There was nothing not to love throughout this story. I love the narrator and this is one that I would listen to more than once. I love the diversity in the mariachi group and how our main character has to embrace this. I love how this is a coming of age in which our characters learn to not only love themselves but also let themselves be loved.

Canto Contigo is a lovely romance in the world of Mariachi performing. I appreciated the rivals to romance story and the care and attention given to Mexican cultural elements throughout. As someone outside of the culture, this book felt like a special insight into an aspect of Mexican culture that I don't usually see. I have been recommending this book to teens in my library and am looking forward to reading my next Jonny Garza Villa title!

This was my first book by this author, but it definitely will not be last! This audiobook was just a nice surprise. I really enjoyed it and did not want this adorable story to end! I thought the narration was very well done. Can't recommend this one enough! Thank you to Net Galley, the publisher and the author for an advanced copy of this audiobook!

Another hit for Jonny Garza Villa! At this point I have fully signed myself up for his 2 am club. lol This is the second book of his in a row where I was up reading until 2 am reading and boo-hoo crying. This book is like a love song to music and grandparents and love and ugh I loved it so much. And they had the perfect narrator too. Everything about this book and Jonny is amazing. Netgalley should let me give more than 5 stars.

3.5 Stars

Thank you NetGalley, Macmillan Audio | Macmillan Young Listeners, and Jonny Garza Villa for the arc in exchange for an honest review! I feel so fortunate!

Thoughts:

I don’t even have much to say other than that I have not read another YA coming of age like this, especially about mariachi! This was fun, fresh, heart-gripping, a touch angsty and lovely. The representation in this read was chef’s kiss and handled so thoughtfully and wonderfully! Additionally, the thoughts and dialogue handled around grief, perfectionism, and the LGBTQIA+ community both internally and externally deserves a round of applause.

The rivals to lovers aspect was not my favorite, and I only say so because of Rafie. I had a dislike/love situation with our main character. He made me want to shake him sometimes, but I also understood where he was coming from. I also feel like the development in the romance aspect of this could have been spotlighted more, so that it didn’t feel rushed at times.

Overall, this read is beautiful and touching, and should be taken a chance on!

Paperback/Hardcover/Audiobook/E-book:

Audiobook - BIG SHOUT OUT TO THE NARRATOR ALEJANDRO ANTONIO RUIZ! I LOVED THIS STORY EVEN MORE BECAUSE OF HOW FLAWLESS THIS NARRATION WAS! WOW!

Pace:

Medium

Cover thoughts:

Colorful and beautiful and I LOVE IT SO MUCH!

Triggers:

Grief, Transphobia, Homophobia, Racism, Sexual content, Death, Mental illness, Violence, Vomit, Alcohol, Panic Attacks, Toxic Relationships/Friendships, etc.

What Jonny Garza Villa does with mariachi and this beautiful romance is unparalleled. Such a lovely competitors-to-boyfriends ya rom com that will have you in your feels about what it feels to be the best and have the rug pulled from underneath you, start at a new school and learn to be friends with strangers you thought you didn't like and possibly fall in love with your greatest enemy.

What is a love letter to Mariachi, a devoted amount of queerness, and a real vivid story about grief?

Canto Contigo for 200 Alex.

Wow, this was a really nice ride. It was very rich in mexican music and the stucture of Mariachi. I learned more about Mariachi in this book than I ever had explored in the past, so this was a nice taste. I really love the relationship between Rafi and Rey. They both gave themselves space to mess up and to grow. Though I will admit, I did want to bonk Rafi on the head many a time for being so headstrong. But a bonk of love of course, because grief can manifest in the weirdest and unhealthy ways, and it was such a relatable reaction to something so earth shattering to happen to your world.

I had a really good time.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Wednesday Books for an e-copy.

book was archived before I could get to it. Rating is based on the blurb, and the cover. I will be getting this from the library though.

This story felt so special, I really empathized and felt seen by the journey of self discovery and loss. The author writes the characters grief in a really powerful way that I felt was truly heartbreaking but also beautiful to see. The narrator did a wonderful job with this audiobook really making the emotions both good and bad come alive.

Rafael’s family has moved to a new town right before his senior year, leaving him to start again at a new school and crushing his dreams of another first-place win in the Mariachi Extravaganza. To make things worse, he loses lead vocalist at his new school to Rey, the cute boy Rafie made out with at last year’s extravaganza. Yet even with their rivalry and competition, Rafie can’t shake his attraction to Rey.

THere was so much incredible Mexican culture that left my heart so happy - from the mariachi competition to the many references to Selena, my little Mexican heart was bursting with love. Rafie is a bit of an asshole, and I say that in the most loving of ways, so I can see where many people might not connect with him as a character. However, I had a soft spot in my heart for him and his heartbroken self. Rey is a literal ray of sunshine and balances Rafie so well. I adored Rey and how he lived to be his authentic self so boldly and with so much pride. This book didn’t rip my heart out in quite the same way Jonny Garza Villa’s other books have and I appreciated not ugly crying in this case. They have such a way with words and the writing was so beautiful and immersing.

The audio was narrated by Alejandro Antonio Ruiz. I adored the audio and found it was easy to get lost in the story - the only thing that could have made it better would be mariachi music within the story.

Thanks to Wednesday Books, Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the advance copies.

Jonny Garza Villa just has a way with characters and words that grabs your heart and doesn't let go. I loved Ander & Santi and I loved this one just as much if not more. It was also really nice reading a queer music book immediately after a music book and a queer theatre book. It made my queer artist music & theatre loving heart very happy.

Rafie is difficult and kind of a jerk because of his ego (but also kind and sweet). Rey is a ray of sunshine. Their back and forth lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers relationship was a lot of fun. Watching them try and out-sing and out-perform one another was hilarious. Watching them learn to work together was inspiring.

Mexican culture plays a huge role in the book, and I loved learning about it. The Spanish dialogue sprinkled throughout the text isn't translated, which I kind of love. I know just enough to get the gist of what they were saying and the rest is filled in by context.

I love the way mental health is treated in this book. I also love the way queerness is treated. It's just so affirming and heartwarming and real.

We have a queer Mexican lead, a trans Black Mexican love interest, and a whole cast of dynamic, authentic supporting queer characters. And being queer is just part of who they are - it has nothing to do with the conflict of the story.

That's something that Jonny Garza Villa is fantastic at and a big part of why they have jumped directly onto my must-read list in the past couple years. They know how to inject so much love and queer joy into their stories and characters and make them feel vibrant and real.

The audiobook was performed brilliantly. The narrator's choice of voices and rhythms made it so easy to get lost in the story and feel that the characters were real.

*Thanks to NetGalley, Wednesday Books, and Macmillan Audio for providing an early copy for review.

I really enjoyed this story! As a queer latine individual, it is refreshing to find representation in the book community. The audiobook was great. I loved the narrator a lot. He made the story come alive. I love a rivals to lovers trope! And being from South Texas and going to college in San Antone, this book was a reminiscent of home for me. Absolutely adored!

After reading Jonny Garza Villa’s Ander and Santi last year, I was very excited to read Canto Contigo!

Rafie is a big fish in a small pond as the lead in his high school mariachi band until the opportunity for his family to move and him to enter the elite arts Academy where he expects to step in as the new lead…

Not happy about the move, but excited about the mariachi opportunity with all the funding at his new school, Rafie is devastated to find out that the band already has a lead and it’s the devastatingly cute competitor, Rey that he met last year at the big Mariachi Extravaganza Nacional!

Cue the rivals to lovers storyline!!!

Rafie and Rey are both so talented and stubborn as the fight for the lead, until they finally figure out and discover that the music they make together is above and beyond what they have on their own!

Full of what I have come to expect when I read a Jonny Garza Villa book, full of great Latin and Mexican culture, beautiful and vibrant queer and trans characters and plenty of teenage angst! I absolutely loved both Raffi and Ray and found myself cheering them on as they learned to make beautiful music together!

I had the opportunity to listen to the audiobook by Alejandro Antonio Ruiz and found myself absolutely absorbed with his reading. He brought the characters and the culture to life, and added another dimension to the story. As a non-Spanish-speaking person, I found that the narration was beautiful to listen to and helped me read the story more than I would on my own.

Even if you’re not a big YA reader, I highly recommend stepping out of your genre and giving this book a read. Romance and mariachi, what can I say they go hand-in-hand! Also, I’d like to add for readers who did read Ander and Santi, CC is a much more lighthearted story, even though it does deal with underlying difficult issues.

Canto Contigo by Jonny Garza Villa is available now! Thanks to Wednesday Books for the gifted books and Macmillan Audio for the ALC.

Loved this audiobook so far!! the narrator was good and I loved the main characters. Will read anything this author writes!

I'm not sure if it was a download error or something else, but unfortunately, I only had the first four tracks of this one in my NetGalley Shelf app.

From what I did hear, I really enjoyed the narration. Alejandro Antonio Ruiz seems to capture the youthfulness and earnestness of the characters well.

I put in a library request for the audiobook.

4.5 stars. Jonny Garza Villa's storytelling is captivating. I will read anything he writes.

I really enjoyed the love story between Rafie and Rey. The love they shared gave me goosebumps and made me believe that there is someone out there who will never give up on you. I can't wait to go back and read this again.

So far, Jonny Garza Villa has failed to write a novel that I didn't absolutely adore.

What I love most about Jonny's stories is the effortless and natural inclusion of different trans and queer identities. Canto Contigo was an absolute gem of a story. I love the family dynamics between Rafi and his parents and brothers, and Rafi and Rey had such excellent banter.

The build up to their relationship and romantic rekindling was an absolute treat. I love enemies to lovers, but enemies to frenemies to lovers is even better!

I felt like throughout the novel I learned so much about mariachi music and even spent some time on youtube watching high school mariachi competitions to really get the full effect. I feel so lucky to have been able to learn so much about this beautiful genre of music while also being able to get lost in Rafi and Rey's story.

This utterly charming romance with a love of mariachi at its core is one of my favorite reads of the year thus far. Jonny Garza Villa weaves emotion masterfully in these pages and I'll read anything they write.

Ok…does Rafie come off as kind of a selfish, self-aggrandizing jerk for most of the book? Yes…he really does. BUT…at the same time you know it’s because there’s grief/trauma driving his actions, not that he’s actually an asshole. I just wish there had been more exploration of it throughout the story instead of dancing around it for so long. But once you get there, it’s a very poignant and relatable portrayal of grief and all the ways we can put devastating pressure on ourselves to be something more than just our inherent selves for other people.

The queer rep is *chefs kiss* as per usual from Jonny, I really love their writing style and the vivid characters they bring to such vibrant life. I hope to see many more stories from them in the future!

The audiobook was very enjoyable to listen to and the narrator really helped bring the story and characters to life!

I fell in love with Garza Villa's writing last year with Ander & Santi Were Here, so when I saw Canto Contigo, I immediately downloaded!

Canto Contigo follows Rafie, a high schooler, lead Mariachi vocalist, and his abuelo's best buddy. Rafie's entire life is upended following the loss of his beloved abuelo, and a subsequent move to San Antonio, leaving behind his award winning mariachi band. He assumes he'll be a shoe-in for lead vocalist position at his new high school's mariachi band... after all, he has 11 wins under his belt,,, but someone from his recent past already holds that position - and isn't willing to give it up.

This rivals-to-lovers YA romance is just as delightful as the last. Garza Villa blends heavier themes of loss and grief with humor and touching moments of angsty young love. I'm such a sucker for the incorporation of grandparent relationships, and though abuelo passes at the beginning of the book his memory and legacy is a presence throughout the book.

Alejandro Antonio RuizI narrates just brilliantly, portraying a variety of voices and genders. Well done!

Thank you for the gifted copy Macmillan Audio 💕

4.5 rounded up!