CONTENT WARNING:
The book discusses physical abuse and how it affects mental health, homophobia, family issues, and forced outing of the closet.

thanks to the publisher for sending me a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review via NetGalley 💙

MY OPINION:

since I found out about the existence of this book, I was already MY GOD I NEED TO READ THIS I WILL LOVE IT 😭😭😭😭😭

on a beautiful day i received an email inviting me to read and I screamed!

I LOVED THIS BOOK A LOT AND TOLD EVERYONE TO READ

I identified myself with several aspects of Julian 😭

I loved Jules so much and while reading I saw him as a son that I needed to protect at all costs, I LOVE HIM MY PRETTY BOY

he is certainly the character that evolves the most, feeling more confident and proud of himself in each chapter and fighting for what he wants without forcing himself to give satisfaction to other people who do not accept it.

Mat is also a GORGEOUS PERFECT character and maybe my favorite, I can't choose between him and Julián

Mat is a cute I wish I could give a hug (his family is also PERFECT I WANTED TO KNOW EVERYONE)

their relationship is very beautiful and I was thrilled with them every move. each romance scene made me cry more 😭😭😭❤

(the fact that it all started with them being mutuals on twitter left me screaming WHERE'S MY WEBBOYFRIEND)

in the book we follow doubts about the relationship, insecurities, nostalgia, comfort, confidence and millions of other sensations that only left me crying 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

I think the way love is approached in this beautiful story, it is demonstrated in many ways in different relationships

he has the love of almost lovers, best friends, family and other forms.

within that we have the protective love, that of feeling better and so on.

Julián's group of friends is one of the most perfect things in this story.
my favorites were:
• Itzel who is PERFECT even though she got it wrong a few times.
• Jordan who is SUPER CUTE

their relationship with each other and with Julián is so ... real ?? It's exciting??

in this group we see people with very different opinions and each one dealing with the events presented in a different way

we have characters who assume that they did not accept Julián very well from the beginning, and characters that used him as inspiration. but everyone loves each other

the other group that we have with a lot of prominence in the story is the Jules family, which is kind of ... complicated.

at the same time that we have Xo, his sister, and Güelo, who are PERFECT, we also have Julián's father who is not that good.

this core family is one of the best-developed, real, and saddest parts of history. where we see a homophobic father who would not accept his son, even though he has a good relationship with him.

a good piece of history develops all of that and, even though it’s difficult to read, I liked it

Julián's family is also one of the points where Mexican culture is most developed

talking mainly about food, music and Día de Los Muertos making me curious to research even more about everything that is mentioned

the story is full of very cute scenes, but also very sad scenes that touched me too much.

one part that touched me so much was when Julián was going to visit his mother at the cemetery and I stayed 😭😭😭😭 the full chapter

of cute scenes I can't even point out my favorites since every interaction between Julián and Mat I was more in love !!

Jonny managed to write a story that balance various feelings and at the same time it shows us the reality where we don't always get what we want, it also gives us hope.

They has entered the list of favorite authors and I am super excited to read more of their works.

I LOVED this story so much and even though I was reading with high expectations, I was very surprised by everything I read and it certainly became one of life's favorites.

I always complain about YAs, but sometimes it's good to cry with a little romance

I haven’t finished saying everything I want and everything I felt in the story, but I don’t know how to express it all and how this book marked me

PLEASE READ THIS STORY PLEASE

I loved this book too much and I'm crazy to read more of Jonny's works!!

to finish,

YES THE LAST NAME OF CHARACTERS IS THAT PRETTY CLICHE OF SUN AND MOON

I have wanted to read Fifteen Hundred Miles From the Sun since Jonny Garza Villa tweeted that it’s perfect for fans of Selena’s “Dreaming of You.” How could I not be obsessed?

If that for some reason doesn’t convince you to read it, it’s also great if you enjoyed Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda and I Wish You All the Best.

This was a super quick although very emotional read. At some points the story is laugh out loud funny, at some points it’s adorable and romantic, and sometimes it punches you in the gut with all the feels. This one was a roller coaster ride.

While this book is all about living your dreams, discovering who you are and finding your joy, it is also super heavy, so I recommend checking out the trigger warnings on the author’s website (that are also included in the author’s note at the beginning of the book).

This was one of my most anticipated reads and I can’t wait to read Jonny Garza Villa’s next book, Ander and Santi Were Here! I will also be complaining for Fifteen Hundred Miles From the Sun to become a Netflix series.

Thanks to Jonny Garza Villa for this ARC!

Release date: June 8, 2021

After multiple attempts to get into this book, I have finally finished a good majority of it, and can write a somewhat comprehensive review. A lot of my thoughts may be representative more of the beginning of the book, solely because I continuously found myself zoning out near the end.

This book, while cute in premise, is not for me- which is not a bad thing in the slightest! I think this book suits the young adult audience it is intended for, not for a longtime reader. There are some young adult books that are good no matter what age, but a lot of this book is one that fits better for a young young adult. Which is odd, given the choice to make the main character come out when he's drunk and being going off to college.

One thing I loved about the book- the very bilingual, blended way of speaking. I recently read a translated novel that italicized the word "ramen" as a foreign word, and I have to say, Fifteen Hundred Miles From the Sun was a breath of fresh air where that was concerned. Though I wasn't immediately able to get all of the words as I am not a Spanish speaker, I was able to use context clues and look up things if needed- but I don't feel that any of that took from the book. I think it's a massive strength, and I know that for this reason this book has a lot of opportunity to be impactful for young kids who are bilingual and think in phrases from both languages. It feels authentic to the author's experience, and I love that a lot.

I think that the one issue with the writing was the choice of what was written on the page- moments in which the main character looks at himself in the mirror seem to get more description than the drunken night that leads to his coming out and other more important moments. There's a lot of telling and not seeing, a lot of the narrator explaining who he is without us getting the chance to experience it. The actual dialogue itself doesn't help this, always feeling very stilted and unnatural.

The plot does not feel immediate. Even with his coming out, I feel no stress for him, despite the situation being one of high stress. I find it odd that the narrative played with this idea of fear of parental reaction to coming out, then seems not to spend much time actually working through this, at least not in a way that was immediately recognizable.

I thought a lot of references were funny and sweet- the scene in which the two boys interact over twitter talking about their undying love of Michael Cimino made me not just smile, but beam, because it was so sweet and authentic. Michael Cimino is a powerful force that brings together hearts across the globe. I hope the author has seen the Love, Victor season 2 trailer and is just as excited as I and my friends are. I have no doubt that the friend group from this book is preparing a release party or something else as wonderful.

I also want to note that I really loved the author's note. It's such an important thing to add to books, and really enhanced my experience of the book. Though I didn't enjoy it as much as I'd hoped to, the author's note connected me to the book and made me feel seen. Being warned of potential triggering content beforehand has a lot of power, and I'm grateful to Jonny Garza Villa for taking the time to write that out. It shows a lot of heart.

I hope for the best with Jonny Garza Villa, and truly believe that he has a lot to come. It's a solid debut, and I will be watching for his name to see what he does next.

This book is absolutely beautiful, and I am so glad it was written and this story is being told! It is so full of heartbreak, hope, joy, growth, realness, and love. You can tell how personal this is, and it's the kind of book I wish was around when I was younger. Absolutely be sure to read the author's note and the content warnings before beginning. Those are always appreciated, but in this case, also help you feel all of the genuine love that was poured into writing this story.

Fifteen Hundred Miles from the Sun is going to mean so much to so many readers, and I'm so happy it's out for the world to read!

***ARC Review***

This book is so good for so many reasons I don’t even know how to articulate so get ready for a chaotic review with a lot of love!

First off, Julián. He’s a truly incredible main character who’s strong and inspiring and unique but also relatable and absolutely hilarious. It’s super easy to connect with the characters in this book and the arcs are impeccable. The side characters are also amazing. One of my favorite things is the found family trope and Villa pulls it off perfectly.

Secondly, the romance. *squeals into pillow* ITS SO CUTE. Ok I mean they literally call each other “my moon” and “my sun” and nothing can ever get more adorable than that istg. More seriously though, my least favorite thing in terms of bookish ships is imbalances in relationships and I think that Mat and Jules really do have a near-perfect balance between the two of them considering all the hard things they go through. The way they lean on each other is beautiful.

The pacing in this book was surprisingly good as well considering the plot spanned almost an entire year and I have definitely seen books written like that go way south, so I was impressed with this.

The themes in this book are super powerful and this book was really important for me to have read at all. It’s extremely emotional I terms of both the good and the bad because while there is a huge amount of joy present there is also a huge amount of pain. I’d say that while you should definitely read the author’s note and pay attention to content warnings, if you can read this book, you should, it’s important.

Given the emotionality, the fun yet intense plot, and the absolute hilariousness of this story, I read it in three days and couldn’t put it down. All the important rom-com elements are there (funny, cute, and meaningful) and it even has The Quintessential Karaoke Scene while also being unique and refreshing. I was intrigued on the first page and in love with the story by the last.

In conclusion, read this book.

I want to preface this by saying I’m a México-based Mexican.

I wanted to love this book, I love representation of queer Mexicans. I went in wanting to love it. I did not come here as a hater.

If you’re looking for a book for representation, this is it. It’s *chefs kiss*.

I think this book will be vastly important to many latinx teens. It depicts the reality of living in a machista culture when gay. The language the father used is accurate and the fear is real.

Julian is a well written teenager, he talks the way teens talk, and has interests teens have. A lot of authors have issues with this. The author dealt with it with flying colors.

I think as queer youth we dream of all encompassing, soul crushing romances, and that a lot of the times ends up being someone who lives kilometers away. This was a book that has the love story a lot of us wish we had. That’s important. I was in a long distance relationship once, so I found myself cringing at the similarities between my relationship and theirs.

One of my issues, as a Mexican who was born and raised here in Mexico, is that you don’t need to include 3 different “latinx” (most of them were Mexican, it’s okay to call them Mexican rather than Latinx) things the character is doing/consuming in order to prove they’re latinx. I’ve seen a lot of authors do this, and I get why. But it feels like they’re saying “This is how latinos act!” and it makes me wonder who the book is for; is it for latinos, or for non-latinos who want to see an example of our “culture” (another reviewer mentioned this, but I have an issue with the phrase “Latinx aesthetic”, it makes it seem like our cultures are a monolith, which is something we’re constantly fighting against. Perpetuating this in a book that will be read by non-latinos is harmful and I hope it’s not on the finished copy).

Another issue, unrelated to my Mexican background, is that the stream of consciousness narration leads to repetitive thoughts and ideas. We get a lot of jumps in time and teased about future events that end up being frankly underwhelming.

Overall, I’m glad this book exists. It’s cute, real, and queer Mexicans deserve love stories too, I just expected more.

You know those gay books, young adult ones especially, that make it very clear with every single plot-point, that they’re written for the LGBT audience? Fifteen Hundred Miles from the Sun is like that.

This is not to say that nothing bad ever happens to the gay characters in the book, quite the opposite, but there’s balance: 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.

Julián has an abusive, homophobic father. That’s a major part of the story; it shapes the way he thinks of himself, the way he navigates the world, it shapes the literal course of his life. And that unfortunately rings true for so many of us. But still, Julián is never once shamed for keeping secrets when he’s keeping them to stay safe, he’s never questioned on whether that’s reasonable. The people around him understand, and that makes the reader’s heart grow with hope despite the abuse.

But keep in mind the aforementioned balance: Fifteen Hundred Miles from the Sun isn’t a book about gay pain, it’s not a tragedy porn. It’s actually a super sappy & fun book, about two boys who fell in love over the inter webs. It truly does have the meet-cute of our age, and that one situation (with the hilarity of it but also the friends’ reactions) should tell you all you need to know about the tone of this novel.

Garza Villa nails the voice of teenagers, and it makes the whole book just flow, makes it so very smooth. That realness of teen emotions is just one among all the ways in which this book is fundamentally true. (Also, being able to write dialogues between your characters in a young adult book in a believable way is arguably the most important part of writing any YA story. So, kudos.)

Fifteen Hundred Miles from the Sun is a joyful, love-ful book about & for gay teens. It will break your heart, but it will also tenderly put it back together & leave you with an overwhelming feeling of hope. It’s like a poet has said, “Cut me open and the light streams out. / Stitch me up and the light keeps streaming out between the stitches.”

Much like the duality of the protagonist and his love interest, this debut novel is a delightful read and a dark reminder that everyone isn't yet completely free to be themself.

The plot contains homophobia and toxic masculinity that is detrimental to the health of the protagonist, but in time it is healed via a support system, personal reflection, and breaking ties with an abuser. This book is a mixture of food I wish I were being served (like Jules, I'll take the veggie options), teenagers living their lives as best the can, and heavy moments of harassment and abuse.

The side characters were so lovely, but despite the joy and love they bring, it is incredibly realistic to be let down by someone who should love you unconditionally and refuses to look past their old-fashioned beliefs to do so.

Essentially, I loved it, I'm hungry now, and I wish these characters all the best.

“but when we do, and i look up into the evening sky, i see the moon and the sun. together. sharing the same sky. and i know that, no matter what, we’ll be all right. i hope.”

content warnings: abusive homophobic parent, (off page, past) parental death, homophobia (slurs, bullying), underage drinking, non explicit sexual content

fifteen hundred miles from the sun stars julián luna—a high school senior who dreams of going to UCLA and finally being his true self. drunk at a party with his friends at the start of the school year, he unintentionally comes out via tweet. with his secret now out of the closet, he finds solace in mat, a cute boy he meets on queer twitter that he quickly finds himself falling for.

there’s a lot i loved seeing in this book.

i will forever love books where the cast is entirely made up of poc. from the main character, to the love interest, to the main characters closest friends. i have spent my whole life living in a community where the majority has been poc, so all of my friends through school have always been poc. and to have a both characters in the main ship be poc?? is so?? it’s so refreshing. every time. i will never get tired of reading queer kids of color fall in love.

one of the brightest stars in this book is xochi, julián’s older sister. i’m also an older sister. their age difference is exactly the same as mine and my brother’s. so and jules share such a beautiful relationship. i love seeing a fiercely protective older sister.

i also love a book that accepts and normalizes online friendships and relationships. about how bonds can be made across miles and computer screens. i’ve made some great friendships through the internet—maybe i haven’t fallen in love but i’ve met people who’ve changed my life.

overall, fifteen hundred miles from the sun is a book that is both heavy and warm. do not take the content warnings above or the author’s note at the beginning lightly. ultimately it is a story full of heart.

I romantic and beautiful debut from Jonny Garza Villa. I loved the friendship and family dynamics of this book and Jonny has such a wonderful control over voice and relationships. I recommend you pick this one up!

DRC provided by Skyscape via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Representation: gay Mexican-American protagonist, Mexican-American secondary characters, Black secondary character, gay Vietnamese-American secondary character, pansexual Mexican-American secondary character, Mexican-American tertiary characters, bisexual Vietnamese-American tertiary character, lesbian Vietnamese-American tertiary character, gay Filipino-American tertiary character, Vietnamese-American tertiary characters.

Content Warning: homophobia, racism, mention of death, outing, bullying, violence, physical abuse, trauma, anxiety.

Fifteen Hundred Miles from The Sun by Jonny Garza Villa is a book that will crush your heart and make you smile with its beautiful message and characters, but it will also have your mouth watering at all the delicious dishes Julián makes and eats.

Julián Luna wishes for his senior year at high school to go as smoothly as possible so that he can take the reins of his own life without feeling outside pressure. A drunken tweet changes all of that. After mistakenly outing himself on Twitter though, a cute boy from California message him and helps him through this arduous moment.

“Quisieron enterrarnos, pero no sabían que éramos semillas.”

I am not kidding when I say that I was already smitten with this book from the dedication. That sentence above alone evoked such a roller-coaster of emotions in me. A tornado of feelings that did not quiet when I actually started the book. The story deals with a very sensitive topic but in a such beautiful way that I could not NOT fall in love with it.

I found everything about it to be so perfect: the pacing and its short chapters; the characters, which I loved with every fibre in my body (Lou reminded so much of Jasmin from On My Block and I could not stop myself from imagining Jessica Marie Garcia’s voice in her scenes); but most importantly the novel’s message.

Fifteen Hundred Miles from The Sun is a book that every queer child should have on their shelves and that every teacher should assign to their students and that every library and bookshop should recommend to their customers.

Thank you so much to Skyscape for the ARC of this book!

Fifteen Hundred Miles from the Sun by Johnny Garza Villa is a sweet, sometimes heavy emotional roller coaster, and I'll be riding this one again, thanks.

Jules is in his senior year of high school, and ready to get out of Texas ASAP. He's ready to live his life on his own terms and get away from his homophobic father and community. When he accidentally outs himself and meets a boy online that might just be the guy of his dreams he has to decide if he's ready to live the life he's always dreamed of or the one that might just be the safer option.

I don't know what I expected from this book. Johnny does an excellent job, in the beginning, warning us of what's to come, and I still wasn't prepared. They manage to mix these incredibly dark moments between Jules and his dad with lighter moments between Jules and his friends and Jules and Mat, his love interest. That's not to say that these light moments aren't also heavy. In them we see Jules being able to connect with another gay guy on a level he's never been able to with his own friends. We see the absolute love and devotion between Jules and his sister, Xo. The joy of cooking and culture and of bigger things to come.

I loved seeing Jules and Mat's relationship blossom. It was quick, but it was quick in a way that made sense. It was the irrefutable evidence that there's another person in the world who gets it, who gets you and all that entails. The sun to your moon. It was a book for 2021, where there are discussions of emotional and physical safety, of consent and safe sex. We absolutely love to see it in this book.

The story unfolds in a perfectly paced way and I was kept on the edge of my seat, trying to guess what happens and crossing my fingers for what I wanted to happen. I cried more than once toward the end, remembering what it was like like as an 18-year-old to hurtle toward this giant neon sign of ADULTHOOD and trying to figure out what it all means. When we have to leave behind our family and our found family, it's incredibly emotional and hopeful and Johnny captured that so incredibly well. They went above and beyond in creating a space in this book where queer teens can see themselves and find a little hope along the way.

Also, can confirm Whataburger is superior to In-N-Out Burger.

A beautiful and heartwrenching read. I didn't connect with it as much as I hoped I would, but I still loved this one a whole lot. Highly recommended.

CW: homophobic slurs, physical abuse/violence, forced outing

Thank you to NetGalley and Skyscape for an advanced electronic copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Julián Luna is in his senior year of high school, and his plan is simple: graduate, go to UCLA, never come back to Corpus Cristi again. One drunken night, Jules accidentally outs himself on Twitter, which leaves the perfect opportunity for his crush to slide into his DMs. But when his worst nightmare comes true, and his crush is fifteen hundred miles away, Jules needs to face it alone and figure out where to go from here.

Something very cool and important about this book: Spanish is inserted throughout, without immediate translation. Some can be gathered based on context, but the bilingual characters exist as they are. If you don't get something, you can look it up. But this felt special.

Julián's story is painful, but that is acknowledged throughout. There is also lots of joy, which is so heartwarming. There are a variety of LGBTQ+ stories that need to be told, and this one story covers many of those. The supporting characters truly breathe so much life into this story, and I'm so happy I was approved for this title! This is definitely one worth checking out once it publishes!

Excuse me for a moment while I find a corner to meltdown and cry over how precioso y emocional this book was. I only just found the strength to sit in front of my laptop and tell the world how I felt while reading this book.

Jonny Garza Villa gets it. Living in a Conservative Latinx home? Read this. Escaped that sort of a home? Read this. This book examined and exposed the machismo that so many of us Latinx chicos y chicas grew up with.

God, I just loved this. I can't wait to write a fuller, more profound review on the release date.

Te quiero mucho, Fifteen Hundred Miles from the Sun. Tú tienes mi corazón.

Fifteen Hundred Miles From The Sun appeared on my radar a year earlier when I saw that it was pitched as One Day At A Time meets Simon Vs. A book comp'd with my favorite book AND favorite tv show? I was SOLD. Historically, comps have not always been accurate and are usually just a publicity tool to get people to pick up the books. But FHMFTS is one of the instances where it delivers EXACTLY what it promises in terms of the vibes its compared to.

This book is UNAPOLOGETICALLY Latinx. Mexican culture is deeply entrenched in this story. There are so many instances of characters speaking in spanish with each other and Jonny Garza Villa does not stop to translate or explain what they mean. As a reader of color who grew up having to learn about white people things with zero context on any of them, it brought me so much joy to witness characters of color living their lives on the page without that translation. It didn't take away my enjoyment of the story in any way, and I had so much fun reading it.

The story was so cute and felt so nuanced. I am so proud and happy for how far queer stories in YA have come along in just the recent few years. It was a delight to read Julian's story. His awesome sister, his amazing supportive friends, his complicated relationship with his dad, his cute online fling with his twitter crush Mat - it was all so detailed and felt so real, I missed the characters so much by the time I finished the book.

Even the way sex was dealt with in the book felt so real - and by real i don't mean there were lots of explicit on page content - this is still a YA novel. But it still had and implied the right amount of conversation and moments of sex (and sex education!!), the right amount (in my opinion) for a story featuring teenagers at the peak of their teenage years. We need more of this in YA books, especially YA books featuring queer stories!

I just absolutely enjoyed this book, it was filled with cute moments featuring an adorable cast of friends, siblings, and love interests while also tackling a lot of intense topics with the seriousness and nuance they require. If you're looking for your next feel-good read, look no further than Fifteen Hundred Miles From The Sun - Jonny Garza Villa has written a beautiful book that must be read by all. 5 stars.

This was such a cute, quick read! I fell in love with the characters. This is a book I will probably be adding to my bookshelf once it’s released.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an e-arc of this book.

This review will contain small spoilers.

I really enjoyed this book, so much that I preordered it right away. Jules's and Mat's relationship was adorable and give me hope. Me and my boyfriend are going to be doing long distance soon and reading about Mule"s?, long distance relationship help me see that it can work, especially if it is someone you love.

One thing that I want to talk about that I found myself really enjoying about this story was how Jules didn't go back to his father. I have read plenty of books where Queer teenagers go back to their family and friends after them being rude and homophobic. But Jules knew his worth and told his dad off and removed him from hist life. I don't really see that in a lot of books I have read and it was really nice to see this rep. Since so many queer teens fall out with their families.

Besides his father I am really happy Jules had an amazing support system and people who loved him so much. This book was filled with cute, exciting and heartfelt moments.

Also posted on Goodreads.

I, unfortunately, couldn't read this book after 50 pages! It was just not working for me. I really wanted to love those book considering I was really happy when I got approved for ARC for it, but I don't know. A few things that I'd like to point - the book has a lot of diversity. It has quite a bunch of characters but it doesn't spend enough time with them so you dont feel connected to any. Or maybe, I just didn't happen to stick long enough for that to happen. Next thing is -, the author depends heavily on SPANISH terms. There was so much Spanish that one time I thought Ill have to open Google translator. I am all in for different culture, ethnicity, etc - but if you are using so much of a different language so often, there should have been a glossary at the end!! The reading experience was definitely brought down by this. And lastly, I felt that the writing was more tell and less show.

Having said that, I do think that it would resonate with a certain audience who do not mind the things that I said above. I am going with a 2 out of 5 stars!

After getting entirely too drunk at a party, Jules outs himself via selfie on Twitter which, bad news, was not what he intended to do but good news, means that his Twitter crush slides into his DMs. Jules and Mat quickly progress from mutuals to friends, and then friends to boyfriends. Although Jules is surrounded by a close-knit group of incredibly supportive friends and an older sister who has his back, being queer at a Catholic school in Corpus Christi, Texas has its challenges for Jules to navigate. At the end of the day though, don't be fooled by the content warnings - this is a genuinely sweet story that will leave any reader with a smile on their face.

In short, this is the "It Gets Better" queer novel that Gen Z needs. It still has all the scary parts of being out and queer as a teen, including homophobic harassment and getting kicked out, but it also has the joyous parts - Jules' first relationship and the love and support of his friends. Another important aspect is the mutuals-to-lovers plotline, a reality for many queer teens that finally gets the validation it deserves with this novel. The author also does an excellent job with the dialogue, both the English teen slang and the natural codeswitching that bilingual folks use in regular communication.

FIFTEEN HUNDRED MILES FROM THE SUN is a book perfect for anyone who needs a good, queer story with a happily ever after, especially any teen struggling with the decision to come out.