The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune on March 17, 2020
Genres: Fantasy
Pages: 393
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads
A magical island. A dangerous task. A burning secret.
Linus Baker leads a quiet, solitary life. At forty, he lives in a tiny house with a devious cat and his old records. As a Case Worker at the Department in Charge Of Magical Youth, he spends his days overseeing the well-being of children in government-sanctioned orphanages.
When Linus is unexpectedly summoned by Extremely Upper Management he's given a curious and highly classified assignment: travel to Marsyas Island Orphanage, where six dangerous children reside: a gnome, a sprite, a wyvern, an unidentifiable green blob, a were-Pomeranian, and the Antichrist. Linus must set aside his fears and determine whether or not they’re likely to bring about the end of days.
But the children aren’t the only secret the island keeps. Their caretaker is the charming and enigmatic Arthur Parnassus, who will do anything to keep his wards safe. As Arthur and Linus grow closer, long-held secrets are exposed, and Linus must make a choice: destroy a home or watch the world burn.
An enchanting story, masterfully told, The House in the Cerulean Sea is about the profound experience of discovering an unlikely family in an unexpected place—and realizing that family is yours.
The House in the Cerulean Sea was pure perfection, I adored everything about this book and I don’t even think there is going to be any worst bits because I fell head over heels in love with the story and the characters. I had no idea what I was getting into but I am so glad that I took the time to listen to this one and it is definitely on the my list of favourite books of the year and I don’t think there will be any books that come close to topping it. This book definitely gave me Wayward Children vibes but there was more of the magical creatures than children who had been touched by the magical realm. There were some brilliant commentary on hatred and how difference can divide worlds and people. Basically I loved all the different parts of this book and how it all came together in the end.
The characters in The House in the Cerulean Sea were absolutely fantastic and they each had such a wonderful concept and I think the way it was written was so wonderfully done. My favourite characters were definitely Lucy the anti-christ and Sal. There were parts of the character’s backstory that made me laugh and also sob, there was just a complete well-rounded experience for them all. It made me fall in love with each of them and sympathise with them and what they had been put through as a part of the segregation. I definitely think my favourite part was seeing Linus grow as a person and realise what was important and why each of the characters was important in their own way. I think the growth and development of the characters in this book were some of the best I have ever read and I cannot wait to reread this one to see if I love it as much as I do the second time around. Best characters I have read in a long time!
The best bits of The House in the Cerulean Sea apart from the characters was the relationships and friendships that end up building and growing all the way through the story and plot. I also love the concept of this being based around a social services for magical children and I adored the setup and I think it offered a completely new perspective. Reading Linus’ reports gave me a new view and more of an insight into the world and thoughts of all the kids, I just fell in love with the world and the characters and the setting and the commentary. I adored it all.
Nothing. Absolutely nothing,
YESSS! If you haven’t picked this one up why not? I cannot even think of a book that was more perfect than this one. I will be picking up every other book by TJ Klune and he is definitely an auto-buy author from now on.
Have you read this one? What did you think? Let me know!
Leave a Reply