The Long Run by James Acker
Two track and field athletes find an unexpected but powerful love in this unapologetically blunt and unforgettably real YA debut.
Sebastian Villeda is over it. Over his rep. Over his bros. Over being "Bash the Flash," fastest sprinter in South Jersey. His dad is gone, his mom is dead, and his stepfather is clueless. Bash has no idea what he wants out of life. Until he meets Sandro.
Sandro Miceli is too nice for his own good. The middle child in an always-growing, always-screaming Italian family, Sandro walks around on a broken foot to not bother his busy parents. All he wants is to get out and never look back.
When fate—in the form of a party that gets busted—brings these two very different boys together, neither of them could’ve predicted finding a love that they’d risk everything for…
God where to even start. I fucking loved this book—I finished it last night, and I'm spending the day depressed because I'm no longer listening to it (audiobook). I took so many notes while reading this, and there were only a few minor critiques. Otherwise I was doing my best to put into words why I love this story so much.
The tagline for this book describes it as "unapologetically blunt and unforgettably real," which I think is spot on. It wasn't a sometimes-sad romance novel, but rather a story about two flawed yet earnest boys who better themselves (and FEEL better about themselves) with the help of each other. Yes it's a romance, but I love the platonic elements of the relationship so much; they truly become each other's best friend, and you can see how important their relationship is to each of them.
We get a dual POV in this book, and it was so expertly deployed. There's quite a lot of introspection (which I always enjoy in a novel), so we get firsthand accounts of how each character is feeling, but we also get to see them through the eyes of each other; we get to know their insecurities, but also get to see their strengths and value. Both Bash and Sandro are pretty self-aware, and I don't know how realistic that is for teenage boys, but it doesn't matter because it's all so good. And just because they're self-aware doesn't mean they're perfect; we get to see them make mistakes and learn and grow. There were plenty of times between them that the conversation could have gone south, but instead they are able to trust each other and talk it out.
Of course, though, there is one moment that goes very wrong and takes a while to come back from, but it was realistic. I feel like the tendency for authors nowadays is to throw in third-act drama whether it's deserved or not, but that wasn't the case here; the events fit the narrative of the story (it's pretty clear from early on that this book will have the potential for something heart-wrenching). Also, we got plenty of recovery time after it—I always hate when the story ends right after the conflict has been resolved, but here we got to spend a good amount of time with them afterwords.
This book just made me feel so much! Not just sad, but also hopeful. While I love both boys in this, I was a bit partial to Sandro, and he was the one who often made me cry (both sad and happy tears). Even though he had a shitty upbringing, he was still so optimistic about his future being better and working hard to make that better future, and it was just so lovely to read about and I'm literally tearing up while thinking about it. The ending was perfect for them, realistic yet hopeful, kind of like the whole story itself. I was fully sobbing when I finished, because I was just so overcome with emotion.
Besides the main story, I think the side characters were all very well crafted and utilized. Lucy was especially such a lovely figure, and I wish we had gotten to spend a bit more time with her (just because I like her, not because she wasn't around enough for the purpose of the story). And the writing was also top tier. I know I've gone on about how emotional this book was, but it had a good amount of lighthearted moments. And good humor! It got me to chuckle out loud a few times, which is unusual for me—it helped that I listened to the audiobook, so I couldn't accidentally skim ahead and spoil the joke for myself.
Speaking of the audiobook, MAD KUDOS to the readers for this!!!! I think they were absolutely perfect, right away settling me into the story and perfectly delivering the more emotional moments.
This is one of those books that I think a lot of other books try to be: gritty, realistic, emotional, heart-wrenching, inspiring, etc. But this one was actually able to pull it off. And while it is grittier than some, I didn't find it to be too much. Like I said, there was a good balance of humor, so it was never a heavy read, even with it's heavier moments. Frankly, I'm a bit stunned that this isn't more popular, because it deserves more readers. I simply cannot wait to revisit this book in the future (no literally, I'm actually considering re-listening to it while I still have it on loan from Libby).
Bonus spoilers—specific moments that made me cry: