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We Burned So Bright

The heartfelt and emotional novel from the Sunday Times bestselling author

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We Burned So Bright

By: TJ Klune
Narrated by: Kirt Graves
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Summary

‘Like being wrapped up in a big gay blanket.’ V. E. SchwabThe world is ending in thirty days.

A wandering black hole is approaching Earth, and soon, everything will be gone. For husbands Don and Rodney, forty years of marriage suddenly feels like no time at all.

One last road trip. One final chance to say goodbye.

From the Sunday Times bestselling author of The House in the Cerulean Sea comes a story about what we owe the people we love when time runs out. Don and Rodney are in a race against the clock, driving from Maine to Washington State to settle unfinished business before the sky breaks.

Is it enough to burn bright, even if nothing remains of the ashes?

Along the way, they encounter a world choosing how to spend its final moments—from impromptu weddings and bright bonfires to those simply sharing a final meal. Under a kaleidoscope sky and a cracked moon, Don and Rodney must look back on a lifetime of highs and lows and ask the ultimate question: was our best good enough?

A bittersweet, life-affirming masterpiece about love, legacy, and the beauty of a life well-lived.
Action & Adventure Editors Select Fantasy Romance Marriage Race Against Time

Critic reviews

An evocative rumination on mortality . . . brittle, elegiac, ironic, lit up with flashes of humour
It would be no exaggeration to call this bold and unflinching book the ultimate road trip . . . Terrible and beautiful, haunting and humane: a masterpiece in miniature (Daily Mail)
I loved it. It is like being wrapped up in a big gay blanket. Simply perfect (V. E. Schwab, author of the Shades of Magic series on The House in the Cerulean Sea)
A modern fairy-tale about learning your true nature and what you love and will protect. It’s a beautiful book (Charlaine Harris, author of the Sookie Stackhouse series that inspired HBO's True Blood, on The House in the Cerulean Sea)
Full of faith in the goodness of people . . . It broke my heart with its unflinching understanding that grief never goes away, never empties, only settles into the room of your soul like a strange souvenir (Cassandra Khaw, author of The Library at Hellebore on Under the Whispering Door)
A witty, wholesome fantasy that’s likely to cause heart-swelling (The Washington Post on The House in the Cerulean Sea)
TJ Klune is a master storyteller
All stars
Most relevant
Kirt Graves is utterly brilliant in his performance. This wasn’t mere narration, it’s on a whole other level. I felt every emotion soul deep and it was devastating. This story is on par with everything that I’ve come to expect from TJ Klune’s masterful and compelling storytelling. His layering of characters and world building is unmatched. Be prepared though, this book is not an easy listen.

This one stays with you long after the story ends.

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Loved the narration by the awesome skirt Graves. The characters are fantastic but the story content is bleak and heavy with very distressing themes. Be warned!

Fantastic narration but a very heavy story

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Truly powerful. What a wonderful story about love, history and grief at the end of the world.. (I'm literally crying at 2am)

Powerful!

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Every time TJK - every flipping time, I think I’m done crying and then I’m laughing and crying all over again. This was beautiful!

Heartbreakingly uplifting!

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Narration was excellent- faultless, It kept the story telling going when the writing went “wonky” The play between the vignettes of encounters was entertaining, the relationship between Rodney and Don was credible, enjoyable and as a love story works really well. Without giving a spoiler alert … the ending is pure Hollywood, the story deserved better IMHO

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