If you pick this book up you will not want to put it down . It’s just that good . Delightful characters, good acing and interesting plot.

The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune is about 40 year old Linus Baker, Case Worker at the Department in Charge Of Magical Youth, embarking on an important assignment to Marsyas Island Orphanage to investigate a house of 6 unique (and other-worldly) children and their Caretaker Arthur. Once there, everything slowly unravels, secrets are exposed, and Linus realises he might have found a place where he belongs- and a family to go with it.

What a marvellous, bizarre, heart-warming read! I don't think there's any praise for this novel I can dispense that hasn't already been said by the entirety of the book community online. It is rare when a book feels like a friend, when it wraps you up in its gentle and soft words and reveals to you the good and not-so-good parts of the world that we sometimes fail to acknowledge: humans tend to shun those who are different. But that doesn't mean different is bad, it's just, for a lack of a better word, different. And this glorious book shows you that you can always find something in common with someone unlike you; you just need keep your eyes and heart open and let the world in. Heck, if Linus and the Antichrist can bond over music, there's a chance for all of us to get along :)

I don't know what to tell you about this one other than I just really loved it. It kind of feel like the Wayward Children series by Seanan McGuire, because those characters often feel like orphans that just need a place to call home.

Just one remark, as a fat reader myself it was hard to read about the MC having internalized fatphobia and I would have loved it if that was addressed more, but I hope the author might do that in other books of theirs.

I adore this book. By far my favorite read of 2020 and an all time favorite for me that I will soon want to read again.

A quieter, lighter cousin to McGuire’s Wayward Children. Magical, weird, refreshingly gay. Some of the kids’ development feels shortchanged (Phee, Sal) compared to the time spent with others, but it really is a charming and affirming story. It would do well to be expanded further -- Klune's world has plenty of potential and so do his characters.

Hands down, my favourite book of 2020. A breath of fresh air, a delightful, adorable gay romance and even more delightful children (well, sort of),

This book really, really got me in my checklists. Fantasy comedy bureaucracy? Check. Beautifully described locations? Check. The mundane encountering the wondrous? Check. A found family working through past trauma with love and grace? Check. Dealing with issues of religious predestination? Check. Basically too many emotions of too much variety for one book so the whole thing is a whopping big catharsis? Check! My book reviewer walls could not withstand this onslaught.

TJ Klune has written a powerful book that makes the reader question policies, traditions, and belief systems. It's what we've always been taught or always believed true? Do we blindly follow rules & regulations believing they protect everyone? What do we do when something happens to cause us the change our perspective? Do we step out of our comfort zones for the benefit of others, to fight for change? This powerful message was made possible through encounters with delightfully magical characters who help the reader see beyond what they originally thought to be true. Do we see people for themselves or only fear them because of labels they have been given?

I have continued to recommend this to others when I notice it in photos of TBR piles!

MY THOUGHTS
The House in the Cerulean Sea had me messily sobbing while driving on the freeway.

Thank goodness it was always on my way home from work, otherwise I would have spent the day an emotional and red mess. The emotions that this book inspire are so wholesome and loving yet so cutting and sharp.

The feels, people!

The emphasis of this beautiful book is family. However it also looks at hate and how the fear of the unknown can foster contentious and angry feelings which breed to hate and violence. The fact that the books is about an ‘orphanage’ of magical children too dangerous to be housed in normal facilities only adds to the poignancy.

My god the feels, people!

“Just because you don’t experience prejudice in your everyday doesn’t stop it from existing for the rest of us.”

ENJOYMENT LEVEL
Lunis.

Arthur.

Lucy. So much.

Linis and Arthur.

The narrator of the audio book was on point throughout! Daniel Henning narrates each character with such love and attention to detail. Henning uses voices to portray each character and shines in bringing to life all the emotion of the novel.

It was a little slow getting into the main action of the story but once you were, I was hooked. I enjoyed this book so much! I have always seen T.J. Klune’s books around but now I will 100% have to look into his back catalouge.

“We should always make time for the things we like. If we don’t, we might forget how to be happy.”

RECOMMENDATION
I loved The House in the Cerulean Sea.

I don’t think of this book as being too much of a romance novel, the focus is on the story and the cast of characters on the island. Indeed the romance itself is a beautiful slow burn encapsulated in small moments and loaded looks. So for romance fans, be prepared for the slowest of slow burns.

For fantasy fans, strap yourself in for an urbanesque fantasy, ensemble cast that will teach you all about love, acceptance, difference, hate, fear, and overcoming life’s hurdles to stand up for whats right.

4.55 stars, because a 4.5 would mean I'd have to round it down to 4 and that doesn't do this book any justice.

This was a great book! It's very refreshing to read about a main character that is neither hyper-attractive, nor incredibly well built, nor barely 25. And I'm always a sucker for the found-family trope! Especially if it's paired with supernatural children.
Arthur Parnassus has five of them, all some kind of Special(tm), and his supernatural orphanage is heavily classified. Linus Baker works for the government and cheks on kids in said supernatural orphanages. Until he gets sent to some god-forsaken town somewhere in the middle of nowhere, where a Super-Classified(TM) orphanage has been built on an island.
Things go downhill from there.

I really enjoyed reading this, and even when it has been eight months since I did, I think it's one of the best queer novels I've read in a while. And, as I said, supernatural found family is one of my absolute favourite tropes, so there's that.
(Also, let's talk about the pretty cover and how the cover designer (Chris Sickels) built an entire ass diorama for it?? You can find it on his twitter, too!)


@NetGalley and Tor Books: Thank you guys for the ARC!

“We should always make time for the things we like. If we don’t, we might forget how to be happy.”

We have Linus Baker. He is forty and lives alone with his cat. He works as a Case Worker at the Department in Charge of Magical Youth. One day, he is given a highly classified task to visit and conduct an investigation on an orphanage located on a remote island where six highly dangerous magical children live. He will then send his reports back to the upper management and decide whether the orphanage needs to be closed down or not.

The story is written in Linus’ perspective and I really enjoyed it. Honestly I wasn’t sure at first about the narration. For some reasons I was expecting for a younger narrator because I thought this was a middle grade book. I didn’t read the synopsis so it’s entirely my fault. I warmed up to Linus’ character and ended up liking him. He is so pure and adorable. Calliope, his cat, is also sensational. Linus’ character development was one of the many things I loved about this book. Also, I liked his taste in music.

I loved and adored the children in this book! All of them. It’s so hard to choose a favorite because they’re all unique and really lovable. I was the whole time wishing that nothing bad will happen to them. I just wanted to protect and hug each and everyone of them. They reminded me of my niece and nephews minus the magic of course.

Then we have Arthur Parnassus, the caretaker/master of the orphanage. He is charming all right. I liked how he cares so much about the children. His bond with them is precious. I also loved the other side characters and the slow burn romance.

It didn’t matter to me that I didn’t know why the children are magical or where they all come from. I didn’t care that the story is somehow predictable or can be too cheesy at times. What mattered most was the feeling that I had during and after reading this book. I cried at the end but it was happy tears.

This book is about acceptance. It’s about understanding the things we know nothing about, and standing up for the people we love and care about. Despite of some heavy themes (trauma, prejudice, bigotry) in this book, it’s a heart-warming and a very delightful read. This book is definitely on my top 10 favorite reads this year.

My Rating : ★★★★★

The House in the Cerulean Sea is a contemporary fantasy book about finding family in an unexpected place. It is a wonderful, heartwarming story that makes you feel good.
As the author T. J. Klune says: " [The book] is a love letter to those who should be allowed to feel small and cared for when the world seems dark". I couldn't agree more.
If you cannot tell, I love this book. The writing is beautiful and I loved all the characters.
The author explores the fear and prejudice that exists in society and gives us a message of hope that we can change it if we start with few first.

5/5 stars.

Every time I read a book that I end up LOVING a review never does it justice. Here is my shot at one.

*chefs kiss* That’s all I got. All of the characters including LUCY were AMAZING. I can’t even get started on the writing because damn was it amazing. When I first read it I though only 3.5/5 stars was enough but no. 3.5/5 stars is not enough. So, here are the five stars it deserves.

Themes such as found family and secret magical societies always add a special flavour to a story and I loved the way they were done here. I also appreciated that while this story featured an older protagonist it remained whimsical and wholesome. Characters in their 40s and 50s deserve their own magical adventures. The addition of romance was a lovely surprise. I really enjoyed the book.

This book was like a warm hug - I loved it. I kind of wished it wouldn't end, and that the end would be a cliffhanger to leave me waiting for book 2, but nope, it wrapped up in a way that made my heart grow five times its size (metaphorically. If your heart actually does this, you're probably dead or about to be).

Also, props to the audiobook narrator for making J-Bone sound exactly like Bill and/or Ted. I'm not sure what era in which this book was supposed to be set (there are computers, but also vinyl records and record stores widely available, credit card imprinters you'd see in the 70s/80s/early 90s... it's definitely after The Day the Music Died so it's after 1959...I don't know and I've no idea. Pinning a specific place and time might spoil the magic, so don't think too hard on it.

The House in the Cerulean Sea is a fun story about magical orphans. Linus Baker is a social worker for young magical creatures, and has always been very settled in his career. Not *happy*, but settled. He follows all the rules and does exactly what the rule book tells him to do.
When Linus is sent to a magical orphanage to determine if the home should be shut down, he learns that these dangerous magical youths are really *just kids* that need and deserve a loving home.
Through the course of a month, Linus learns more about these kids and the guardian that looks after them.

This is a story of doing what's right, not what's easy or what we're told to do. Sometimes rules and laws need to be changed.

While the story follows two gay male characters, and the story itself can be placed in the LGBTQ+ genre, this is truly not a story about two men falling in love. The fact that they do, two middle-aged men, finding themselves and each other along the way, is not a main focus of this book and I really appreciate that. The romantic aspects of this book are so subdued that as an adult I can see them and appreciate how soft and quiet love can be, but a young teen can overlook all of that and just see the adventure and the importance of questioning authority and doing what's right.

This felt like it was gonna be a fun one straight away and oh boy, it was!

The story was so beautiful, it just felt so wholesome, with the perfect kind of humour and the way the story was told felt so whimsical and just right... Thinking about it now, it almost reminds me of the narrator in Nanny McPhee..

The conversations on prejudice was amazing. Although it was specific to magical beings, there was no naiviting or ignoring of the fact of racial prejudice too.

The characters, oh the character, how I loved them all! They had such amazing quirks, I just feel that I could have had more from Phee and Chauncy!
I loved how deadpan Lucy got, when he was being his adorable little demonic self. I could just picture this terrifying anti Christ (sorry lol) 6 year old, dropping into the voice of deadly despair. It was perfect. The timing was everything... I could just see it... Imagine this adapted into a movie, by the best director... oh man, I'm getting all excited just thinking about it!

It was so beautiful to see Linus becoming a softer character and finding love on the island, both in a paternal way for the children, platonic and romantic. I think appreciated the romance more because it was soft and gentle and didn't take over the whole plot and when things were unfolding it got me all giddy and excited for it to happen.

Just as I thought the confrontation 80% in was gonna be anticlimactic, it twisted again and I felt actual heart ache that something dangerous was caused to take place.
I got so tight with emotion by the end.

Overall, although I took forever getting to this and then the LONGEST to finish it (it was my lunch time read for work), I loved every darn moment the words hit my retinas. I can't wait to try more from this author, and hope it's as every bit delectable as this was.

I absolutely loved this title. It was just such a wholesome experience to immerse myself in the work that TJ Klune created, and the characters were so well-rounded and easy to love! The Hobbit/Bilbo Baggins vibes I got from Linus were out of this world! Highly recommended to anyone interested in a light fantasy.

Thank you to NetGalley, TJ Klune, and Tor Books for sending the the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Someone, please tell me why I choose to do silly things like putting off reading this book for ages despite seeing it being raved about all over the book community. I'm going to preface this by saying I will ramble in this review because this book was just... EVERYTHING! It's like one massive hug that makes you feel warm, safe, and so incredibly happy that you don't know what to do with yourself. You know that feeling when you read about something positive and your heart swells with happiness and hope? And as you keep reading your heart grows bigger and bigger with all the positivity that it almost feels like you're floating on a cloud of warmth and pure goodness? Well, that's what reading this book felt like and it was so beautiful! Now that I've finished it I just want to go back and stay in this little bubble of warmth forever. I'm the worst with choosing "top reads" but I can say with certainty that this book is one of my top 2020 reads!

Though this may be fantasy, there are many parallels to our real world that make it such a timely and important read. I was constantly highlighting big chunks of the book on my Kindle because the commentary so deeply resonated with me and what I've seen and experienced in our society today. That said, these 'messages' don't feel overwhelming or like Klune is trying to push an agenda. This book is so on trend with keeping an open mind and how to be more mindful of others, and critical of what we've come to accept as our "norm". I found myself utterly charmed by the writing, the story, and especially the characters.

I thought I would have a favourite but as we learn more about each main character (of whom there are several although the story is only told through Linus' perspective), I found myself falling in love with all of them. I did have a particular soft spot for Sal, the teenage boy who shifts into a pomeranian when scared. Oh, my heart just broke for this sweet, sweet boy and I wanted to scoop him carefully into my arms and shield him from all the monstrous humans who made him feel less than. You can bet that I shed more than a couple of tears listening to what these children experienced but also just how perceptive they are.

Also, experiencing the immense growth in Linus' journey as he goes from being someone who doesn't allow himself to feel anything and is happy not questioning the status quo of his life, to being someone who will stand up for himself and those he cares about and is filled with a furious passion for a cause that means so much to him, was so. incredibly. satisfying! YAS, LINUS!!! 👏🏽 There's also a super sweet and touching slow-burn M/M romance and well, I don't think I can name two people who are more perfect for each other. Oh, how I loved their love! 🥰

I could honestly keep gushing about this book because I loved so much about it, but it's a story that you should all experience for yourselves, and trust me, you will be richer for reading it!

TL;DR: read this if you like:
✓ To feel all the happy + good feels
✓ A well-written thought-provoking story full of heart (and magic)
✓ Older male protagonists (40+) with a sweet slow burn M/M romance
✓ A realistic and unlikely hero that you will learn from, grow with, and root for
✓ Witty, dry and sarcastic humour that will have you frequently laughing out loud
✓ Wonderfully weird, charming and endearing magical children who will definitely steal your heart
✓ A healthy dose of the found family trope (a personal fave) with a mix of adults and children

Thanks to Netgalley and Tor Books for providing the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The cover seemed a bit cartoonish, so I was a bit hesitant to read, but I'm so glad I did. A great story that is pleasure reading at its best.