After the cliffhanger of Flash Fire, I wasn’t sure what to expect with this one. I was approved for a copy a few months ago and of course, sat on it for too long and missed the archive date.* Thankfully, I had downloaded a copy so was able to finish it up on the plane flying out to Chicago earlier this week.
The beginning was a little bit rough as there seemed to be a key piece of information missing from the story, but I figured out pretty quickly what was going on. It was all connected to the cliffhanger of Flash Fire so spoiler warning for after the jump.
Klune kept all of the humor and hilarity that he is known for and if anything ramped it up even more in this book. Seriously, the Dad Squad moments were hilarious, the sex talks between Nick and his dad were always worth a chuckle, and the genuine love and humor between the core group of friends just made this final book in the series a great conclusion.
‘He’s a good guy,’ Nick said, rubbing his own tears away on Dad’s shirt.
‘He is. You both remind me of . . . how it was for me and your mother. And I hope you get to experience what we had because no matter how it ended, it was good. So damn good. Maybe that’ll be with Seth. Maybe it’ll be with someone else, but I want that for you.’
‘Me too. I think it’ll be with Seth, though.’
‘Yeah?’
‘Yeah. If you didn’t scare him away with the banana on the condom or the dental dams or the unfortunate enema demonstration, I have a feeling he’ll stick around.’ He glared at his father. ‘Which you know. What in the absolute hell is wrong with you?’
‘So many things,’ Dad said. ‘But I have no regrets; the look on your face each time was worth it.’ He twisted his mouth, eyes bulging comically from his head as he pitched his voice high and said, ‘But, Dad. You’re embarrassing me in front of everyone!’ (Chapter 13)
As hinted at above, I had some issues with the start of the novel. It very much felt like an in medias res but in the middle of a story already. There was a jump between the end of the second to this book, or at least that’s what it felt like. Klune I think had it last a little longer than it should have which made that first climax of the novel a little underwhelming, only because it dragged on that little bit too long. Once I figured it out I just kept waiting for the reveal and when it finally happened I was just sort of ‘okay, now what.’ Which was disappointing because I was 100% on board with it being Nick’s mom, but there were enough hints early on that I figured out it wasn’t, but I wasn’t sure who the imposter was or how they were connected. That did pull me back into the storyline and I was onboard and reading eagerly to the end even though, again, I figured out how everything was going to play out, but Klune’s humor kept me interested and engaged.
‘I used to have this dream. Of the sexy variety. Me and Han Solo in a hot tub.’
Seth gaped at him. ‘You had sex dreams about Han Solo?’
‘Yep,’ Nick said. ‘And I don’t even feel bad about it. Believe me when I say that Han shot first.’
Jazz began to giggle, Gibby following soon after, arms wrapped around her stomach as she rolled back and forth. Seth snorted, shaking his head. ‘I’ll give you that, Nicky. I’m not even jealous.’
‘You shouldn’t be,’ Nick told him. ‘You’re better.’
(Chapter 15)
Klune did a great job with Nick and Seth moving to the next step of their relationship and, honestly, I was so glad that the end of the novel wasn’t about them, but about Jazz and Gibby. I legit teared up (the main reason it got bumped to 5 stars from 4) and was just like awwwwwwww, swoon. I kind of wish there was more of a story between the end of the action and the afterward, but it was kind of nice not actually knowing what happened and there only being a vague reference to Nick’s 21st birthday and the proposal that was incoming. It was just perfect.
Why try and kill people when you could do other things like read a book or go to a museum? (Chapter 11)
Recommendation: For me, the hardest part about reading Klune is getting into his voice. For some reason each time I go back to a book by him it takes me a few pages/chapters to get into it and then all of a sudden it clicks and I fly through. The series got progressively better, but now having finished it I think I preferred his stand-alone novels (The House in the Cerulean Sea and Under the Whispering Door and that I’m not surprised as I think those were more designed for adult readers rather than young adult readers.
*I received a copy of Heat Wave via NetGalley in return for my honest opinion. No goods or money were exchanged.
Opening Line: “Near dusk, shadows stretched like reaching darkness, the heat from the summer day like molten claws to the chest, digging into the beating heart of a city under siege.”
Closing Line: “‘We’re extraordinary.’ Nicholas Bell whispered as he closed his eyes. And breathed.” (Whited out to avoid spoilers, highlight to read.)
I’ll come back to your review after I read the book. So excited!
Can’t wait to hear your thoughts. I enjoyed it overall but had a few critiques 😀