The Long Run

By: James Acker

Narrated by: Lee Osorio, Max Meyers

Length: 12 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

2024 Stonewall Book Award Honor for Young Adult Literature

"A boldly authentic new voice in queer fiction." —Abdi Nazemian, author of Stonewall Honor book Like a Love Story and The Chandler Legacies

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…

©2023 James Acker (P)2023 Harlequin Enterprises, Limited

Loved it

Loving story! This felt amazingly real and definitely came from somewhere real! I Can’t wait for more.

Beautiful

I really like the fact they involve the family and how cute they are with each other

The Moment

I thought it was beautifully written. I truly loved Sandro’s voice his level of communication and introspection despite his volatility was touching. More than that, the moment when Bash decides he needs to slow down to be fully present in an important moment in Sandro and his relationship was wonderful. I have never loved an exchange between two characters more.

Excellent story and performance

There were a lot of fluff scenes and slow scenes that bored me. That’s gotta be the only drawback. I laughed so hard this entire book, EXTREMELY well developed characters, no plot holes, again funny funny funny scenes. I recommend others read this book.

Well worth the read!

The characters had so much depth!!!! This is the kind of story you would take notes on because you want to remember the highlights of their development. Sandro had my heart the entire time. His family dynamic was toxic, yet relatable, and felt real. This book didn’t feel like I was reading, but truly listening and being told about their lives.

Real feeling of M/M romance

I do not write many reviews but this book got me feeling ways I was never expecting. The family dynamic of Sandro's world is one of the most real adaptations I have heard/read in a book. Bash's growth in the book made me think a lot about how relationships are not one-sided and made me think about my relationships. Crying at the right moments, which never happens in any of the other books I have heard/read, and craving more when the story ends. I recommend this to any M/M romance readers from teens to adults. Thank you James for a book that was amazing.

Beautiful story

I’ve read a lot of M/M romance novels but this is now my favorite. I never right reviews either but this book was to good to put down. The characters are so well thought out and real. They feel like people I could have known in high school. It’s a beautiful story

Finally a good LGBT story

Magical. Powerful. Listened in one sitting during work and bought the actual book.

I won’t go into details on the story/plot but it’s real life and I loved it.

Ending with a quirk

Narrators we’re great AND great for their characters!

I was recommended this book on instagram as a top 5 gay must reads. The books description pushed it
towards the top of the 5. Not having read the other 5 and not really interested in 2 of the 5, this book was a top contender.
The first part of the book is difficult. Both characters were full of angst - teenage to young adult angst. Thoroughly described teenage to young adult angst. PAINFULLY described teenage to young adult angst. WE ALL GET IT THEY HAVE TEENAGE TO YOUNG ADUKT ANGST!!!! I was almost ready to give up and almost quit but the book was so delightfully reviewed.
I stayed on board and the book became a delightful and very often funny read (ok listen). Both characters became more fully developed in personality, humor, sympathy, depth of feeling, and emotion. WAY beyond angst. Very descriptive of emotions and feelings that were both teenage and young adult. Beyond the first season, I started to actually like both characters instead of really not liking or relating to either of them.
It’s worth the painfully torturous appetizer beginnings to get to the meat and potatoes of the middle to end
The humor is amazing, the emotions are matured and developed, the exchanges are real and understood. Well worth the read or listen, hang on through the beginning. It gets you there.

A novel of love for the ages

Wow, I am left without words! This was a heartwarming and heartbreaking book of journey and discovery, rebirth and reinvention. These 2 characters and their voice actors stole my heart. I wished this book would never have ended . After listening to “Aristotle and Dante (“both books) and “this is why they hate us” I thought there was nothing else that could touch them, boy was I totally wrong. I loved that the author actually tackled the real problems that male same sex couples have to actual address. The vulgar and direct language only added to the charm and reality of these 2 characters and the overall story