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A review by thesunthesunthesunthesun
The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
emotional
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
4.75
Sometimes you pick up a romance book that seems like a fun romp, filled with the most exquisite tropes. And you think to yourself "that cannot be as fun as it appears to be? surely this is going to be mildly disappointing?"
I am glad to say that it did not disappoint at all. This was absolutely adorable.
Was the plot predictable? yes, and delightfully so! You know the steps that a romcom must take, and you gleefully expect how and when we'll get to that part!
This book is (I say this with only adoration) all the good bits of a Christmas romcom, but now placed in a wonderful summer setting, and it has none of the excruciating miscommunications that otherwise appear in a romcom.
I thoroughly enjoyed this! The cast of characters were all nicely written, the plot was a fun "bureaucrat learns themagic of Christmas to truly live life and to open up his heart to the hot single father of six magic children". There were some delightful little twists that you get to figure out along the way, and you get to feel clever when your suspicions are confirmed. Not a "I never saw it coming" but a "aha!! I knew it!", which is nice.
The writing style of the author lends itself perfectly for this story, the dialogue was very well done, and the scene descriptions were lovely. I started writing little pencil notes halfway through that only consisted of "yes! yes!!" and "it's cause you're so gay for him" whenever Linus thought about Arthur.
Even though I had to take a multi-month break halfway through the book, I could get right back in with minimal confusion. The pacing was ideal for this story as well.
All in all, this was SUCH a fun romp. I needed this book.
And yes, I did cry a little at the expected moments. I'm a simple man; my heartstrings are easily pulled.
I am glad to say that it did not disappoint at all. This was absolutely adorable.
Was the plot predictable? yes, and delightfully so! You know the steps that a romcom must take, and you gleefully expect how and when we'll get to that part!
This book is (I say this with only adoration) all the good bits of a Christmas romcom, but now placed in a wonderful summer setting, and it has none of the excruciating miscommunications that otherwise appear in a romcom.
I thoroughly enjoyed this! The cast of characters were all nicely written, the plot was a fun "bureaucrat learns the
The writing style of the author lends itself perfectly for this story, the dialogue was very well done, and the scene descriptions were lovely. I started writing little pencil notes halfway through that only consisted of "yes! yes!!" and "it's cause you're so gay for him" whenever Linus thought about Arthur.
Even though I had to take a multi-month break halfway through the book, I could get right back in with minimal confusion. The pacing was ideal for this story as well.
All in all, this was SUCH a fun romp. I needed this book.
And yes, I did cry a little at the expected moments. I'm a simple man; my heartstrings are easily pulled.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Xenophobia, and Abandonment
Minor: Animal death, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Deportation
Most of the xenophobia warnings pertain to people being bigoted about having a magic child orphanage near them.
The abuse warnings is primarily due to the children having been through the wringer of society, so to speak.
The fatphobia is mostly Linus himself and some other people making weird comments about him being fat, it's not too bad, he learns to begrudgingly accept that Arthur is very into it, don't worry .