A Wish Upon the Stars

Review by Trio of Kimmers' Erotic Book Banter: https://bit.ly/2TjtM3c

From the highest highs to the depths of despair, TJ Klune’s Tales From Verania flew me there and back again, and again, and again… I don’t think another series will ever capture my heart quite like this one has, and I’m so sad it’s over.

The spectacular fourth and final episode, 'A Wish Upon the Stars', is everything I’d hoped for. Mr. Klune delivers love, humor, friendship, and yet in spite of some tense moments (and a wee bit of angst) I’d do it all over again in a lightning-struck heartbeat.

If you’ve been thinking of starting this phenomenal read in order series, I’m just going to say it straight up: read if you must, but audio is the way to go! Michael Lesley’s stellar performance brings this tale to life. Honestly, it’s like listening to a Broadway show.

There’s an incredible variety of unique and wondrous characters in this collection and Michael Lesley creates a distinct voice for each personality. I’m sure narrating this story would be exhausting, yet he infuses every line with emotion, and maintains it for over 70 hours! His performance is awe-inspiring.

As much as I loved 'A Wish Upon the Stars', saying goodbye is doubly bittersweet. I’m going to miss the camaraderie of Sam’s band of misfits, the devoted guidance of his wizards, and the passion of true love (Have-Heart Forever!). I’m also going to miss Michael Lesley crooning in my ear. If you haven’t started this incredible journey then get the show on the road with The Lightning-Struck Heart, and by all means… do it in audio!

TJ Klune never disappoints. He has an amazing ability to develop deeply flawed, but lovable characters who you can't help rooting for. He's taken us on an epic journey beginning with The Lightning Struck Heart and culminating in the final exciting/emotional battles in A Wish Upon The Stars. It take real talent to take a reader from tears of laughter to tears of sorrow in a matter of paragraphs but Mr. Klune is a master. I highly encourage any and everyone to take this fun/emotional journey with a wizard, a knight, a unicorn, a half-giant, and a dragon.

“The boy from the slums didn’t know it then, but he was the center of the tapestry woven by the gods, the threads binding themselves to him, wrapping around his arms and legs and throat, trapping him in a web he could not shake himself from.”

I was a little concerned starting this fourth and final novel in the ‘Tales from Verania’ series. Let’s face it, the final chapters of the previous book absolutely devastated me down to my very core. I’ve probably reread those chapters umpteen million times since TJ Klune gave me hardcore, serious Wookie Cry Face. Morgan of Shadows is gone – Myrin consumed him and his magic. Sam left the City of Lockes, in the dead of night, to do what he’d initially told the Great White he wouldn’t - Sam left to spend a year in the Dark Woods with the five dragons of Verania training to become a wizard. So, I was a tad bit worried that Sam might have returned a little more somber and serious. Yeah, the author put that fear to rest immediately.

“I reached up and pulled the hood of my cloak over my head. “I bet I look so badass right now,” I muttered. “All billowing and shit. Fuck yeah. Let’s show these mothercrackers how to get their asses kicked.”

As you can see my fears were significantly unfounded. And even though this is the final book in a series that has seen so many changes in its characters, and so many unsuspecting revelations and climaxes (heh), at the end of the day (or, the read, if you prefer), ‘A Wish Upon the Stars’ is a culmination of everything that has happened before while remaining true to its roots. It’s still an epic quest with three best friends, the dreamiest dream to ever be dreamed, and Sam’s best friend 5eva. The heart of this story is still about family and the power of love to win against almost impossible odds.

Don’t misunderstand me. Much like the three previous installments this story is not all laughter and sass. Oh no. There is plenty of seriousness and Sam matured quite a bit during his time in the Dark Woods becoming a wizard. Sam may have a destiny from the gods and he may be the most powerful wizard in an age, but Sam knows what he wants, and after slaying the villain and returning Verania to its rightful king, Sam will spend the rest of his life HIS way, loving his cornerstone and keeping all of his loved ones safe and happy.

“Because a life lived is a life worth remembering, no matter how long or short it may be. Myrin has forgotten that. The Great White has too. But I haven’t. I will live my life as best I can. I’m going to kick some villain ass, I’m going to fuck some shit up, and then I’m going to live, Randall. And no one, not you, not the Great White, not the gods, can say otherwise. I’m in control of my own destiny. My path may have been set in stone, but stone crumbles, and sometimes we have to forge our own way through.”

My heart was pounding throughout this story. The excitement, adventure, tears, laughter, sexy times, and love kept me on the edge of my seat. The fact that the author had all of this plotted out in advance simply reinforces my belief in his genius. Not to mention the innumerable shout-outs to various cultural classics throughout the years. Now, I have said basically nothing about Myrin and the prophecy. The reason for that is because this book isn’t about Myrin. Yes, he and Sam battle it out, but that’s a tiny portion of this story - although it was truly kickass. Because as I’ve said, these books are about the power of love, of loyalty, of family, doing what has to be done to save the people you love, and wishing upon the stars.

It’s an impossibility to write a review that encompasses everything the ‘Tales from Verania’ series means to me. It’s equally impossible to adequately express my love of this book (I have feelings, people, all the feelings). I’ll just finish with saying the author did what he set out to do and he did it better than I could have ever imagined. Long live HaveHeart, mothercrackers!

NOTE: This book was provided by Dreamspinner Press for the purpose of a review at Rainbow Book Reviews

A Wish Upon the Stars is the fourth and final book in the Tales From Verania series. This epic and awesome saga must be read in order, and if you haven’t already discovered these novels then you are in for an extraordinary reading experience. This series is a masterpiece; the skilfulness of the writing means that it can be read again and again, with the reader discovering new hidden gems with each reading.

We first met Sam Haversford in the slums of Verania in The Lightening Struck Heart. He was a poor, somewhat lonely boy living with his loving and much-loved parents, and was known to sometimes wish upon the stars to “do something that mattered”. He could never imagine that after turning a group of douchebag teenagers to stone he would be discovered by the King’s Wizard, Morgan of Shadows, and begin an apprenticeship that would one day lead him to a Destiny of Dragons (capitalised so it must be true).

As a young apprentice, Morgan sent Sam into the Dark Forest tasked with returning with something unexpected. When Sam returned with a gay hornless unicorn named Gary, and Tiggy, a half giant with the soul of an angel, no one was more surprised than Morgan. Sam, henceforth know as Sam of Wilds, formed a bond of friendship and love with Gary and Tiggy that would carry them through the rest of their days.

One fateful day a teenage Sam laid eyes on “Ryan Foxheart, the dreamiest dream to have ever been dreamed” - it might have been lust at first sight, but as time passed it grew to be so much more. Sam would discover that Ryan was the love of his life and, so much more than that: his cornerstone (the person who would help Sam build his magic into a stable thing), and someone who could help contain the limits of his extraordinary gift.

With his cornerstone at his side, his loving parents, a King who adores him, a Prince who is reluctantly accepting Sam’s determination to make him his 'best friend 5eva', a Dragon named Kevin (who Sam somehow collected on one of his adventures), Morgan and Randall (a curmudgeonly Wizard who had overseen Morgan’s and now Sam’s apprenticeship), Sam is surrounded by all the love and support he needs to become the wizard Verania will need to survive.

The road to hopefully achieving Sam’s Destiny is fraught with great trials and hardship. In A Wish Upon the Stars Sam has suffered great loss, pain, and worst of all, betrayal, and has left everyone he loves behind to meet with the Dragons of Verania in the Dark Forest. They may be his only hope to gain the strength, maturity and skill to fulfil his Destiny. In his absence Verania falls and the powerful Dark wizard, Myrin, now sits on the throne in a city ruled by an alliance of Darks. King Anthony is locked in the dungeon, and Sam’s friends and family have gathered together to form the Resistance - they are trying to hold onto the belief that Sam will one day return and fulfil the prophesy that he will vanquish Myrin and his army of Darks.

Sam returns a changed man. Those he left behind have been changed by circumstance also. Forgiveness will be hard won and it is the bonds that bind him to those who remain that will ultimately determine the fate of Verania. There is a new world order in the resistance and Sam will have to learn to trust in this group, and his fate, if he hopes to prevail.

A Wish Upon the Stars is a masterfully written conclusion to The Tales of Verania series. It will move you to tears many times but you’ll also laugh out loud as this amazing band of brothers and sisters move on to the HEA they so richly deserve. There are many unexpected events and at times you’ll be holding your breath in wonder at the directions TJ Klune takes you and his characters. Will they all survive? Will Sam have the skill and control to defeat one as darkly evil as Myrin? Will Gary get his horn back? So many questions to be answered and such a joy to read the way in which the author weaves his magic to answer them. There are few authors who are capable of writing with the skill and extraordinary imagination of TJ Klune. This book is a superb example of his craft and I can’t recommend it highly enough.
5 fabulous stars - I wish I could give this book and this series even more.

Reviewed by Erin for Diverse Reader

Saying goodbye to a beloved series is never easy, but there are some that are harder to let go of than others. TJ Klune's magical, hilarious, sometimes ridiculous but always full of heart Tales of Verania (or as TJ likes to call it the Destiny Fuck, Yeah! trilogy) series is like that for me. I'm so SO very sad to reach the end of Sam of Wilds' journey, but alas, as the saying goes, all things must come to an end. Or, um, kind of. You'll see what I mean by that in a bit, but suffice it to say A Wish Upon the Stars, the final book in the saga, is every bit worthy of sending our hero and his beloved sidekicks off to their HEA. And then some. This has been a tale of friendship and loyalty. Of family--the kind you're born into and the kind you make. Of magic and bravery. Of love and sacrifice. So, so much love, and SO MUCH sacrifice. It's made me laugh and cry and rage and hold my breath. And it's made me believe that sometimes wishes DO come true, even if they're not always in the exact way you'd expect.



This will be spoiler-free review so it will be vague. If by some strange chance you haven't read the first 3 books in the series, what have you done with your life? Seriously stop right now and do that before you do anything else because really, this review, or what will amount to be a love letter to one of the best series ever, is not for you. It's really not even for anyone who has read the first three because let's be honest, if you've come this far, you've been dying along with the rest of us for the last book to see what will happen next. You don't really need me, or anyone else for that matter, to tell you that the Same we've come to know and love (and want to shake at times) is not the same Sam in A Wish Upon the Stars. Oh, sure, he's cocky and adorable and brave beyond belief and selfish and vulnerable, but he's much more, too. After all, he's just spent the last year in the Dark Woods with The Great White, or GW (and man, I LOVE that Sam calls him this so much) and the other dragons of Verania. He has a destiny to fulfil, he's left the love of his life, his family and friends, and his home to do what has to be done.



I have done everything you've asked of me. And I haven't asked for much in return. I'm not the same person I once was. I know that. But please, let them see me for who I am. Let them love me just the same. I wish for that more than anything. They don't have to forgive me for everything, not right away, but please. Just let them see me for who I am. I'm Sam. I'm Sam. I'm Sam.



Was it the right thing? Well, you're just going to have to read A Wish Upon the Stars to find out.

I'm not going to say a thing about the plot or what happens or if all the questions we've all had over the past three books get answered. TJ has mentioned much more eloquently than I ever could that things will happen you don't expect, so do yourselves a favor and let all of your pre-conceived thoughts and guesses go and just read. Let TJ take you back to Verania where there are knights who are dashing and immaculate. Where a king is a KILF and the prince is Sam's best friend 5eva. Where a hornless gay unicorn and a half-giant are so ridiculous and zany that you laugh until you cry. Where a dragon can be sexually aggressive (and kind of disgustingly so if I'm honest) one moment and the next, he'll bring tears to your eyes as he speaks from his eight hearts and you know he just wants a home and a family. Where there are wizards who make mistakes but do so only with the best of intentions and pay dearly for their mistakes. Where a mom and a dad look at their son as if the sun rises and sets with him and their love shines through. Where a boy from the slums has the weight of the world on his shoulders, where a destiny he never asked for or wanted is thrust upon him and he bravely-even if he kicks and screams while he does it-faces it.



A Wish Upon the Stars is every single thing you hope and want it to be, and probably some stuff you don't. TJ Klune is a master story teller, of that there can be no doubt, and he has given us a series that will stand the test of time. It might be a fantasy, but at its core it is an epic love story with heroes and villains, with magic and the fantastic. With dark and light and death and hope. With family and friends and ridiculousness and so much sass. There's growth and pain and suffering and sacrifice. And there's love. The love of a country. The love of a king. The love of a boy and his parents. Of three friends that would do anything for one another. Of an apprentice and his mentor. Of a wizard and his cornerstone. Of Sam and Ryan.



"But when I wished on the stars to do something important, to be someone who matters, I didn't mean all this. This...destiny. I think I meant you. Because you're my something important. You help me be that someone who matters." I looked away. "You're my wish, you know? I think you always have been."



So, thank you, TJ, for gifting us with these stories that have made us laugh and cry and everything in between. I know I'll never be the same for having read them.



Oh, and that mention above about not the end ... yeah, I'll be over here anxiously awaiting Justin's story. I have no doubt it will be worth the wait.