The House in the Cerulean Sea

Linus Baker is efficient and follows the rules and regulations set out by the Department in Charge Of Magical Youth. He takes assignments to evaluate the living conditions of magical children placed in orphanages, ensuring their health and safety. Because of his efficiency and attention to detail, he’s sent to Marsyas Island Orphanage. The youth in question are seen as dangerous magical beings and their caretaker’s responsibility over them lies in the question. But as Linus experiences the day-to-day life at the orphanage, he’ll discover there’s a lot more going on than meets the eye. And maybe the rules and regulations aren’t always right.

Linus is one of those characters where readers can see the potential for character development right away. And with every turn of the page, you hope for him to grow a little more. Linus is such a stickler for the rules, and at the start lives an entirely ordinary life. He reads files on all the children and goes into his latest job with assumptions about who they will be and how they will behave. However, even though the kids do try to rile him up, he comes to the realization they’re more than just what has been reported. Despite the outside world believing they are dangerous, they each have their own hopes and dreams.

My favorite of the children was Lucifer. Referred to as the antichrist by the Department in Charge Of Magical Youth, he is one of the main reasons Linus is sent to investigate. Nicknamed Luci, he is a mischievous little boy who does happen to be the son of the devil. His nightmares make objects move uncontrollably and he has a tendency to let his thoughts stray into darker territory than he should. But, he can also be a sweetheart in his own way. His love of music and sarcastic humor made this book for me. And the way he innocently suggests digging up graveyards or causing hellfire is hilarious.

If you’re in a reading slump or need a book to just pick yourself up and feel better, read The House in the Cerulean Sea. While there are some undertones of heavier subjects, they do nothing but accent the story and embellish the heartfelt messages of acceptance and found family. The witty banter between characters as they push each other’s boundaries and learn to trust one another will charm you. By the end, you’ll have a smile on your face and a fond memory of all the adventures Linus and the children embarked on.

DNF - PG 82

Why?

To be fair, if I had bought the book, I'd probably finish it. But I got an email from my library that the book is almost due, I have two days to read over 300 pages and, for a moment, when I received my reminder, I couldn't even remember what book I had borrowed. (If I'd finish it, I'm predicting a 2 star outcome.)

That being said, I do usually like Klune's writing (I've read 3 other books of his for 4 stars each) but, usually, his book are more quirky main character being quirky and dealing with quirky people. This felt more like ‘only sane man' syndrome. I don't know how else to describe it - I just didn't like it. And the writing early on reminded me strongly of British children's books. (Like, maybe Harry Potter or even the American written Series of Unfortunate Events.)

I just don't really know how to describe it, but what I thought I would get (zany people with a sweet romance, like I've come to expect from Klune) wasn't what I got and my heart just wasn't in it.

(And it really kills me, because I thought I would love this book.)

(Side note: it took me 5 days to read barely over 80 pages.)

on pause

Fijn tussendoortje over een niet-zo-normaal weeshuis en haar bewoners.

““Oh dear,” Linus Baker said, wiping the sweat from his brow. “This is most unusual.” That was an understatement.”

Een niet-zo-belangrijke, maar zeer consciëntieuze ambtenaar van het ministerie van magische zaken (afdeling jeugd) wordt op een geheime missie gestuurd om een van de staatsweeshuizen te onderzoeken.

“Possibly he'd be forced to leave early and have his pay docked. Or perhaps he'd have to stay later than normal and still have his pay docked. At worst, he'd be fired, his professional life would be over, and he wouldn't have any pay to get docked ever again. He couldn't believe it was only Wednesday. And it was made worse when he realized it was actually Tuesday.”

Een soort coming-of-age verhaal, maar dan met name voor Linus, een veertiger met een zwembandje.

did not finish

DNF'ed at 50%.

I don't think this book is for me... At least not right now.

this book is so lovely and charming, i would recommend this to basically everyone who loves the found family trope and wants a bunch of lovable characters in their story

Boring and very slow-paced for me.

I adore this book. I wish I could give it a million stars.

From the start, the writing pulled me into the story. It is a typical story of opening your perspective and acceptance. You know what will happen in this story but the writing is good at being light-hearted and easy to understand. I had to look up the age range for this book as it does talk down. I really thought this book was for elementary school kids but it's listed as a young adult novel.

The story itself was ok and reminded me of The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches - Sangu Mandanna. Although I did like that book better as it had better characters and did a little more with the story. The story brings up serious subjects like child abuse and children being taken from their homes. It is understood that this is not to be accepted but it only focuses on a small group of kids when it mentions multiple cases.

3.5 - 4

A very (overly) sweet story that also acknowledges the greyness that can be seen in a routine/cog in the machine life. Overall a nice story with a cute collection of characters. The ending felt a bit rushed but was otherwise well paced. Low-medium re-readability as doesn't feel particularly deep/complex, but could be a nice 'upper' read.

Pleasantly wholesome and adorable, but to be honest, that's probably it. I enjoyed most of the read, but after it there is this unpleasant thought that I could have spent the time more productively. Also, now that I think of it, it was very predictable, but it worked quite well -- you just wish all the best for the adorable children.

Dare I say this book made me giggle.

So stinking adorable. But also, nothing really happens. 5 stars for cuteness, 2 stars for plot and character development, so ~3 stars.

Chauncey will make the best bellhop!

The House in the Cerulean Sea features the perfect amount of wholesomeness without becoming saccharine.

This is the story of Linus Baker - someone stuck in a job and following the motions without ever questioning why and how things are done the way they are. Something a lot of us can relate to, I assume. Linus is challenged on his every belief when he is finally put in a situation that forces him to see his profession and the accompanying rules and regulations from a different perspective, and it changes him forever.

The characters are all interesting and worth getting to know. The lessons it imparts important for everybody to hear - focussing on topics such as prejudice and (self)-acceptance . The romance is cute and gradual. It is a cosy read, meaning no intense conflict or anything of the like. That would usually make me like a story less, but in this case, it feels like a pie baked with just exactly the right amount of ingredients to make it taste exactly right.

I don't know what I was expecting. Maybe like an old Enid Blyton type story (which it kind of is).

The story, writing and characters were beautifully written and realised. It was so different from what I usually read (romantasy, historical fiction etc) but right up my alley.

In complete contrast to the MC who is very straight laced, the rest of the cast is quirky and also entirely worthy of a book of their own.

Literally a breath of fresh air

I wanted to give this book five stars, but it's a shame I can't. Before explaining why, I want to say that I love this story. The beginning is strong and intriguing, and although I've heard someone say it gets boring midway, I couldn't disagree more. It will only be boring if you don't like the characters, and I loved them all.

Linus is a “fluffy” caseworker that has to go to an “orphanage” (it's more of a home) to investigate if this home should stay open or be closed. Arthur runs the home and cares for six magical children. Linus must stay for a month and give a professional recommendation regarding whether it's a suitable place for the children to live.

All of them are delightful, wonderful kids. By the end of his stay, Linus comes to realize his unintentional prejudice against magical creatures and starts to realize that “how things are” shouldn't in fact be that way. The whole story is about changing your perception of people you do not understand. The gist of the story is that we demonize beings who we do not understand, which brings me to why I could only rate this 3.5 stars.

One child in particular is six year old Lucifer, or “Lucy”, who is supposedly the “antichrist”. I will say this straight out: I do NOT believe that Lucy is the son of the devil. From the beginning, I always imagined that this was a name given to him because the people around him were frightened of him and demonized him. They saw a child that was so powerful that they had to name him after the antichrist out of fear and prejudice. It makes complete sense in my mind. Yet, even Arthur believes that he is the antichrist (page 121 and 392). I could never believe it though, and was disappointed that Arthur believed he was. Like, how?? Did Satan sign his parental rights away?! It's completely illogical that Arthur believes that. I can believe in gnomes and magical creatures, but I just couldn't accept that Lucy was the antichrist. It makes more sense that Lucy is merely misunderstood.

We saw this misunderstanding with another child, Chauncy. He's a magical creature that resembles a watery jellyfish. Before going to live with Arthur, people told Chauncy that he was “the monster under the bed”. Now, he's internalized this perception of himself from others and hides under beds. I feel that Lucy is the same way.

It wasn't until I read TJ Klune's notes that I accepted that Lucy was the antichrist. Klune said he purposefully made Lucy the antichrist because he wanted to explore “nature vs nurture”, but I just couldn't believe it as I read it. I was literally waiting for someone to defend Lucy and declare that he wasn't the antichrist, but it never came. Furthermore, the antichrist is not a “magical creature”, unless it was his intention to hint at that. I don't know. I'm just extremely disappointed that Klune kept the joke running. Lucy is no demon and no devil. He's an innocent little boy that's been traumatized and is scared about who and what he is. He needs therapy and love. And like Linus said, Arthur IS HIS FATHER (page 359), and later, so is Linus. That's how I wish it would have been- Linus and Arthur vehemently denying that Lucy is the antichrist and insisting that others are judging him based on appearance- but TJ Klune sticks to the joke. He could have still used the “he's the antichrist” joke, but the fact it was “real” in the story is extremely disappointing.

Despite my disagreement with the author on how he handled Lucy, I still feel that this is a lovely, wholesome story about two beautiful men falling in love, and adopting six hilarious children. It's become a favorite of mine, and I'll be re-reading it again in the future.

Edit: forgot to mention that I was disappointed that the book had a handful of instances that were distinctly anti-Christian and none showing the opposite. I fully acknowledge that there are aspects of Christianity that are wrong (because human beings are sinful), but I wish that Klune had included at least one moment demonstrating the goodness that exists in Christianity too. It's ironic that a book about prejudice seems to be prejudice itself against a religion. It would have been nice for at least one character to represent how a Christian should be. One particular character, Helen, could have worn a cross like her nephew to show that there are good people in the faith too. It was definitely a missed opportunity I would have appreciated. Maybe it was done on purpose, which is a shame.

Edit 2: I also forgot to mention that I didn't like the ending reunion. It confused me. I don't understand why all the children was so angry at Linus for leaving when they literally had a party for him because he was leaving. Linus had to do so much groveling when he begged them to forgive him for leaving to do his job, and I thought it was so unnecessary after he fought so hard for them to keep their home.

A very sweet book about looking past appearances, allowing yourself to change, healing from trauma, and finding your people. The main character is an adult in his 40's just trying to get through life and meet his responsibilities when he is presented with a task that pushes him to ask more from life.

In the world of this book, magical people exist and there is a lot of hostility towards them. All magical people must register with the government so that tabs can be kept on them, and most non-magical people are fearful and suspicious of them. The main character Linus's work situation is comically hostile and Linus is basically shut down, distanced from his emotions, just to survive. As a caseworker for the Department in Charge of Magical Youth (DICOMY), he investigates the "orphanages" where the magical youth are housed to render judgment on whether the orphanage is doing its job properly and should be allowed to remain open. Because of his ability to distance himself emotionally from his work, Linus is sent to Marsyas Island where some very unusual children are being housed. The children are unusual indeed, and so is their caretaker, and Linus's ability to keep his distance begins to falter.

At first I wasn't a fan of the overly black and white situation in this book with an adult main character, and the sweetness of what he finds at the orphanage on Marsyas Island. But as I read on, it won me over. It's a YA book for adults. It's an encouraging hug. It's really pretty good!

The House in the Cerulean Sea balances its fantastical characters with a well-crafted narrative, albeit one that dips in and out of saccharine levels of sweetness.

A cozy, wholesome and heartwarming book. The children in this story are definitely the highlight and you can't help but fall in love with them all. Some parts were predictable, but I feel that's to be expected in a book like this. Was debating whether to give this a 4 or 5 star, but because this book drew out smiles, laughs and tears, I have to lean towards 5 stars

A lovely story about special children in a home intended to keep them safe from the world, and the world safe from them. As the protagonist learns to love the children and find love for himself, he spreads his wings (figuratively) and having emerged from his self-imposed cocoon, acts for the protection and betterment of the inhabitants of the titular house on the cerulean sea. Told in a Grimms Fairy Tale fashion, the author's prose fits the story well, which makes the immersion into the magical world of the novel easy for the reader. Although a skinch heavy-handed at times, the tale has the right message. Who can resist a winsome son of satan?

This is so wholesome. Not more I can say about it. Nothing surprising happens but everything about it is sweet and lovely and made me all watery.

A very solid, straight-forward journey of self-discovery that plays out well against the backdrop of an orphanage for the gifted. There are strong themes about prejudice, acceptance, and personal growth and each character has a dsitinct personality. The writing also flows and is very readable, making this a quick, light, and pleasant read.