The House in the Cerulean Sea

God what an amazing book. I was so concerned in the beginning. It started out as one of those books that people call classics but are just stories about some old man who has a woman come into his life who suddenly thinks he is the most amazing person even though he is boring and useless working for big government and never questioning a thing in his life. 

But thank fuck it wasn't like that at all. Instead, it was about this man who is so immensely caring and loving for all the children and with the biggest heart and empathy. Who is also the best fucking ally ever. And slowly but surely he starts to question why he never looked into DICOMY future and how their policies affect the world around him. The most epic character development. 

It truly is like being wrapped in a big gay blanket, I think I could read this book 20 times over and still not have had enough of it. Magnificent. 

I want this to become a movie please I need it! I loved the atmosphere in the book, the characters (loved the children. Everything!!!

I really like this author. This is a wonderful story about tragedy turned into good. It's a book about family, even if the family isn't blood related. Can't wait to read more by this author.

Just a magical and heartwarming story, I I thoroughly enjoyed this one.

»We are who we are not because of our birthright, but because of what we choose to do in this life. It cannot be boiled down to black and white. Not when there is so much in between. You cannot say something is moral or immoral without understanding the nuances behind it.”«From a world obviously different from ours (magic and magical beings exist there!) but closely related to ours, in [a:T.J. Klune 5073330 T.J. Klune https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1546275989p2/5073330.jpg]'s “[b:The House in the Cerulean Sea 45047384 The House in the Cerulean Sea T.J. Klune https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1569514209l/45047384.SY75.jpg 62945242]” we are told a modern fairy tale about an orphanage and its inhabitants.Linus Baker, a caseworker of the “Department in Charge Of Magical Youth” is charged to investigate an orphanage under the wings of Arthur Parnassus who is overseeing the well-being of six especially dangerous orphaned children - one of them being the devil's child!What Linus discovers, though, is completely different from what he expected...First and foremost this is a book about kindness and love. There isn't much “action” because this is a book that lives from the loves it exudes: There is the “master” of the house, Arthur, who is much more of a teacher, a confessor, a father figure to his young charges. There is also the benevolent island sprite who is protecting the orphanage and all inhabitants of the island. An island that is lovingly depicted as a mixture of dense forest, blooming meadows and gardens (tended to by Thalia the gnome, one of the orphans).In stark contrast to that is “Mr. Baker” who is suspicious of the freedoms granted to the kids, who relies on his voluminous “Rules and Regulations” and a form of self-isolation that leads to a warped kind of objectivity.Mr. Baker, who is always formally dressed, is distant to the kids in the beginning because in contrast to the colourful sun-shiny island, he comes from the city which seems to be always grey (or even: black and white), rainy and adversarial.Mr. Baker's transformation into Linus the adventurer - that is what we're witnessing and the way Linus “heals” and finds a new life for himself while not forgetting about the children (and Arthur!) is the destination - just like in travel!»“Severed heads?” Linus asked in a strangled voice. Lucy sighed. “Just representations of my enemies. The Pope. Evangelicals who attend megachurches. You know, like normal people have.”«The way those children - who mostly have suffered terribly before - open up to Linus and slowly but inevitably grow on him and the way he, Linus, grows and allows himself to grow close to them, that is why this lovely “quiet” little book is indeed a gem.As a bonus, there's also some very nice and sweet LGBT* representation.Linus' interactions with “Extremely Upper Management” and the paths he chooses for his personal life as well as his calling are further helping the “message” of this book and, at the same time, disprove those zealous and self-righteous reviewers thinking this book robs anyone of their stories.Yes, Klune states this book was influenced by the horrible “residential school” system in Canada - but in a way that makes it very clear that he actually researched those schools and the atrocities committed in them (unsurprisingly administered by the Christian churches).Klune neither condones nor excuses this system that was wrong to its core. In contrast to it he writes of an orphanage that's more of a loving home than anything else.He does not take away anyone's own voice to describe or write about that system. He creates a different system (though one which is also wrong at its core!) in a different world and alludes at overcoming that inhumane system.When all is said and done, this is a wonderful, wholesome book about all kinds of love and that garners five out of five stars from me.“Thank you.” “For what?” “This. Everything. All this color.”Blog Facebook Twitter Instagram Ceterum censeo Putin esse delendam

On the surface, “The House in the Cerulean Sea” is a heart-warning tale about people who find their place in a confusing and unwelcoming world. At some point, everyone has felt like an outsider, so I think the messages of acceptance, being willing to know each person , and celebrate their uniqueness were lovely, even if a few speeches hit one over the head.

The beginning of the book is set in a chilly, rainy, dark city in which Linus Baker plods to and from a routine job, only to return home to be insulted by a pipe-smoking neighbor and ignored by his cat. I could really imagine every room and feeling without feeling as through the author was over explaining. There is a great sense of wonder and atmosphere that TJ Klune weaves throughout the story that kept pages turning.

The author did a nice job creating memorable characters with my favorites being Chauncey, Lucy, Talia, Sal, and Theodore (all the children were magnificently drawn, but not as much attention was paid to Phee). Each had their own voice, although I did think some of the children's language needed to be leveled more towards their age (being magical doesn't mean you are born with a complete sense of the English language, right?)

The love story is also super cute.

So, why did I give a 3 star rating instead of 4?

After finishing the book, I learned that the author's inspiration was the Indian Residential School system in Canada. For decades upon decades, Indigenous American children were stripped away for their families and forced to not use their language, follow their tribal customs, and were abused, raped, or even killed.

The moral of the book seems to be that society can still segregate “different” children, but it's okay if they're allowed to garden or practice being a bellhop, etc. By no means do I think the author is suggesting that the residential school system was “good.” So, yeah, that information tarnished my initially positive reaction to the book. A part of me still really enjoyed the reading experience; if we knew other author's inspirations, I am confident there are many wonderful books we'd want to chuck into the river.

With all that said, this could be a good YA book, even though it isn't billed as such. I would like to read other books by this author to see if the same skill with world building and characterization shows up.

 It's an incredibly heartwarming, cozy and at times very amusing story. This is in large part due to the characters that just tug at your heart strings. Lucy in particular is my favourite for his flare for the dramatic and his dark sense of humour. But all the children have their quarks and endearing moments. It's also quite enjoyable to watch Linus develop as a character over the course of the story.

That's the strength of the novel. The weakness? In my opinion, everything else, because it's just to simple and shallow for an adult novel which is what this is marketed as. Even if viewed as for young adults though, I don't think there's enough depth or nuance in the plot or world building. You get a barebones ‘dystopian' world with some black and white overt morality, but little else.

So...the book isn't perfect shrugs...it's still a very enjoyable ride because it simply makes you feel good and at the end of the day that counts for quite a bit. 

What a wonderful beautiful book! The story, the setting, the characters in it, ... everything was so touching, I felt tears in my eyes at every chapter. This is a tale of difference, of accepting one's another as we are, how strange it might me. It's a book that teaches also to go over the appearances and learn to see a person for what they're worth and not where they're coming from or how they look. And I just loved Linus and Arthur chemistry. Thanks a lot for those beautiful pages and this magnificent story <3

Rounded up from 3½ stars.
Full disclosure: I am not really into fantasy, but this was recommended to me, so I gave it a go. I mean, you need to widen your horizons right? So far in my life the only fantasy books I have read are The Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King, and The Neverending Story by Michael Ende, and must admit I love them both.
This one ... while cute and feel goody, it was ... safe. I was never bored and there was some funny stuff in it, but you were never really in any doubt that it would have a happy ending. Quirky characters meet Harry Potter meet X-Men, was the feeling I got. And for me it took half the book to become somewhat interesting.
Again, wasn't bored, I don't regret reading it, but it didn't make me want to read more fantasy.
Also, I was not quite sure who the democraphic is. It's written like a YA book, and there ARE kids in it, but the main character is a man in his 40s.

So many people have loved this book and I was afraid I was not going to be one of them at about halfway through. It was a good book and I was enjoying it, but I didn't understand what everyone was raving about. However, the last third of the book is so intense and really comes together in a way that I wanted to see. And yes, it made me cry...a lot. But in a nice way?

A rather heartwarming read that has a similar charm to it that Harry Potter and A Series of Unfortunate Events have in their respective series. In some instances, it does feel like it could fit in a corner of the Wizarding World, especially with certain character and organization names. For some, that may help ground them in the world and story more, even if it can come across as a little too similar to others. The story, however, is sincere, good-natured, and even comical enough to stand on its own.

I would classify this as more character-driven than plot-driven, and given the slice-of-life nature of the story, some readers may feel the story drags on a bit before getting to more interesting plot points. There was a point in the book where I found my interest waning, but I stuck with it and found the story picked up the more I read. Klune, in my opinion, tells this story with the idea that you're in it for the characters, first and foremost, so just something to think about.

The slow moments in the story did leave me with an initial 4-star rating, but the ending worked for me and bumped the story up to a 5-star must read. The prose, the characters, the romance (subtle though it was until the last third), and the minimal but intriguing worldbuilding definitely outweigh the few qualms I may have had with it.

This was so beautiful and perfect book!
The plot and the characters were amazing. So happy that I could finally read this one :)

Wow. Just wow. I don't usually do written reviews for books, but this one resonated with me so deeply that I might have to start.

The House on the Cerulean Sea made me smile through tears more than maybe any other book I've read. At least in the last year. By the end of it, I just wanted to give every character a hug, and I dreaded the fact that I could never read the book again for the first time. The story and prose aren't anything complicated, but the way I found myself discovering the world and the children of the orphanage alongside Linus consistently felt like being curled up in a warm blanket by the fire, even when I found my eyes welling up with tears.

I will definitely be checking out TJ Klune's other works

If I could rate this book 6 stars I would. Simply wonderful.

This book must be the newest addition to my favorite things ever. Just. Wow. I loved it. SO MUCH. Maybe later there will be a more detailed review, for now it's just fuzzy feelings and heart hugs.

• I was looking for a light read and it delivered. 
• You know where the story is going but the process of getting there was very interesting. 
• Found family, feel-good plot, and a change of character in a good way

*Saving my 5/5 stars for something absolutely amazing

At first I wasn't quite sure about this one because the sweet, somewhat stilted British-sequel language didn't work for me but I was win over by the story.

Chauncey was my favorite child - literally the best!

Interesting characters, although only the main character was completely fleshed out. The plot was a little simple and predictable, but still worth the read.

It's cozy.

That was cozy and cute, but I don't understand why everyone seemed to cry from this book.

ES PRECIOSO, todo mundo tiene que leer este libro

A very sweet book that I read quickly and enjoyed most every minute of. For my taste, it was definitely a little too on the nose for its message, but, honestly, it just felt so earnest, it's hard to hold it against it. I will say the weight of some of the “reveals” didn't really land, because of all the things that were over-explained in this book, the reason why some things were important in the fantasy world weren't explained at all.

One of my most common complaints in books are relationships that feel un- or underdeveloped, and I did feel that annoyance in this book, but the story was so much more about family rather than romance, so, again, I ended up not really caring by the end.

One thing, though, and I'm not sure if it just means I'm old and remember too many things, but some passages in this book felt like they were ripped straight from other sources. The description of Arthur's face, down to the crooked nose, was beat-by-beat the original Dumbledore description. A silly scene was nearly word-for-word a scene from Lilo & Stitch; even the italics were in the same spot! It was kind of jarring to be taken out of this story because I was instantly transported into another one.

Podia haber sido un libro perfecto pero hay pequeños detalles por lo que se queda en 4 estrellas.
La historia en si esta bien, tiene humor y consigue lo que se propone. El mayor problema es que se ve a millones de kilometros de distancia lo que va a ocurrir al final.

Lo que mas me sacaba del libro es ciertas frases que todos los personajes dicen como “no, supongo que no”. “oh, eso es asi?” . Son frases comunes, si, pero hay varias otras formas de decir “no” y es raro que multiple personajes hablen de la misma manera.

Otro concepto repetitivo es la diferencia entre lo que dice o piensa y lo que el personaje acaba haciendo. Por ejemplo “No, no voy a abrir la puerta. - Linus inmediatamente abre la puerta.”. Es gracioso pero pierde el interes cuando le pasa 10 veces a la misma persona.

Aun con todo esto es un libro gracioso emotivo y creativo.

So sweet and wholesome I could hardly stand it

I went into this book not knowing anything about it. I never read the synopsis or anything I just knew everybody has been raving about this author and I wanted to give him a try and this is the book I started with. When I first started reading this I thought it was really cute and I was enjoying it, but I also felt like it was overhyped. I no longer think it is overhyped. I loved everything about this book. I listened to the audiobook and the narrator did an amazing job narrating each of the characters. As for the story itself as I said it was just so freaking cute and it teaches you a lot. I don't want to go into detail because I think you should go into this book knowing as little as possible. The biggest takeaway from this book is acceptance but it's also about found family and finding your place/home in the world. For a fantasy novel this is very simplistic, but it worked for this book and I think that's part of what made this book so amazing. Like I said I listened to the audiobook of this so I don't own the book yet, but I have added it to my wish list as well as some of his other books because I want to read everything else this author has written now.

Heartwarming and wholesome fantasy books are the greatest. This book made me laugh and cry multiple times. Definitely one I would recommend to anyone who loves children. The author did such an amazing job with the children's dialogue. Ugh so cute but also so meaningful with the moral discussions and circumstances.