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

adventurous dark emotional reflective relaxing 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

3.75

On a purely surface level this book was a very enjoyable, cozy and fluffy fantasy read. I enjoyed reading it and the characters are well written and extremely likeable. 
However, there is quite a controversy surrounding this book due to the author using the sixties scoop in Canda as source material. It complicates things quite a lot as it brings up the question of if it was this authors story to tell. 
Although I don’t believe it was the authors intention it can come across like he is comparing indigenous people to magical creatures- which leaves a poor taste in your mouth.
Linus being the bridge between the children and the village kind of came across like a white saviour complex, which yet again leaves a poor taste in your mouth

The book was relatively predicatable, but I don’t feel that takes away from it in any sense. 

All in all if you take this book at the surface level as a fluffy fantasy story it is really enjoyable. However don’t take this book at all as a story of the sixties scoop in Canda, or an interpretation- just let it be a surface level queer fantasy love story and leave it at that. 
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