Reviews with content warning for Hate crime - The House in the Cerulean Sea

My heart is too full of love for this book that I can’t figure out what to say. The characters are beyond lovable; they’re perfection. Linus Baker, you sweet adorable man. I’m so grateful for being able to watch your journey. I felt seen the entire time.
A couple quotes out of context:

They already were my friends. I want rubies.
He dreams of a future that he may never have. And while his dreams may seem small, they are still his and his alone.
I don’t know how to be anyone but who I already am. This is how I’ve always been. It’s not much, but I do the best I can with what I have.
But that’s the funny thing about wishes. Sometimes all it took to make them come true was a first step.

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lindseyhall44's review against another edition

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emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

“He’d accepted long ago that some people, no matter how good their heart was or how much love they had to give, would always be alone. It was there lot in life, and Linus had figured out, at the age of twenty seven, that it seemed to be that way for him. Oh, there was no specific event that brought along this line of thinking. It was just that he felt…dimmer than others. Like he was faded in a crystal clear world. He wasn’t meant to be seen”

Oh how I love love, and this book is chock full of it. There is romantic love, a familial love, a love of humanity, and a love of storytelling that make this novel all that it is. I cannot wait to read more from this author

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alyssaszuch's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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evann140's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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wild_rabbits's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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witcheep's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Kirja tuo esiin ennakkoluulojen kohtaamista ja erilaisuuden – ei vain hyväksymistä, vaan myös – arvostamista saarnaamatta. Taustalla pilkistelee tämän tästä ajatus siitä, että jokaista tulisi arvostaa omana itsenään, ja jokaista tulisi pitää keskenään tasa-arvoisena henkilönä eroavuuksista riippumatta. Näitä teemoja tarkastellaan kirjassa sekä yksilötason kokemuksina että laajemmin yhteiskunnallisena ongelmana.

Maagisiin henkilöihin tutustuminen pakottaa päähenkilö Linus Bakerin tarkastelemaan omia käsityksiään ja asenteitaan uudessa valossa:

"Vaikka te ette kohtaakaan ennakkoluuloja jokapäiväisessä elämässänne, se ei estä niitä esiintymästä meidän muiden elämässä."

Ennakkoluulot erilaisuutta kohtaan satuttavat kaikkia. Jos Linus ei olisi ollut valmis kuulemaan muita ja yrittämään elää sopuisasti, hän olisi jäänyt paitsi monista hienoista asioista aina rakkaista henkilöistä ja paikoista onnellisempaan elämään. Linus ei siis voi enää sulkea silmiään ongelmalta, joka koskettaa hänelle tärkeitä henkilöitä.

Linusta – ja samalla lukijaa – herätellään siihen, että itselle tärkeät ihmiset voivat löytyä sattumaltakin, ja heidän puoliaan on pidettävä sen sijaan, että eläisi itse tyytyväisenä kuplassaan vain itsestään ja kaltaisistaan välittäen:

"Koti ei aina ole se talo, jossa asuu. Se on myös ihmiset, joilla päätämme ympäröidä itsemme. [--] Sinun kuplasi, mr. Baker, on puhkaistu. Miksi antaisit sen kasvaa takaisin ympärillesi?"

Teos pyrkii herättelemään lukijaa siihen, että kun silmät on yksilötasolla avattu läheisten elämään vaikuttavalle ongelmalle, on yhteiskunnallisen vaikuttamisen aika: tulisi pyrkiä kohti maailmaa, jossa jokainen voi olla turvallisesti oma itsensä ja sellaisena arvokas sekä tasavertainen yhteiskunnan jäsen. Teoksen viesti on, että muutos kohti tätä parempaa maailmaa lähtee yksittäisistä henkilöistä ja kuka tahansa voi vaikuttaa. Vaikka viesti esitetään fantasiamaailman erilaisten maagisten olentojen kohdalla, se on erityisen tärkeä myös nykypäivän arkitodellisuudessa, joka etenkin somessa kuplautuu ja polarisoituu hyvin herkästi.

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astrangewind's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

The House in the Cerulean Sea is a gem of a book, & TJ Klune is a gem of an author.

Being queer & autistic, I have often felt othered throughout my life by virtue of who I am. The story of Arthur Parnassus & his wards teaches us that it's not who we're born to, or what we are, that defines us; it's how we treat others. & poor, misguided Linus Baker teaches us that it's never too late to change your mind, to learn to accept, to love, to let color into your life despite said color turning your world upside down.

Truly, Linus learns what really matters and where he belongs, casting aside his grey, corporate existence & finding his stride. He learns to love those who are different, & to use his connections (& newfound confidence) to keep them safe.

Klune's love stories, too, are flawlessly executed. As a queer person, it's important for me to see representation, but not just any representation - representation that's kind, & whole, & free of tragedy. The central love story (

Linus & Arthur,

though that's not hard to guess) isn't a story of coming out, or being hurt, or being discriminated against for their queerness; it's as normal as any non-queer relationship, & so little attention is drawn to the fact that they like men. It's so necessary to have queer stories where queerness is normalized.

This same principle shows up with the children, too. Talia - a female gnome, who is also a child - has a beard, as she should. I'm also a big fan of media where the dragons (or wyverns) are friends instead of enemies. Everything that the children are is normalized.

Truly, I don't think anyone else would've been able to pull off the Antichrist bit, too.

While I did love this book, it started to drag its feet by the end. It seems like the last quarter of it was just characters monologuing at each other, and then the other side just magically changing their minds after being lectured. (I do love a happy ending, but I love a realistic happy ending more.) It just moved so slowly, & was extremely heavy-handed in terms of the message. This was perhaps intentional, but the book was doing fine getting across the message without the monologuing. Reminds me of trying to hit an essay word count in high school. Really, though, this is a minor thing in comparison with the rest of the book, which I deeply, deeply, enjoyed.

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