What a wonderfully heartfelt, beautifully written story!

In Where We Go From Here, we follow the intersecting lives of three young gay men living in Brazil. One of them has just been diagnosed with HIV; another, has lived with his diagnosis for a few years; and the third has just found out the guy he’s seeing is HIV-positive.

The story switches perspectives between the three characters, each one having their own distinct voice. It was so good to see the difficult moments they face from their different perspectives, tensions sometimes running high as they worked through it together. With the disclaimer that I was at Pride less than 24 hours ago and so emotions are already running high, I felt choked up at the end with - no spoilers - a glorious moment of solidarity and acceptance.

It would have been so easy for this book to just become a public health announcement, or an overly-simplified message of support, but Rocha captured so many nuances in what these characters are going through. From the first page he had me 100% emotionally involved with these characters. There are ups and downs, and it’s not all sunshine and rainbows by the final chapter, but the optimistic ending perfectly ties up the book.

I received a free copy via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.