This is the story that I needed growing-up, and that I didn't know I needed currently as someone coming out in their 20s. I adored and related to the relationships in this book: the sibling bonds and the friendship group dynamics, in a way that I have never felt more connected to in a book. Jules internal dialogues as he traverses being gay and Latinx mirrored parts of my own thought process, leaving me feeling seen, heart broken, and validated all at once. While there were some parts with current slang, terminologies, or references which felt a little awkward, for the majority of the book it felt natural and authentic. Most importantly the story and the characters made me laugh, cry, and audibly squeal with joy as they traversed decisions about college, relationships, and moving into the next stage of their lives. I wish I could put into words how much this book truly meant to me as a queer chicanx person, but I simply do not have that talent. Muchas Gracias to Johnny Garza Villa for this incredible labor of love and struggle that I am sure it took to write this novel, for the healing that you have provided through this novel to my high school self.

this is THE standard for gay books.

Fifteen Hundred Miles from the Sun follows Julián, a Chicano teen who accidently outs himself on a drunken night out with his friends. His friends are supportive but he struggles to get accepted by his homophobic and abusive father.

Meanwhile Mat, Jules' twitter crush who lives across the country slides into his DMs and they start to know each other. Throughout the book, Jules has to grapple through getting into college and life in general.

_____

Let's start with HOW FREAKING CUTE THE ROMANCE WAS? I wasn't quite sure about how I would feel about the whole long distance online love but, Julián and Mat's chemistry developed so well throughout the book that I just couldn't get myself to love them as a couple. Their relationship was tender, supportive and caring.

Another aspect I really enjoyed were the friendships in this book. The characters had such brilliant voices that I was jealous these folks weren't my friends (┬┬﹏┬┬)

A HUGE part of this book is also the main character's Latinx identity, and how that intersects with his queerness. He has a homophobic and abusive dad and i loved how the book showed the heteronormativity that usually comes from parents.

“And I think about how Dad gave me everything I could need. Except for the one thing that shouldn't have terms or conditions. That should be a given. That should be so easy. Acceptance.”

The author did a wonderful job with the writing. Their prose was flowy, light-hearted and overall relatable and funny which made me love the book even more.

I honestly didn't expect to love this book as much as I did so it was pleasant surprise reading this one. Highly recommended!

Thank you to Skyscape books for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review! This did not impact my opinion in any way.

Representation: Mexican American gay mc, Vietnamese American gay li, gay, lesbian, bi & pan scs, Black sc

Trigger Warnings: Physical parental abuse, anti-gay prejudice, anti-gay slurs, bullying, parental abandonment, death of parent (mentioned, in the past)

I adored this book so much. Everything about it felt atmospheric and was so captivating. Julian and Mat's relationship was everything and it felt real. It was messy and raw and sometimes overly dramatic in that way that teenagers are and I honestly just can't say enough good things about this one. I will definitely be recommending this one to everyone I can.

“And I think about how Dad gave me everything I could need. Except for the one thing that shouldn't have terms or conditions. That should be a given. That should be so easy. Acceptance.”

Fifteen Hundred Miles from the Sun was a heartwarming and poignant story of first love, self-acceptance and queerness. It was honest and authentic, depicting the experience of a queer chicanx boy in all its joy and heartbreak.

I can see this book resonating on a deep level with many in the community, and I am so glad it has been written and released for anyone who needs it. It is the queer happily ever after that is so so important for those teens to read.

But it is not all rainbows and happiness- there is grit to the story, strained relationships and themes of homophobia and abuse. Just keep in mind that for every bad thing that happens to these characters, there are countless other moments of hope and beauty.

Despite this being an objectively great book, I personally didn't connect with it on as high a level as I was hoping. But that is fine, I think I just wasn't the target audience. I cannot pinpoint exactly why it left something to be desired for me. Perhaps it was the social media slang that felt a little forced and unrealistic. Maybe it was the writing, which while perfectly fine, wasn't anything special. But I don't want to dwell on the drawbacks for too long because they are just personal nitpicks I had and most likely won't impact the majority of people's experiences.

Thank you to Skyscape Fire for this ARC

Release Date: 8 June 2021

There will always be that one book book that will sneak attack you with all feelings while you are reading a bunch of others. This was one such book. This book had so much representation of love that it was impossible not to fall in live with it too. It follows Julián as he accidentally outs himself through twitter one night and has to deal with the aftermath of a reckless mistake. It talks about a lot of triggering topics and deals with it in a really positive way.
.
My Rating : 🌟🌟🌟🌟.5 [4.5/5]
.
Thank you @tlcbooktours for the gifted copy! Full review up on Blog/Goodreads.
.
Jules was amazing and when paired with Mat, they were amazing. I was skeptical at first, but their chemistry was so good and the way they were there for each other was really well done. This book had amazing found family/friends guy, Jules had an amazing support system when everything goes down amd that warmed my heart a lot! Not to mention Mat who never failed to make Jules smile. Jules sister was a force to reckon with and not to mention all the support he gets. He is proud of his chicanx culture and the the author used the language a lot and I really got a full experience (Duolingo helped me guys..) And I definitely got hungry after all the vegetarian food options discussed in very explicit detail.
.
Now, everything is not sunshine in this book. Jules go through a lot of emotional and physical abuse through his dad, and that makes his character development a really strong one. He learned to rely on others and forgive himself for all the blame, slurs and the confidence he lacked. It was amazing to see his confidence come back and the way he opened his heart to let people help him so that he can heal. I hurt when Jules cried over his lost family and that last chapter and that letter? Broke my heart. The author explores the Latinx community and the prejudice they have living in their home, and the rich culture they follow. It wasn't hard to love all the family and the characters.
.
This was a coming of age story filled with love, relationship, longing, food, laughter, recklessness, hope and healing. This will definitely make you feel things. Go read it pretty please?

Thank you to the author and publisher for giving me early access to this book. Thank you to NetGalley.

Here we have a story about what is like to find joy in who you are and those who love you no matter what. A story of how to become yourself, even when people close to you won't be happy that you are happy. And how to find happiness where you never thought you'll find it.

I really enjoyed this story and had a nice time with it, but it broke my heart in many ways and so many times. But there were things that didn't resonate with me or made me feel uncomfortable. For example, when the main character uses the phrase "Latinx aesthetic", it gives readers the wrong idea. For non-Latinx readers it gives you the idea that EVERY Latinx person, for example, loves Selena and hot sauce, no we don't. And for Latinx readers, it can give the impression that they are not true Latinx because they don't do or enjoy that stuff. Another thing was the timeline of the relationship, and this may be personal, but relationships don't work out that easily that quick.

Anyway, is a really good book BUT please be aware of the TRIGGER WARNINGS at the beginning of the book. Which I am very thankful that the author decided to do this, I think there are some missing BUT the major ones were clearly covered at the beginning of the book.

Fifteen Hundred Miles From the Sun was provided to me vie NetGalley so that I could read it and write an honest review. This book follows Julain Luna, a teenager that’s in the midst of applying to colleges, his last year of high school, and counting down to the day he leaves Texas so that he can be himself, finally. Julian is gay, but he feels like he can’t tell anyone because of his abusive father. His father knows in that way that isn’t talked about, but he lays hands on Julian, yells at him when Julian does ‘unmanly’ things. The parts of this story where Julian is suffering his fathers verbal and sometimes physical abuse were hard to read. It’s the reality for so many people, but I can’t help but wish that everyone struggling through this would just be loved and accepted by their family. One night, after getting incredibly drunk via the peer pressure of his friends, he comes out on his personal Twitter. This brings a new set of challenges. He’s treated differently at school and by his fellow players on the soccer team. But Julian has a great group of friends on his side and he has his sister. There’s also Mat, the very handsome boy that DM’d Julian after he came out.
I really liked this book. It’s full of heartfelt moments between friends. It’s a lovely story about moving on from high school. But it’s also Julian’s story about coming out and falling in love for the first time. I loved following him as he got to know Mat and then eventually got to meet him. I liked the tense moments of whether or not Julian was going to be able to go to college in California. I absolutely loved the sincere moments between Julian and his sister.
Overall, I really loved this story. I can see how important this story will be to so many people. It’s both heartwarming and heartbreaking. It’s sex positive. It’s gay. It has so many good things that I think will really speak to so many teenagers. I absolutely recommend this one.

This was the fluffy and cozy queer romance I've been needing! I loved Jules and Mat so much, seeing their relationship develop and bloom when they finally meet in person was just lovely to read. The author breathed so much life into all of his characters, even the side characters, that all of their dynamics were so great to witness. The rep in the book is beautiful as well, and Ioved the inclusion of spanish phrases throughout. Jonny Garza Villa put his whole heart into this novel and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a cute and diverse romance!

'Fifteen Hundred Miles from The Sun': 4 ⭐

(Unpaid Review: thank you @netgalley, @jonnygarzavilla and @skyscape for allowing me to read this eArc in exchange for a review)

When I was a little girl, I didn't understand much about queer relationships. I loved all people but never understood the actual concept of queer, of being lgbtq. I didn't know what that was.
Reading this book made me think of that time, when all was new and beautiful and I didn't know what racism was. The writing was so melodic and majestic and I felt safe and strong.
I loved the representation of the latinx community, much needed in literature, especially in queer literature! Jonny was such an intuitiva writing, makes us stay hooked from the very beginning.

This book is very very good! from the writing style to the characters, everything is so well done! Johnny Garza Villa imprint such emotion on his writing style that in the end, I was feeling so much what these characters were feeling. I really enjoy the story it really did not seem fake in the sense that what happened could only happen in books, the situations the references everything made it feel authentic. Also, I loved the introduction of Spanish words and phrases during their speeches for me who main language is Portuguese could understand everything and made the book feel more real

I did also a review over my youtube channel: that goes live tomorrow

Thank you again Netgalley and the publisher for the E-arc and the author for this amazing story

This was an incredible gay teen romance book. I really connected with the teenage angst and self discovery Jules the main character deals with throughout the book. Seeing a young teenager navigate his queerness in a Latino household was representation I did not know I needed but very much enjoyed. My connection with this book came from the fact that I also grew up in a latinx household that isn't always very open to new ideas and self discovery that falls outside of what is deemed the "norm". Seeing a young texas boy Jules deal with coming out to friends and family and navigating a long distance relationship all at once was incredible. It was a very easy read with a lot of pop culture and latinx culture embedded in the pages that was easy for me to connect to. I cannot wait to read more from this author.

Fifteen Hundred Miles from the Sun by Jonny Garza Villa is a cute coming out and coming-of-age story.

Julián Luna knows he is gay, but he also knows that he will never be accepted by his father if he comes out. Growing up, Julián's father has, literally, tried to beat any signs of perceived feminine behaviour out of him.

So, he has big plans. Graduate from his Texas high school and get into UCLA where he will be able to live his true life. Until then, he will remain in the closet and continue to deny he is gay to his aggressive father.

But plans don't always work out how you think, and one night of drunken partying and an impulsive tweet turns Julián's plans up-side-down. The upside of that tweet comes in the form of Mat, a cute, understanding boy from Los Angeles. As Julián's and Mat's relationship over twitter grows, the fall-out of Julián outing himself creates turmoil at home. But with supportive friends and big sister, Julián is ready to grasp the life he wants for himself.

This is ultimately a happy ever after story, but with some major speed humps along the way. You can tell this was a very personal story for the author, and as such, it feels very authentic. The relationships that Julián has with his friends, his big sister, his grandfather and Mat will warm your heart, as much as his relationship with his father will break it.

Thanks to Netgally and SourceFire Books for the ARC to read and review.

I had a love/hate relationship with this book. One: the representation was AMAZING. I loved seeing the two different family lives Jules and Mat have, because it shows not everything has a happy ending (but also not everything has a sad ending either.). The plot was very basic, but showed a lot of good character interaction. My only issues were 1) sometimes the writing just felt so cringey (far too much pop culture talk that really made me roll my eyes, even though I know it’s supposed to be stream of consciousness for Jules. 2) I hated how much description went into mundane things. It felt like it was wasting time and trying to prove something with the food? I’m not sure, but it was annoying. For the most part though, I liked this book! Very cute.

This book was an emotional roller-coaster that many Latinx LGBTQ+ youth need in their lives. The discussion of machismo trauma is not often talked about in publications, so to have it addressed (and conquered) made for a powerful read.

I don't think anyone can hate this book but I didn't love it.
It's a good story but there were things in it that made it not great.
First, I found the story very repetitive, we followed Jules' life every day, and it gets tiring after a while.
I also didn't like how it was very insta love the romance, even though it was a cute and heartwarming romance, I found that some things happened too fast.
This is a quick book to read but at the same time drags a lot.
I do recommend this story because it speaks and touches on very important topics.
And I loved the romance and friendships you have in this book.
I almost cried in a lot of parts too, so it's not even a bad book, it's actually quite good, it just wasn't entirely made for me.

This book was archived before I could download it. That’s a shame, but I gonna give it a go via kindle.

Fifteen Hundred Miles From the Sun by Jonny Garza Villa follows Julián (Jules) Luna and the events that follow one night’s impulsive tweeting. Until that moment Jules had been ready to ride out his senior year with his true self kept under wraps until he could be free in college to live the life he’d dreamed. Now he has to steady himself to deal with potential rejection from his unexpected coming out, especially from his macho dad. On the bright side, a cute boy named Mat slid into his DM’s and becomes so much more than Jules could have dreamed.

I love love love love this book!!!! Jules journey was so beautiful and gave space to his fears and insecurities alongside his triumphs. Villa did such a stunning job with this novel, their characters felt like real people and the relationships between them were so well portrayed. That was honestly my favorite thing about the novel, that there are no perfect relationships. Friends, partners, family members fight, disagree, get hurt, and make up. And sometimes they don’t and that’s ok too, better even in some cases. That’s why the characters felt so real to me, they weren’t all one thing or the other Garza showed them with all of their complexities.

I hate when things get dragged out for the sake of drama or unrealistically fixed and this novel did neither of those things. The pacing was great and the story flowed so naturally that I was finished before I knew it.

Honestly one of my favorite books of 2021 so far, I highly recommend it!!!

I greatly enjoyed this book! I am not much of a football/soccer fan but - well, it was queer and since there a huge footbal/soccer tournament in Germany right now, I was in desperate need for something queer and football. Mainly because there are no openly queer active football players in Germany..
I also loved the Spanish influence in this book - I still do not speak the language but luckily, it's possible to copy-paste and google words you don't understand.
Since I am usually not interested in football, these passages felt dragging to me, but that's just me not being a very football-enthusiastic person and not a criticism against the author or their writing.
The Foreword especially touched me and made me want to read this book even more, and honestly, I am glad I did, even though my understanding of football is limited to "Goal" and "No goal".
It's a heart-warming, lovely tale, a nice little summer read and I greatly emjoyed it, even as a non-football fan!

I received a free copy by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

FIFTEEN HUNDRED MILES FROM THE SUN by Jonny Garza Villa was the gay Happily Ever After romance I longed for as a teen! With a fun and refreshing voice, the long distance relationship was sweet and incredibly authentic for teens nowadays. This book tackles the intense, nuanced struggles queer Latinx kids face with care and compassion. It’s a story of love, hope and healing that we all need right now.

Jonny Garza Villa has a very long and successful career ahead of them, and I can’t wait to see what they write next!

Very enjoyable story about a senior in high school falling in love for the first time, coming out to not so great results from his father, and exploring his options for his first year at college. I loved that this depicted a long distance internet relationship that works out--these kinds of relationships are so common for queer youth, but it's not something I see a ton of in YA.