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baearles's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse and Xenophobia
Minor: Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Physical abuse, Torture, and Hate crime
onyxisalive's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
On a purely surface level this book was a very enjoyable, cozy and fluffy fantasy read. I enjoyed reading it and the characters are well written and extremely likeable.
However, there is quite a controversy surrounding this book due to the author using the sixties scoop in Canda as source material. It complicates things quite a lot as it brings up the question of if it was this authors story to tell.
Although I don’t believe it was the authors intention it can come across like he is comparing indigenous people to magical creatures- which leaves a poor taste in your mouth.Linus being the bridge between the children and the village kind of came across like a white saviour complex, which yet again leaves a poor taste in your mouth
The book was relatively predicatable, but I don’t feel that takes away from it in any sense.
All in all if you take this book at the surface level as a fluffy fantasy story it is really enjoyable. However don’t take this book at all as a story of the sixties scoop in Canda, or an interpretation- just let it be a surface level queer fantasy love story and leave it at that.
However, there is quite a controversy surrounding this book due to the author using the sixties scoop in Canda as source material. It complicates things quite a lot as it brings up the question of if it was this authors story to tell.
Although I don’t believe it was the authors intention it can come across like he is comparing indigenous people to magical creatures- which leaves a poor taste in your mouth.
The book was relatively predicatable, but I don’t feel that takes away from it in any sense.
All in all if you take this book at the surface level as a fluffy fantasy story it is really enjoyable. However don’t take this book at all as a story of the sixties scoop in Canda, or an interpretation- just let it be a surface level queer fantasy love story and leave it at that.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Cultural appropriation, and Emotional abuse
marionlundqvist's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Body shaming, and Emotional abuse
caitlinjadams's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
What a lovely, lovely book about humanity.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Ableism, Forced institutionalization, Confinement, Religious bigotry, Abandonment, Child abuse, Fatphobia, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Cannibalism, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
yellowcape's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
The gays were gaying!!!!
This is one of the most beautiful books I have read in a long time. I struggle to write a review if not to just use words in a list. Heartwarming, wholesome, paternal, funny, beautiful, fantastic, clear, honest.
I think the subject of discrimination is handled delicately and is well executed. I loved our main character Linus from the first page, J-Bone is also a personal favourite along with Talia.
My sole criticism is that the first half of the book was paced a little too slowly for me but I am SO glad I picked it back up after a break - which I cannot state how rare that is once I put a book back on the shelf usually it is doomed to be ignored. However the characters were just so loveable (calliope I’m looking at you) that I was convinced.
P L E A S E read it. There were so many times I was giddy, grinning at the pages - honestly all but kicking my legs. The positive 2SLGBTQ+ representation is incredible and it’s so nice to read a book with queer characters where the relationship is so realistic and wholesome but not the main focus of the plot nor the characters.
This is one of the most beautiful books I have read in a long time. I struggle to write a review if not to just use words in a list. Heartwarming, wholesome, paternal, funny, beautiful, fantastic, clear, honest.
I think the subject of discrimination is handled delicately and is well executed. I loved our main character Linus from the first page, J-Bone is also a personal favourite along with Talia.
My sole criticism is that the first half of the book was paced a little too slowly for me but I am SO glad I picked it back up after a break - which I cannot state how rare that is once I put a book back on the shelf usually it is doomed to be ignored. However the characters were just so loveable (calliope I’m looking at you) that I was convinced.
P L E A S E read it. There were so many times I was giddy, grinning at the pages - honestly all but kicking my legs. The positive 2SLGBTQ+ representation is incredible and it’s so nice to read a book with queer characters where the relationship is so realistic and wholesome but not the main focus of the plot nor the characters.
Content Warnings
Minor: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Violence, Hate crime, Racism, Bullying, Confinement, Fatphobia, and Physical abuse
tragedies's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
V.E. Schwab described The House in the Cerulean Sea as “being wrapped in a big gay blanket” and that is exactly what this is. It's comforting and warm, something you'd snuggle into when your soul is weary of the world and your heart jaded by the people in it. It feels like a gentle hug from an old friend or a hot chocolate on a cold rainy day. In some ways, it also feels like a Studio Ghibli film — whimsical and cheeky but also profound and incredibly thought-provoking.
The story follows Linus, a forty-year-old caseworker at the Department In Charge of Magical Youth. He evaluates orphanages with magical children and makes sure they are up to standard. Though he tends to keep his head down, he prides himself for his detailed case reports and believes that his objective eye would help the children in places he’s assigned to (or so he thinks). He is a creature of habit and is perfectly content with staying in his own bubble and living his orderly yet mundane routine, though he can’t help but think of something beyond gray walls and neat desks — the sight of vibrant cerulean seas. Eventually, he does get the chance to see them, not in the faded picture of his mousepad, but in real life.
One day, Extremely Upper Management gives Linus a top secret assignment and whisks him away to Marsyas Island, where the local orphanage is said to house the most dangerous magical children in the country. However, throughout the course of his stay, he begins to see that the children and Arthur, the unorthodox master of the orphanage, are much more than their case files. They are human, just like him. They should not be feared or hated; rather, they should be treated with kindness and compassion, so that they too can live, dream, and flourish just like any other person. Thus, as he spends more time with the people in Marsyas, he starts to question the bubble he’s lived in, the beliefs he held, the prejudices that colored his perspective, and the systems enforced by the institution he works for.
More than that, Linus slowly realizes that this house in the cerulean sea is not at all like the photo in his mousepad. Somehow, it is better. Though he had a job, food, and a roof over his head, the life he led before had a lonely, aching emptiness that he had long resigned himself to believing as his sole constant companion. Even if he did try to fill that void in him, society would deem him too fat and old for anything good to come out of it. I love how the book challenged that narrative and presented us with a story wherein someone like Linus does have a chance at love and happiness and that it is never too late to turn one’s life around to reach for them.
I know some people think the ending is too optimistic. Indeed, reality is often darker and more cruel than we could ever imagine, and stories that stay true to that have their place. However, I also think it’s important to have stories like The House in the Cerulean Sea that portray the world both as it is and as it should be. It shows us that there will always be Linuses, Arthurs, and hopeful tales of finding love and family in the most unexpected of places at the most unexpected of times.
P.S. TJ Klune, I am begging you. Please write a sequel. I've grown too fond of these characters. I need more of them please. Pretty please?
P.S. TJ Klune, I am begging you. Please write a sequel. I've grown too fond of these characters. I need more of them please. Pretty please?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Body shaming and Fatphobia
lusheeta_toel's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Cute and fun book! The pace felt a bit fast at times, but I still enjoyed it. Interesting and what sometimes felt like overt commentary on things - it was clear what the author's beliefs are about some things.
Content Warnings
Minor: Xenophobia, Homophobia, and Emotional abuse
racheldonna14's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Confinement, and Emotional abuse
miller8d's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I absolutely loved the personalities in this story and the palpable familial love. Everyone was very charming and it was delightful and charming to follow their stories. My only complaint is that the actual core story of the book, about the rip-off Harry Potter ministry and the backstory at the end blah blah, was quite boring to me and took up far too much time in the book. I wish there had been a more original and more enticing foundation of logic/exposition for the story’s characters to work off of.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia and Body shaming
Moderate: Xenophobia and Abandonment
Minor: Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse
I really liked this book but, until the very end,kmart_ceo's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
It’s funny and extremely charming. I grew attached to all the kids. I loved all of the characters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse and Xenophobia
Moderate: Fatphobia, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, and Violence