A simply wonderful book! I loved the world, Linus' slow flowering, the delightful cast of child characters, and the gentle romance that was always present but never overtook the narrative. This was one of those books that, when I finished it, I immediately went looking for the author's back catalog.

If I could rate this a million stars I would. The characters were unique and amazing. The setting was beautiful. The story made my emotions fluctuate nonstop.

This book manages to charm the pants off you while you least expect it. A wonderful ensemble of characters and one very special island.

The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune. An easy novel to read about how the differences that shape us don't define us.

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.

The House in the Cerulean Sea follows a bureaucratic caseworker who’s assigned to investigate an orphanage full of magical children, including sure, young Lucy the Antichrist, but also a were-pomeranian and an endearing blob that dreams of being a bellhop. (It turns out I love nothing like I love an earnest child with bellhop dreams? It’s good to learn new things about yourself. Like that I would die for Chauncey.)

This book has heart. It is charming and delightful and queer and kind and I want to clutch it to my chest and keep it safe forever.

Reading one of the blurbs i was expecting something akin to
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
Boy was I wrong.
Politically charged it examines society in an altogether whimsical yet at times emotionally challenging way.
Laugh out loud funny at times , but also heartbreaking at others.
Every character is complete they all grow as the story unfolds.
The first few chapters feel as if they’re in black-and-white and then they suddenly become glorious technicolour
You will meet the most adorable Antichrist in literature.
In the UK We have a saying on our trains to “See It. Say it. Sorted ! It feels chilling now.
The book reminds me stylistically of the works of
Phillip Pullman
C S Lewis
Charles Dodgson, etc in that it never condescends to the reader , the author treats us as if we are all equal regardless of age.
It Makes me wish I were 12 again so that I could feel the magic of just discovering how wonderful reading could be. (And the value of a good dictionary) but this is also a book for adults. The narrator is a forty something man plodding through life expecting nothing, who begins to slowly and quite beautifully learn that he is more than he has been taught to be.
To say anymore would risk going onto “spoiler” territory.
I will finish by saying that this is a book that covers some familiar themes but in a way that makes it feel like the first time you have heard them.
Simply wonderful.