Wow. This book was beautiful. Just absolutely, heartwarmingly wonderful.
This entire story was a feel-good heartwarming read that I just wanted to hug and say thank you to. Do yourself a favor and read this one!
“Sometimes,” Mr. Parnassus said, “our prejudices color our thoughts when we least expect them to. If we can recognize that, and learn from it, we can become better people.”
Quote from The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune
The main character in the story, Linus, lives a monotonous life, but it’s one that he doesn’t even realize is problematic for him. Everyone else is kind of in the same boat, so he just goes through his life, working as a magical orphanage reviewer, afraid of getting in trouble, always following the rules.
“I find our perception is colored by what we’re taught. Even as children, we’re told the world is a certain way, and these are the rules.“
Quote from The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune
When he is summoned by Extreme Upper Management (seriously – what a great title for management), he is sent on a secret mission to review an orphanage that houses magical children that are so different, they have been kept a secret, even in a world that is aware of magical creatures.
The island the children live on is beautiful and open. I felt relaxed being there with Linus. Klune does an amazing job of describing everything throughout this book so that you feel like you are right there…As Linus’ mouse pad states “Don’t You Wish You Were Here?”. I sure did.
This is a lovely heartwarming story, but it’s also a statement on our society. It extremely obvious and very poignant throughout the book. The prejudice the children experience is harsh, hateful, and scary. Those kids are the cutest, most hilarious little creatures ever. I want to just snuggle all of them.
“Just because you don’t experience prejudice in your everyday doesn’t stop it from existing for the rest of us.”
Quote from The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune
There is character development for so, so many people throughout this story. If you love a character journey, you’ll really enjoy this read. Of course Linus is on a journey, but so are the children and the caretakers at the orphanage. They all have beautiful moments of growth that will just make you smile.
There is also a clean, YA LGBTQ romance element that is a beautiful development of feelings. It feels more like a shedding of baggage, allowing something lovely to blossom.
Overall, I absolutely adored this story. It is a top read for me this year. I hope everyone gets a chance to read this one. It’s amazing.
To Read or Not To Read:
I would recommend