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

5.0

Gush commencing in 3.. 2.. 1..
I haven't chanced upon a book that affected me so profoundly, and on so many levels, in a very long time. Linus Baker was a cog in business, reviewing foster homes for magical youths. He is like most of us, doing the same thing over and over, content with the results of his meticulous reports to management on his cases (even if he never actually saw the results). You see the truth on his desk even if he he himself missed it, his one allowed personal effect was a sunny beach mousepad proclaiming "Don't you wish you were here?" He did, very much! But that changed when "Extremely Upper Management" called him from his desk for a conference request he spend a month reviewing a super-secret level 4 home for 6 "problematic" children. Being who he is, he goes, and therein, as the saying goes, hangs the tale. You WILL at least tear up, probably more than once, I did!