Reviews with content warning for Panic attacks/disorders - Fifteen Hundred Miles From The Sun

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.

Content Warnings

antonique_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

pastelwriter's review

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funny hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I have no idea why this is the second book I've read this month that I have had an incredible time reading it yet somehow am struggling to rate it. No rating feels true despite my love for this story. Thus, I settle for four stars because anything less than that is absolute blasphemy.

One of my absolute favorite parts of this book is the humor. Truly, the humor is right up my alley. Jonny Garza Villa had me laughing out loud multiple times. The humor was only heightened by the excellent mix of Spanish and English in here. I have read my handful of books where the Spanish use felt forced, but it felt very natural in this story.

I was also absolutely obsessed with Jules and Mat. The two of them had a super cute relationship. I love that it wasn't perfect because of Jules' trauma, but their love for each other still shone through. Mat was definitely great at being a supportive boyfriend to a boy who (without him knowing) was experiencing a lot of trauma at home. In addition, Mat was such a flirt!!! He made my heart weak. He really was shameless, and I adored it. The conversations between Jules and Mat were absolutely everything.

The friendships here were also a blessing! All of Jules' friends were so protective of him, and it made my heart warm. Jordan especially was one of my favorites. He was so comfortable being physically close to Jules after he came out, and I think this type of friendship between boys is so necessary! Lou also wormed her way into my heart by being so openly herself. She absolutely did not let anyone diminish her light. All in all, Jules' friends were ready to meet anyone in the pit to protect Jules, and I stan that.

This novel is also incredibly emotional. Both painful emotion and just heartwarming emotion. The pain came from Jules' relationship with his father. Jules clearly loved his father, but there was no denying that Jules' father was abusive. The trauma Jules had was so painful to read about at times. You know what was beautiful? Jules being accepted by his Abuelo. The whole conversation Jules had with his Abuelo? Absolutely made me cry because it was so beautiful. It was also beautiful how accepting Jules' friends were and how honest one of them was in particular about how challenging it was for him to be accepting.

My only complaint about this book is how obvious it was to Jules and Mat that they would have sex when they met in person. As someone who is ace, this is incredibly foreign to me. I would say the whole thing was "triggering" for me because I couldn't get it out of my mind. Of course it makes sense to me why these two teen boys would want to have sex, and I don't begrudge them that. I think for me what just made it uncomfortable was how assumed it was. They did not talk about it. They simply knew the other would want that. They did discuss consent once the moment came, but both of them had assumed it was what the other wanted. it should be noted that I have never been in a long distance relationship--much less as a teen--so fuck if I know if even my ace ass would feel like these boys did. But I don't know. I cannot deny how it crawled under my skin in a very unpleasant way.

My other minor qualm is also something more personal. I have a personal vendetta against books that feature characters who desperately want to move to a particular city. Especially when it's LA or NY. I just find it so insufferable I'm not going to lie. But it's not really something I hold against any story. After all, I spent most of my life in Puerto Rico dreaming about anywhere except Puerto Rico...

Naturally, though, I would highly recommend this book! I absolutely look forward to whatever else this author will publish. My two qualms with the book absolutely do not affect at all how I feel about the story in general. It is ultimately a heartwarming and sweet story about two boys falling in love no matter the distance between them.

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exlibristheo's review

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emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

Free copy of the book provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Where to start with this book? Emotionally, I'm all over the place in the best way possible. I love almost everything about this book and simply couldn't put it down.

I adore the title and the cover but I even more adore the characters and the relationship Jules has with his friends, his sister and Mat. I love the love and the diversity in this book, the message and Jules' decision to do things for himself, to believe in what he has dreamed about and has worked hard for for years.

I didn't rate it 5 stars because I felt the relationship was a bit rushed at times and the writing style took me some getting used to but that has more to do with me rarely reading books in first-person anymore.

This book deals with some heavy topics so I definitely suggest checking out the trigger warnings before reading.

Content Warnings

perpetualpages's review

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

CWs: Verbal and physical child abuse; physical assault; homophobia; homophobic slurs (English and Spanish); bullying; non-graphic allusions to suicidal ideation; disownment; descriptions of PTSD, panic attacks, and depressive episodes; some exploration of grief; references to underage drinking, some graphic allusions to sex

Jonny Garza Villa really and truly didn't have to write the perfect book. But they did, and I'm forever grateful.

Fifteen Hundred Miles from the Sun very much feels like a successor to Ari & Dante, especially in its deliberate, slow pace. This is a story that meticulously takes you through the seasons of Jules' senior year, reveling in moments of friendship and love while also confronting homophobia head-on. It's a story about love in all its power and its limitations—exploring what love can do and what it can't. Love can support you, protect you, and keep you going when things get tough, but at the same time, love can't make up for everything when it's not supported by action.

Whether that means a father who refuses to acknowledge his son's queerness or a long-distance boyfriend who's struggling to figure out how to show up for someone when you can't physically be there, the story deftly explores both love's power and its failings. Even though this is a book that's not afraid to acknowledge the hardships queer people face, it's also largely about finding out which friends are true and learning to find joy in the communities we build for ourselves. This is a story that perfectly captures those high school friendships where buying a $2 soda from a fast food drive through on your way to the beach after school is an adventure you'd take over and over again and where piling onto the same bed together is an appropriate response to someone's depressive episode—those ride-or-die friendships that make your soul sing.

Not only that, but FHMFTS is a love story for the ages and exactly the love story we need right now. It's very rare that we get to see a story that both understands and celebrates online, long-distance romance. Not only is this a story that validates long-distance relationships, but it shows how integral online relationships can be in day-to-day life. Besides his physical presence, you miss nothing of Mat throughout this story. He is every bit as vibrant and present in Jules' life as Jules other friends from school are. He supports Jules, cheers him on, and wants the best for him, all while trying to maintain clear and open communication.

They run into pitfalls along the way, and the distance definitely tests both of them in different ways, but their relationships is every bit as real and beautiful as any other romance out there. They have A-plus level chemistry and banter, yes, but I think their relationship is so memorable because they're both learning not only how to see the other person for everything they are, but how to allow themselves to be seen in return. Letting yourself be known, in all your messiness and in all your mistakes, is an act of love and bravery, and that is ultimately what makes their relationship so satisfying to read.

Oh yeah, and they're funny as fuck.

Fifteen Hundred Miles from the Sun is a book that will make you laugh, a book that will make you smile right after it makes you cringe, and a book that will make you feel above all else. Trust me when I say you do NOT want to miss this book. I would wholeheartedly recommend it to absolutely everyone.

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stephblair's review

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Perhaps I shouldn’t have chosen Valentine’s Day to read this because now I’m feeling sappy and also lonely lol. But anyway, I loved this.

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