The Key Of Solomon: Amber Moon – Hurri Cosmo

Lucas has a low-paying, dead-end job, lives in a tiny apartment, and can count his close friends on one hand. Well, one finger actually, and for all the sympathy she has, it may as well be the middle one. No, Lucas’s life is not one any would truly strive for. However, it keeps him from thinking too much about his distant past and the one man who had gently held his heart… but then ripped it right out of his chest and crushed it under his expensive leather Gucci’s. As a teenager not even out of the closet yet, surviving the fallout became unbearable so Lucas did the only thing he could. He disappeared. 

Fourteen painful years later and Lucas is ready to move on. He’s going to finally kill his unrequited love for Ryder once and for all. 

That’s when the magic of Solomon and his galactic bar sweep in. Seems Lucas had the audacity to query the gods in the form of a fist to the sky. The cosmic bartender couldn’t resist taking up the challenge. Mainly because Solomon holds many keys and one of them just happens to be to Lucas’s happiness. He only needs to convince Lucas of that. 

Shouldn’t be too difficult… right? 

There must have been trigger warnings on bullying and homophobia somewhere or may I didn’t read the blurb carefully. The story was about putting the past behind and second chances. I know Lucas had a tough time in high school, I just wasn’t prepared for all the hate and negativity which significantly dampened my enjoyment of the story.

Lucas was miserable and I couldn’t blame him. He was putting himself down too much and I think he really deserved a clean break from the past. I’m not too sure whether it was Ryder he should be facing or Amber. Amber was the one who hurt him the most and who later became a sort of boogeyman, keeping him from doing what he loved. But a second chance was what he needed and that’s what he needed to let himself have.

With Solomon’s magic, mysterious objects appeared and their significance gradually unfolded. The ones with the artwork was particularly poignant especially when their meaning was later revealed. This was the part that finally convinced me 100% that Ryder does deserved Lucas.

I like the idea of Solomon and his magical bar which reminded me vaguely of the anime, Death Parade. Although, I expected there should be a prologue or a book 0 giving us an introduction to what the whole set up is all about because Solomon literally came out of nowhere. I suppose the mystery is part of his appeal but some backstory would be nice.

Overall, not the strongest first book but still a very interesting concept for a series. This is the kind of world where you can do all sorts of creative twists and I would love to see where the author would take us next.

P.S.

Thank you to IndiGo for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Rating:
3 Stars – not exactly setting my world on fire but I liked it

Soundtrack: Empire Builder
Artist: Laura Gibson
Album: Empire Builder