aspirit reviewed The Lightning-Struck Heart by TJ Klune
Feels like a mix of THE LAST UNICORN, Terry Pratchett, and gay teens' fanfic
4 stars
A Fantasy comedy obviously meant for young men who fit some of the contemporary urban gay stereotypes.
The jokes had me laughing out loud several times. The realistic perspective of sex that's still too uncommon in m/m romances was gratifying (although—note—it's not especially erotic despite the plethora of sexual references and would've been overly uncomfortable if it had been especially erotic with the YA tone).
Cons: Shitty political commentary, apathetic violence of the wizard (apprentice), insistence that the Darks as dangerously out of control more than the main characters are when that's not how they're shown, and homogeneity of most of the characters' personalities increasingly bother me as I think about them.
However, focusing too much on negatives would be missing the value of the story.
It's funny and stuffed with subtle subversions of old fantasy tropes. But this novel is also about real-world survival. This is a book about …
A Fantasy comedy obviously meant for young men who fit some of the contemporary urban gay stereotypes.
The jokes had me laughing out loud several times. The realistic perspective of sex that's still too uncommon in m/m romances was gratifying (although—note—it's not especially erotic despite the plethora of sexual references and would've been overly uncomfortable if it had been especially erotic with the YA tone).
Cons: Shitty political commentary, apathetic violence of the wizard (apprentice), insistence that the Darks as dangerously out of control more than the main characters are when that's not how they're shown, and homogeneity of most of the characters' personalities increasingly bother me as I think about them.
However, focusing too much on negatives would be missing the value of the story.
It's funny and stuffed with subtle subversions of old fantasy tropes. But this novel is also about real-world survival. This is a book about gay empowerment.
This is needed for more of its intended audience to survive in our world.
