Klune suffers from overwriting, but a little of that can be almost charming. Unfortunately, too much of it can grate. Not to mention the nearly unforgivable--having Dominic change character in order to give him an autistic son.
Hopefully, Klune's writing will tighten up and his characters will stay true in the next installment of the Bear, Otter, and The Kid story.
In the meantime, here's a snippet of my review of the latest part of the saga, The Art of Breathing by TJ Klune:
The saga of Bear, Otter, and the Kid continues with laughter and tears, this time from the Kid's viewpoint as he grows into manhood and the people around him change.
The Kid, Tyson Thompson, who lives with his brother Bear and Bear's husband Otter in Seafare, Oregon, is ready to graduate from high school at age 15 and is dithering about going off to Dartmouth in New Hampshire for college.
At his graduation party, Tyson, after coming out as gay in his valedictorian speech, spies his best friend Dominic, the love of his life, kissing a woman in a secluded corner. Heartbroken, Tyson goes off to college and refuses to see or speak with Dom during that time.
When he returns from Dartmouth, having been suspended from school and having been diagnosed with panic disorder and having broken free of the addictive drugs he was taking for it, Tyson is stunned to find Dominic divorced and the father of an autistic son.
But Tyson can't dwell on Dom's life for the past four years because he's still trying to get himself together and figure out who he really is. He needs to reconcile his panic disorder, his relationship with his family--including his neglectful mother and younger sister--and his homosexuality.
He's had a short near-relationship with his best friend, bisexual Kori/Corey, with whom he goes to Tucson to meet Kori/Corey's friends. But for the most part, this book is the Kid's coming of age and finding himself in the weird, wacky world of TJ Klune's Seafare.
Read the rest of the review at The Romance Reviews.
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