This is now the second book I've read from JGV-- the first being Ander & Santi Were Here and now I need to read their backlog. This book was SO good and the narrator was the perfect fit for Gabi. I found myself physically reacting to things in this story whether it was good or bad. Gabi has the best of friends in his corner and I loved getting to watch him find and love himself. Gabi's dad telling him that his mom is buying a bisexual flag to hand from their house almost made me cry.

Vale, Kat and friends have a special place in my heart, as well as Gabi's parents. JGV has done it again!!!

Fútbolista is a really beautiful book- heartfelt, honest, and deeply resonant. I’ve loved all of Jonny Garza Villa’s work, and I was so excited when I saw this new release. What makes this story especially powerful is the way it captures the shift from the self-assuredness of arriving at college to the disorienting realization of just how vast and complicated the world, and your place in it, can be.

Gabriel's journey is rendered with such care and nuance. You really feel the world responding to him, not only in relation to his queerness, but also in terms of how he understands his future and what he believes is possible for himself. The novel delicately explores how identity, desire, ambition, and uncertainty collide in moments of transition. Garza Villa writes with a tenderness that lingers long after the final page.

DNF @ 15% - Thank you to Levine Querido for the review copy!

I picked this one up because I was interested in reading an Own Voices Queer, Latine romance. Unfortunately, the characters were a little too young for me. While I will sometimes read college romances, Gabriel read as particularly young. Which, he is! He’s just starting his freshman year of college. I just feel like I’m a little old to be reading spicy books about such young people, if that makes sense.

I tend to like my romances to focus on the central relationship a little earlier in the book. Before we meet the love interest, we see an important football game, and Gabriel hooks up with a neighbor, so we get to see multiple interactions between them. Villa absolutely captures the feeling of early college life, where it feels like your whole life is ahead of you - both exciting and terrifying!

I would recommend this one for fans of college romances and sports romances that really focus on the sport!

(For me, a 3 star DNF is a book that is well written with a lot of promise, but I'm the problem because I don't like an element.)

One sure way to make me read sports romances is to make them gay. But hey, this was the first one where I actually knew anything about the sport. Bonus points for Gabi being a keeper, because that was my position in school. I think my favourite part of this is how much I could relate to Gabi, from not realising he´s bi (because everyone thinks people of the same gender are cute, right???) to the struggle of people accepting you just as long as you are in a straight-passing relationship.
I also loved the addition of philosophy, the writing was really beautiful, and I loved the parallels Gabi could draw between his life and his lessons.
One issue I have with this story and it´s the third act break-up; it was not necessary, but not even that could stop me from giving this book 5 stars.
This was also a case of a side character stealing the show. I am sorry, but Pérez, that beautiful himbo, will forever be my favourite.

5 stars

This story was thought-provoking and an emotional journey that I think will resonate with many. It combines romance, philosophy, and coming-of-age across the back drop of football (soccer). What Jonny Garza Villa does so well is writing from the heart and from their experience. Our MC, Gabi, is first generation from a Mexican family. This intersectionality of identities colors his experiences in how he comes to terms with his sexuality and how he navigates his life of football and the people around him. Gabi's story is emotional, philosophical, and has such a sweet romance. I fell in love with this story and its characters so easily. I have enjoyed every book by this author I have read so far, and this one did not disappoint. This one is a meaningful one, and I think it's going to stick around in my mind for a good long while. I definitely recommend checking this one out.

Gabriel Piña (or - Gabi, Gabo, or Pineapple, as he's sometimes called) is coming to terms with his bisexuality as a Mexican-American goalie on his futbol (soccer) team in college, and his first real relationship with a boy. Not only that, he's navigating everything in life that comes with it. This heartfelt, passionate and raunchy new-adult romance is very swoon-worthy, and I couldn't put it down!

Jonny Garza Villa never disappoints! I have enjoyed all of their books I've read and their latest, Futbolista, is no different.
In my opinion, this book is ultimately about Gabi's journey to self discovery and acceptance. The reader is inside his head the entire time and knows exactly what he's thinking and feeling. It was sometimes frustrating but I think that's the point, he is 18 after all and trying to figure things out the best he can.
I really enjoyed his group of friends that luckily provided a safe and supportive space for Gabi to discover that being fearless off the pitch can also lead to some pretty great wins.
If you've ever read Jonny's YA books you can expect the same great and heartwarming story telling, but this is their New Adult novel debut and there are some pretty steamy scenes.

This was incredible from start to finish. Jonny keeps getting better and better, I’m so thankful that their books exist. I thought I didn’t like soccer, but I can’t say that anymore!! Delightful book!

I love queer stories with a different cultural identity then my own. I also like when football is called football. A win-win.

gabriel piña knows exactly who he is: one of the best college goalkeepers in the country, a future professional footballer, and definitely straight. he’s starting college confident in these facts, and nothing will stray him from his path to greatness…that is, until he meets vale, the guy gabi briefly kissed at a party, who just so happens to be his new philosophy tutor. as he slowly begins to realize he just might have feelings for vale, he begins to wonder what being bisexual would mean for him, as a brown, mexican futbolista.

i adored jonny garza villa’s ander & santi were here and canto contigo, so i was very excited to read this book! i snatched it up as soon as i saw it in netgalley’s “read now” section. i loved this exploration of queerness in a college student. as i stated earlier, gabi started the book very sure of himself, but the rest of this book is, more or less, his identity crisis. it’s very hard for him to accept this part of himself considering the way his team, whom he considers his brothers, reacted to another team’s player being outed, as well as his parents’ and culture’s beliefs. all this emotional turmoil while he has playoffs to win. needless to say, this was not an easy journey for him, but luckily, vale supported him and was patient with him throughout it.

with all that said, this book was not all heavy. there were some lighter moments, and i found myself laughing and smiling at some points. overall, this was a wonderful young adult romance. i highly recommend this, and i can’t wait for more from jonny garza villa!

A college sports romance overflowing with all the qualities we love in the genre! Found family, yearning and heart are three of my favorite elements featured in this story. The pacing is dynamic especially when you have characters exploring their identity and navigating a new life experience. Highly recommend checking this one out!

Huge thank you to Netgalley & Publisher for providing the earc!

I wanted to give this author one last shot after seeing so many glowing reviews. To be honest, I really didn’t like their first two novels. Like, at all. I can definitely say this was more enjoyable. New adult was a great choice and felt a *little* less cringey than the previous books. More bro-y, though…

I found this story to be very cute. I loved seeing Gabi’s bi-awakening and coming to terms with himself. We need more bi-representation in the YA & NA communities. The futbol aspect was also fun to follow, and I enjoyed reading through all of Gabi’s adventures.

Some flaws that keep me from rating this higher:
-Pacing issues: it’s a long book and some aspects feel way too long and others way too short
-Character development: many secondary characters felt like they were used as plot tools. Very little development of any of them. By the end, I don’t really “know” any of them
-The writing quality still isn’t there for me

In short, I’m seeing improvement in the writing. This is a cute story, and I did enjoy reading it! On the fence if I will still keep reading this author.

3⭐️

4.75

Jonny Garza Villa can do no wrong in my mind, and they certainly knocked this new adult sports romance out of the park (please forgive the mixed sports metaphor). Set as a companion to Fifteen Hundred Miles to the Sun, here we follow Gabriel Piña, the keeper from Jules's football team as he navigates his first year of university. I love the way JGV writes about teens discovering themselves. We see Gabi start university thinking he knows himself and what he wants from his future and we watch as he learns that maybe he didn't have it all figured out at 18 and maybe that's okay. I adore Gabi and the boys. Seriously, if Jonny wants to keep expanding on this universe and give us romances that follow any of Gabi's roommates or Kat I wouldn't be mad. I also really loved Vale and their relationship. While there was part of me that had a hard time buying into Vale's emotional maturity in regard to their relationship because seriously when has an 18 year old by ever been that understanding, I was still swept up in the rest of the story enough that it didn't bother me too much. I don't think this overpasses Ander & Santi as my favorite JGV, but it is a close second.

I love this book so much.

I know Jonny Garza Villa as a YA writer (I believe all three of their other books are pretty solidly YA) and this was... very much not. Though I see that GoodReads has it tagged as YA. Womp womp.

I'm also not sure if I'd call it romance, per se, in part because it doesn't rely on tropes to keep the momentum going. Piña is such a himbo, and a lot of the book revolves around his perceptions of himself and his friends, and he wants people to see when they interact with him. Under other circumstances, I'd called this an 'idiots to lovers' book, but while the romance was great, I think the real focus of this story was Piña learning to love himself.

The very end was a little fantastical in terms of how things work out, but I think we (the readers) deserve that. I have an immense amount of respect for the author both in terms of real-life behavior and pure talent. I tend to read really quickly, but I deliberately took my time to savor this book. Every single one of these characters felt so real to me, and the male friendships in particular were delightful. Very much recommend this as a New Adult romance/lit. Please be advised that there are a lot of, hrm, physical activities described in these pages. I'd especially recommend this for fans of "The Prospects." You guys, sports books have to be SO OVERTLY QUEER before I care even a little bit. And this one, with its green-flags himbo narrator and loveable love interest was *chef's kiss*

[Note for NetGalley: I had apparently requested AND preordered this book, so I waited to read my physical copy. Hence the lack of "ARC" acknowledgement in the reviews.]

This book has everything: that one queer friend who clocks you before you can figure it out for yoursed. The "I'm totally just an ally" inner monologue. Hot guys. Hot girls. Bisexual panic. It even has cunty broccoli!

This is a truly heartfelt and meaningful story, especially as someone who did not fully understand they were queer until the last few months of high school, and was only able to safely explore it after moving to college. Being queer can be difficult. Speaking from personal experience, learning you're queer in Texas means you have extra challenges. But once that box is opened (or that cave is exited), your life is so much brighter. Jonny Garza Villa has captured that perfectly, and his story about embacing your authentic self and learning to grow and change is a timely and much-needed story about embracing the intersections of our identities and finding joy.

I have never been more proud of a character than I am of Gabi ugh last 10% was just a sob fest. Having to come to terms his true self while battling Machismo culture and just regular old sports ball dude bro homophobia. He’s for sure my favorite futbolista.

The use of philosophy to come to terms with how we take ourselves out of automatic thought processes and what society expects of us and step out into the sun.

Vale is such a patient and beautiful person. It takes a lot to stand by someone who wasn’t ready to fight for you and the love you shared and not turn that into resentment.

Heart tugging tale for sure.

Jonny, you never let me down! Fr fr 💖😭💖

I’m not going to deny that the reason this isn’t a 5🌟 is because the first 50 pgs of this book had me going “😵‍💫 all this football talk is losing me real quick.” I stand firmly in the camp of queers that knows nothing about sports and has no interest in it. Talk figure skating with me or bust, and even then take it easy. I just love watching people being graceful af on ice 😂

Anyway 💁🏻‍♀️✨

I ultimately loved this because Jonny Garza Villa is an excellent storyteller. They have a way of making me become invested in their characters every single fucking time. In this one, they even got me loving two side characters! As a fellow bi girlie, I’m just saying the dork that is Pérez and the absolute baddie that is Kat could get it 😩🙏🏻 Pérez got me by being so authentically himself and not giving a shit what anyone thought. He spoke his mind and was the kind of loving and encouraging friend everyone should have. Kat was also the other kind of friend you absolutely need if you’re queer. They’re observant, gentle, and promote growth and self-reflection. They wanted to be a safe space for Gabi, and they absolutely were. I would risk it all for those futbolistas 👌🏻

But of course the stars of the show were Gabi and Vale. They were so adorable and sugary sweet with each other 💖😭💖 The way Gabi was an oblivious fuck for a good chunk of this despite being SO DOWN BAD for Vale from get go was AGONY. The way he flirted with Vale so fucking hard? My brother in bi arms, how was Vale ever supposed to survive that? 😩 and let the record show…Gabi…ain’t no straight man sending thirst traps to another man (on purpose or not) and thinking to himself “😌 I’m a okay with this man using these pics to masturbate.” I was begging Gabi through the pages of the book to see the closet was made of GLASS.

Also. When Jonny said that the characters fuck in this, they truly do. Gabi and Vale are some horny motherfuckers…and you know me. I might be ace, but I support horny rights 😔🙏🏻 I support it even more so when it clearly comes from a being so in love with the other person you basically want to live inside their skin. Amazing. Incredible. No notes. We support being lovesick in this home ✨

Finally, the one part of this had me almost tearing up was when Gabi finally comes out to his dad. Had me out here being a soft lil baby 🥺 Gabi loves his dad and football SO MUCH, and his biggest challenge was truly finding a way to see the possibility of coming out and keeping both his family and his future football career. It was really meaningful to see how that all resolved itself towards the end of the novel. Truly had me this close 👌🏻 to crying

As always… I stand in my corner cheering on Jonny Garza Villa and trying to get the world to read their books. They deserve all the hype and support in the world. No one out there is writing such stunning, authentically queer and Mexican novels. Everyone should have the pleasure of reading them 💖

I loved this book so much. It is a truth universally acknowledged that a JGV book will make me cry, that it will make me laugh and love these characters while also Going Through It with them. That they don’t shy away from addressing the homophobia and machismo prevalent in Mexican culture, but also that we will face and challenge it together and still find a HEA in the end.

These characters felt so real and all felt like people I knew. They’re funny, smart, loving, caring, and I wanted nothing but the best for all of them. You could really feel the love that Gabi and his friends have for each other and it was really great to see. Vale, his love interest, was wonderful, and I loved watching their dynamic grow and evolve.

Seeing Gabi say or think the words that he’s bi on more than several occasions meant more to me than I thought it could. Every time he did it, every time he reaffirmed his bisexuality, it was like a salve for my lil brown bi heart.

Reading hasn’t come as easily for the past several months now and yet I just couldn’t put this down, these 400 pages flew by and were filled with such a great and fulfilling story.

If you like books about queer joy, finding yourself when you thought there was nothing else left to learn, a supportive found family, a love interest who will steal your heart, or a heaping helping of sports, then you should definitely pick up this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Levine Querido for the arc!

Jonny Garza Villa is a forever auto-buy author for me. This is their first New Adult book and it has the same heart, humor, and soul of their YA books that came before (with a lot of extra spice!).

From the first page, I was hooked on this story and eager to read more. So eager in fact that I binge read this book in less than 24 hours and was very sad when it came to an end. I could have read about Gabi and Vale forever. I could have read about Perez, Ahmed, and Nguyen forever. These characters are full of life and so vibrant in a way that leaps off the page and make you feel like you could turn on your TV and actually watch them play football.

This book realistically and expertly tackles the complexities of sexuality, of self discovery and coming out, of toxic masculinity, and of the importance of authenticity. And the depictions of sex are informative, sexy, and inclusive. This is exactly the representation that queer young adults need in literature, now more than ever.

If you’re looking for a spicy, fun summer romance, I couldn’t recommend this more.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I felt really emotional reading this. Pina and Vale were amazing together and I really felt Pina's fear around his parents and teammates finding out, and it's clear how much toxic masculinity and bi/queer phobia was affecting him. Also, fuck Barrera—that dude sucked. The ending with his parents made me extremely emotional. The entire time, especially after how Jules' dad had reacted in 1500 Miles From The Sun, I was super worried, but when his parents reacted the opposite way and even insisted on buying the bisexuality flag, I smiled so hard! Thank you Jonny Garza Villa for reminding us all that happily ever afters are possible!