Review: Murmuration by TJ Klune

Title: Murmuration

Author: TJ Klune

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press

Length: 324 Pages

Category: Sci-Fi, Historical

At a Glance: I can’t say enough about how fantastic this book is, how amazing the writing is, or how much I think you should go read it. Like, now.

Reviewed By: Jules

Blurb: In the small mountain town of Amorea, it’s stretching toward autumn of 1954. The memories of a world at war are fading in the face of a prosperous future. Doors are left unlocked at night, and neighbors are always there to give each other a helping hand.

The people here know certain things as fact:

Amorea is the best little town there is.

The only good Commie is a dead Commie.

The Women’s Club of Amorea runs the town with an immaculately gloved fist.

And bookstore owner Mike Frazier loves that boy down at the diner, Sean Mellgard. Why they haven’t gotten their acts together is anybody’s guess. It may be the world’s longest courtship, but no one can deny the way they look at each other.

Slow and steady wins the race, or so they say.

But something’s wrong with Mike. He hears voices in his house late at night. There are shadows crawling along the walls and great clouds of birds overhead that only he can see.

Something’s happening in Amorea. And Mike will do whatever he can to keep the man he loves.

Review: “I’m not very good at this.”

“At what?”

“You.”

“You’re very good at me. Maybe the best of all.”

Much has been made about the things TJ Klune has said about this book—which actually hasn’t been much—and when you read it you’ll understand why. But, perhaps the biggest chatter has come from him saying, “Murmuration is arguably the most romantic thing I’ve written.” I know that was the thing that caught my eye! There will be people who maybe don’t agree with that assessment after reading the book, but I absolutely do. I mean, take the above quote for example. And, how about this one?

“I’ll love you today. I’ll love you tomorrow. And every day after. Nothing will change that.”

It’s incredibly romantic. Mike and Sean made me swoon on nearly every page. Individually they were lovely characters. Set in a lovely time period. And together they were even better. In the midst of a wonderful courtship, in a perfect town. Sound pretty idealistic? Well—that’s Amorea for you. The year is 1954, and in Amorea all is right with the world. In fact, Amorea is everything that was good about America in the 50s. Another thing Klune said he set out to do with this book was to write a love letter to 1950s Americana. He absolutely nailed it.

Annnnnnnnnnd that’s all I can really say about the book! *falls over laughing* It’s true, though! I don’t think I’ve ever written a review that was so fraught with the danger of spoilers before. We’re talking spoiler danger akin to when The Sixth Sense came out in theaters. There is literally almost NOTHING else I can say without worrying about ruining it. Several different movies and books came to mind while I was reading Murmuration—but, I can’t really mention them because…everybody say it along with me…spoilers. There will be times you will think you know what’s going on—and you may even be correct—but you will still not know what’s going to happen. You’ll see the word ‘mindfuck’ used over and over with regard to this book. That it is, folks. It’s a giant mindfuck, but every single page of torture is glorious.

Since I have to keep things so close to the vest, I thought it might be funny to share a little bit of my reading experience with you. Here are some actual notes from my Kindle and my memo pad:

HO-LY SHIT 19%
 
Ack!! WTF??? 27%
 
I wondered how long it would take before [delete spoilery comment] was mentioned. 38%
 
Mystery still going strong at 38%—though I no longer think [more spoilery phrasing deleted]…
 
Gah! This book! What is going onnnnn???!!?? 45%
 
Dude. This is so bonkers.
 
Fuuuuuuck…60%
 
TJ better fix this shit in a hurry. 88%
 
Donald always singing [spoilery song title removed]…this is the cray.
 
95% What am I fucking reading?!?

(Sorry for all of the swearing. You can blame TJ.)

Look, though! At ninety-five percent I was STILL freaking out! I wish I could be in every person’s head as they read this book. I bet TJ does, too.

Murmuration is extraordinary. I’ve read the ending three times and am still in shock and awe over what Klune was able to accomplish with this book. There is SO much to keep track of, you guys. So much he had to build up for the reader. There is a lot of repetition, maybe some of which wasn’t needed, but most of which was necessary to keep the reader grounded in a particular scenario. I loved what he said about a murmuration being ‘dancing chaos’. So true. And so fitting for all that happens in this story.

I can’t say enough about how fantastic this book is, how amazing the writing is, or how much I think you should go read it. Like, now.

You can buy Murmuration here:
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