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Hombrecito
Una novela por una brillante nueva voz, una historia queer sobre alcanzar la madurez que trata de la compleja relación entre un joven inmigrante, su madre y su madre patria.
Un joven espera que su madre lo recoja del colegio. Pero a su mamá se le olvidó que es mamá y nunca llega. Se fue a buscar al padre ausente del joven a las montañas de Colombia. Cuando al fin regresa, avienta las cosas del padre en el patio trasero y emigra con sus dos hijos a Miami, donde sus vidas dan un giro dramático.
En Estados Unidos, su madre trabaja de mesera, cuando antes fue doctora. El joven abraza su identidad queer sin reservas, así como abraza su nuevo hogar, pero no queda libre de una sensación de pérdida. Al ir creciendo, la relación con su madre se vuelve angustiosa, enredada, un amor tan intenso que bordea el dolor vívido, pero también es el axis sobre el cual giran todas sus decisiones. Es posible que lo haya olvidado alguna vez, pero ella está siempre en la mente de él.
El joven se muda a Nueva York, entrando y saliendo de la cama de distintos hombres mientras busca algo, a alguien, que lo vuelva un hombre completo de nuevo. Cuando su madre lo invita a ir con ella a Colombia a visitar a la familia, vuelve ahora como un hombre joven que intenta encontrar la paz con su padre, con su patria, con la persona en quien se ha convertido desde que se fue y con quien su madre al final, logramos conocerla y saber de sus secretos, su compleja ambivalencia y su amor fiero.
Hombrecito es el retrato conmovedor de un joven dividido entre culturas, entre ideas disímiles de sí mismo. De manos de un extraordinario nuevo talento, nos llega una historia contada con una sobrecogedora belleza e intensidad, una historia para todo aquel en busca de un hogar, en busca de una forma de amar.
Un joven espera que su madre lo recoja del colegio. Pero a su mamá se le olvidó que es mamá y nunca llega. Se fue a buscar al padre ausente del joven a las montañas de Colombia. Cuando al fin regresa, avienta las cosas del padre en el patio trasero y emigra con sus dos hijos a Miami, donde sus vidas dan un giro dramático.
En Estados Unidos, su madre trabaja de mesera, cuando antes fue doctora. El joven abraza su identidad queer sin reservas, así como abraza su nuevo hogar, pero no queda libre de una sensación de pérdida. Al ir creciendo, la relación con su madre se vuelve angustiosa, enredada, un amor tan intenso que bordea el dolor vívido, pero también es el axis sobre el cual giran todas sus decisiones. Es posible que lo haya olvidado alguna vez, pero ella está siempre en la mente de él.
El joven se muda a Nueva York, entrando y saliendo de la cama de distintos hombres mientras busca algo, a alguien, que lo vuelva un hombre completo de nuevo. Cuando su madre lo invita a ir con ella a Colombia a visitar a la familia, vuelve ahora como un hombre joven que intenta encontrar la paz con su padre, con su patria, con la persona en quien se ha convertido desde que se fue y con quien su madre al final, logramos conocerla y saber de sus secretos, su compleja ambivalencia y su amor fiero.
Hombrecito es el retrato conmovedor de un joven dividido entre culturas, entre ideas disímiles de sí mismo. De manos de un extraordinario nuevo talento, nos llega una historia contada con una sobrecogedora belleza e intensidad, una historia para todo aquel en busca de un hogar, en busca de una forma de amar.
305 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 25, 2024
120 people are currently reading
10503 people want to read
About the author
Santiago Jose Sanchez
2 books46 followersSantiago Jose Sanchez (they/them), a Grinnell College assistant professor of English and a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, is a queer Colombian American writer. Santiago’s writing has appeared in McSweeney’s, ZYZZYVA, Subtropics, and Joyland and been distinguished in Best American Short Stories. They are the recipient of a Truman Capote Fellowship from the University of Iowa and an Emerging LGBTQ Voices Fellowship from Lambda Literary.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 148 reviews
September 12, 2024
I have been so excited for this. I read SJS's story "In This Life or Another" a few years ago in McSweeney's and knew I was onto something special. That story is the opening chapter here, a wonderfully queer coming of age novel. As Publishers Weekly says, this is a triumph.
September 7, 2024
I appreciated the themes of self-discovery, searching for home, and messy family relationships, though I didn’t love the writing in this one. The prose was just too purple and meandering for me. Like it was trying to deliver emotion but in that forced delivery fell flat. I also get that queer men and queer men of color specifically are allowed to have messy relationships with men, though there’s a particular contrived way (in my opinion) that that’s written about in contemporary fiction that comes across as unoriginal and boring angsty, which I felt reading this book. Again, some powerful sentiments related to how our early relationships affect our later ones, though I unfortunately didn’t love this novel.
May 11, 2024
As far as queer coming of age stories go, Hombrecito is a wonder and an extraordinary reading experience that I cherished deeply. Anyone who has struggled to understand their place in the world and come to terms with the concept of family and home will see a part of themselves reflected in this book. How do we negotiate between how the people we love see us and the person we truly are? How do our relationships with our families and the things that happen to us in our early lives impact the contours and ultimately the trajectory of our lives?
In the novel, Santiago Jose Sanchez takes us on a journey through various seasons of the protagonist of the same name's life in at times profound and surreal detail. The prose here was remarkable and I was absolutely in awe of Sanchez's craft and style. In each section, we are shown a collection of images and scenes from childhood to adulthood: Santiago's beginnings with their mother and brother in Columbia, their big move to Miami when Santiago was a child, and subsequent moves through time in being a teenager seeking love, to adulthood in New York City, and a visit back to Columbia with their mother.
Each indelible moment in the narrative, both big and seemingly small, builds upon the next to shape and mold Santiago's life. Central to the novel was Santiago's growth as a queer child into a queer adult and how this pulls them in directions through time and distance that are different from Santiago's family - something I felt was all too relatable. Here, I was reminded of how the events of our lives are impressed upon us in all of their sharp and at times frightening intensity. It's these events that ultimately effect the ways in which we seek family, belonging, and a sense of home in life and how our vision of these concepts can be simultaneously blurry and presented to us in wide-eyed clarity. Overall, the novel was brilliant and I highly recommend if you're looking for a moving and complex coming of age story! This will definitely be for readers of Ocean Vuong and Justin Torres.
In the novel, Santiago Jose Sanchez takes us on a journey through various seasons of the protagonist of the same name's life in at times profound and surreal detail. The prose here was remarkable and I was absolutely in awe of Sanchez's craft and style. In each section, we are shown a collection of images and scenes from childhood to adulthood: Santiago's beginnings with their mother and brother in Columbia, their big move to Miami when Santiago was a child, and subsequent moves through time in being a teenager seeking love, to adulthood in New York City, and a visit back to Columbia with their mother.
Each indelible moment in the narrative, both big and seemingly small, builds upon the next to shape and mold Santiago's life. Central to the novel was Santiago's growth as a queer child into a queer adult and how this pulls them in directions through time and distance that are different from Santiago's family - something I felt was all too relatable. Here, I was reminded of how the events of our lives are impressed upon us in all of their sharp and at times frightening intensity. It's these events that ultimately effect the ways in which we seek family, belonging, and a sense of home in life and how our vision of these concepts can be simultaneously blurry and presented to us in wide-eyed clarity. Overall, the novel was brilliant and I highly recommend if you're looking for a moving and complex coming of age story! This will definitely be for readers of Ocean Vuong and Justin Torres.
October 15, 2024
Sighhh. I loved this book so much. Took me on quite the emotional journey.
A queer coming of age that effortlessly glides through the passage of time: from the precocious nature of childhood to the bewilderment of adulthood. About loving your parents even when they make it hard to love them. About trying to find your rightful place in the uncertainty of the world.
Gorgeous prose, heartbreaking, tortured characters. Really talented writer. This one’s a stunner.
A queer coming of age that effortlessly glides through the passage of time: from the precocious nature of childhood to the bewilderment of adulthood. About loving your parents even when they make it hard to love them. About trying to find your rightful place in the uncertainty of the world.
Gorgeous prose, heartbreaking, tortured characters. Really talented writer. This one’s a stunner.
December 10, 2024
2.5 stars, rounding down to 2, "it was okay." Ultimately, more than a little disappointed by this book. The main character, sharing a first name (and history?) with the author, just didn't stand out in the many, many books highlighting of first- and second-generation immigrants coming of age in the States. In fact, the book only truly became interesting to me during the very last part of the book, when the book switches from first-person narration to the third-person, featuring the main character's mother. (Note: The book starts out third-person about "the boy," and switches to the first-person in Part II.)
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinions.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinions.
October 6, 2024
[3.25] This debut coming of age story focuses on a gay immigrant boy who is forced to confront different cultures, difficult familial relationships and his own sexuality. It’s a moving, gritty and graphic read that offers a unique perspective on some complex issues. In an interview conducted shortly after the book’s release, the promising young author aptly described “Hombrecito" as “a book about the in-betweenness of identity, place, sexuality and family that people are reading in very different ways.”
I have to agree with some reviews who have described sections of this otherwise compelling book as a tad “clunky” and “disjointed." The switching points of view will work wonderfully for many readers and will be jarring to others. Also, a few elements of the protagonist’s self-discovery odyssey seemed underdeveloped, including his experiences at Yale.
That being said, I look forward to reading future works by this talented author.
I have to agree with some reviews who have described sections of this otherwise compelling book as a tad “clunky” and “disjointed." The switching points of view will work wonderfully for many readers and will be jarring to others. Also, a few elements of the protagonist’s self-discovery odyssey seemed underdeveloped, including his experiences at Yale.
That being said, I look forward to reading future works by this talented author.
Read
June 16, 2024Hombrecíto stood out immediately with some of the best prose I’ve read this year. It’s like this novel is singing the whole way through. It explores a lot of pretty complex, emotional, and tough situations (if you can’t tell from the description of the novel) and, while I sensed just a few spots left unfilled, this novel is still beautiful, and I anticipate is one of 2024’s must-read debuts.
March 4, 2025
I don't know if I've ever related to a book so hard.
July 11, 2024
I want to begin by saying that I am so lucky to be alive while writers like Santiago are publishing stories. I am so thankful and grateful and honored to be able to read prose like this.
Hombrecito is a masterpiece. In the truest definition of the word. Billed as a queer coming of age story, understand that it is that and more. It is the story of a young Colombian immigrant discovering themselves and their queerness while grappling with their relationship to their parents and their homeland. It ebbs through different points of view as Santiago grows up, almost showing us through grammatical form their journey of self discovery and development. I loved every second of it.
Though I cannot ever fully understand the immigrant experience, so much of the queer experience in Hombrecito was familiar to me. Santiago’s adolescence and early adulthood, their navigation through circles that weren’t accepting of their sexuality, I can relate to so much of it. I wanted to hold their hand and hug them. I read late into the night simply to know if they’d be okay.
And the writing! The sentences! Not a word was wasted. I cried so much in the last third. I am repeating myself at this point, but truly, it’s a masterpiece, y’all.
Hombrecito is a masterpiece. In the truest definition of the word. Billed as a queer coming of age story, understand that it is that and more. It is the story of a young Colombian immigrant discovering themselves and their queerness while grappling with their relationship to their parents and their homeland. It ebbs through different points of view as Santiago grows up, almost showing us through grammatical form their journey of self discovery and development. I loved every second of it.
Though I cannot ever fully understand the immigrant experience, so much of the queer experience in Hombrecito was familiar to me. Santiago’s adolescence and early adulthood, their navigation through circles that weren’t accepting of their sexuality, I can relate to so much of it. I wanted to hold their hand and hug them. I read late into the night simply to know if they’d be okay.
And the writing! The sentences! Not a word was wasted. I cried so much in the last third. I am repeating myself at this point, but truly, it’s a masterpiece, y’all.
June 17, 2024
"i almost screamed. i felt visible, as if i suddenly gave off light. i never could tell when i was and wasn't seen."
the author did something so incredible with this story, i don't think i'll ever stop thinking about it. i feel like a veil of melancholy was slowly taken off me and now i can just b r e a t h e. reading this felt like when you stay up until 2am during a sleepover with a friend to tell each other the things you're too scared to say when the sun's out. the writing is so well done it gave me goosebumps from how it felt like i was looking directly into a mirror while experiencing santiago's journey from boyhood into manhood. and the end? oh my god. all i can say is that 'hombrecito' is a gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous novel.
thank you to riverhead books for sending me an advanced copy to review!
the author did something so incredible with this story, i don't think i'll ever stop thinking about it. i feel like a veil of melancholy was slowly taken off me and now i can just b r e a t h e. reading this felt like when you stay up until 2am during a sleepover with a friend to tell each other the things you're too scared to say when the sun's out. the writing is so well done it gave me goosebumps from how it felt like i was looking directly into a mirror while experiencing santiago's journey from boyhood into manhood. and the end? oh my god. all i can say is that 'hombrecito' is a gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous novel.
thank you to riverhead books for sending me an advanced copy to review!
June 29, 2024
This book just flows so well, blending one part of the main characters life into another, making you feel as though you are watching front and center. I love any queer POC read, and this one gave me insight onto what it’s like to be a queer Columbian during some trying times.
August 21, 2024
Feeling isolated and apart, from family, home, yourself, but craving connection and belonging, this coming of age story grapples with finding yourself while also finding your place in the relationships and world around you, and how to grow both independently and within the bonds that you've forged.
Quietly beautiful, this was extraordinary.
Quietly beautiful, this was extraordinary.
August 5, 2024
3.5*
Hombrecito is defined by a luminous sort of prose. Especially in the earliest half sections, Sanchez' ability to take ordinary scenery and make them feel new and important was one of the driving forces that kept me reading. However, the approach to the novel's structure and genre conventions, I felt, made me uncertain how to 'read' the novel in a critical sense.
Hombrecito reads like a memoir, going so far as the protagonist and author sharing a name, place of origin, and other elements, but LC subject headers and a disclaimer in the front matter state that this is a work of fiction. I can understand this being an artistic choice, but what purpose does it serve for the reader? In that regard, I found Hombrecito lacking--while a bildungsroman often, if not chiefly, is about a protagonist not knowing who they are (and then finding out), this falls apart if the book itself does not know what it aims to be. Most of the questions get answered offstage, so to speak--context then given later with little fanfare, undercutting the unspoken contract of genre convention without doing enough to make it feel on purpose.
Even now I tread lightly as I don't know how to treat the subjects contained within, as the line between fiction and reality appears hair-thin, and I don't wish to criticize someone's lived experiences when I should be looking at the craft of a memoir. I think for a book to stir that much turmoil--and, judging by other reviews, I am not the only one--for the reader just by genre conventions alone, without it feeling like a play between genres, that's a sign of something on the back-end needing edited, or perhaps some sort of clarification in the front or back matter.
The places where the book truly shined and arrested my attention were not the reasons I picked up the book. I'd been looking for more queer books, especially enthused to read something by trans/gnc/etc. authors after a while without them on my docket, but these elements in practice did not hold my attention, nor did the coming-of-age aspects, which felt incomplete. I was curious to know, treating this as a memoir and knowing inevitably that a question of gender would come up--only to find that this was summed up in a matter of a few lines, no elaboration or consequence. Narration erred on an interiority that after a while, felt grating in its lack of abject scene or focus--a meandering of vignettes sparse in dialogue and heavy on reflection, substance often listless and pining without reprieve. Instead I found the portrait of the family--of Luz, especially, to be what held my interest.
After completing literature programs, editing with a magazine here and there, and now working as a librarian (adult, then teen) I feel there is a great divide between what the layperson may find enjoyable and what other writers may want to dissect. I don't often write reviews (because who has the time), and I often read books for business rather than pleasure (e.g. the large quantity of YA and booktok titles in my read list). Looking with both sets of eyes, I find merit in both viewpoints.
I feel this is more a novel for other writers; which is not a deficit, more a statement of audience. There is a sort of insularity and self-important interiority, a brooding manner the vignettes of this story go about that I feel are common in highbrow literary circles, but are not particularly engaging for the layperson--yet they also contain a play with language that any writer would find delicious. There's good stuff here; I wonder how my experience would have been different if I'd not been worrying over if this weren't secretly a memoir or not. I'm a staunch proponent of not looking at reviews before finishing if I can avoid it, and textual evidence either which way left me wondering if there was something I'd missed.
Hombrecito is defined by a luminous sort of prose. Especially in the earliest half sections, Sanchez' ability to take ordinary scenery and make them feel new and important was one of the driving forces that kept me reading. However, the approach to the novel's structure and genre conventions, I felt, made me uncertain how to 'read' the novel in a critical sense.
Hombrecito reads like a memoir, going so far as the protagonist and author sharing a name, place of origin, and other elements, but LC subject headers and a disclaimer in the front matter state that this is a work of fiction. I can understand this being an artistic choice, but what purpose does it serve for the reader? In that regard, I found Hombrecito lacking--while a bildungsroman often, if not chiefly, is about a protagonist not knowing who they are (and then finding out), this falls apart if the book itself does not know what it aims to be. Most of the questions get answered offstage, so to speak--context then given later with little fanfare, undercutting the unspoken contract of genre convention without doing enough to make it feel on purpose.
Even now I tread lightly as I don't know how to treat the subjects contained within, as the line between fiction and reality appears hair-thin, and I don't wish to criticize someone's lived experiences when I should be looking at the craft of a memoir. I think for a book to stir that much turmoil--and, judging by other reviews, I am not the only one--for the reader just by genre conventions alone, without it feeling like a play between genres, that's a sign of something on the back-end needing edited, or perhaps some sort of clarification in the front or back matter.
The places where the book truly shined and arrested my attention were not the reasons I picked up the book. I'd been looking for more queer books, especially enthused to read something by trans/gnc/etc. authors after a while without them on my docket, but these elements in practice did not hold my attention, nor did the coming-of-age aspects, which felt incomplete. I was curious to know, treating this as a memoir and knowing inevitably that a question of gender would come up--only to find that this was summed up in a matter of a few lines, no elaboration or consequence. Narration erred on an interiority that after a while, felt grating in its lack of abject scene or focus--a meandering of vignettes sparse in dialogue and heavy on reflection, substance often listless and pining without reprieve. Instead I found the portrait of the family--of Luz, especially, to be what held my interest.
After completing literature programs, editing with a magazine here and there, and now working as a librarian (adult, then teen) I feel there is a great divide between what the layperson may find enjoyable and what other writers may want to dissect. I don't often write reviews (because who has the time), and I often read books for business rather than pleasure (e.g. the large quantity of YA and booktok titles in my read list). Looking with both sets of eyes, I find merit in both viewpoints.
I feel this is more a novel for other writers; which is not a deficit, more a statement of audience. There is a sort of insularity and self-important interiority, a brooding manner the vignettes of this story go about that I feel are common in highbrow literary circles, but are not particularly engaging for the layperson--yet they also contain a play with language that any writer would find delicious. There's good stuff here; I wonder how my experience would have been different if I'd not been worrying over if this weren't secretly a memoir or not. I'm a staunch proponent of not looking at reviews before finishing if I can avoid it, and textual evidence either which way left me wondering if there was something I'd missed.
July 2, 2024
This was a beautiful debut, full of gorgeous prose and a lovely story about Santiago, who moves from Colombia to the US in the 90s. We watch Santiago grow from a child to an adult, and the complex situations he finds himself in. The relationship with his mother made me sad, especially when he was young. His brother :(. His dad :(. Leo :(.
I have a lot of feelings about this book okay!! It wasn’t all sad. There was some real beauty in this story, particularly as Santiago moves into adulthood and changes.
I liked the ending a lot, it was hopeful. I loved how it switched POV and from first to third person. It was so interesting and a really impactful way to end to end the book.
Definitely recommend this one!
I have a lot of feelings about this book okay!! It wasn’t all sad. There was some real beauty in this story, particularly as Santiago moves into adulthood and changes.
I liked the ending a lot, it was hopeful. I loved how it switched POV and from first to third person. It was so interesting and a really impactful way to end to end the book.
Definitely recommend this one!
November 4, 2024
4.5
Just as Santiago is a voyeur, spying in into the lives of those closest to him, I found myself peering into his private world. This coming-of-age story deep dives into Santiago's complex relationships--with his family, his friends, and himself. Starting as a Colombian child, we watch as he grows into a man, navigating his cultural identity, his queer identity, and his fractured family. Santiago faces complex emotions in his relationships—with his family, his friends, and himself—which are rooted in a deep yearning for discovery of reciprocated love (familial, platonic, and romantic). It's a poignant exploration of identity, culture, and the universal need to feel seen and loved, and an extremely powerful story.
Just as Santiago is a voyeur, spying in into the lives of those closest to him, I found myself peering into his private world. This coming-of-age story deep dives into Santiago's complex relationships--with his family, his friends, and himself. Starting as a Colombian child, we watch as he grows into a man, navigating his cultural identity, his queer identity, and his fractured family. Santiago faces complex emotions in his relationships—with his family, his friends, and himself—which are rooted in a deep yearning for discovery of reciprocated love (familial, platonic, and romantic). It's a poignant exploration of identity, culture, and the universal need to feel seen and loved, and an extremely powerful story.
September 3, 2024
“Today she forgot she is a mother.”
The imagery in this novel was something else, I tried to keep note of my favorite similes and lost the will to keep track.
"...like the hide of an animal."
"...like a slip of silk."
"...like a bad word."
"...like a horse."
"...like a punch."
"...like two princes."
"...like cement."
"...like the mountains."
"...like a net."
"...like a jungle animal."
"...like a landscape."
"...like a world apart."
"...like a chicken without its head."
"...like waxy feathers."
The imagery in this novel was something else, I tried to keep note of my favorite similes and lost the will to keep track.
"...like the hide of an animal."
"...like a slip of silk."
"...like a bad word."
"...like a horse."
"...like a punch."
"...like two princes."
"...like cement."
"...like the mountains."
"...like a net."
"...like a jungle animal."
"...like a landscape."
"...like a world apart."
"...like a chicken without its head."
"...like waxy feathers."
October 6, 2024
Hombrecito was not a book on my radar until someone recommended it to me. It's a queer coming of age story for a young Colombian boy that soon makes his home in America. We follow along on his quest to find love and form some sort of normalcy all the while diving in deep and not making the best decisions while doing so. His relationship with his family is almost like a parallel story to him living his life, but it was a part that hit on a piece of sadness in me.
Seeing Santiago from his time in Colombia to Miami to New York and back to Colombia we get snippets of who he is and how he grows in each city/country. There is a feeling of lonesomeness in the writing and with his lovers, along with a sensuality we find in close lovers/friends and feeling complete with culture, family and sexuality. Once he returns to Colombia with his mother, I feel like we got to see him come full circle with acceptance in roles each family member plays in his life and there was still a piece of sadness there. Especially with his mother. She kind of broke my heart when they return back to the states.
A simple yet eloquently told story of queerness as an immigrant and acceptance within family and its culture is all at the core of this coming of age story.
Seeing Santiago from his time in Colombia to Miami to New York and back to Colombia we get snippets of who he is and how he grows in each city/country. There is a feeling of lonesomeness in the writing and with his lovers, along with a sensuality we find in close lovers/friends and feeling complete with culture, family and sexuality. Once he returns to Colombia with his mother, I feel like we got to see him come full circle with acceptance in roles each family member plays in his life and there was still a piece of sadness there. Especially with his mother. She kind of broke my heart when they return back to the states.
A simple yet eloquently told story of queerness as an immigrant and acceptance within family and its culture is all at the core of this coming of age story.
July 17, 2024
so, so stunning. truly a beautiful portrayal of the experience of feeling worlds apart from the people and land you love but still craving connection more than anything, despite often not knowing how to ask for it.
July 22, 2024
seen some reviews say the end was totally out of nowhere , so wrong. the chapter focusing on his mother was exactly how it should’ve ended. i think of the picture of them as one face. how we all have secrets, and they’re probably inherited. we all feel loneliness, we deal with it differently. our mothers catch our condescending / paternalistic words, esp as they get older. understanding and companionship
September 24, 2025
2.5 ⭐️ My rating feels like an outlier, the writing just didn’t land for me. I thought the themes of loneliness, the need for connection, and adolescent experiences shaping the rest of your life were all very strong. However, the transitions felt disjointed and the imagery was overdone.. I never seemed to settle into this one.
August 15, 2024
Ohhhhhhhh it’s all in the details of these pages. I partnered this ebook with the audiobook. I will follow-up with more detailed review.
September 9, 2025
The coming of age genre isn’t usually a novel I would be interested in and I have little in common with the protagonist who was a gay Colombian man who ended up in Miami then Yale and NYC. I don’t like books that change perspective from first to third person voice, either. So I’m sure that this affects my review. But the entire book was superficial and although loneliness was the main theme, it was an explicit telling of loneliness rather than good storytelling. The chapters never connected with each other into a coherent narrative. Instead it was choppy and disjointed, without continuity of characters. The writing style kept me at a distance from the protagonist’s emotions. I’m not entirely certain of what the author intended me to take home from this book. It was a frustrating reading experience.
September 27, 2024
I found this to be a mixed reading experience.
The end was jarring because suddenly the perspective shifted to Santiago's mother, Luz, who I found to be an ambivalent parent at best. Interestingly, I realized the beginning, the chapters based in Colombia, were depressing and almost didn't get my commitment to reading the rest of this book.
And it was only after starting this title that I realized that it is National Hispanic Heritage Month. I think this is the first book set in Colombia that I've read.
From my various highlights, there are several beautiful examples of poetic, affecting writing.
Overall this book has a gritty quality...the drug use, the sex, the dysfunctional relationships. I'm not sure it made a point, especially given how the chapter before the last and the last chapter contrast. Things seemed unresolved and messy...somewhat like how the book began.
The end was jarring because suddenly the perspective shifted to Santiago's mother, Luz, who I found to be an ambivalent parent at best. Interestingly, I realized the beginning, the chapters based in Colombia, were depressing and almost didn't get my commitment to reading the rest of this book.
And it was only after starting this title that I realized that it is National Hispanic Heritage Month. I think this is the first book set in Colombia that I've read.
From my various highlights, there are several beautiful examples of poetic, affecting writing.
Overall this book has a gritty quality...the drug use, the sex, the dysfunctional relationships. I'm not sure it made a point, especially given how the chapter before the last and the last chapter contrast. Things seemed unresolved and messy...somewhat like how the book began.
August 12, 2024
I would give it 3.5. Very well-written, especially for someone who is as young as Sanchez is. And I really liked the switch in perspective at the beginning and at the end of the book. There were characters (like Santiago's mother Luz) who I wanted to know deeper, but felt I didn't get the chance to. And what happened to Leo? The book is at its most effective and emotional I think once we are back in Colombia in the last third or so. That part of the story was most powerful for me.
August 20, 2024
An easy five stars! I think my favorite part was how Sanchez writes about place. Each of the places that Santiago travels through — Ibague, Miami, New York — becomes a central character in the character’s life story. In just a few short vignettes, Sanchez captures the essence of each of these places and how they shape Santiago’s growth. I also love the way that Sanchez writes about sex and sensuality. The ending was so unexpected and perfect. LOVE!
July 27, 2024
Melodramatic and sloppy. Characters and details are picked up and dropped without explanation, context, or continuity. Metaphors and imagery often feel contrived, as if shoehorned in to try to elevate the writing, but despite its best efforts, the shoe remains much too small.
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December 30, 2021"about a young gay man—an immigrant from Colombia to Miami—grappling with his turbulent sexual coming of age, and his fierce, complicated relationship with his mother and their homeland"
March 2, 2025
My library loan expired at around 70% done, and I realized I was fine with it. The tone was too detached and thus I also felt detached. It was just plain boring
May 17, 2025
3.75 stars. A heartfelt portrait of a young queer Colombian man, his upbringing, his family, and his trials and tribulations along the way. I was at turns mildly frustrated by and appreciative of the pace of the novel, which felt a bit like vignettes of Santiago's life and the experiences with his family and other people he met along the way. Frustrating in that it sometimes just felt like different stories, one after the other, but refreshing because not everything has to be structured in the traditional novel sense. As a queer person, it is always wonderful to read other queer stories, particularly those of queer siblings of color and other different backgrounds. While Santiago evidently had a much more debaucherous teenage experience than I did, it was still nice to read about and relate to certain aspects. His relationship with friend/boyfriend/f*ckbuddy Leo was particularly uncomfortable, but realistic to read about (I cringed!). I appreciated also that there was actually mostly an heir of acceptance in his family. Coming out stories are obviously important to tell, but this was less of a focus, which was different. Overall, this was a very well-written and personal debut novel that also is important in its story.
July 7, 2024
A moving coming-of-age story that explores identity, family, and sexuality, Hombrecito by Santiago Jose Sanchez is a captivating coming-of-age tale that follows a young Colombian immigrant navigating life in the United States. The novel delves into themes of self-discovery, family relationships, and the complexities of burgeoning sexuality.
I was drawn into Santiago's world as he grapples with his identity and place in a new culture. The portrayal of his relationship with his father is particularly relatable, showcasing the nuances of parent-child bonds. The characters are well-developed and leave a lasting impression, leaving you wanting to know more about their journeys.
Sanchez's writing beautifully captures the messiness and imperfections of life, making the story all the more genuine and touching. Whether you've experienced similar situations or not, this book offers a chance to connect with the universal struggles of growing up and finding yourself.
I was drawn into Santiago's world as he grapples with his identity and place in a new culture. The portrayal of his relationship with his father is particularly relatable, showcasing the nuances of parent-child bonds. The characters are well-developed and leave a lasting impression, leaving you wanting to know more about their journeys.
Sanchez's writing beautifully captures the messiness and imperfections of life, making the story all the more genuine and touching. Whether you've experienced similar situations or not, this book offers a chance to connect with the universal struggles of growing up and finding yourself.
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