Audio Review: The Lightning-Struck Heart by TJ Klune – Narrated by Michael Lesley

Author: TJ Klune

Narrator: Michael Lesley

Run Time: 19 hours and 48 minutes

At a Glance: How do you review perfection? You don’t…you just gush and hope you don’t make a fool of yourself.

Reviewed By: Amy

Blurb: Once upon a time, in an alleyway in the slums of the City Of Lockes, a young and somewhat lonely boy named Sam Haversford turns a group of teenage douchebags into stone completely by accident.

Of course, this catches the attention of a higher power, and Sam’s pulled from the only world he knows to become an apprentice to the King’s Wizard, Morgan of Shadows.

When Sam’s fourteen, he enters the Dark Woods and returns with Gary, the hornless gay unicorn, and a half-giant named Tiggy, earning the moniker Sam of Wilds.

At fifteen, Sam learns what love truly is when a new knight arrives at the castle—Knight Ryan Foxheart, the dreamiest dream to have ever been dreamed.

Naturally, it all goes to hell when Ryan dates the reprehensible Prince Justin, Sam can’t control his magic, a sexually aggressive dragon kidnaps the prince, and the King sends them on an epic quest to save Ryan’s boyfriend, all while Sam falls more in love with someone he can never have.

Or so he thinks.

Review: How do you review perfection? You don’t…you just gush and hope you don’t make a fool of yourself. That is how I feel about this masterpiece of fiction. Y’all this is a nineteen hour audiobook. When I saw that my eyes bulged and I sputtered and said, “WTH?!” Then, after that nineteen hours was over, I was saying…“Why is this over?!!!!” You will understand.

Every character in Lightning-Struck Heart has his own unique flare and flavor. It is like building the most delicious meal ever—you can’t have too much of one ingredient. TJ Klune is a master chef. He made me laugh A LOT. He made me cry even more. I love Sam’s relationship with his family. I love that although Morgan wants to kill him, he also genuinely loves him.

Sam is so absolutely loveable. Gary is simply the dirtiest, funniest character I have ever read. Tiggy is endearing and loyal to a fault. Together they make a team for the ages. Throw in poor Ryan who is at the mercy of these crazy people, and you have a journey of epic proportions! The only thing I was frustrated with was that the sex was so late in the book, and the anticipation of that union was so primed that I was a bit disappointed when it came. Not because it was written poorly but because I wanted more of them together.

Narration: Michael Lesley is an absolute master of narration. I haven’t listened to him in the past but my god, did he nail all these funny characters! From the flamboyance of Gary to the simple nature of Tiggy, he spread his talent all over this book and brought it to life better than I could have ever anticipated.