A review by sunny_r
Fifteen Hundred Miles from the Sun by Jonny Garza Villa

4.0

heartfelt and (mostly) feel-good is how i would describe this book, though the romantic plot felt a bit unrealistic. on one hand, the book evokes feelings of nostalgia for that time in high school when you’re moving on and saying goodbyes and learning how to come into yourself, which is definitely the context in which this book should be enjoyed. on the other hand, and maybe this is because i’ve just moved on from that part of my life, everything felt a bit too idealistic and naive. though i can acknowledge that that’s part of the point of the book (or at least part of the perspective that i think the author is trying to capture), it took away somewhat from my own enjoyment of everything. the seeming lapse in realism (from major events that i hinted at before and even minor things like outdated/unrelatable teenage habits) contrasted with very relatable things that do exist in my daily life (like tiktok references), which made it harder to appreciate jules’ perspective on things. i just feel like i would’ve enjoyed this book a lot more when i was jules’ age, and though there’s nothing wrong with that, i wish i could enjoy it more right now. i did love that jules and his journey felt raw and real and comforting, even when it hurt.