A review by hello_lovely13
The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

emotional hopeful 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

This was so unbelievably good! I loved all of the characters, and I was surprised on how funny this was! Lucy in particular had me absolutely CACKLING! In the beginning, I thought that there would be a different twist at the end revealed (
the first few chapters talked so much about Linus and his umbrella that I thought that Linus was secretly a magical creature but didn't know it and his power had something to do with his umbrella, but it turned out I was wrong and the focus on the umbrella was just something that was weirdly mentioned a lot for no reason in the beginning and then never brought up again; maybe in one of the original drafts of the book it had more of a part to play that was eventually decided against?
), but I liked, and honestly preferred, the twist that was actually done as it is much more impactful (
having a mundane human have his mind changed about how minorities are treated is much better than having him discover that he is actually part of the community and changing his views because the broken system now impacts him to a disadvantage as well
). The messaging is not subtle at all, but I still absolutely loved it. This has so many important things to say about how minorities are treated in a systemic way and how powerful and harmful prejudices can be, particularly when looking at children. It is particularly memorable when Arthur points out to Linus that the "orphanages" are just that in name because none of the children are ever adopted. This book is a found family dream, and I liked that the
romance between Arthur and Linus
is clearly a subplot because it puts the weight of the story where it is given the respect it deserves: with the children and the discussion about systemic oppression and prejudice (I cannot stop thinking about that scene with Lucy and Linus in the record store as well as the scene with all the children in the ice cream parlor; the trip to town with all the children all together stood out to me and was very well done). I don't typically like to read about children, but I LOVED all of them (Lucy was definitely my favorite, but the scenes Linus had with Sal always pulled at my heartstrings). This book did such a good job at balancing hopeful, heartwarming content with heartbreaking, serious scenes and messaging. I could go from laughing to crying (whether because something was so sweet or so sad). I was so sad when
Linus left the island after discovering Arthur was actually a magical creature as well (I did like that this was included and that it was the twist; fuck the government for trying to make Linus spy on him after all they did him (especially that one guy on the committee)
, and I was so happy when
he returned, as well as the fact that he completely exposed the terrible practices of the government to the public after quitting
. I adored this, and would recommend this to anyone!
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