Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - The Lightning-Struck Heart

I don’t normally read lighthearted or funny books. But holy heck, this book had me laughing so hard I was crying (which is also something that never happens). This book is full of sass. I’m going to read the whole series!

Content Warnings

betweentheshelves's review

Go to review page

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Is this book a bit ridiculous? Absolutely. Was it hilarious and entertaining? Also yes. Did it have the signature TJ Klune found family with a swoon-worthy relationship at its core? Yes yes yes. I'll admit, the writing wasn't always as polished as I wanted it to be (the book is a little long by the end and the plot kind of loses itself), but I didn't care because of how much I loved the characters. They are 100% what propel the story forward, and I loved them even more as I got further into the story.

If you've read any of TJ Klune's newer stuff, you can see how much his writing has grown since this book. And that makes me even more excited to read the other books in this series and see how my new favorite found family fares. Because they dserve the world and I can't wait to see what ridiculous advventures they get up to next.

Content Warnings

mr_brezident's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Content Warnings

k_bb's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

Although overall this was a bit too crass and explicit for my taste, it was funny and light-hearted, which was what I needed from a book at the time. I could see how this book might not be for everyone (humour is subjective), but overall I enjoyed it. I particularly liked the characters and the bonds between characters. It was very witty at times, but at other times the jokes became tiresome. Some nice escapism if you are open to many (and I mean MANY) jokes about dicks, sex, butts, and bestiality.

Content Warnings

purplepenning's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

2.75

Constant ribald humor isn't my thing, but otherwise this is a rollickingly hilarious adventure.

Content Warnings

grexcarolinii's review against another edition

Go to review page

0.25

I generally try not to rate books I don't finish, but I tried so hard with this one as it was a recommendation from a friend, and so really wanted to love it.

It is worth noting - this is a comedy
and humour is one of the most subjective things, so in a comedy book, can obviously make or break the entire experience
And this wasn't my humour in the slightest, not even close

This book was just... sickening to me
Just constant cringe talk of sex - I'd say innuendo, but it wasn't subtle or clever enough to be even that

Add to that a number of "references" to (trigger warning!)
rape, and racism and sexual trafficking

that just felt so wholly out of touch, and so left a foul taste in my mouth

The one star I gave this one was for the actual on-page mention of Asexuality, and I'm just that starved for ace-rep
(though yay for yet again conflating asexuality and aromanticism, that neeeeeever gets tiring at all (/sarcasm)
Edit: Taken the star away because I can feel the bile rise in my throat every time I think of this book

Content Warnings

carolynlovesbooks's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Content Warnings

peyton_'s review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Characters: Sam (of the Wilds) Haversford, Tiggy the half-giant, Gary the hornless gay unicorn, Kevin the sexually aggressive dragon, Ryan Foxheart/Knight Commander Delicious Face, Prince Justin, Morgan of the Shadows, Randall, the King, Pete the guard, and Tina (fan club president).

A little warning that this book has crude and explicit language, sexual humour, and a ton of innuendo. Klune does a great job of keeping it entertaining and never making it seem out of place. The words flow and the banter ricochets between the characters.

I love this book. I love the humour, the banter, the characters, and the action. I love Sam’s dislike for monologues, Ryan’s magic kink, and Gary’s Unicorn Rage glitter rain. I have not gotten into a book the way I fell into this one in a really long time. I did not want to put it down and picked it up whenever I could, even if it only meant getting five more minutes of reading in. After finishing it I had no idea what to read next. I do not yet have access to the next book in the series and nothing else I have available to read looks nearly as fun. I am sad that it is over and I have to wait to see Sam and his friends again.

The overall humour was great, but the addition of the little things just made it that much better.

For example, the addition of the Ryan Foxheart Fan Club was hilarious. (#Havehart4ever) Then Klune kept changing the amount of times Sam visited each time Sam mentioned the club. Then Tina, the president, was made out to be Sam’s enemy. Then there was the banter between Tina and Sam at the meeting. Then, of course, Ryan stumbles onto the meeting. Then everything is exposed because of the corn truth serum.

The way that Klune keeps building and embellishing on jokes was brilliant. I’d be reading and then there would be a quick mention of something that came before in the book and it elevated the situation to a new level of humour. This happened throughout the entirety of the book. I laughed out loud often and smiled the entire time I was reading. Pure joy.

Another example of the humour building throughout based on a single incident is how the book starts. A Dark is monologue. Tiggy smashes. Then through the rest of the book the Darks try to seek revenge on Sam. Each instance that the Darks meet Sam is hilarious and magical. It is a great way to show the growth of humour, but it also shows the growth of Sam’s character. Compare Larkin (?) the Dark with the wedding fiasco and it is evident how much Sam has grown and changed over the course of the book. Other characters show growth as well, such as Knight Delicious Face (such a perfect name!), and Justin (just a little bit). Other characters seem to stay the same (Gary, Tiggy, Kevin, and Morgan), but that’s alright because I love them for who they are.

The ending was well done. I was a little bit nervous if I was going to get my HEA/HFN, but Klune pulled through and still made me want to get my hands on the next one. I did come up with my own alternative ending for Justin, which for a second I thought was actually going to happen, but didn’t.

I wanted Justin to get in a relationship with Dimitri, King of the Fairies. At the end Justin and Sam are totally becoming best friends and on this journey they get captured by Dimitri. I thought Klune had read my mind and was going to get Justin and Dimitri hooked up. I was thinking Dimitri would see Justin and get his size kink on. Dimitri would start complimenting Justin and Justin would think ‘of course I am this great, keep going’. I thought it would be more like Gary and Kevin where Dimitri is Kevin and Justin is Gary. Dimitri would flatter and woo Justin and Justin would see that someone cares about him and agree to date. The whole time Sam would wonder wtf was going on and was his ex (but not actually ex) really going to starting dating his true love and cornerstone’s exfiance who was ditched at the alter?! It would have been a hilarious scene with Sam freaking out out loud and no one paying any attention because they are too busy witness the rapture of Dimitri and Justin.

It would have been great and I am still hoping that it may happen in a future book.

I love this book. I want to get the next one and continue living in this world. I see that Klune is planning on publishing a new one next year, so yay! I recommend this book to everyone who likes queer mm romance in a fantasy world. Everything about this book is awesome.

Content Warnings

More...