Olive Juice by T J Klune

I never read teasers, excerpts or reviews before I read a book. I lightly scan the blurb preferring instead to be tempted by the tag line, author and cover. That’s just my thing and most of the time that works for me. I love TJ Klune’s books, they make me laugh out loud and I really enjoy his sense of humour and quirky characters so it’s a real treat when a new one comes along. Olive Juice came out and I downloaded it because he’s a ‘go to’ author and I sat down expecting…not what I got.

I was expecting weird and whacky humour and outlandish characters and something hilarious to explain the context of the title name. Nope, not what I got.

I was expecting a bit of a fairy tale with some high jinx and sexual shenanigans. Nope, didn’t get that either.

What I did get was this.

A beautifully constructed and sensitively written story of love and loss. Two men so utterly lost and bereft that only their bond with each other can possibly save them from a life of continual emotional turmoil, guilt, and what if’s. There seems scant reprieve for them from the weight of their loss but little flickers of hope break through the walls of despair that their situation has built around them, and we read how two broken human spirits find a way to begin to repair. The one thing that will put David and Phillip right again is likely never to happen and it has caused a rift in their marriage so huge it seems impossible to heal, but love is supposed to conquer all and this story shows us how maybe that’s true.

I cried most of the way through this book for all the sorrow and pain these two husbands, lovers and fathers have had to bear. I was totally absorbed by their tale and I don’t think I even drew a breath apart from a sob now and again, until I reached the conclusion. Was I right not to read the blurb beforehand? I’d say yes, because once again TJ Klune has given me something unexpected and unspoilt to be treasured. Reading this book was a full body experience and it has left me feeling grateful and blessed for everything I have in my life.