The House in the Cerulean Sea

...alternate titles “The thinly veiled metaphors in the cerulean sea” or “the parable in the cerulean sea...”
This is a book that I wanted to like. I'm a fan of young adult/kid lit and fantasy and had high hopes when I started. As I continued, I was disappointed to see the lack of background and depth in the characters and in the world. The points that the author was making are valid and need to be told. But telling them in such a flat way is almost insulting to the reader, like we wouldn't have been able to understand the message if there were any shades of gray instead of the blatant black and white/all good vs all bad we're given. Even young readers can comprehend and analyze more than we give them credit for.