*NOT SPOILER FREE*

this book was so, so wonderful to read. maybe i'm just pessimistic, but i spent the entire novel waiting for something to go wrong with mat and jules. the fact that they made it through jules' senior year, that they had such supportive families, that they grew the way they did... it was extremely beautiful to see. moreover, jules had such amazing and well-rounded friends to be by his side; seeing jordan, lou, itzel, and roe support him the way they did was heartwarming to the extreme. xo also was an amazing, incredible character to see, being a big sister myself to a messy 18 year old.

one last thing i will say about 1500 miles is that i am beyond glad that jules moved on from his father. i find that sometimes queer novels are unrealistic to me in that sense, when the parent turns out accepting and ready to understand by the end of it because, in reality, change is not that simple. it was refreshing and validating to see this progression in jules' story.

nothing about 1500 miles was predictable and i saw none of it coming, but i am so glad that i got to go on this journey with jules and mat and all the gang.

This book was fun, sweet, and also heartbreaking all at the same time. I loved the easy flow of the writing and seeing how Julián and Mat's long distance relationship blossomed over time. I also adored the sibling relationship between Julián and Xo. Their connection was so sweet and I loved how she was so protective and accepting of her brother--you don't see sibling relationships like this much in YA. There is a quote in the book that says something like, "Everyone deserves love" and I think that sums up this book best. Kudos on an amazing debut, Jonny Garza Villa.

I kind of really loved this sweet story. Jules is darling and I wanted to give him the world, he deserves all the good things in life.

As a straight, white, middle-aged woman, I don't feel qualified to speak on some of the things touched on in this book, but I absolutely loved the story. I loved the diversity and the representation, and I can only imagine how many teens will feel reading this book and seeing themselves on the pages. I loved the glimpses into cultures different from mine. I loved the found family, the friendships, the sweetest romance.
JGV touched on some really sensitive topics in Fifteen Hundred Miles from the Sun, and did it in such a way that the the story wasn't weighed down by the heaviness. But also didn't make light of what was happening. There were definitely a few times I felt my anger simmering and tears threatening.

This was such a wonderful, charming, and all around delightful read.
I'm so impressed that this is Jonny Garza Villa's debut novel and I can't wait to see what comes next!

So!! I was super fortunate to receive an EARC of Fifteen Hundred Miles from the Sun. It was one of the five books I managed to read last week, and I adored it!

This book follows Júlian Luna. He has a plan for his life: Graduate. Get into UCLA. And have the chance to move away from Corpus Christi, Texas, and the suffocating expectations of others. Then in one reckless moment, with one impulsive tweet, his plans for a low-key nine months are thrown out of the window. Then Mat, a cute, empathetic Twitter crush from Los Angeles, slides into Jules’s DMs. Jules can tell him anything. Mat makes the world seem conquerable, and when Jules's fears come true, the person he needs most is fifteen hundred miles away, which makes him have to face them alone.

This book managed to be so sweet and adorable but also heartbreaking, sad, and heavy all at the same time. I love stories like that because they are always so touching.

What stood out the most for me was the characters. Jules, Mat, and all of the other side characters were so easy to fall in love with. Every page was in such much love between the characters that reading this felt like a warm hug. The connection everyone had for each other came through the page so well!

The relationship was so sweet and adorable! Even though I'm usually not a big fan of long-distance romance, I really liked how it was done in here. Also, I appreciated how the relationship started online via social media, which I feel is something that we never see in YA books. Overall, the way social media was a part of the story was so great to see! YA usually doesn't portray an accurate representation of how teens use social media, but this book did it perfectly. And I love a book that accepts and normalizes online friendships and relationships.

This was an affecting, achingly earnest story of Julián Luna, who accidentally comes out on social media after a night of drinking with his friends. His twitter crush, Mat, DM’s him and they strike up a friendship that quickly turns into something more. The problem? Julián is in Texas and Mat is in Los Angeles.

This story tackles a LOT of big issues, but Villa handles them all gracefully and thoughtfully – which isn’t something a lot of authors (especially first-time authors!) can say.

Well… guess who’s tearing up in the subway on their way to work…
----
Julián has known he's gay for a while now, but his father has made it very clear that no son of his could be. Si he's been in the closet for as long as he can remember and has never told any one at all. He even has a separate twitter account where he is his true self. But, everything changes when, after a drunken night, he comes out at school. Now, the only people who don't know are his dad and his Güelo and it's becoming harder and harder to hide it at all.
Thankfully, Julián has met a guy on twitter, who lives where he wants to go to college who helps him go through it all.


Goddammit that was amazing.
I don't even know what to say. It was just so amazing. I loved everything about it. The characters were so very well depicted and so was the city, the environnement, all of it.
The plot gave me everything and i was just so into it from beginning to end. And I ended up crying in the subway, reading the last chapters.
It just got so attached to all these kids and I can't wait to read this again soon and read everything Jonny Garza Villa writes.

This book starts with a note from the author that the pages are filled with joy and also sadness. And they’re right. There is so much in here that is heartwarming and pure and just makes me want to clutch this book tight and never let it go. But the parts that are heavier? Those are just as real and worthy of the hug.

Jonny Garza Villa has written a beautiful and poignant story in Fifteen Hundred Miles from the Sun. Julian Luna makes one sloppy decision and accidentally outs himself. His life gets better and worse as a result and he’s forced to navigate waters he wasn’t necessarily ready to.

The silver lining in all of this? The introduction of Mat into Jules’s life via Twitter. The problem? He’s all the way in Los Angeles while Jules is in Texas.

I am a sucker for long distance stories. It’s how my own relationship first started so all of the cross-country longing and pining? I get it. The moments of doubt and jealousy? I understand. The desperate hope that through everything, you’ll make it? I feel that in my bones. Jonny Garza Villa captured the entire experience magnificently, especially those morning and nighttime phone calls which are a lifeline to keeping hope alive when you need it the most.

The joy in this book is palpable. The pain? Oh, the pain of this book is acute. But the balance that is found between the two makes this one of the most realistic and lived in coming out stories.

Five stars.

I absolutely ADORED this book. The long distance romance between the two main characters, Jules and Mat, is both agonizing and adorable at the same time. I have a bit of a soft spot for how they met since my husband and I started talking because of Twitter, too. The story of Jules’ coming out and what happens because of it will make you ready to fight for him, just like his amazing friend group. Finally, I’d really recommend reading this book digitally. The main characters come from diverse cultural backgrounds and both Spanish and Vietnamese are used sporadically throughout it. Being able to tap and translate the words on my kindle was invaluable to adding to the meaning of the story.

After getting drunk at a party with his friends, Julián (Jules) accidentally comes out on Twitter, leading to worries about his dad finding out. It’s not just his Twitter followers — his peers at his high school know, including his soccer team. Besides his supportive friends, sister, and abuelo, the only other silver lining is the person he admired on Twitter: Mat, a gay Vietnamese teen from California. Soon after Julián’s secret gets out, Mat DMs him. Julián and Mat form a personal connection and eventually become boyfriends. But being in a long-distance relationship is as challenging as the other issues Julián faces like his dad and fully accepting himself. Going with his dream to attend college in Los Angeles will give him the chance to live with Mat, but is it worth it when the future is already uncertain?

Fifteen Hundred Miles from the Sun contains an impressive balance of joyful and emotional moments. His friends, the references to Mexican food (vegan too!), and Mat’s cultural identity are wonderfully described and well nuanced. The story acknowledges Julián’s cultural identity, intra-community issues among Latinx (i.e., antiblackness), and machismo.

Julián struggles with being his authentic self rather than the man his father wants him to be. When his dad catches him offering half a burger to a male friend and then having his nails painted for homecoming, Julián faces his rage. The father’s failure to accept his son contributes to Julián’s self-doubt. His father’s queerphobia does cross into abuse, but the author handles it with grace. The relationship between Julián and his dad (his mom passed away) shows how machismo can damage healthy perceptions of masculinity.

I loved this book. It was sweet and fun and funny even when things got dark. I struggled to get into it at first but the further I read, the more immersed in the story I was and the more that I did not want to put this book down.

Jules and Mat are so so so cute together, and despite their bad days, they just fit together perfectly, especially when they were physically together. There were a few times that Jules's friend group had me questioning how much the term friends actually applied and others where they were wonderful and had me forgetting why I initially disliked the group.

I loved the inclusion of Spanish throughout the book, as a non-native speaker, sometimes understanding the words or phrases used could be difficult because so much of what was used in this book was slang terms, it made the atmosphere and characters feel more realistic though given their community.

I had been looking for a soft, fun, summer read and while this book definitely did have dark moments, the joy this book radiates outweighed the darkness and definitely fulfilled what I had been looking for in a book.

I had a strong feeling I would love this book and I'm so happy I was right!

This book follows Jules through his senior year as he drunkenly comes out on Twitter, falls in love with his Twitter crush, and figures out his future.

As the author warns in their author's note this story has a lot of joy but also a lot of pain and angst and trauma ranging from parental abuse, homophobia, forced outing, and Jules being kicked out of his home. But there is so much love and support in this story from all other sides.

Jules has his older sister who doesn't hesitate to take him in and step up as his guardian. He has his grandfather who makes it clear that he loves him no matter what and doesn't agree with his father's actions. And he has a great group of friends who stick by his side even when he's being a hot mess.

And we can't forget about Mat, the beautiful boy in LA who catches Jules' eye on Twitter and becomes a flirty online crush prior to Jules coming out. After Jules comes out he fills a role that as much as everyone else in Jules' life loves him they can't fill because they're not queer and can't relate to many of the things that Jules is feeling and going through.

I loved the humor and the characters and all of their dynamics and personalities and the fact that this is such a love letter to Chicanx culture from the language to the food to the celebrations. And there's also so much love to Mat and his Vietnamese heritage and time spent on his family and culture. I can't express how much I loved every time they said I love you in their respective language or used slang or nicknames so naturally, neither feeling like they needed to stick to English with each other (which is really such a small thing, the bar is on the literal floor, but it means so much).

I can't wait for readers to discover and love this book now and for years to come. I can only dream that this book will help open the door to future QPOC YA books.

I received an ARC of Fifteen Hundred Miles from the Sun by Jonny Garza Villa thanks to the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Content warning: physical child abuse, bullying, alcohol use

Review:

As always, I am a huge fan of any type of LGBTQ+ and POC rep. This book has both! I was really fascinating to watch the struggle when these worlds overlapped and how the characters reacted. There are some who were super supportive and others who were.... not. Which, while not the best acceptance rating, it was higher than I've seen in similar books. It is also realistic for the specific POC due to their culture (at least from what I've read in psychology texts about intersectionality).

I love the way the romance unfolded. There was a hint of 'insta-love' but there was no rushing. Watching them develop and show support for one another was really sweet, even when that connection wasn't really there. It sheds some hope about humanity.

There were a lot of side characters (specifically friends) and only one really stood out from the rest. I think the only reason for this is the early connection between him and the main character that fades early on. I am not sure if it is a 'me' thing or if they really are too similar. I'd love to hear your thoughts!

I recommend this book for it's wonderful rep and fantastic relationship building!

Tw: homophobia, verbal and physical abuse, slurs, bullying, trauma
Note: the book has this amazing intro/warning by the author before the beginning of the book itself. Read it because it’s amazing.

This book did a great job of showing how it is to live as a queer person with a Mexican American family in a community where people are still traditional and stuck in the old ways. Jules is a high school senior just waiting to graduate and finally move a step closer to his freedom. Except the months left before graduation became even harder because of one drunk tweet that accidentally outed him.

I expected to read a light and cute romance but what I got was a story that will make you both laugh and cry and fill your heart with both happiness and pain. Fifteen Hundred Miles From The Sun made me feel loved and comforted. I may not be in the same situation as Jules, but I still felt the love and care Jules received all throughout the book.

I just want to go inside the book and hug everybody and tell them that they’re all doing so well. They are so amazing I love them so much. The way the people around Jules handled the situation was just so great. The book didn’t make everything seem easy because it is definitely not. I really loved how honest this book is. It was written so so well that I felt super connected with the book and its characters.

It was an easy read in the way I flipped through the book quickly, but it was also hard to read because of everything our main character went through. This was a very important read to me because it made me realize the real and deeper meaning of loving someone, not just romantically but also the love you get from your family and friends.

📖Review: Fifteen Hundred Miles from the Sun📖
By: Jonny Garza Villa
Genre: YA Romance
Rating: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ / 5
Publishing date: 8th of June 2021
Provided by: NetGalley and Skyscape
[TW: physical and emotional abuse from a part, bullying, death of parent, parental abandonment, homophobia, outing]

🟢 What I liked:
↪️ Happiness: this book was full of lots of depressing things, but as Anna from @hereisapencil said in their Goodreads review, “for every painful, hurtful thing there are three beautiful ones. I’m sure it was a deliberate choice, this structuring of the book around gay happiness, without shying away from describing the hardships a lot of the community still struggles with” and that just perfectly describes it. There were just so many amazing I-wish-I-was-Julián’s-friend moments because the happiness and friendship that surrounded his friend group was honestly mind-blowing
↪️ Pacing: the pacing within the book was perfectly on-point, there is nothing I can fault for this
↪️ Realistic characters: Garza Villa is also perfect in accurately creating teenage characters, the way they think, speak and their mannerisms which just makes the entire book more authentic and enjoyable to read
↪️ Romance: SO CUTE I’M OBSESSED
↪️ Everything else: overall, one of my favourite books that I have read in 2021 and will always be one of my go-to recommendations

🔴 What I didn’t like:
↪️ Nothing: it’s perfect, please read this

🟡 I recommend for:
↪️ EVERYBODY: I think this like the third time I’m saying this but please read this book!

[The ARC of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]

I loved this book so, so, so much. Even though there are some scenes that are really sad and hard to read as a queer person, it's also so cute and so funny and I would die for the main characters. "Fifteen Hundred Miles from the Sun" is the perfect queer YA book and I can't wait to re-read it!

One of the most realistic YA books I've read recently, it's clear that Garza Villa planned to write a compelling love letter to queer teens! The characters' mannerisms and speech pattern is authentic to that of modern teens and you simply can't help but root for them as they try to navigate teenhood and romance.

CUTE AND SWEET BUT I STILL COULDN'T QUITE CONNECT WITH IT

This is one of those books, where the ingredients were all there. Cute couple, trying to figure out their sexuality. Long distance dating. An interesting collection of friends. A tense, strained relationship between the MC and his father. True love and rainbows. Still, I wasn't swept away by this book. Honestly, I can't put my finger on what exactly it was, that didn't sit well with me. Perhaps it was the writing, which was filled with unnecessary descriptions. Perhaps it was the feeling I had, that the author was trying too hard to sound young all the time. Perhaps it was the endorsement of teenage drinking. Perhaps it was all of this and more that I cannot put into words. So, in the end, I enjoy it but I didn't love it.

This book definitely deserves more hype than it's getting. Absolutely beautiful! Made my heart ache with happiness and love. Perfect! So happy that I had the chance to read it.

FIFTEEN HUNDRED MILES FROM THE SUN by Jonny Garza Villa tells the story of Jules, a Mexican American teenager in Texas, who accidentally outs himself as gay on Twitter. In the fallout, Jules's friends and older sister help him through a difficult family situation and achieve his dream of going to college in LA, and an internet crush turns into something more.

The best aspects of the book are in the strong narrative voice and authentic relationships between the teen characters. The level of detail in describing life in the Houston area and within Jules's LatinX family and friend group show obvious care and authenticity. The Los Angeles scenes ring true, as well. The story contains many heartfelt moments that hit home and nails all the feelings of reaching the end of high school. Though it's a minor spoiler to say so, I appreciate this unflinching look at a negative coming out experience and what an abusive parental relationship looks like.

At times, the book suffers from moments that rely too much on voice and colloquialisms in its attempt to feel relatable, rather than cutting to the emotional truth. I also think the second half could've been trimmed to keep up the pacing.

That being said, it's a strong debut, and I look forward to what Jonny Garza Villa does next!

Fifteen Hundred Miles from the Sun is an uplifting story of queer Latinx joy. Jonny Garza Villa sensitively explores the intersection of queer and Chicanx identities and culture in a vibrant coming of age novel packed full of love and hope.

What I loved most about Fifteen Hundred Miles from the Sun was the love in this book. From platonic to romantic to familial, every page was saturated in such a clear love between the characters that reading this felt like a warm hug. The connection and feelings everyone had for each other came through the page so well and made it so easy to fall in love with them all myself. In particular, I really enjoyed the romance between Jules and Mat. I hadn’t been too sure about this relationship before starting as it’s long distance and begins over Twitter and I thought this could create problems in establishing a real connection between these characters but, thankfully, I had nothing to worry about. Jules and Mat complimented each other so well and their relationship was so tender, full of pining and angsting and honest moments. I truly loved reading all the scenes between them.

Fifteen Hundred Miles from the Sun is not always a happy book. In fact, Jules goes through a hell of a lot and it’s difficult to read at times. But the beauty of this book is the balance Jonny Garza Villa strikes between exploring this unfortunate, painful reality of many queer teens with the pure joy brought by Jules’ friends and Mat and the support system he has in place. Right from the authors note (which almost had me tearing up), I knew that this book would be a sensitive exploration of coming out and all of the mixed emotions it can bring and never once did I feel that the author strayed from this or sensationalised the experience. This made for a truly touching story and honest exploration of what it means to be both queer and Chicanx.

I also adored the way Jonny Garza Villa presented and explored being Chicanx and what this meant for Jules. There is such a clear love for this culture and his Mexican heritage, while also not shying away from exploring some of the issues in the community, such as the attitude towards Black people and, in particular, machisimo and the prejudices that come with this. What I loved most about the presentation of Chicanx culture and community was the way language is used in this book. The blend of Spanish and English was so naturally integrated in the story that I felt completely immersed in the setting. I’m honestly so impressed at the seamlessness of the language and its authenticity, while being easy to follow for non-Spanish speakers. I personally didn’t know many of the slang words but had no issue understanding everything that was happening and inferring their meanings. Also, I have to mention the food!! I’m not usually all that fussed about descriptions of food in books but damn I loved it here.

Fifteen Hundred Miles from the Sun is a tender coming of age novel, full of heart and pride. Jonny Garza Villa expertly balances exploring the intersection of being gay and Chicanx and the hardships that can come with this, with joy and love and the very best friends to create an honest and truly uplifting story.