Reviewed by Mal
TITLE: We Burned So Bright
AUTHOR: TJ Klune
PUBLISHER: Tor Books
LENGTH: 171 Pages
RELEASE DATE: April 28, 2026
BLURB:
A LibraryReads pick! An Indie Next pick!
A heart-wrenching standalone novel by #1 New York Times bestselling author TJ Klune, We Burned So Bright follows an elder gay couple on an end-of-the-world road-trip.
The road stretched out before them. No other cars, just the headlights on the blacktop. Above, the cracked moon in a kaleidoscope sky….
Husbands Don and Rodney have lived a good long life. Together they’ve experienced the highest highs of love and family, and lows so low that they felt like the end of the world.
Now, the world is ending for real. A rogue black hole is coming for Earth and in a month everything and everyone they’ve ever known will be gone.
Suddenly, after 40 years together, Don and Rodney are out of time. They’re in a race against the clock to make it from Maine to Washington State to take care of some unfinished business before it’s all over.
On the road they meet those who refuse to believe death is coming and those who rush to meet it. But there are also people living their final days as best they know how—impromptu weddings, bright burning bonfires, shared meals, and new friends.
And as the black hole draws near, among ball lightning and under a cracked moon in a kaleidoscope sky, Don and Rodney will look back on their lives and ask if their best was good enough.
Is it enough to burn bright if nothing comes from the ashes?
REVIEW:
Oh this short book packs a massive punch. This story follows Rodney and Don, husbands who at the precipice of end of the world, together have a promise to keep that takes them on a journey across states in an apocalyptic time.
The love between the two is undeniable and has weathered years – 40 years and it is a beautiful thing to witness as they meet people unknown, perilous challenges and confront their own past their own failures and their own limitations.
“”You ever think we’d end up in a field in Ohio with hippies?” “I’m surprised it hadn’t happened to us before, to be quite honest.” “Sass,” Rodney said fondly. “Always with the sass.””
The book isn’t heavy but it deals with very heavy topics, topics of death, humanity confronted with it’s end, what people prioritise, what holds them through and how some just can’t make it
“The best of times, the worst of times. But he’s still here, and I know that means something. I know because I choose to believe it, just like I chose to love him.” He looked back at Juniper and Pantomime. “You have a choice. You get to choose who you love. No matter what happens next, no one can take that away from you.””
The message of the gift of growing old with the one you love is quite a theme across the story. The gift of time, things we take for granted in the pursuit of others. It’s a book that will definitely make you think
“We did that. We found people who loved us for who we are. And no matter what happens next, no one can take that away from us.””
Found family, man aiding man is another wonderful theme in the book. While Klune does not shy away from horror of humanity and what it has wrought on the world around us, in the micro, in snapshots is equally our glorious capacity for community and hope.
The ending made me unbearably sad though but that’s also ok. It’s a beautiful book. I definitely recommend checking it out.
RATING: 
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