TJ Klune

We Burned So Bright / TJ Klune

/ Alisha Helms / Leave a comment 
We Burned So Bright
By: TJ Klune
Genre: Novella, Sci-Fi
Number of Pages: 176
Published: April 28, 2026
Publisher: Tor Books
Dates Read: January 31, 2026
Format: ARC / Paperback		ISBN: 9781250881236

Don and Rodney have lived a long life together. They’ve experienced the highs and lows of family and have been together even when they thought it was the end of the world.

Now, with the black hole getting closer and closer, it really is the end of the world. After all the time together, Don and Rodney are in a race against the clock to make it from Maine to Washington to take care of one last thing.

On the road they meet all kinds of characters: some in denial of the end just around the corner and some who are rushing to get to the finish line. As the black hole gets closer and closer, Don and Rodney look back on their lives and ask if what they did was good enough.

Yet again TJ Klune has captured my attention and wouldn’t let it go until the last page. 

It’s a shorter book but still one you want to take your time with. I had the opportunity to read it all on a Saturday and ignored my house chores for a bit 🙂. Each chapter Don and Rodney meet someone else on their black hole journey to death and each new encounter all deserve their own time to digest their story. Each one is a different lens on how we as a society can handle death and grief. One of the girls they met will probably stay with me for quite some time.

And then there’s Jeremy. I could tell pretty early on what Don and Rodney’s goal was but not for who. That story made my heart ache for the men and absolutely I teared up.

Overall, I highly suggest this end of the world novella for those that would be interested in the philosophy of how humans act when they know the end is coming, but it’s also about love, love, and choosing life.

*Thank you NetGalley and Tor Books for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

Stoked For This: February 2025

/ Alisha Helms / Leave a comment

Alright, alright, I know I’m late again! This time, it really was NOT my fault, I tried to get this done last night and my oldest cat, Mushi, was not having it. She was smacking at my iPad’s screen, which kept reacting to her little kitty paws – and every time I tried to type anything, she’d start smacking my hands! I don’t know what she had against me finishing it this, but she was on one!

This month there’s seventeen titles I’m stoked to be released, two of which I’ve already read and reviewed 🙂 There’s quite a few novel in verse titles as well as some silly ones (three novels deal with aliens in someway form or another).

Are you excited for any of these titles??

February 4, 2025

A sci-fi where two men protect a special little girl at all cost – written by one of my favorite authors of all time.

The Bones Beneath My Skin

By: TJ Klune

*This was my first book of 2025 and I absolutely loved it!! Read my review here 🙂

An anthology about the “The Event” – the night the runaway alien posing as Hollywood star, Max Spencer’s rescue turns into an unintentional invasion. 

Why on Earth: An Alien Invasion Anthology

Edited By: Rosiee Thor and Vania Stoyanova

A historical fiction meets mystery in both multi-POV and multi-timeline (1940s & 1980s Germany and 2020 New York) YA filled with rebellion and sacrifices.

Under the Same Stars

By: Libba Bray

In this newly Japanese translated novel, a restaurant’s resident cat will transport you back in time to reunite with a departed loved one. Cue the tears and the tissues.

The Curious Kitten at the Chibineko Kitchen

By: Yuta Takahashi

An action-packed, unflinching examination of the impacts of transphobia adventure intertwined with elements of Jewish mythology. 

A World Worth Saving

By: Kyle Lukoff

A memoir about the love of reading and writing and the relationship between the books that shaped us – aka a book I’m probably going to see myself in within so many pages.

Bibliophobia

By: Sarah Chihaya

February 11, 2025

A novel in verse about a young girl finding her way back after a life changing accident.

It’s All or Nothing, Vale

By: Andrea Beatriz Arango

A novel in verse based on Caribbean folklore with inherited magic and the price we pay for the life we desire.

(S)Kin

By: Ibi Zoboi

Gothic horror novella with sapphic monster romance – only 160 pages!!

But Not Too Bold

By: Hache Pueyo

A companion novel to the ah-mazing novel in verse, Alone, where we’re following kids from their homes into the evacuation camp.

Away

By: Megan E. Freeman

*This was my second book of 2025, you can read my steller review here.

A novel with neurodivergent characters, quirky friendships that explores identity, belonging, and the wonder of being different.

Life Hacks for a Little Alien

By: Alice Franklin

February 18, 2025

A book for nature lovers to meditate on the impact trees have on our lives.

Treenotes: A Year in the Company of Trees

By: Nalini Nadkarni

This book needs no other introduction other than it’s title: I Got Abducted By Aliens and Now I’m Trapped in a Rom-Com

I Got Abducted By Aliens and Now I’m Trapped in a Rom-Com

By: Kimberly Lemming

A historical novel that follows a homeless teenage girl as she struggles to survive during the Great Depression.

A Tiny Piece of Blue

By: Charlotte Whitney

A young adult debut novel about a young woman’s journey to heal from the trauma of trying “to be fixed”.

I Am the Cage

By: Allison Sweet Grant

With elements from The Little Mermaid and Cinderella, this historical fantasy is about one young woman’s love for the sea.

Upon a Starlit Tide

By: Kell Woods

February 25, 2025

A lake monster bands together with a human after the witch is thrown into her lake by her village.

Greenteeth

By: Molly O’Neill

The Bones Beneath My Skin / TJ Klune

/ Alisha Helms / 1 Comment 
The Bone Beneath My Skin
By: TJ Klune
Genre: Science Fiction
Number of Pages: 416
Published: February 4, 2025 (1st Published October 26, 2018)
Publisher: Tor Books
Dates Read: January 4, 2025 - January 16, 2025
Format: Paperback / ARC

In the spring of 1995, Nate Cartwright lost everything: his parents are dead, his older brother wants nothing to do with him, and he lost his journalist job in Washington DC. The only thing he has left is his dad’s old truck, and the family’s empty summer cabin outside the small mountain town of Roseland, Oregon. So he decides to go there to be alone – except, the cabin isn’t empty. A big gruff of a man named Alex is there. And with him is a young girl, who’s not really young, but oh is she extraordinary. She calls herself Artemis Darth Vader.

It becomes clear to Nate that he has two choices. One is to wallow in the memories of his past and drown. Two is the fight for a future he never thought possible. Because it wasn’t by chance Nate met this duo in his cabin, he doesn’t really believe is fate or destiny either – but they’re special, and Nate will do what it takes to keep them free.

Oh I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this book! As always, I was not disappointed by anything TJ Klune writes; there’s found family, gayness, witty humor, and this time, bacon (all the bacon), conspiracy theories, and running from bad men!

I don’t know how Klune is able to write such realistic, multilayered characters that always end up stealing pieces of my heart and never letting it go, but he does so every single time. The little found family of Nate, Alex, and Art will live on forever in my head by the phrase, “How would Art experience this?” when going through life.

This book is more science fiction over Klune’s usual (recent) releases of fantasy, and there is a small spice scene, but I wouldn’t classify this as a sole romance. There’s more focus on the found family portion as well as Nate coming to terms with his past.

Overall, this is a wonderful, thrilling, fast pace, page turner filled with a blend of the supernatural and of the human experience that is a must-read for all.

*Thank you Tor Books and NetGalley for a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

Somewhere Beyond the Sea / TJ Klune

/ Alisha Helms / 1 Comment 
Somewhere Beyond the Sea
By: TJ Klune
Genre: Fantasy
Number of Pages: 416
Published: September 10, 2024
Publisher: Tor Books
Dates Read: August 14, 2024 - August 23, 2024
Format: ARC / Paperback

In the sequel to The House in the Cerulean Sea, readers are taken back to the magical house filled with very special children.

Arthur works and loves hard so none of the children under his care feel the neglect and pain he experienced at the same house years ago. He’s not alone though. The love of his life, Linus Baker, a former caseworker in the Department In Charge of Magical Youth, is by his side. And the island sprite, Zoe Chapelwhite, and her girlfriend, Mayor Helen Webb. Together, they will do anything to protect the children.

But when Arthur is summoned to make a public statement about his past, he finds himself in a fight to save his family, and for the future all magical people deserve.

Then they meet David, a magical child who hopes to join them on their island. David finds power in calling himself a monster, a name that Arthur has worked so hard to protect his children from. Will their family grow stronger or will they fall apart?

Right, so I love TJ Klune and as a Book Group Coordinator at my library, I’m always putting The House in the Cerulean Sea into groups’ hands – even my groups that only tend to only want historical fiction. They all come back and love it (obviously). That being said – I have been talking nonstop about the sequel and how excited I am to read it.

It didn’t disappoint! I laughed out loud at the children’s antics so many times. And of course, it wouldn’t be a TJ Klune book without me shedding a tear at least once (or twice). It’s the love of a found family that always gets me and how much each of these characters love, protect, and grow with each other that pull at my heartstrings.

This is a cozy, delightful, and heartfelt fantasy novel with a found family. These characters will make you feel every emotion they’re feeling and more. You’ll love them. You’ll hate them. You’ll want to visit the house in the cerulean sea again and again.