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emotional
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
I spent many days coming up with these few paragraphs, because I’m conflicted.
I read The House in the Cerulean Sea during quarantine, loved it thoroughly, read it again translated to my first language after lobbying for it to be my book club’s pick for that month, loved it again… and then the controversy sprung to light. It really tainted that original experience for me because I couldn’t and still can’t unsee how a rightfully condemnable action was turned into a whimsical fairy tale in the name of creative licenses.
Unfortunately, it tainted my experience with this book too. I went into it with the hope the my love for this characters would carry me through, but the more I think about it, the more I feel it’s not enough.
The concept in itself was fine, if unnecessary. A continuation to a beloved story… that we didn’t exactly ask for. Even with all the reproachable context, I would’ve been content leaving it at the first book.
The story was… okay. I wasn’t as moved as with the first book, even if that feels wrong to say given everything that came after. I appreciated the look into Arthur’s past, but again, the context makes it murky. And then there were some aspects that came out of seemingly nowhere for me.(Zoe being a queen all of a sudden? I’m a self proclaimed dummy reader and all, but I would’ve liked more foreshadowing for that other than a mud man calling her Majesty at one point. And the old treaty thing? What?) As a supporter of the Chekov’s gun as a narrative principle, I took offense.
The fact that Linus and Arthur’s relationship took a bit of a backseat throughout the book made it feel more apparent that the DICOMY “villains” lacked substance. Sure, Linus was never a villain in his book, but had a lesson to learn and it caused a ripple within the whole system.Here, the DICOMY people (can’t bother to look up the spelling of their names, sorry) didn’t really face any consequences for their actions other than unemployment, and their motives were never explained in depth for them to actually matter.
David’s addition to the bunch was beautiful, and I really liked the way his integration into the dynamic was depicted. In fact, the kids are this book’s saving grace for me: I loved them in the first book and I loved seeing them grow, both in age and as a family. I still struggled to believe their relationship with the people of the village would improve this significantly after a few speeches and ferry trips, but maybe that’s just me being my skeptical, jaded self.
Overall, I don’t know. I’ve used the word feel a few times throughout this review because that was what I came looking for, to replicate the feeling of a warm hug the first book left me with. That sensation has been since ripped away from me, so the expectations were much lower for the sequel, but sadly, they weren’t quite met.
I read The House in the Cerulean Sea during quarantine, loved it thoroughly, read it again translated to my first language after lobbying for it to be my book club’s pick for that month, loved it again… and then the controversy sprung to light. It really tainted that original experience for me because I couldn’t and still can’t unsee how a rightfully condemnable action was turned into a whimsical fairy tale in the name of creative licenses.
Unfortunately, it tainted my experience with this book too. I went into it with the hope the my love for this characters would carry me through, but the more I think about it, the more I feel it’s not enough.
The concept in itself was fine, if unnecessary. A continuation to a beloved story… that we didn’t exactly ask for. Even with all the reproachable context, I would’ve been content leaving it at the first book.
The story was… okay. I wasn’t as moved as with the first book, even if that feels wrong to say given everything that came after. I appreciated the look into Arthur’s past, but again, the context makes it murky. And then there were some aspects that came out of seemingly nowhere for me.
The fact that Linus and Arthur’s relationship took a bit of a backseat throughout the book made it feel more apparent that the DICOMY “villains” lacked substance. Sure, Linus was never a villain in his book, but had a lesson to learn and it caused a ripple within the whole system.
David’s addition to the bunch was beautiful, and I really liked the way his integration into the dynamic was depicted. In fact, the kids are this book’s saving grace for me: I loved them in the first book and I loved seeing them grow, both in age and as a family. I still struggled to believe their relationship with the people of the village would improve this significantly after a few speeches and ferry trips, but maybe that’s just me being my skeptical, jaded self.
Overall, I don’t know. I’ve used the word feel a few times throughout this review because that was what I came looking for, to replicate the feeling of a warm hug the first book left me with. That sensation has been since ripped away from me, so the expectations were much lower for the sequel, but sadly, they weren’t quite met.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Xenophobia, Abandonment
Minor: Racism
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Minor: Child abuse, Emotional abuse
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
tense
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:
No
Content Warnings
Minor: Body shaming, Child abuse, Racism, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Colonisation, Classism
emotional
funny
hopeful
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:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Minor: Child abuse
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
If you liked the first book you'll also like this book.
My only critique is that Saul often seemed like a container for a message and less like a character and that the book felt a bit "explanatory" sometimes. Sometimes children just rattled of the definition of a word or phrase and so did Arthur a few times. In real life people don't say: "oh you meant x, commonly defined as y? It felt a bit off to me and like the author tried to squeeze in a mini lecture.
My only critique is that Saul often seemed like a container for a message and less like a character and that the book felt a bit "explanatory" sometimes. Sometimes children just rattled of the definition of a word or phrase and so did Arthur a few times. In real life people don't say: "oh you meant x, commonly defined as y? It felt a bit off to me and like the author tried to squeeze in a mini lecture.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse
Moderate: Abandonment
Minor: Emotional abuse, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This sequel missed the mark for me. The original was so sweet and whimsical. This one made the subtext very overt text over and over and over. I'm all for a queer allegory but the way this message was crafted felt overwrought and sucked the life and uniqueness of the story out for me. I did still enjoy the characterization of the children, especially Lucy and David.
Content Warnings
Minor: Child abuse, Homophobia, Racism, Transphobia
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
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:
Complicated
Incredible follow up to The House in the Cerulean Sea! I needed to read this book that exudes hope and queer joy. Read this series!!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
tense
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:
Complicated
As usual, I cried at the end. The kids are the best part of these books without a doubt!
The themes of this book while not too far off from the first book, felt like they were...overly-explained? They are important themes, don't get me wrong, but throwing in literal definitions like from a dictionary felt so weird and distracting and took me out of the book instantly. I understand wanting to write about current issues from a different perspective, but it felt like I was being spoon fed when it really wasn't necessary.
Overall, still worth the read, and the parts that were less of that ^ were wonderful.
The themes of this book while not too far off from the first book, felt like they were...overly-explained? They are important themes, don't get me wrong, but throwing in literal definitions like from a dictionary felt so weird and distracting and took me out of the book instantly. I understand wanting to write about current issues from a different perspective, but it felt like I was being spoon fed when it really wasn't necessary.
Overall, still worth the read, and the parts that were less of that ^ were wonderful.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Death of parent
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Physical abuse
Minor: Confinement, Cursing, Hate crime, Death of parent
None of the content warnings are endorsed by the author. The story is about fighting many different types of bigotry.
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse