Reviews with content warning for Racism - La casa en el mar más azul

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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cha_len_novels's review against another edition

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adventurous 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

5.0

“It's the little things, I expect. Little treasures we find without knowing their origin. And they come when we least expect them. It's beautiful, when you think about it.”
― T.J. Klune, The House in the Cerulean Sea

One could review this books in many different ways but here is my own. I fudging loved it. For those alone, have courage because there may be an island where you can find someone to adore, find a home, and find a family. I found this book the epitome of sweetness (but it's not without it's sad moments) and each character became a favorite; even if they could bring about the end of humanity ❤️

**Bonus quote **
“Humanity is so weird. If we’re not laughing, we’re crying or running for our lives because monsters are trying to eat us. And they don’t even have to be real monsters. They could be the ones we make up in our heads. Don’t you think that’s weird?”
― T.J. Klune, The House in the Cerulean Sea

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lexcrv's review against another edition

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hopeful lighthearted 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

3.5

It's 2 a.m. and I'm sitting in my room, holding back tears. This book was a delightful, light read that filled me with all the warm, fuzzy feelings possible (something that not many books do, other than the occasional fanfiction).
This will most definitely be a recurring comfort read, and something I will be recommending to anyone I come across.

This is, objectively, a 3.5 stars in my mind, but a 5 stars in my heart.

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cjackboox's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense 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

5.0

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cluttered_mind's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

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sierrabowers's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

If I could rate this book a 6, I would! This was a great read that included so much diversity and I loved the message it was trying to present. The theme being: love others no matter what, even if you don’t understand them. I also believe the author included another theme: people are afraid of what they don’t understand. As someone who works with children and sees the corrupt foster care system, I encourage all to read. It is enlightening and also very funny. It was lighthearted while also touching on important subjects!

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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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