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A review by andremay
Ander and Santi Were Here by Jonny Garza Villa

emotional hopeful lighthearted tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

 I don’t know how coherent I can make this review, considering just how my thoughts are still all over the place, but here it goes, because I just loved this so much, I cannot let it go unreviewed. 
 
This book was like a warm and cozy blanket on a Friday night during the winter. I was hooked just from reading the description on the back and the only reason why it took me days to read it was because I needed time to get my emotions back in check during tumultuous times and preparing myself for the inevitable (which hurt a lot, but thank the universe for the small retrieve during the epilogue), otherwise I would have devoured Ander and Santi’s developing relationship in a couple of hours. 
 
Although I read my (huge) share of romance novels, a lot of the ones that are recommended to me end up being a huge disappointment due to focusing only on the romance and using every plot device to further that relationship without any actual character development, memorable plot lines or chemistry. This one was the complete opposite of what I’ve just described. It provided so much representation through characters without making the reader feel like the author just chose random sexualities and identities to please certain crowds. There were so many insightful quotes that a lot of POC and queer people can relate to, and they bring this sense of belonging and of community which wrapped around me tightly as if this book was my safe haven. 
 
Ander and Santi were flawed teenagers who tried their best to navigate a world that was made to put every possible obstacle in their way and who, in just a few months, had so much personal growth alongside each other. 
 
Gender and sexuality talk was written in such a real way, from Ander’s personal gender expression to Santi’s “I just like pretty people”. They weren’t made to fit usual stereotypes we see so many times in  books recommended for having “queer rep”, the characters were simply unapologetically themselves, and a part of them happened not to fit the cishet norms in our society. 
 
I loved the veritable discussions around undocumented immigrants (predominantly from Mexico and mentions of characters from South and Central America), and the characters speaking up against the injustice that kept happening, knowing it may not lead anywhere, but trying nonetheless because they knew they couldn’t be silent no matter what. The reality is as black-and-white as Republicans love to make it seem, and people deserve to live a full life, damned be imaginary borders humans have changed and fought over for centuries. US has been a stolen land for hundreds of years anyways, bold of Americans to feel so righteous when it comes to POC immigrants, with green cards or without. 
 
ICE has been and always will be the real villain in these stories. 
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