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A review by btlitell
The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
5.0
This was such a wonderful story. Editing to add the below now that I have the time to leave a full review.
This story started out with just enough whimsy that the almost immediate shift to Orwellian gloom and dystopian sadness felt like going from 45mph to a full stop in 100 feet (72kmh to 0 in 30m for non-Americans). That said, that whiplash needed to happen for us to appreciate the later color in the rest of the book. As Bob Ross said, "you must have the dark to appreciate the light."
As far as the story itself goes, I love how there is a mixture between realism and fantastical, whimsy and somber, metaphor and blatant awareness.
There were so many wonderful characters in this story. I think Chauncey is my favorite of the children. The simplicity of his life's dream shows so much about him. Actually, all of the children seem to have "simple" dreams showing they have so much of their needs fulfilled. One could argue "dream bigger" but why is that always necessary? If collecting buttons would make you happy, strive for that.
The children's field trip to the village was such an overall amazing part of the book. I loved seeing how the children interacted with Linus, the village, the people living there, everything. I was hoping that the deal with Talia and Lucy encountering the spitting lady and Marty would be the worst concentration of bigotry that the children had to face (that we saw at least) but alas. The whole scene in the ice cream parlor with the man who scared Sal and angered Arthur was so saddening to read. I think the audiobook made it that much more upsetting. That said, how Linus reacted to both Arthur and Sal later was such a sweet and touching moment. I really think that's when Linus realized he needed to stay. Also, Chauncey getting a bellhop hat made me so happy. It was such a precious moment that he was so excited about even just having a piece of the uniform.
I love the message in this story: you don't have to belong to a social class to advocate to them. Linus may not be a magical person, but that doesn't stop him from looking after the interests of magical children. Such a wonderful message in this book.
This story started out with just enough whimsy that the almost immediate shift to Orwellian gloom and dystopian sadness felt like going from 45mph to a full stop in 100 feet (72kmh to 0 in 30m for non-Americans). That said, that whiplash needed to happen for us to appreciate the later color in the rest of the book. As Bob Ross said, "you must have the dark to appreciate the light."
As far as the story itself goes, I love how there is a mixture between realism and fantastical, whimsy and somber, metaphor and blatant awareness.
There were so many wonderful characters in this story. I think Chauncey is my favorite of the children. The simplicity of his life's dream shows so much about him. Actually, all of the children seem to have "simple" dreams showing they have so much of their needs fulfilled. One could argue "dream bigger" but why is that always necessary? If collecting buttons would make you happy, strive for that.
I love the message in this story: you don't have to belong to a social class to advocate to them. Linus may not be a magical person, but that doesn't stop him from looking after the interests of magical children. Such a wonderful message in this book.