I would like to thank David Fickling Books and NetGalley for the review copy. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Where We Go From Here by Lucas Rocha was definitely my favorite read for the pride month. This is the kind of novel that everyone should read whether you are part of the LGBTQ+ community or not. Aside from its informative content about HIV, the story was also heartwarming, authentic, and hopeful.

The story was focused on three young men dealing with HIV in different ways. Ian was diagnosed HIV positive, Victor tested negative, and Henrique had been living with HIV for three years. They navigated their lives, friendships, and love while also facing prejudices and stigma surrounding the virus. The novel was told through the POVs of the three main characters. This allowed readers to learn and understand each of them deeper as it allowed more exploration of different circumstances and issues they were facing.

I learned a lot from reading this gem because it gave light and information about HIV and how it affected people's lives. I personally did not know much about HIV, and I think a lot of people, too. Sadly, the negative connotation about how this virus were mostly connected to LGBTQ+ people still lingered. However, this novel was trying to break this stigma by showing its readers that being diagnosed was not a death sentence, because HIV positives can lead great lives just like other people through the help of medicine and practices to help control their condition.

I loved how the characters felt so real and flawed. Each voice was very distinct, and their struggles were agonizing and very emotional. It was a rollercoaster ride of emotion, but the hopeful tone never faded.

Overall, Where We Go From Here by Lucas Rocha was a poignant and compelling read. I highly recommend this novel.

5/5 stars!

cw: homophobia, outing, suicide mention, HIV stigma, self hate

This was such a beautiful and refreshing read. It follows the intertwined lives of three gay men in Brazil and the impact that HIV has had on them. Ian has just been diagnosed with HIV, Victor has found out that the man he's dating is positive, and Henrique has been living with it for three years now.

Usually with most books on the topic, this would be the start of a whole lot of misery. And don't get me wrong, of course there is pain and overwhelm in this one but really it shows these people who can now live with HIV. It does a good job of diving into the prejudice and assumptions that still exist in the community, while also dismanteling them by showing the lived reality today.

It's really lovely to see a YA book taking on this topic in a way that speaks to young people informatively, without lapsing on giving us characters to connect with. That said, where it falls down is in making these characters full three dimensional. It does focus almost entirely on how their lives are affected by HIV and misses out on giving us much outside of that. Which is a shame because I really was interested in all three of them.

Nevertheless, I'm glad I read it and I'm particularly glad it exists for younger people to learn from. It was heartwarming and realistic without dwelling totally in hardship, Definitely would recommend it!

Thanks to David Fickling Books for the ARC through Netgalley.

An incredibly powerful and moving novel about three boys living in Brazil and how HIV has affected their lives. I loved this from start to finish. Beautifully written and so, so powerful. Highly recommend.

Thank you Netgalley for letting me read this book in return for an honest review.

Where We Go From Here is about three people who either have (or are involved with people who have) HIV; Ian, Victor and Henrique. It explores friendship, love and the medical parts of HIV and can help put HIV into perspective for people who have not been around people with HIV.

I will say that all the characters are quite messy but in my opinion, it made them feel even more human. People say or do dumb stuff and trust me, this is what some of the characters within this book did. Each chapter is either in Ian, Victor or Henrique's point of view and has a drawing of them next to the chapter (more of this in books please!) which helps show what their personal lives are about when they are not together on page.

This book shed light on HIV to me and just showed how ignorant I actually am as I didn't know a lot of the terminology used which just shows that I definitely need to educate myself on HIV more!

Rating: 3.5⭐
Would I Read It Again? Yes
Would I Recommend it? Yes

DRC provided by David Fickling Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Representation: gay Brazilian protagonists, gay Afro-Brazilian secondary character, Brazilian secondary and tertiary characters, Afro-Brazilian tertiary characters, queer Brazilian tertiary characters.

Content Warning: HIV ignorance and stigmatisation, sex-negativism, overexertion, homophobia, anxiety, HP mention, malicious disclosure of someone else’s status, slurs.

Where We Go from Here by Lucas Rocha, translated by Larissa Helena, is a very compelling book about HIV, about living with it and experiencing it from the outside, about the stigmatisation and ignorance that still follow those three letters, but it is also about love, learning to trust again and friendships.

I really liked the novel and its structure with the three very distinct points of view, but while I loved very much Ian and Henrique, even after finishing the book, I am still on the fence about Victor.

When I first started reading, I immediately hated him and his ignorance, moreover when I read he actually did research on HIV, but still maintained a prejudiced mind-set about it. I asked myself how could one, seemingly intelligent man who researched the matter at hand, still be so bigoted and also, when corrected by a professional on the issue, persist on being unbearable. And although he learned he was wrong on all levels, I still hated the character so much and I thought Henrique could do better than him.

The relationship with Victor was the only aspect I did not like about Henrique’s chapters, but I thought that my wishes to see him happy, after years of solitude because of the stigmatisation of being HIV-positive, made me overcome my hatred for that prick.

Ian was definitely the character with the heaviest chapters as he started to learn how to live with the virus and how being positive would affect his life, but I loved reading how he gradually became more and more cheerful about it and the ending really charmed me.

To conclude, Where We Go from Here was a quick and captivating reading experience that I highly suggest to everyone interested in reading about how HIV-positive individuals are often alienated because of ignorance and sex-negativism, but also the importance of friendship.

PS: I loved reading that cutting a groom’s tie is not a tradition exclusively done in Italy!

“HIV doesn’t kill. Prejudice does.”

Where We Go From Here follows the story of three young queer men: Ian, Henrique and Victor - two of which are HIV positive, as the author attempts to break the stigma around HIV.

Rocha did exceptionally well finding a perfect balance between factual scientific information about HIV and exploring the fictional story of how HIV affects the lives of the three main characters. It is super informative whilst maintaining a very engaging storyline. The information is never overwhelming to the reader, even those with a limited understanding of HIV should have no issues following.

While this book deals with some very serious issues, ultimately my favourite thing was the friendships, especially between queer men.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a copy in exchange for my honest review.

Big thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me an e-arc.
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Rep: Brazilian casts, gay main and side characters, HIV+ characters and drag queen side characters.
Trigger Warning: Outing, prejudices against HIV and homophobia
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For this book, i did read the synopsis but i just skimmed through it and all i know that this book focused on HIV. So i was like "welp, i'm so not gonna understand this book." Because i thought it would be filled with scientific result and information dumping that i can't comprehend.

But i was mistaken! I was so wrong! The informations are all soo easy to digest. I was shocked on how much i enjoyed reading the part of meeting doctors and treatment sessions.

Since we following 3 different people with different status of HIV, we get to see how HIV impacted their life and their relationship with others. We'll also learn more about HIV especially how in modern days we have treatments that help patients with HIV lived their life as normal as possible.

Before this book, all i know about HIV is that we won't get it unless from blood or having s*x with a HIV+ and can't have children because then the HIV will be pass on. But reading this, i know now HIV+ can have a normal life, childrens by taking treatments. This book basically destigmatize the stigmas around HIV.

The most interesting part about this book is how we get see how our characters coming to term with HIV, how they struggle with their situations, how they handle their fears and also society criticism.

To sum it up, if you guys want to read more books on HIV but also want some funny, wholesome and informative read. I would highly suggest this book.

'I take a deep breath, look ahead of me, and stare at the people speeding by, laughing without a care in the world. I start wondering if any of them are faking it, like I am, pretending everything is all right. If they are laughing just out of peer pressure, because it’s easier than locking yourself up in your bedroom to worry over the bad stuff.'

Okay, I think there might be something wrong with me. When I started reading ‘Where We Go From Here’, I was enchanted; swept away in the promise of everything that it could have been. The characters seemed alive enough, and with such an important and underrepresented premise, I failed to see how this book wouldn’t live up to my representations. However, by the time I was about three-quarters of the way done, I came to the very underwhelming realisation that I absolutely, truly could not care less where the story went.

‘Where We Go From Here’ survives off of a central heartbeat that threads our three main together; HIV, and how it affects each of their daily lives. At first, I was in awe of the delicacy and intimacy with which these experiences were discussed, but with time I began to see that no amount of quotable one-liners or tear-jerking sentiments could weave these events into something that even resembled a story.

I won’t act like this book was devoid of any silver linings; I still have a number of highlights ready to tap into at any given moment, hoping that they will ignite within me some kind of emotional connection to this book. Until then, I say a hasty goodbye to the cardboard cutout characters that I deeply wish I had grown to love a bit more. I really wanted to like this.

Rating: 3.5

A very solid debut that I really enjoyed.

The story covers the life of three different boys - Ian, Victor and Henrique - and their friends and families, with HIV being the real unseen protagonist of the book.
I loved reading from the different boys' perspectives, reading about their struggles and coming to terms with a virus that's not only affecting the life of who has it, but of everyone else around them, too.

I really liked how the topic was covered, because it is an important one that's not touched enough.
I also think Rocha was able to write beautifully not only about the bad and the struggles, but about the good, too. About how important it is to have a support system, about the boys' friends and their support.
I just wish I could read more about Gabriel, Ian's best friend. I loved reading about him in the few pages he made an appearance, and I think he had potential to be developed more and be more present.

Overall a really good read. Recommended.

Where We Go From Here follows the story of three gay men and their experiences with HIV. We see from all three of their perspectives the multitude of ways HIV can affect people; Victor, who is HIV negative with many fears, Henrique, who is HIV positive and stable, and Ian, who has newly been diagnosed with HIV.

This story is a heartwarming delve into the everyday worlds of queer men. As a queer woman, this story felt welcoming, safe and accepting - potentially opening many readers eyes to the intricate and complicated lives queer people live on a daily basis, and the wonderful things associated with that. I particularly enjoyed the insight into drag culture which joyfully illustrated the whimsical and lively nature of the industry.

It is also very informative - for those, like myself, who didn't have much scientific knowledge of HIV prior to reading, it was very helpful, and aided my understanding in the novel as well as dispelling harmful stereotypes. This is an important book to read.

It also has gorgeous art in between each chapter, which was really beautiful. Overall, this story is beautiful and amusing, perfectly balancing entertainment with serious topics.

Wow, this book was really amazing!
It’s written from three POVs, with three main characters dealing with HIV in some way.
One MC is living with HIV since three years already, the other two meet after taking a test at a clinic - with different test results.
I loved how their stories are all interconnected and how each of them is dealing with HIV in very different ways. This brought a lot of depth into the story and helped to look at the topic from different angles. It was very realistic that way.
This book was super informative, while at the same time having an amazing story that makes you want to read it in one go.
I read a few books already that deal with HIV and there is still so much to learn about it.
It’s a very important topic many people only know so little about and there are so many prejudices toward people that test positive.
I loved how all this is addressed in this book and I absolutely loved the characters.
How they stood up for each other and supported each other, overcame some of their problems and prejudices. Learned from each other and became friends.
All of the characters are 18 or older, some in their early 20s so I would rather categorise it as a New adult book though.

The scene at the party wasn’t super realistic and there was a little miscommunication between two of the characters that got a little out of hand in my opinion, but that’s honestly the only part of this book I minded a little.
10/10 would recommend!

This was both an engaging story told my multiple protagonists I would die for, and an educational view on life with HIV. I did tear up more than once, and I loved the journey all the characters went on.

There was so much to like about this book (the cover is so pretty).

I enjoyed reading each of the three character POVs. All of them were flawed in some way and it was satisfying to watch them all grow as people.

This feels like an important novel in the fight to reduce the stigma around HIV, with many scenes that involve the dispelling of myths and also the transfer of invaluable knowledge. I’ve seen reviews criticising these moments but I personally didn’t have an issue with them; they were always useful and punctuated by humour or emotional beats.

There is also an afterword with a brief history of HIV, and a list of helplines at the back which is a really good idea for an issue-led novel to guide people in the direction to learn more or potentially seek support.

Overall, this was a good read! Would recommend.

A heartwarming, important, and very informative story about three boys and HIV.

‘Knowing is not the same as feeling. Knowing is not living without the fear that things might go wrong.’

Ian, Victor, and Henrique are all in different stages of HIV; one has just been diagnosed, one has just tested negative, and one has been living with HIV for three years now. What I loved most about this book is that it’s so incredibly educational. A lot of information about HIV is woven into the story without being preachy. In my opinion, it’s very well done, and the story is an enjoyable and sometimes even humorous read. Each boy has his own POV, and Ian, Victor, and Henrique are real persons with their own perspectives on HIV, boyfriends, and life. It’s so important to have such easy-to-read YA books on topics like this!

I liked the way the boys met and interacted. I understood their fears because, let’s face it, we all think HIV is horrible, don’t we? At least I did, even though I know intellectually that we’ve made so much progress since the eighties and that HIV is not the same as Aids. But still ... How do you tell your family and friends that you tested positive? How will they react? What do you do when you find out the boy you like so much has HIV? How do you tell someone you like that you have HIV? In the meantime feeling ashamed of yourself for making a mistake. A mistake a lot of people make, but most of them don’t get HIV.

I believe this book belongs in school libraries. Not only because it’s so informative, but also because of the shame I mentioned above. Teens make mistakes and don’t always think things through (actually, we all do at times). I liked the message that we should help instead of judging each other.