary, LGTBQIA+ story with strong family/friends relationships and artsy vibes, this would be the perfect YA book for you! I enjoy the spanish words and expression throughout the novel and the family dynamic around the tacos restaurant. 🌮🌺

#bookstagram #bookstagrammer #booklover #booknerd #bookcommunity #canadianbookstagrammer

ANDER AND SANTI WERE HERE is everything I could want in a contemporary book. I laughed, I cried (a lot) (maybe I'm still crying), I fell in love with love and with this work of art that goes straight to the heart and leaves an imprint there. The characters are unforgettable, the writing is stunning, and the pacing is perfect. I can't recommend this book enough, and loved every page.

I think this is a case of, it's not you, it's me. I can see where this book is tender, and heartfelt, and will speak to readers' need for lyrical and beautiful stories that touch their souls and pull at their heartstrings. For me? It was a little melodramatic and landed on the edge of cheesy.

What I did love: I feel like the author did a great job of creating characters who represented intersectional identities very well. I feel like the development of the romance had good pacing and was believable. The writing WAS undeniably GOOD, but just a little too flowery/purple for me at times.

Maybe I'm just not a YA romance girly. This book was good, not great, but I think the masses are going to LOVE!

This book's handling of such a vulnerable yet prevalent topic was so well done. The anger, sadness, happiness, and everything in between was shown through family and community values. I loved how supportive of a community Ander was able to have to do what he loves and be with Santi in any way he could. The characters all throughout the book were well developed and pulled my emotions in like ten different directions in the best way.

Going into this book I thought a lot about Aristotle and Dante and the similarities between both pairs of boys. I think this book was beautifully written and I loved it so much. This book made me feel so happy yet so heartbroken at the same time.

I received early access to this through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks!

I really enjoyed this book, I feared for the characters when they were threatened, and I was sad when they were sad. I enjoyed the artistic aspect of Ander and also appreciated the explanation of how to pronounce their name. I will admit I was pronouncing their name that same wrong way before it was explained.

I enjoyed the characters even the side ones, and loved how they added to the plot. However, I'll only be giving this 4 stars because of the ending. I try to keep my reviews spoiler free but I didn't enjoy how it all came together and where it all came together.

Overall, great book just not for me and my tastes. Thanks for giving me a chance to read this, and keep up the great work.