Ander & Santi Were Here
Ratings7
Average rating4.3
15
Ratings7
Average rating4.3
After Ander is “fired” from their family taqueria, they meet and connect instantly with Santi, the waiter who replaced them. Their friendship quickly turns to something more, and they fall for each other hard. But when ICE agents raid the taqueria, Ander and Santi’s community and budding relationship is put in danger.
Reviews with the most likes.
ARC received by wednesday books in exchange for an honest review...
“I think, if this is my last day, the last day of life as I know it, the last few hours of happiness and having things and people who can take my mind away from the worries and mierda out there, then at least I know I've made the best out of it.”
When I read this book I had a bad news. So at first I was not going to finish it but I did and I am happy I did. It's impossible to put into words exactly how this book made me feel. It was one of the most heartbreaking yet beautiful love stories that I had reading.
When a book's characters reference Adam Silvera's [b: They Both Die at the End 33385229 They Both Die at the End Adam Silvera https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1494333138l/33385229.SY75.jpg 49456196], you know you've got a heartbreaker in your hands. But I'm not sorry I took the plunge. Author Jonny Garza Villa has grown as an author by leaps and bounds from their debut novel, [b:Fifteen Hundred Miles from the Sun 55144174 Fifteen Hundred Miles from the Sun Jonny Garza Villa https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1612262882l/55144174.SY75.jpg 81129680]. Nonbinary Ander and undocumented person Santi's star-crossed love story is sweet, funny, hot (but not explicit), and undeniable. The plot is enriched by the descriptions of Ander's murals and his struggle to be true to his roots while not limiting his work to “Mexican themes.” Villa doesn't claim to speak for the undocumented, but in Ander they show how even a well-meaning ally can fuck things up (don't get him started on [b:American Dirt 45046527 American Dirt Jeanine Cummins https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1559127861l/45046527.SY75.jpg 69749472] though). And with Santiago Garcia, they make a irrefutable case for welcoming all to our country, not just those who are “refugees with a a morning-show-worthy backstory, [and who are] STEM geniuses.”This is one of those books whose final 100 pages require you to be alone with a box of Kleenex to process all of the feelz, despite a HFN ending. It's definitely not a “comfort read,” but it's an unforgettable one.
