Reviewed by Roberta
TITLE: The Lightning-Struck Heart
NARRATOR: Michael Lesley
AUTHOR: TJ Klune
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 19 hrs & 48 mins
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:
OH MY LANTA!!! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE THIS AUDIOBOOK!!!
I read the book for a couple of weeks…repeatedly!!!
So, when the chance came up to review the audiobook…I jumped at the chance to pick it up!!!
This book is the most hilarious, fun book that I’ve read in a long time!!
Sam is a wizard apprentice who is just about one of the funniest characters that I’ve ever read. Sam has this habit of just spewing whatever comes into his head out of his mouth and Gods, Bless Him for that!! Sam gets himself in some sticky situations and yet, it’s really amazing how he gets himself out of it!!
Sam is in Happy/Scared Infatuation with Ryan Foxheart, who is the Knight Commander. I absolutely Love the way Sam is around Ryan. They are just so damn cute and HOLY HANNAH…the sexual tension between these two….AMAZING!!!
Ryan is engaged Prince Justin who HATES, HATES, HATES Sam. I love the snarky sarcasm that is Justin’s conversations with just about everyone, but mostly Sam. Ryan, who rises through the ranks in the King’s Army and moves up to the King’s Knights. Ryan…who is just about the cutest, sweetest, sassiest guy and really a perfect foil to Sam.
Now, Gary the Unicorn…AKA THE MOST FIERCEST UNICORN EVA…is a wonderful compliment to Sam. He’s one of Sam’s best friends. Gary is the one who tells Sam the way it is and uses sarcasm and sass to get his point across. Tiggy….Golly, I LOVE Him So Damn Much!! He’s so damn sweet and kind and so damn loving to Sam and Gary. I love how Tiggy gets angry and SMASHES ANYTHING that hurts or keeps him away from Sam and Gary. Rose and Josh, Sam’s parents…they are just about the most fun parents that I can think of. They Love their son and all his shenanigans. They Love Gary and Tiggy with no reservations at all. Good King Anthony…the King of Verania. I Love how this man loves Sam like his own son. How he is not only a good King, but a Good Man. Morgan of Shadows the Wizard that Sam apprentice’s for….this is his life. He chose this. He just starts to go with the flow as Sam just goes about his bizness and gets into situations. Randall…the oldest living wizard…This man made me laugh out loud with his special brand of crazy.
Now, if you’ve read a TJ Klune book before…you know that there is a going to be angst and feelings. So Many Feelings!! You get sucked into this story from the very beginning and this book won’t let you go until the very last letter. TJ gives us a story that is filled with so much heart and loads of integrity. So much humor that sometimes…I just laughed until I couldn’t even breathe. My heart hurt for Ryan and Sam. Just about broke from all the feelings.
Narration:
Michael Lesley….HOLY HANNAH, BATMAN!!!
Michael just did an Absolute AMAZING Job on this book. The amount of voices that he had for ALL of the characters…Brilliant!! Just Absolutely Brilliant.
The way that Michael gave each and EVERY character their own personality….BRILLIANT!!!
I knew each character’s personality from the way that Michael infused emotion in their “voice”. I have to say that Michael’s “voice” for the female characters…not that there were many…but the ones that he did….was actually really good. I loved the quality of their voices. It’s so hard for narrators to do the opposite sex voice…but Michael did a really terrific job.
I have to say that I couldn’t wait to hear Gary’s voice as well as Momma’s voice. They were done so close to what I heard in my head as I read the book that I was taken aback.
Michael pulled no punches in doing some AMAZING, BRILLIANT Work on this book and I swear…I can’t wait to hear him again. Hopefully, in TJ’s “The Queen & The Homo Jock King”. Ya know the sequel to Tell Me It’s Real…the first audiobook that I heard Michael Do!!!
To Wrap this all up…GET THIS AUDIOBOOK!!!
You will not regret it. If you’ve read the book, you know what you’re getting into. If you want to be able to truly fall into the story while someone does a Brilliant job narrating the story for you…This IS THE ONE!! GO NOW!!!
RATING: 
BUY LINKS: