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Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Physical abuse, Violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal death, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Stalking, Outing, Dysphoria, War, Deportation
This pains me to write because I want to support queer authors writing queer stories, but it felt like Cerulean Sea was already complete story but the publisher wanted more and they decided to move forward with a sequel when it wasn't needed and there was no unique or compelling plotline.
It was heavy handed in its themes in a way that felt like it was tokenizing rather than about genuine representation. This may be a hot take, but coming from a queer person I'd rather queer authors write stories with queer love and queer families instead of writing a book just to say LOOK HOW QUEER THIS BOOK IS. The best way I can describe is that it felt like someone gave an AI bot Cerulean Sea and asked them to write another book from Arthur's perspective.
The best moments of this book - where TJ Klune continues to shine - is in developing the characters and the unique personalities of the children. They continue to be bright moments that truly made me laugh out loud throughout the book. The part where
I don't blame people for wanting more of the sweet, charming, "wrap you up in a blanket" cozy fairytale vibes of Cerulean Sea. I wanted more of that, too! Maybe that's why this book was such a disappointment to me. It was missing the magic and I hope that for future iterations (if this becomes a series), that Klune and his editors will take more time developing a story worthy of the characters, who are beautiful and wonderful and deserve that time and attention.
Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Homophobia, Gaslighting
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse
Moderate: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Racism
Minor: Sexual content, Violence, Gaslighting
I’m so distraught about the state of humanity in the US right now. This book tells me to remain hopeful and believe in the righteousness and goodness of people who will stand in solidarity with us. With elections only a couple of weeks away and the MAGA party (I refuse to call them Republicans) setting up to destroy and rebuild the country in its pre-Civil War image, hope is a hard resource to find right now. The most I hope for is that this author is right - that we have the right to hope that our citizenship will be defended and allowed to live in peace with the full authority to exist as we are - someday.
Graphic: Ableism, Biphobia, Body shaming, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Slavery, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Transphobia, Gaslighting, Colonisation
This book caused me a lot of stress. All kinds of hate (xenophobia, transphobia, homophobia, and more) play a large role. It mirrored the current world and political climate too well to remain a cozy read. Thankfully the book ended in a heartwarming way.
At first I wondered if characters from the island and especially Arthur weren't acting too antigonistically at times. However, throughout the story I changed my mind. Why should they walk on eggshells when the government officials treats them without respect and hide behind rules and laws they themselves made up.
I gave the book 4 stars instead of 5 due to lack of immersion. I feel bad about it, but there were many times where I didn't feel immersed. Often the characters said something which fit the situation a bit too well based on who they were without any big consequences. It made me think of the characters as puppets performing a play. I think it's also because the villains were very flat and unwilling to change. Though strong for this story, I prefer books with more nuance.
Graphic: Child abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Transphobia
Moderate: Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Religious bigotry
Minor: Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting
Moderate: Xenophobia, Grief
Minor: Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment
Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Colonisation
Moderate: Genocide
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment
Giving this book 4.75 instead of my original 5 given the fact that the author based this off of cultural genocide. Yikes.
Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Hate crime, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail