Audiobook ARC Review: The Lightning-Struck Heart by T.J. Klune

From the 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 is 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. Sir Ryan Foxheart, the dreamiest dream to have ever been dreamed. 

Naturally, it all goes to hell through the years 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. 

Heather's rating:







My original review from 2015 of the book can be found here.

Previous rating: 3.5 stars
Audiobook re-read rating: 3.5 stars for the story, 5+++ stars for the narration = 4.5 stars overall

*I'm going to focus the majority of this review on the audio portion. If you want to read a more detailed review on the story then check out my previous review of the ebook.*

Now, I've said this before and I'll say it again- I'm a HUUUUUUGE T.J. Klune fan. HUGE. I've read nearly everything he has written (I might have missed one book), and I've never given him less than 3.5 stars. He is one of my favorite authors of all time, but this series... yeah, it didn't quite work for me the first time around.



Don't get me wrong, I liked it, but I found the characters too similar to those from Tell Me It's Real and Bear, Otter, and the Kid, and the plot to be too long with too much meandering. Of course, I adored the humor (as all die-hard TJ fans would), but I felt exasperated by the end by how long it took the MCs to get together.

I was ready to put this whole series aside with a shrug, but all of my friends have NOT STOPPED TALKING about the audiobook narration of The Lightning-Struck Heart.

When the audiobook first came out, I was not familiar with Michael Lesley so I wasn't willing to take the chance. I hate giving bad ratings to authors that I personally like, so I didn't want to hate the narration and give the book less than 3-stars. However, I decided to take a chance with the audiobook of Tell Me It's Real (also by Michael Lesley), which is a comfort-read of mine, and see how it went. And it was awesome. So, I figured, what the hell.

I've listened to a LOT of audiobooks (over 250), and I can safely say that Michael Lesley's narration of this book is among the best I've listened to. He was just outstanding, like he OWNED this book, and I am truly stunned as to the quality of the work. Michael mastered no less than 20 separate and unique voices (there are a LOT of side characters!), and put his ALL into the narration.

It also helps that Michael has just the right cadence, the right delivery, and the right vibe for this story. He sounds young enough to pull off the younger characters but can pitch his voice just so for the older ones. He can do sexy voices, creepy voices, and funny voices. His voice for Tiggy was GOLD (<---my any="" book="" br="" favorite="" in="" of="" the="" voices="">
When I met Michael Lesley in person, he told me that he likes to do accents. I was a little dubious, because a bad accent can be... sad... but his accents were so perfectly done. Sure, it helps that this book is a fantasy so the people don't actually have to be from anywhere in particular, but he made those accents feel natural.

TJ Klune hit the jackpot with him, and he should be thanking his lucky stars that such a perfect-fitting narrator came his way.

My final rating is a full star higher because I really enjoyed the book in audio and Michael Lesley deserves heaps of praise for his work. Still, narration aside, the book is funny, charming, and romantic, even if it won't rank up there in my favorites from TJ. I'm hoping A Destiny of Dragons wins me over even more.

*Copy provided by Dreamspinner Press in exchange for an honest review*
<---my any="" book="" br="" favorite="" in="" of="" the="" voices="">

<---my any="" book="" br="" favorite="" in="" of="" the="" voices="">Buy this audiobook: 

<---my any="" book="" br="" favorite="" in="" of="" the="" voices="">Amazon, Audible, iTunes

<---my any="" book="" br="" favorite="" in="" of="" the="" voices="">
<---my any="" book="" br="" favorite="" in="" of="" the="" voices="">
<---my any="" book="" br="" favorite="" in="" of="" the="" voices="">
<---my any="" book="" br="" favorite="" in="" of="" the="" voices="">
<---my any="" book="" br="" favorite="" in="" of="" the="" voices="">Enjoy, my friends!
<---my any="" book="" br="" favorite="" in="" of="" the="" voices="">
<---my any="" book="" br="" favorite="" in="" of="" the="" voices="">
<---my any="" book="" br="" favorite="" in="" of="" the="" voices="">

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