It's hard to describe how the Long Run made me feel. Bash and Landro were two vividly drawn characters, with completely unique voices and lives. I love Bash the most; the way he's learning who he is, the decent human being he's kept hidden for so long he's not so sure he's there anymore, it resonates. Landro is probably the sweetest guy in the entire world. I did feel that side characters suffered a bit, but it didn't bother me because this is Landro and Bash's story.

The plot moves quickly through the year, a feat that the author manages to make not seem long or drawn out or stretched at all. I was propelled forward, needing to see how their relationship unfolds, how they slowly let each other in, slowly learn who they are and what they value most. Every other page of this story is a gut punch in the best way, full of wisdom and wit, and with two characters who actually read like teenage boys (read: horny, confused, and very focused on body hair). I adored this book from start to finish and will dive head first into whatever the author puts out next.

The author seems off base, especially on his intro page. Book has tons of grammar and punctuation errors. Very dissapointing.

I LOVED THIS DAMN BOOK!!! Dash and Sandro are absolutely everything. It hooked me right from the beginning. There are adorable moments, absolutely heart shattering moments and everything in between. I love when a book has main characters that you want to protect with your whole heart and soul and are cheering for the whole way through. The Long Run has that!

Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

"It's bathroom graffiti with a heavy message" I think this is a really good description of my experience of this book, it had an important message but I wasn't all to excited to read it. Acker describes his book as being a teenage boy, and as being FOR teen boys, and from the first page you can see how true that really is. As someone who has worked with a ton of teens over the years this book felt very true to conversations they might be having (and the complaints about the friends they have not being the friends they WANT). Teen boys who are trying to figure out who they are, where their life is headed, (and all those other life choices they make you decide before you've even finished high school) will find this book a good read. Even if I couldn't fully get into the book, it doesn't matter because I am not a teen boy and that's who this book is for. It was well written, but content wise just wasn't for me. I hope the people it is for enjoy every moment of this book.

Oh I liked this so much! Sandro and Bash are lovely, richly drawn characters with compelling personalities and complicated inner lives and stories that feel lived-in and relatable. The writing is solid, often moving, and frequently funny with all the brash grossness Acker seemed to promise in the front matter. A fun read with a lot of heart and lovely emotional growth, and I know that a lot of young people are going to feel seen and understood by this story.

Thanks to Inkyard Press and NetGalley for the ARC!

At first I didn't love this book, it was a little slow and some of the dialogue was rough. However, I really ended up enjoying it by the end, and connected with the characters. It was a solid 3 star read.

This was so lovely. It was never cheesy or cliched or cringey, which I find is often a risk with YA romance. It felt really authentic. Bash and Sandro are such well-developed characters and I am rooting for them so hard, together and apart. Can’t wait to order this for my store!

“The Long Run” is hands-down one of the most authentic, real feeling YA books I’ve ever read. Bash and Sandro are teenage boys just trying to make it through their final year of high school; figuring out who they are, where their lives are heading, and what they mean to each other. Bash’s bisexual awakening and their sexual experiences together were written so perfectly. There were no cliches and no unnecessary plot twists. The angst and miscommunication felt incredibly authentic to the teenage experience. Bash and Sandro’s family lives are so different, and both so well written. The family dynamics with lots of siblings vs. with only a single step parent were really interesting to read and really made me feel for both of these characters. Bash and Sandro start as classmates and begrudging teammates on their school’s track and field teams, and the progress of their relationship into friends, friends who flirt with hidden feelings, into a romantic relationship is really beautiful. Everything about their relationship feels so raw and authentic, and it was a great change of pace from other YA romance novels I’ve read. The first 25% of the book is a bit slow, but I’m so glad I stuck with it because it is definitely a story worth reading.

The Long Run is a delightful and heartfelt coming-of age story. It's deep and full of meaningful moments and conversations. I felt it handled the complicated feelings and emotions of young men discovering their places in the world. I appreciated the dual POVS to see how Sebastian and Sandro's relationship grew as the book went on. I really liked this one and I was pleasantly surprised by how deep it was.

This story is absolutely beautiful.

Bash and Sandro come from very different lives with very different families. One day they happened to find each other - eventually they helped each other find themselves.

I had a wonderful time watching Bash and Sandro navigate through senior year, where nothing happened the way they expected. They laughed, cried, smiled, fought, and most importantly, loved.

I wholeheartedly recommend this boo! I had an amazing time with it!

The only reason I didn't give it five stars was the amount of underage drinking. I expected some, considering one of the first things that happened in this book was a party with beer ping Olympics. But I didn't expect the drinking to be so often. It felt like a lot and I just wasn't a fan of it.

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review

The Long Run is an engrossing and heartfelt story about two teens who discover friendship and more while coming to terms with who they are and what they want from life. Sandro and Bash came to life as very real and honest characters who are dealing with a lot- Bash in figuring out who he is, what he wants, and how he wants to be perceived, and Sandro in finding his voice within his family. I loved the way their relationship grew organically- from surprise attraction to being friends, and slowly growing into more. And I really appreciated the fully fleshed out cast of supporting characters, from Lucy and Del to Bash's friend Matty. This was a story that pulled me in and kept me invested beyond the final page.

--> I included a few SPOILER tags toward the end on the GR live review. <--

I wouldn't really characterize this as an overly-exciting read, but what it lacked in thrills and drama, it more than made up for with an extremely touching story about how finding one person, the right person, can also help you discover your true self as well.

At around 350 pages, since the pace was often pretty slow, this felt like a really long read to me, especially toward the beginning, where the moods of both MC's was what Bash referred to as "cansado."

In other words, not sad exactly, but tired, weary, exhausted, drained, just over the way things were currently going in both of their unsatisfying lives.

And although neither MC was actively looking for a change, their plans of skirting by until the end of high school were put on a fairly indefinitely hold as soon as the unlikely pair met and began hanging out, finding the other person who truly got them, allowing them to open up and unburden themselves of some of their woes for the first time in a very long time.

The story had an (over?) abundance of internal monologuing, since both MC tended to live in their own head, so don't go into this one expecting normal levels of actual dialogue or you're likely to be sorely disappointed.

Don't get me wrong, when Bash and Sandro did actually talk, it was typically because they had something substantive to say. But the book still felt like there may have been slightly more telling going on than actual showing.

Although both of the MC's were initially 17, then 18, with the deep levels of emotion found on the page, I often forgot that this was a Young Adult (YA) story, because they often felt like much more mature characters. Then they'd let their emotions get the better of them and do something juvenile, which was an easy reminder, but still...

I'm not going to be That Spoilery Bitch who just recites a plot outline, however, I will say that the second half of the story was my favorite, where the guys not only found much-needed support with each other, but also with a small number of people in their life that they found they could both trust and lean on.

And that I absolutely hated the months that came after the ill-fated family dinner and breakup / separation that followed. I hate that shit with the heat of 10,000 suns, so I wasn't happy to see it here.

I guess I'd say that the story did end with hopes of an HEA. I mean, they were only 18 and headed off to *different* colleges, so fingers crossed and I would kill for the author to release a shorter, follow-up story or novella to show us where the guys are post-college and out in the real world -- still happily together. I'm greedy that way. 😉

While not completely perfect, the story had me completely invested and I never experienced any problems with wanting to pick it up again, so I'd rate it at around 4.5 stars, rounding up thanks to all of the intense feels.

I really loved this sweet YA romance. Sandro and Bash were characters I feel like I haven’t seen before in this way in a YA book, and I really loved how they navigated through not only the expression of their sexuality but also of toxic masculinity. You really root for both of them as they navigate through some difficult things.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

I have been in an awful reading slump this summer, unable to get through many pages of anything, especially anything new. This was the first YA Book for this author, so I had nothing to compare it to. Coming of age story? If you've read one... This was different. The characters grabbed me from the first page. I couldn't put it down. I ached each time I checked the % when I turned a page because, as you'll find out, there's a bitter-sweetness to enjoying something in the moment when forever isn't promised. I hope you all give this book a chance. I think Bash and Sandro may have just began to rival Ari and Dante as the boys I love to love the most.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

I genuinely enjoyed this novel. It was the perfect book that suited my mood. It had a great combination of passing seasons, romance, and it was a quick read. It has some heavier topics than I anticipated, so here is a fair warning.

I loved the characters and how they developed. Bash and Sandro made each other better when they were together, which is pretty rare. They listened to each other and supported one another.

This book also described the “noise” of so many emotions very well. I could really relate to Sandro and Bash.

If you like of coming-of-age and self-discovery stories you will enjoy this novel.

Oh my goodness I ADORED this book. Loved loved loved. It was so nice to see a book where both lead characters are struggling with masculinity and anger and rather than having one character end up teaching the other about healthier masculinity and expressing their emotions from a place of already knowing and accepting their own expression of masculinities. (Not that I haven't read and enjoyed books like that, but it was interesting and realistic to have both boys be in a place to be struggling with their masculinities along with their sexualities.) Sometimes alternating point of view does not work for me, but in this case it really added to the experience of watching both Bash and Dro grow over the course of the novel.

I will absolutely be recommending this book (and already have). Thanks so much for this one! It was a great read!

Received an ARC via NetGally Thank you!!!
4.5/5 stars

Book info-
Point of view: 1st person with pov's switching each chapter.
Book chapters:



First impressions after chapter one:
Pov:1st person, Bash

Oh my gosh I already love this I absolutely love the humor as it has some of my own humor in it

"'Fuck you' The sun had not response. Coward."

"I loved everything about summer. No school, no church, no homework, all my friends, all the swimming, all of it. But lately I've only been swimming to condition for cross country. And all my free time goes to extra shifts at the diner."

I would also like to say the was Bash describes how summer is for him I really got to agree on that. I used to love summer but as I started to grow up during junior and senior year and even this summer (2022) I started to hate summer when I got my job in summer 2021 I also gave up all my free time for more shifts.

Overall this first chapter gives a really good introduction to the book and who one of the main characters is with his humor and slight backstory. I know I will be very excited to read the rest.


Initial thoughts on each character

Bash- I love his humor it's great I also totally understand that thing with the summer. I relate to him.

Sandro-I also love him but his family a little bit shit to him like bro what?! I also love how he's like "I'm not passive-aggressive but...." because same

Thoughts:
I feel like I will be relating to these characters a lot and I'm fine with that I love relatable characters!


Final impressions:

This book was a whole lot deeper than I thought. I first thought this would be a funny cute read but no it got way deeper and really went into the struggle queer teens face along with parent issues. It over all way a very good book the only thing I had not liked was that it mostly told the story and didn't show it. Like there were a couple of things that happened where it would say something then repeat it in both povs which I get telling both sides but still kinda annoyed me at times.

But overall I loved the humor and seeing the struggles too. It was a very good book and I cannot wait for this to actually be out in stores.

This book was too darn cute and I could not stop smiling like a fool through most of it.

The relationship between Bash and Sandro was wonderfully developed.
Their story is perfectly executed and I enjoyed every single moment of how their romance unfolded.
This was an absolute joy. It was funny, warm hearted, magical and charming. 
The m/m romance here was great and had me jumping up and down with excitement for these two. Honestly this book brought me so much joy!
The Long Run was spectacular and one of the best YA books I've ever had the pleasure of reading

“I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.”

Inkyard Press,
Thank You for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

I adored Bash and Sandro. They were so great. I loved their background history and their chemistry, the love and support for one another, the angst, the push and pull, the sexual tension between them, everything was so well executed by the author. The characters were not perfect, they had their own struggles and obstacles they had to overcome before they came to the realization that they are better together than apart. I’m so happy with how everything wrapped up at the end.

This isn’t just a story about two jocks falling in love; it’s deeper than that. It’s about toxic masculinity and what it means to be a teenage boy with anger issues and so much emotional turmoil. It’s about having so much hurt inside and no one in your life telling you you’re enough or how loved you are. It’s about loneliness. I loved how the author wrote such loveable yet flawed traits within both Bash and Sandro. Their friendship and how it evolved into love was done so tastefully—I wish more LGBT YA was written as well and carefully as this one.

Cannot wait to read more from this author.

Thank you, Inkyard Press, for allowing me to read The Long Run early!

I was thrilled when this book was announced and my excitement was repaid in full with this glorious, splendid, little book.