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

Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

25 reviews

elliptica's review against another edition

hopeful inspiring 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

4.0

This book had tears welling in my eyes at one point. And no matter what I was just hoping for a happy ending. The ending did seem *too easy* though. Even if it is what I was hoping for.
I'm read this book alongside crime and punishment, so for what this is worth... It was definitely a breath or fresh air.

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sydneylmeyer7's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted fast-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

5.0

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mariahmmm's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful sad 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

4.0

A world of dismal grey becomes cerulean for Mr Linus Baker when he is assigned to assess the suitability of a Level 4 orphanage that houses dangerous magical children.

This was a beautiful heartbreaking story of hatred born from fear, love and it's gentle change, and a man slowly becoming undone.

One star deducted because the story was inspired by the forced institutionalisation of native children in residential schools, and turning this trauma into a fantasy, with naive solutions and a magical happy ending to what is a complex problem, felt nonchalant. I do think, however, that this kind of story needs to be told to show how unintentionally ignorant we can be by sticking to the narrow viewpoint we've been told to live within- the rules and regulations we become accustomed to living by.

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songofsummer's review against another edition

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funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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? No

5.0

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novella42's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful lighthearted fast-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? No

4.25

It's hard to put into words why I didn't adore this the way everyone else seems to. It was a sweet book and I appreciated the gentle and positive queer representation. I guess the hype just led me to expect different things. It might also be because I DNF the audiobook version--the narrator just wasn't for me--and that initial experience made it harder for me to connect with the characters? I don't know.

I wanted this to hit me like Sangu Mandanna's The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches, which I realize was written two years after The House in the Cerulean Sea. Why was I swept away by that one enough to buy a copy for my comfort bookshelf, but not by this one? Especially when I love queer romances of all genders, I really thought that'd tip the balance for me. Maybe the spice level was higher in the other? Maybe because I don't do well with body horror, which felt fairly graphic in The House in the Cerulean Sea? (Probably folks who read a lot of horror would consider it tame, but it kept repeating a trigger for my C-PTSD, so I'm biased here.)

Spoiler about a problematic theme related to the children's make-believe adventures:

I was very disappointed by the repetition of the "cannibal" theme they had in the children's fantasy adventures. I know it's meant to be a lighthearted "kids being kids" kind of thing, but the more Indigenous authors I read, the more something like that makes me cringe. All I can see is them playacting the story of "European colonizers and missionaries dehumanizing Indigenous people with unfounded racist fears." I know I'm a bleeding heart liberal killjoy, etc. but honestly, it's 2024, why are you writing "savage cannibal" themes into anything? They could have been imagining so many alternatives. It just was so dissonant with the book's overall message of celebrating differences and respecting the original inhabitant of the island.

Still a good book overall. I might pick up the second book at the library someday, when all the furor dies down.

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fred___'s review against another edition

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sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

This was written based on the 60s scoop. Indigenous populations have discussed often that it was not an appropriate thing for a white cis author to cover (and give a happy ending to) because it dismissed the trauma indigenous populations are still living.

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