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kat_smith24's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
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? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Fatphobia, and Xenophobia
Minor: Body shaming, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment
thetinysnail's review against another edition
medium-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Body shaming, Fatphobia, and Abandonment
Minor: Ableism, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Death of parent
alyssaszuch's review against another edition
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Hate crime, Homophobia, and Racism
wild_rabbits's review against another edition
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, and Hate crime
cmkrasman's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
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? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Xenophobia, and Abandonment
Minor: Fatphobia, Physical abuse, and Death of parent
sal_the_cat's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
1.0
i originally really liked the book and especially the queer representation but then i heard very valid criticism about the orphanages resembelling the residental schools that kept indigious canadian children away from their parents, punished them for celebrating their culture and were responsible for killing a lot of indigious children. this cultural genecide was followed by the "sixties scoop" where indigious children were taken from their families and got adopted by white people to further remove them from their culture. the author actually even admitted to using this as his inspiration for the book. i can't understand how somebody (who is white) can learn about that and then decide to write a cozy found family book about it. this just seemy really tone deaf and i don't feel like the book works well as a way to teach about the event. linus as the normal white guy fixing the problems with the town also adds a white saviour layer to it all.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Fire/Fire injury, and Cultural appropriation
isabelvegga's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
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? Yes
4.25
bastaa, this was so cuteee!!!! I love them all✨🌷🌊💓
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Body shaming
Minor: Emotional abuse and Physical abuse
witcheep's review against another edition
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying and Racism
Minor: Child abuse, Confinement, Hate crime, Cannibalism, and Death of parent
astrangewind's review against another edition
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.
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 (
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Minor: Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Genocide, Hate crime, Torture, Xenophobia, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury
milesdrn's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
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
4.75
Content Warnings
Minor: Child abuse, Confinement, Hate crime, Xenophobia, and Abandonment