dropped at 14%

while this is absolutely nothing against the author or this book, i just don't think my heart was really in it. i tried pushing through multiple times, but just really couldn't find myself wanting to continue this book, so unfortunately it is a dnf for me. i want to try reading it again after it is officially published, though, because it really does seem like a beautiful premise and the writing style is lovely.

overall, i just really wanted to like this, but i just couldn't get into it. maybe it really was just the timing. my star rating is absolutely not reflective of the author's work or story, though. i also loved that the author included trigger warnings, but i will note that my reasoning to dnf also stemmed from the triggering content, and me personally not being able to handle it right now. i am still sure this is a beautiful, beautiful story, though.

Canto Contigo feels bright, even when the sun dimmed. Even when grief and darker thoughts took over. Even when Rafie made disputable decisions. The rivals-to-lovers trope is one of my favorite and laughs bubbled up from my belly when those guys hated each other but secretly had fallen for the other so hard already. The love those boys had for their music was simply beautiful, and I adored how they started opening up to each other more and more. When Rafie’s grief started to pour out, the story felt a bit sadder but still so heartwarming and it meant time for healing too. And the last chapters made me smile again so hard!!

A heartwarming story about love, culture, family, passion for music and Mariachi, grief, and the LGBTQ+ experience in our Mexican communities.

Rafael Alvarez is a star Mariachi singer who moves from North Amistad to San Antonio, leaving behind his friends, family, and a winning legacy, to join the Mariachi band in Todos Colores, their rivals during the Mariachi Extravaganza de Nacional. He soon reunites with Rey Chavez, a former meet-cute that now stands in his way of being the lead vocalist at his new school. Rafie now has to choose between love and his dreams, and learns that sharing the spotlight can take you farther than you ever could on your own.

Wow, was this book a roller coaster. Grieving a passed loved one and fighting to stay on top are big themes, often woven between cute romance and charming Texan culture. I will say, I couldn’t stand Rafie at times. Thankfully, his humor and Rey’s heart of gold did soften the erratic blow of his mood swings. It’s all part of growing up, and it adds a unique narrative, very reminiscent of my high school years here in Houston, Tx. In the end, I’m proud of Rafie and how much he’s grown.

If you love a good story about music, love, family, Mexican culture, and Texas charm, give this book a read! Fans of Cemetery Boys will especially love this one :)

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for this ARC.

I just love Jonny Garza Villa. As was the case in their previous book Ander & Santi Were Here, Garza Villa's character work in Canto Contigo is excellent -- the main and side characters are drawn with care, full of complexity, rich, flawed, and beautiful. Garza Villa once again portrays the vibrancy of family relationships, friendships, and romances here, too, while also bringing our notice to societal issues that need our attention and stories that deserve to be heard. Their storytelling is really quite remarkable.

In Canto Contigo, Rafie is a Mariachi musician who knows he's the best at what he does. He's led his high school Mariachi group to three consecutive first-place wins at nationals as their lead vocalist, and is eager to do so again during his senior year. But right before the school year starts, his family abruptly moves to a new city. Rafie, who is already very much not into this unexpected transition and is also grieving the recent death of his abuelo, is further outraged to be named backup vocalist instead of the lead for his new school's Mariachi group. To make matters worse, the person who currently holds that coveted role is a cutie who Rafie hooked up with some months ago and has been daydreaming about ever since. What we have here is a fun, queer take on the rivals to lovers trope, a tender exploration of grief, and a meandering journey toward self-love and the joy that accompanies it.

I'm still coming down from finishing this book, and am sure I'll have a lot more thoughts and feelings in the coming weeks. I loved it, but not quite as much as Ander & Santi, and I think it could have used another editing pass through (beyond just some typos which will hopefully be cleaned up prior to final publication). I also already know a few of its impressive elements will be reverberating through my consciousness for a while: Jonny Garza Villa's gentle and honest handling of being a teenager, their continued commitment to celebrating queer joy and love, and a deft inclusion of music throughout. I may have even made a Spotify playlist of all the songs and musicians that show up in the book... you can check it out here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7A5wgzlDx306TvzozxHBlx?si=94e39ca545e24c94

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

I enjoyed this book so much, I cannot wait to reread it in the physical form. The way the story was laid out, described and put together was phenomenal! It was heart wrenching at times and heartwarming at others. Definitely a must read for everyone!!!

Jonny Garza Villa writes such beautiful characters puts so much emotion into their work. Literally every book I’ve read by them has made me cry.

In Canto Contigo, we follow Rafie who is struggling a lot. His family moved to San Antonio right before his senior year of high school and his abuelo died the previous December. We first meet Rafie as he say goodbye to his abuelo, and then we cut to the start of his senior year at a performing arts school. Rafie has always loved mariachi, and he struggles with his feelings surrounding mariachi after his abuelo dies because that’s always been some thing that he’s shared with him. It would be very easy to write Rafie off as “unlikeable” because for a lot of the book he is sort of unbearable, but it’s so clear that he’s making those choices because he’s grieving and he’s a teenager who doesn’t know how to process his emotions. The way that Jonny Garza Villa is able to pour in so much emotion and vulnerability and care into their work is truly incredible.

While this book does follow Rafie, there’s also a very sweet romance with a trans boy named Rey, and I love the way that developed. Rey was so sweet and so understanding and so determined to see the best in Rafie. I also loved that the majority of the new mariachi group is queer in some way, shape or form, and how proud they are and open they are about it in such a traditionally not accepting environment. I loved the discussions around internalized homophobia, and the growth we see from Rafie in that respect was beautiful. We also get to see Rey administer his T shot on page, which I think I’ve only seen in one other YA book. It was a small moment, but I think it could be a very important and impactful moment for a lot of teenagers.

TLDR; I love this book and I’ll read anything Jonny Garza Villa writes. I can’t wait until this is out next spring. I will definitely be picking up a physical copy and probably also the audiobook.

"Canto Contigo" by Jonny Garza Villa is a delightful and heartwarming young adult novel that combines music, culture, and romance to create a story that is both touching and entertaining.

The story revolves around Rafael Alvarez, a talented Mariachi musician who is forced to move to San Antonio with his family, leaving behind his beloved Mariachi Alma de la Frontera. Rafie is determined to make the most of his senior year and win one final competition. However, he soon finds himself at odds with Rey Chavez, the lead vocalist of Mariachi Todos Colores, and the person he shared a memorable encounter with eight months earlier.

The novel beautifully explores themes of identity, family, culture, and love. Rafie's journey of self-discovery is portrayed with depth and authenticity, making him a relatable and endearing protagonist. His passion for Mariachi music and his love for his abuelo (grandfather) are central to the narrative, adding emotional depth to the story.

The rivalry between Rafie and Rey adds a compelling layer to the plot. Their interactions are filled with tension, chemistry, and humor, making their transition from rivals to lovers a captivating and heartwarming journey. The author skillfully navigates the complexities of their relationship, allowing readers to root for their romance.

Villa's writing is engaging and evocative, immersing readers in the rich Mexican culture, the vibrant world of Mariachi music, and the colorful streets of San Antonio. The novel also pays homage to cultural icons like Selena Quintanilla-Perez, adding authenticity and nostalgia to the story.

"Canto Contigo" is not just a romance but a celebration of Mexican culture and the importance of embracing one's true self. It beautifully portrays the importance of family, the bonds of friendship, and the power of music to connect people across generations.

Overall, "Canto Contigo" is a heartwarming and culturally rich coming-of-age story that will resonate with readers of all backgrounds. It captures the essence of young love, the pursuit of dreams, and the importance of staying true to oneself. Jonny Garza Villa has crafted a story that is both a celebration of Mexican heritage and a universal tale of self-discovery and love, making it a must-read for fans of contemporary young adult fiction.

When a Mariachi star transfers schools, he expects to be handed his new group's lead vocalist spot—what he gets instead is a tenacious current lead with a very familiar, very kissable face.

Canto Contigo was a heartfelt, humor-filled delight to read. It has been a while since I have read a book that has me cheering when the couple finally gets over themselves and ends up together, but Canto Contigo handled its rivals to lovers storyline with incredible ease. Keeping their banter and “dislike” for each other at a level that doesn't make their eventual togetherness feel undeserved. Rafie’s personality is balanced perfectly, an asshole with an ego who you can’t help but love because of his heart. He and Rey have incredible chemistry from the time they interact for the first time to the end of the novel. Moments that would typically have me cringing and noting as cheesy I found endearing and I was cheering on for more. While the romance shines in this book, its exploration of grief hit incredibly home to home. It was messy and realistic, and felt incredibly real, and as a warning to the inevitable future readers, will have you sobbing.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC, I cannot wait to pick up a physical copy as soon as I can!

Everything Rafael learned about Mariachi, he learned from his abuelo. The skill, the practice, the determination – it all continually resonates in his blood like the deep bass of a guitarron. At his abuelo's deathbed, Rafael promises to continue to be the best Mariachi singer and goes on to win his third first-place award as well as lead his school's Mariachi group to victory. That night, he meets a guy at a party and shares a romantic moment that lifts him from his sorrow and unveils the power of love. But this moment is abruptly interrupted, leaving Rafael haunted by its memory.

Fast forward eight months, Rafael's life takes a sharp turn as his family relocates, forcing him into a new school. He arrives with dreams of becoming the lead Mariachi singer, only to discover that his rival, Rey Chavez, is the same guy from that unforgettable party eight months prior.

'Canto Contigo' is a love letter to Mariachi, encompassing everything Mariachi embodies. It is unfiltered emotion, passion, music, and storytelling at its best. I didn't plan on reading it in one sitting, but I did. All the while, I took notes and created a playlist of all the Mariachi songs referenced. Because, not only is this a great story, but it is also a subtle history lesson of the art.

'Canto Contigo' is a book that sings. When Rafie and Rey sing together for the first time, you hear it. When the group musically connects, you feel it. This book is as musical as it gets, and your heart will hear it. Mine did. The laugh-out-loud moments, the ugly crying, the snapping aloud at witty comebacks. Even, in my case, applause after a character's performances.

It is also a book about grief, delving into how grief can define us, drive us, but also cloud our vision from love. Then it shows how love can guide us to a place where grief and love can exist simultaneously.

Finally, and most importantly, it is a book about love. As a love story, this packs a punch, and my tear-covered Kindle is proof of that.

Passion. Grief. Music. Joy. Performance. Love. That is Mariachi. That's 'Canto Contigo.

This was very cute and I loved Rafie and Rey's enemies to lovers journey. I was thrilled to learn about the Mariachi world and basked in all of the Mexican culture. I've been reading a lot of books about white people and there's nothing wrong with that, it's just nice to see a diverse queer romcom with heart and authentic representation.

Jonny Garza Villa just does not miss! The authors first 2 books were fantastic but this somehow trumps them both with so much heart and emotion and gosh I love Raffie and Rey so much.

I really love Ander & Santi Were Here, and now that I’ve finished Canto Contigo, I can confidently say that Jonny Garza Villa is my new auto-buy author. Wow, I loved this ARC so, so much.

This book deals so much with grief, love, the pressures of perfection, and queerness while tied up beautifully in Mexican culture, particular mariachi. I think it would be easy for some readers to write off Rafie as a selfish teenager, but that would be a severe disservice to both the main character and the author. Jonny Garza Villa does an excellent job at portraying the grief of losing a loved one and the struggle to process the emotions of such a deep loss at a young age. You can feel from page one how much Rafie tries to push that grief down and push himself beyond his limits as a way of dealing (or not dealing) with his emotions. By the end of the novel, I really loved seeing his growth and how he comes to terms with his pain and his happiness. It’s the kind of story where the pay off is worth the climb it takes to get there.

The romance between Rafie and Rey really shines throughout the book. I loved their instant chemistry and how it never dissipates, even when they’re rivals. Their witty banter was fun to read and I loved seeing the evolution of their rivals to lovers romance. Rey never lets Rafie off the hook for his behavior, but he doesn’t let him lose sight of those softer part of himself too. Most of all, I want to applaud the way the author handles the intimate scenes between Rafie and Rey. Education about queer sex is relatively non existent in health ed classes and teenagers often are forced to search online for answers regarding non-heteronormative sex. I think this book does an excellent job at portraying queer sex between teens in a healthy and loving way, and I can only hope that it gives space to teenagers who wish to safely explore their sexuality in a world that often tries to deny them that.

I’ve only just finished reading this story, but I’m itching to reread it asap. There’s so much to take away from this story about grief, about love, about mariachi, and about living for your own happiness and not someone else’s expectations of your happiness. I cannot wait for this book to get into the hands of readers next year.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was really cute! Similar to a lot of 2nd chance but definitely more interesting with the rivals-to-lovers aspect. I loved the conversations about identity and internalized homophobia, and the trans characters/diversity! Overall I enjoyed this, however I oftentimes needed to google translate because majority of the Spanish conversations had little interpretation for non-Spanish-speaking readers to fully try to figure out what the meaning is.

I absolutely loved Jonny Garza Villa’s book, Ander and Santi Were Here and when I saw this book (and it’s equally adorable cover!), I knew I wanted to check it out. I enjoy YA as an adult, but felt this was definitely more for teens, which is awesome! As a Chicana, I absolutely fell in love with Garza Villa’s writing previously and it shone through again in this book—I absolutely love the English/Spanish and know that a lot of my friends and family would love this as it’s how many of us talk! The mariachi plot in this was amazing and I love seeing this beautiful culture being portrayed in such an awesome way! I couldn’t recommend this book any more!

This is a book that is definitely for teens, which is a good thing! Teens should have sex positive YA books, especially queer sex positive YA books. But those books are not enjoyable/comfortable for me to read as an adult - which is okay because I should not be the target audience for YA books and too often adult millennial white women ARE the target audience of YA books!

Outside of that, I really struggled to like the main character in this, which took my rating down. I did think the mariachi plots were very interesting though, and I love how Garza Villa infuses his books with Spanish.

Canto Contigo by Jonny Garza Villa (coming next year) was the perfect book to kick off Hispanic Heritage Month with!! Rafie is a mariachi star, 3 time award winner, and now he’s transferring to a new school his senior year. What should be a given, him becoming the lead singer of his new school’s mariachi group, becomes a difficult situation when they already have a lead singer…a guy he may or may not have made out with a couple months earlier. Which is greater: the need to be the best, to be the lead, or the need to be loved?

What a fun book! As a Spanish teacher, I loved all the codeswitching (Spanish and English intermixed) and cultural mentions! It was fun reading about different artists whose songs I play in class, but more importantly seeing how the author used gender neutral language was mindblowing!! So many characters had non-hetero sexualities and non-cis gender identities, and seeing how each person was embraced, loved, and addressed with controversial gender neutral pronouns was beyond beautiful! There should be nothing controversial about respecting everyone for who they are! If you like music, lgbtq+ representation, enemies to lovers, second chances, and Spanish language/culture, Canto Contigo is the perfect book for you

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (4.5 stars)

Canto Contigo is Jonny Garza Villa's most reassuring book. There is always pain in their stories—this one is about grief and loss, as well as the expectations we place on ourselves—but Canto Contigo is also extremely warm and inspiring.

Those two books share so many similarities. Teens with a common past who re-connect when one of them moves. From enemies to lovers, (friends to) rivals. Boys who are prickly and proud. BIPOC MCs with a passion for their culture. A MC/LI trans. A lovely and intimate cover. And they're both love songs.

Canto Contigo is the most comforting of Jonny Garza Villa’s books. There’s always hurt in their stories—this one is about grief and loss and the expectations we put on ourselves—but Canto Contigo is also incredibly warm and uplifting.
 
From the moment I started reading this novel, it reminded me of Beating Heart Baby by Lio Min (pick it up if you haven’t yet. It’s one of the best YA books ever). Those two books have so much in common. Teens with a shared past who meet each other again after one of them moves. (Friends to) rivals to lovers. Prickly and proud boys. BIPOC MC’s and so much love for their culture. A trans MC/LI. A beautiful and intimate cover. And both are love songs to music, in this case, Mariachi (Mexican music).
 
Rey is the cinnamon roll in this story. And as Jonny states, a Cancer sun who shows himself to be much more tenacious than anticipated. Rafie thinks he’s the best and wants to fulfill his dreams at any cost. As Jonny states, a Leo sun with a bit of a God complex. It might make Rafie unlikable, but his grief is already palpable in the first chapter and therefore I understood so well why he was so (overly) passionate and needed to be the best. I felt his want to make his Abuelo proud in every line.

Canto Contigo feels bright, even when the sun dimmed. Even when grief and darker thoughts took over. Even when Rafie made disputable decisions. The rivals-to-lovers trope is one of my favorite and laughs bubbled up from my belly when those guys hated each other but secretly had fallen for the other so hard already. The love those boys had for their music was simply beautiful, and I adored how they started opening up to each other more and more. When Rafie’s grief started to pour out, the story felt a bit sadder but still so heartwarming and it meant time for healing too. And the last chapters made me smile again so hard!!

Oh, and that title? I didn’t know what it meant before, but now I know it’s so beautiful!

Jonny Garza villa is an auto buy author for me. After reading their first book (Fifteen Hundred Miles from the Sun), seeing how much their writing style matured and changed and made me fall absolutely in love with Ander and Santi Were Here— it was an absolute joy to receive an arc of Canto Contigo.


Canto Contigo is a beautiful novel that deals with everything from grieving the loss of a family member, sexuality and gender identity, first love, and the epic highs and lows of high school mariachi
While Canto Contigo is technically YA, the writing style is so present and emotional that it feels surprisingly mature for the content, even when the narrator is complaining about saturday detentions. It’s one of the things that sets Jonny’s books apart from other YA novels for me. They make it so easy to fall in love with their characters and root for them throughout the entirety of the story.
Rafie is a headstrong, confident character who is convinced he needs to be the best, needs to be the lead, front and center, in order to be good enough. For himself and for his abuelo. Rey is the current lead singer in their mariachi group; he is sweet and loyal, and trying his best to do what’s best for himself and the group. The animosity between these two is frustrating and amusing. You almost want to shake them and yell “just kiss and make up already!”. Their individual growth and growth together as a couple and as co-lead singers is really wonderful to read. The emotion, both painful and tenderly romantic, holds your heart between the pages.
I absolutely love all of JGV’s books, and I am excited to see what they write next.
I can’t wait to get a physical copy of Canto Contigo when it comes out in the spring 🖤

I loved this story. It is written with such warmth and compassion. I went into it not knowing anything about it except what i could gather from the cover. I came out with an amazing playlist and all the feels.

The story takes place in the world of high school competitive mariachi bands. It is a rivals-to-lovers second chance romance of sorts.

It addresses issues in communities of color around mental health (“your brain doesn’t get colds”). But it also shows how rich Mexican culture is. The parents might not be perfect but there is love and understanding through the language of music and food.

The Spanish phrases sprinkled throughout the book might overwhelm some readers but I enjoyed that.