Heart-wrenching recollections that reduce readers to tears? Of course. Passages of dark humor and extreme wit? Absolutely. Blunt yet elegant writing style? Obviously.

Readers searching for an alluring memoir that truly captures the essence of life are in luck with Michael Ausiello’s novel “Spoiler alert: the hero dies.”

Many fans and television extraordinaires have counted on Ausiello to bring them the latest news on their favorite actors/actresses and television shows for the past decade. Ausiello’s media and journalism career began at Soaps In Depth magazine in 1997 where he launched his famous “Ask Ausiello” column. From there he ventured to other top name entertainment companies such as TVGuide.com, Entertainment Weekly, and Entertainment Tonight before founding his own entertainment website TVLine.com.

While fans have heavily relied on Ausiello to quickly bring them up to speed on their favorite stars and television programs, many are unaware of a great personal tragedy that took place during the midst of his career. Ausiello’s long-term boyfriend of thirteen years Kit Cowan was diagnosed with an extremely aggressive and rare form of neuroendocrine cancer. After eleven difficult months battling the illness, Cowan succumbed to the disease in February of 2015.

This extraordinarily composed story outlines the last year of Cowan’s life while providing bits and pieces from the thirteen years preceding it. Ausiello manages to recount their last year together, their first date, their fights, and everything in between without losing his hilarious yet truthful voice. “Spoiler alert: the hero dies,” is not a sorrow-filled tale detailing loss, but an inspirational one that demonstrates the strength of true love and exemplifies a bond that even death cannot break.

Even though the events and people portrayed in this novel are quite real, Ausiello captures and depicts each moment like a fictional story in such a way that the reader feels not as if they are reading of someone else’s life but watching these events happen to a close friend.

Unlike many novels in which readers are unable to set the book down for hours at a time, people will be forced to set this one aside as they are no longer able to perceive words through an army of tears. The novel itself does not cause tears through sorrowful memories and events as much as the reader comprehends pure, heartfelt experiences while also remembering the novel’s end result.

Along with the book’s up-close and personal feel, it perfectly captures the essence of life and the human condition as well as raw emotions of intense love, loss, guilt, anger, and fear. Instead of portraying his spouse and himself in some fairytale perfect light, Ausiello shows their relationship as it truly was. Their relationship was not perfect. They fought. They almost broke up. They went to counseling. They were both deeply flawed. However, it is these simple truths that encompass and illustrate how life genuinely is.

This book, no matter how enchanting it may be, does contain quite a bit of profanity and sexual language. While these items simply enhance the situations and mood of the book as a whole, readers with a problem in either area should probably pick a different book.

“Spoiler alert: the hero dies” is a compelling and eye-opening recount that allows people to better analyze their lives through its detailed testament of true love. Whether readers are fans of Ausiello’s work, simply in the mood for a beautifully composed yet heartbreaking memoir, or want the chance to reflect on their own life through the tale of someone else’s, this book is the perfect choice.