Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

22 reviews

novella42's review

dark emotional hopeful lighthearted 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? No

4.25

It's hard to put into words why I didn't adore this the way everyone else seems to. It was a sweet book and I appreciated the gentle and positive queer representation. I guess the hype just led me to expect different things. It might also be because I DNF the audiobook version--the narrator just wasn't for me--and that initial experience made it harder for me to connect with the characters? I don't know.

I wanted this to hit me like Sangu Mandanna's The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches, which I realize was written two years after The House in the Cerulean Sea. Why was I swept away by that one enough to buy a copy for my comfort bookshelf, but not by this one? Especially when I love queer romances of all genders, I really thought that'd tip the balance for me. Maybe the spice level was higher in the other? Maybe because I don't do well with body horror, which felt fairly graphic in The House in the Cerulean Sea? (Probably folks who read a lot of horror would consider it tame, but it kept repeating a trigger for my C-PTSD, so I'm biased here.)

Spoiler about a problematic theme related to the children's make-believe adventures:

I was very disappointed by the repetition of the "cannibal" theme they had in the children's fantasy adventures. I know it's meant to be a lighthearted "kids being kids" kind of thing, but the more Indigenous authors I read, the more something like that makes me cringe. All I can see is them playacting the story of "European colonizers and missionaries dehumanizing Indigenous people with unfounded racist fears." I know I'm a bleeding heart liberal killjoy, etc. but honestly, it's 2024, why are you writing "savage cannibal" themes into anything? They could have been imagining so many alternatives. It just was so dissonant with the book's overall message of celebrating differences and respecting the original inhabitant of the island.

Still a good book overall. I might pick up the second book at the library someday, when all the furor dies down. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Fatphobia, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Death of parent, Colonisation, Domestic abuse, and Eating disorder

Minor: Cursing

fred___'s review against another edition

sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

This was written based on the 60s scoop. Indigenous populations have discussed often that it was not an appropriate thing for a white cis author to cover (and give a happy ending to) because it dismissed the trauma indigenous populations are still living. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Cultural appropriation, Abandonment, Racism, Gaslighting, Colonisation, Child abuse, Classism, and Trafficking

erikagibson126's review

adventurous funny hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Abandonment, Xenophobia, Body shaming, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Colonisation

scmiller's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Confinement, Child abuse, Racism, Panic attacks/disorders, Fatphobia, Forced institutionalization, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Xenophobia, and Body shaming

Moderate: Classism, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Torture, Colonisation, and Abandonment

audriew9's review against another edition

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

4.5

This book was lovely the perfect magical book with a heart warming tale about found family and love

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment

Moderate: Racism and Colonisation

itsmaryssae's review

adventurous emotional funny inspiring 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Colonisation, Xenophobia, Forced institutionalization, and Child abuse

soggycedar's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

Not done yet, but don't read this right after Under the Whispering Door (& maybe other books by this author). The story is definitely different, but the books are just too similar. It feels like a recast of the same characters & of course the same writing style. I don't doubt it would be great separately.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Racism, Colonisation, and Fatphobia

Minor: Suicide

Neighbor tells the main character to

kill

himself toward the beginning. It was shockingly out of place & unexpected, then glossed right over.

arshiya_amreen90786's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Body shaming, Colonisation, and Fatphobia

Minor: Homophobia

zephyrfgray's review against another edition

dark slow-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

0.5

A good book but a terrible inspiration/creation story. Please read Kas' review on Goodreads on this book for more details. 

I wish I hadn't bought this book on Audible,,, smh. I will not be reading any of this author's work in the future.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Xenophobia, and Forced institutionalization

fiveredhens's review

emotional funny hopeful 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? No

3.75

idk... relaxing style but the metaphor was very hamfisted 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body shaming and Fatphobia

Minor: Abandonment, Child abuse, Forced institutionalization, Colonisation, Grief, Mental illness, Racism, Cultural appropriation, and Xenophobia