The Lightning-Struck Heart

5 OMFG Stars!!

What the hell was that??? Seriously???

There really isn’t much to say since it's already been said.

Do you want to laugh? Do you want to have fun? Do you want grand adventure and swoony romance, all the while having the time of your life?

If you haven’t already subscribed to Klune’s brand of humor, then please sign up right here.

This was a mile a minute of snark, banter, and glee, as it delivered so much on all the things I love in a fantasy romantic comedy; things I didn’t even know I wanted or needed. Every character - main and supporting, small and large - brought their own very special crazy that only exponentially increased the enjoyment factor. (I'm definitely a Tiggy girl!) Though this obviously doesn’t show more take itself too seriously, it still has plenty of heart - there’s definitely no shortage on the feels.

I had my doubts (yeah, I know I shouldn’t’ve) but the genius here is truly impressive. I’ve never been so thoroughly entertained!! show less

How to write an absolutely ridiculously hilarious, mind-blowing, extraordinary and brilliant book (aka How to be TJ Klune):

Step 1
Take a young Wizard (*cough* apprentice *cough*), who's a virgin, in love with a Knight, and has no filter; a very protective, gentle half-giant; and a high-maintenance, snarky, sparkly, hornless, gay unicorn named... wait for it....Gary. -_- How magical.

Step 2
Add a little love in the face of a hotter than hot, dashing and immaculate Knight in shining armor.

Step 3
Shake it up with a dick Prince, who's betrothed to the Knight.

Step 4
Take the lot to an adventure, add in a couple of Dark wizards who can't seem to stop monologuing; a gay fairy with a miniature dick and a high sex drive, spice it up with the fire show more geckos and top it off with a talking dragon.

There you go. Now you have a book filled with plenty of humor and some more humor, a lot of sexual tension, a wee bit of conflict and heartbreak. And UST. Did I say UST? Cuz there's a lot of that.

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Mind. Blown.
I loved Wolfsong and Ravensong.
I loved How To Be A Normal Person.
So I was already a fan.
But this. TJ blew it out of the park with this one.

Gawwd! I'll never be the same again. show less

This was silly and fun and I cackled at my desk listening to it. So many quotable lines but the K(ing)ILF might have been my favorite. I loved that the king wasn’t secretly a bad guy and loved Sam like a son too.

Sam and his merry band of oddballs was such a treat.

I would put this right next to KF Breene's Magical Midlife Series for fantasy that is just fun and wont make your head hurt from trying to memorize crazy names.

Updated Review
After the emotional mess that was reading Finches, I really needed something funny and light-hearted and I think reading this one was a perfect decision. I laughed out loud on almost every page and I can't remember the last time a book entertained me so much.

Sam is probably the sweetest protagonist ever. He maybe twenty years old, the Wizard's apprentice and probably the most powerful ever; but he is also a very compassionate and good person at heart, has no filter on his mouth, is a slightly prude virgin and madly in love with Knight Commandar Ryan. He also has an uncanny propensity to get into trouble all the time - the Dark family of wizards wants to capture and kill him while giving random long monologues about their show more intentions, a six inch tall Dmitri wants to force Sam to gay fairy marry him and a fifty seven day old corn cult wants to sacrifice him to their dragon god... and the troubles go on and on... Every single encounter of his shows his powerful nature but also his wonderful character and is obviously hilarious to read. He also gives the most amazing adorable hugs 😊😊😊

Every conversation between Sam and Ryan always ends up being full of flirtiness and sexual banter but both of them have no clue. The whole world, including the "villains" who come to fight Sam can clearly feel the whole UST, but these two guys are the epitome of obliviousness. Ryan also happens to be engaged to Prince Justin, so that's a bit of a problem but Sam is finding it difficult to keep his heart from falling further for Ryan. The pining and longing between them is for the ages and it was actually quite sad sometimes, but mostly very funny.

The side characters in this book are also some of the best bunch ever. Gary is a hornless gay unicorn who is essentially a Diva, very vain, snorts glitter and won't go on any life saving adventures without his scarves. Tiggy is a slightly slow half-giant but is loyal as hell and loves smashing anyone who wants to harm Sam or Gary. The trio are the best buddies ever and watching them interact was complete friendship goals. Sam's parents are the most loving and supportive ever. Sam's mentor Morgan of Shadows is the very powerful King's Wizard but he cares so much about Sam and I loved their relationship. Sam actually calls him Brother-Uncle-Father and it's too cute. And King Anthony is probably one of the sweetest King character ever written. He loves Sam like a second son and is so protective of him, their interactions were a delight to read about.

The plot and world building are quite tropey but also somewhat unexpected when compared to the usual fantasy novels that I read; but that's not the important part of this book. This is a very diverse story full of light hearted adventures and the journey that Ryan and Sam go through to figure out what they want from their lives. The writing is full of sass and very crude jokes and lots of sexual innuendo (which is not subtle at all), so go into this book with an open mind. It's very entertaining and funny as hell and the amazing characters made it a very enjoyable read.

If you don't mind a very over the top, somewhat cheesy and very sassy and funny adventure romance, then I definitely recommend this book to you. It is a hilarious ride and I'm already very excited to read the sequel.

First Thoughts
I really really needed this book after my previous sobfest... And I can’t remember the last time I laughed so much while reading a book... Just laughing out loud every few minutes 😂😂😂😂

Not sure how to review it yet though... will need some thinking !!!! But I definitely recommend ❤️❤️❤️ show less

This is epic fantasy by way of fierce argumentative friendship laced with humor (so much humor) and magic, travel and dragons, conflicts and trials, and aaaaangst. And there are more in the series! It is intensely sweet, too, as well as being completely rude very often. Definitely for adults who like laughing and saying "Awww."

4.5 stars

I love this author so I started this book without really knowing what it was about. It took me a little while to realize that it wasn't a character's dream or something. It has magicians, a unicorn, a giant, fairies, etc. It's over the top hilarious for the entire story. I was rolling much of the time. Most of the characters are gay and sex acts are brought up often in a silly way, but there isn't a lot of actual sex. This is one of the funniest books I've read in a long time. I recommend that you don't read it in a location that requires you to be quiet because it's just not possible.

If you think that Discworld and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy are too over-the-top this is not a book for you.

If you think gay unicorns without a horn who sparkle when they are angry are stupid, this book is not for you.

If you think there is a thing as too much sass this book is not for you.

If you think an overabundance of ridiculous is a bad thing, this book is not for you.

It is a great book for me. I love the over-the-top humor, I adore the totally crazy gay unicorn and his halfblood giant friend who wants to smash things. I am over the moon with the amount of sass in this book and I truly believe that there is no such thing as too ridiculous. And I am totally team HaveHeart.

Signed, a Samgirl.