Reviews tagging 'Fire/Fire injury'

Somewhere Beyond the Sea by TJ Klune

33 reviews

adventurous emotional 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: Yes

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challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious relaxing medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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

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emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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

The book is a cute sequel to the first novel and provides more story to a lovely cast of characters. I found the plot a little slow and some of the quirky scenes with the children I feel like had been rehashed from the previous book. The audio book reader when he does emotionally charged scenes i really didn't like the sound of his voice. However, the message of the book is important now more than ever but also a bit heavy handed.  I also appreciate the acknowledgement of working with social workers and psychologists about the trauma of adoption even when children go to nice homes such as Arthur and Linus.

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emotional hopeful 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: No

What an incredible book. Liked it even more than the first one.

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I enjoyed this book and love TJ Klune, but I don’t think it was his best book. Maybe what’s beyond the sea was best left to the imagination after the first book, but maybe it was all worth it for chapters 12 & 13 and to spend more time with characters I love. The plot felt like the same plot from the first book but with a different ending and from the point of view of the islanders instead of the inspector. I don’t know how I feel about the ending, but this is still one of my favorite books. 

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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: No

This book — this book — truly was everything I wanted in a sequel and then some. 

Arthur's point of view makes me love him all the more, if that was even possible to begin with, as I adore him. His struggles with trauma and repressing his own emotions made me think of my own experiences, and having someone tell him "you can't do it all" made me nearly cry.  

The kids?  I adore Lucy, but Sal really stepped up and grew up before my eyes. I was so proud of him and how he was able to wield the confidence and compassion hand in hand, especially when he had to call out Arthur for carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. 

Lucy made my howl with laughter, his little commentary and anecdotes helped to break up the tense situations or add to the already baffling situation they were in. His interactions with David, his love for his siblings, and his ability to land a solid punch line where needed makes me miss him all the more. 

I can't express the words for how well this was written. If you enjoyed the first novel, this surely is the best continuation I've seen of it. 

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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

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emotional hopeful medium-paced

Style/writing: 4 stars
Themes: 4 stars
Characters: 4.5 stars
Plot: 3.5 stars
Worldbuilding: 3.5 stars

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
emotional funny hopeful reflective 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

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