Book Review: The House in the Cerulean Sea
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The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune
I finally found my first 5 Star read of 2022.
Book Description:
A magical island. A dangerous task. A burning secret.
Linus Baker leads a quiet, solitary life. At forty, he lives in a tiny house with a devious cat and his old records. As a Case Worker at the Department in Charge Of Magical Youth, he spends his days overseeing the well-being of children in government-sanctioned orphanages.
When Linus is unexpectedly summoned by Extremely Upper Management he's given a curious and highly classified assignment: travel to Marsyas Island Orphanage, where six dangerous children reside: a gnome, a sprite, a wyvern, an unidentifiable green blob, a were-Pomeranian, and the Antichrist. Linus must set aside his fears and determine whether or not they’re likely to bring about the end of days.
But the children aren’t the only secret the island keeps. Their caretaker is the charming and enigmatic Arthur Parnassus, who will do anything to keep his wards safe. As Arthur and Linus grow closer, long-held secrets are exposed, and Linus must make a choice: destroy a home or watch the world burn.
An enchanting story, masterfully told, The House in the Cerulean Sea is about the profound experience of discovering an unlikely family in an unexpected place—and realizing that family is yours.
Book Review:
This isn’t your standard fantasy book, which is what I thought I was going to find. What you actually get is this beautiful allegory between these magical children and how we should treat those different from ourselves. At first I wasn’t in love with this book because it is old from the point of view of Linus Baker. Linus was hard for me to love, because he’s a stickler for rules and falls in line with the daily abuse of his role. Of course this is all on purpose so you can watch him blossom, growing to love him at the end. The same can be said for Thalia and Lucy who again come off rough until you get to peel back their layers. I always loved Arthur though and I wish I could know him in real life. The LGBTQ+ representation in this book that is never questioned as being out of the ordinary is just another important bonus of this story.
I did the audiobook for this one. Which I had a hard time getting into at first. Then I came across a Tik-tok video talking about audiobook speeds and my mind was blown. I’d never realized you could change the speed of the narrator. After upping the speed by just a few clicks I spent almost a day listening to just this book.
Wrap it up:
This is absolutely a 5 Star book for me and one that I will continue to recommend. I will even seek out other books by this author T.J. Klune.
