Synopsis:
We Burned So Bright is the heartfelt, queer, road trip of a novel from TJ Klune, the Sunday Times bestselling author of the Cerulean Chronicles and The Bones Beneath My Skin
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 forty 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, 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:
What happens when a black hole destined to destroy everything makes people reflect on their lives?
Two elderly husbands venture on a road trip during the end times to carry out something very important to them.
This is short and sweet. It is reflective and bittersweet, often mixing horror, dread, and anxiety with humour.
You do have to suspend your belief. This is not at all scientifically accurate (even though the sci-fi geek in me wanted more, especially in terms of all of the planets being torn apart and the repercussions of gravity etc).
This is mostly dialogue that ponders on different kinds of acceptance. Acceptance of age, end of life, sexuality, being unable to mould other people, the end of the world….
“Do we live to be remembered?” Don asked. “Or do we live to live?”
I don’t think the big secret driving the plot (and characters) onwards is anything shocking, but it does add another layer of pain, emotion, and compassion.
It is almost like TJ Klune meets Frederik Backman.
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