ALC Review: We Burned So Bright by TJ Klune
We Burned So Bright
Author: TJ Klune
Narrator: Kirt Graves
To Be Published: April 28, 2026
Audiobook: 6 hours 25 minutes
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Listened To: March 24-27, 2026
Jessica’s Rating: 5 stars
Book Description:
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 wandering 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?
Jessica’s Review:
This book will be in my Top 10 of 2026 and I cannot see anything beating it. We still have many months to go for 2026, but it really seems like We Burned So Bright will be my number one read this year. What would you find yourself doing if you only had a month left to live? There is no doubt about this fact as a black hole is coming towards Earth and the rest of our solar system, destroying everything in its path.
Our story focuses on Don and Rodney, husbands who have been together for over forty years. Now in their mid-70s, with the end of the world rapidly approaching they find themselves on a cross-country trip with a final destination in mind. They are determined to complete it before Earth and everything on it says its final goodbyes. Over the course of their journey, Don and Rodney come across a variety of people each facing their grief of the inevitable end in a variety of ways.
We Burned So Bright is a compelling heartbreakingly emotional read. I listened to an audio copy and the listener feels a sense of urgency: Will Don and Rodney reach their destination and goal before the end comes? The urgency increases as the novel progresses as it becomes even more apparent that this is in fact the end. The reason for their cross-country trip is slowly uncovered over the course of the novel and it is ultimately heartbreaking.
The narrator Kirt Graves is seemingly a perfect fit for this novel. He helps the listener experience everything the characters do and as the novel progresses, with Graves narration I could visually see what Don and Rodney experienced in my mind. This is the sign of a great narrator and superb writing by Klune.
The listener does get some LGBTQ history as we learn about Don and Rodney’s past through flashbacks of their long history together. Given they are a gay couple, the listener experiences what life was like for the two during the chaos of the time that they lived which includes the AIDS crisis. We Burned so Bright is a deeply touching novel that will stay with me for a while. Though I did not cry, I can see some readers/ listeners shedding some tears. For such a short read, it creates a lasting impact and everyone should read this one.
Many thank you to the publisher for granting me an advanced copy to listen to and review. I am going to have to purchase the Barnes and Noble Exclusive Edition, as I will have to have that version on my shelf of favorite novels.
Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Barnes and Noble Exclusive Edition
Audiobook Review: The Humans by Matt Haig
The Humans
Author: Matt Haig
Narrator: Mark Meadows
Published: May 9, 2013
Audiobook: 8 hours 11 minutes
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Listened To: May 6-11, 2025
Jessica’s Rating: 3.5 stars
Book Description:
When an extraterrestrial visitor arrives on Earth, his first impressions of the human species are less than positive. Taking the form of Professor Andrew Martin, a leading mathematician at Cambridge University, the visitor wants to complete his task and return home to his planet and a utopian society of immortality and infinite knowledge.
He is disgusted by the way humans look, what they eat, and the wars they witness on the news, and is totally baffled by concepts such as love and family. But as time goes on, he starts to realize there may be more to this weird species than he has been led to believe. He drinks wine, reads Emily Dickinson, listens to Talking Heads, and begins to bond with the family he lives with, in disguise. In picking up the pieces of the professor’s shattered personal life, the narrator sees hope and redemption in the humans’ imperfections and begins to question the very mission that brought him there–a mission that involves not only thwarting human progress…but murder.
Jessica’s Review:
This was a book club read for May. Overall, I did enjoy it; I just had some issues with the narrator. An unnamed alien takes over the form of Math professor Andrew Martin because he (Andrew Martin) made a math discovery which could cause the human race to gain advantages in their development as a species. This could be a detriment to them, so the unnamed narrator is sent to destroy all evidence of the discovery…. and more.
This is the basic synopsis of the story but the journey this unnamed narrator goes on is the entire story. His first thoughts of humans are that they are ugly (especially their noses)! I wondered why a nose was on the cover of the book. And then you read it and know! Humans are also greedy, selfish, and worse!
I was entertained with our unnamed narrator and his discovery of the necessity of clothing for humans at the beginning of his journey. Along with the after-effects of that throughout the novel. The reader sees the ‘new’ Andrew Martin with his family and in a way the ‘new’ Andrew Martin becomes human: He begins to experience empathy, love, understanding and more. But this ‘new’ Andrew Martin also makes mistakes as we humans do. He then has a conundrum of sorts: Complete his mission and return to his home planet or stay in human form.
This book was entertaining and I did giggle quite a bit. I did have some issues with the narrator; he did not totally work for me. His narration was a bit flat and toneless, which made it harder for me to listen to. I did get used to it, but it didn’t really work for me. This could also be the narrator’s interpretation and presentation of the alien character. The narration did cause me to rate this novel 3.5 stars.
It is a good book, but I would say read it over listening to the narration.
Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Audiobook Review: eMortal by Steve Schafer
eMortal
Author: Steve Schafer
Narrators:
Rebecca H. Lee
Stacy Carolan
Published: November 15, 2024
Audiobook: 8 hours 35 minutes
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Listened To: February 17-22, 2025
Jessica’s Rating: 5 stars
Book Description:
She made him. He’s just code. She’s almost sure.
…But what if he’s real?
When Liv entered a contest to code an advanced AI, she never anticipated what her creation might become-Breck is thoughtful, self-aware, and incredibly. . .human. And she certainly never intended for him to learn the truth about his existence or the fact that his world ends when the contest closes in six days.
But he does learn. And he revolts.
Liv’s efforts to save him fall on deaf ears. Nobody believes her. Breck’s efforts to outrun his fate only complicate his situation.
What neither of them know is that someone else is watching. Intensely. When they get involved, both Liv’s and Breck’s worlds are turned upside down. . .
Jessica’s Review:
This book was an unexpected surprise. I went in not expecting much and this book ended up being a complete 180 from that. It was such an engrossing novel! I never expected it to go in the direction it went in. eMortal leaves you thinking about where we are very quickly going with AI and sentience. The machines are alive: Or are they? Skynet is coming for you… And we are doomed! AI can have… feelings!?!?!
Liv has entered a contest to code an advance AI and the winner receives a glorious internship that she could only dream of. The contest is nearing the end and her creation Breck is seemingly becoming self-aware, has deep thoughts, and just seems human. But Breck is not aware that when the contest is over, so is he.
We have dual narrations of both Liv and Breck, the AI she created. We see Liv’s home life and with Breck we see the challenges he is working on for the contest. All while seemingly becoming more ‘real’.
Both narrations were intriguing for me, but Breck takes it all. You can see him evolving into something, and he begins to question so many things. I adored Breck, while his and Liv’s situations leave you thinking. There are so many thoughts this book leaves you with such as Who Am I?, Why are we (humans) here?, and Can AI learn and develop emotions? Are they truly alive?
The narrators both did an extraordinary job. Rebecca H. Lee was great a Liv while Stacy Carolan was perfect as Breck for me!
The surprising direction the book takes just adds to the thoughts the book leaves you with. This was my first book by Schafer and I really glad I came across it. Many thanks to the publisher BooksGoSocial for offering it on NetGalley as a “Listen Now”. I might not have ever found this book otherwise.
Something fun for you to do, which I also did: If you go on the author’s website you can actually converse with Breck. He will ask you lots of questions!
eMortal is a must read!
This is Breck on the author’s website. Feel free to converse with him!
Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
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