Reviews with content warning for Homophobia - Dům v blankytně modrém moři

This book reads like a dated children's movie that feels as whimsical as Klaus and tries very hard to be progressive. It's been touted as a YA novel and as difficult as some of these topics might be for more children, marking it for YA while having older white men as protagonists seems like a stretch. At best, it's middle grade.

I appreciate its blunt cartoonish-ness though, it suspends your disbelief for a while. An orphanage for difficult, magical children visited by a dull, old caseworker who does his best to do right by them. His world gets a little less dull when meeting the unorthodox orphanage at Marsyas and its owner (or, master, however weird that sounds on paper). It writes itself like a rom-com, and it kind of is. A really cartoonish, quirky, and charming rom-com with a lot of little kids running around.

I found myself growing to like this book even after the initial chapters. It was slow-going at first, and the turn wasn't as subtle as it was fast. The narration itself wanting both to put us in Linus' head (especially in cases of extreme anxiety) while also keeping us out of it (in this case, when he starts warming up to the children).

A little nitpick of mine while reading this book was that I couldn't place its time period or place. It deems itself to be placed in the South but the speech patterns for some were suggestively British. There are scenes where it suggests that it is set in the present (record stores telling one of the children that they liked old music and the existence of computers), but Linus still has to send correspondences and reports through the post and if it were placed in America, the speech patterns would also suggest that this would technically be a period piece on top of its magical realism.

It all comes to a head during the later chapters, when Arthur and Linus talk about how Arthur is the first magical being to ever have run their own orphanage and that he was silenced and prohibited from revealing it. Holding the suggestion that of all the years these institutions have existed not a single activist group had arisen. Linus talks of magical beings in professional roles but says nothing of activist groups or names any.

Again, this is a cartoonish rom-com of a children's-not-YA book banking on the fiction of a fake marginalized group, but so maybe expecting it to be a little less like that would be disingenuous. The criticism exists though.

Here, on the other hand are some very problematic things I found about it:

That the concept of children in homes like these were allegorical to the abduction and institutionalization of Indigenous children is a tad concerning, seeing as there is not a single child of color.
There's a lot of rampant fatphobia in this book, coming from the narrative character and the people he used to work with.
There were a lot of Whoopi Epiphany Speeches that kind of feel awkward.
We also have a Black woman who fulfills a caretaker role
and is a being of magic
, and though the book doesn't treat her badly, one should be mindful of the fallings of tropes like these.

Overall, despite its flaws, it's a cheesy rom-com of a book that reads like a dated children's movie on the vein of Klaus and maybe a bit of The Parent Trap. It is what it is and despite all of that, is kind of stronger than the sum of its parts.

Content Warnings

vkodhai's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing 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? It's complicated

5.0

Content Warnings

lucystolethesky's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted sad 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

Content Warnings

aimzthereader's review against another edition

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emotional funny 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? It's complicated

5.0

WHERE DO I EVEN BEGIN WITH THIS BOOK?!?!? Just go pick up this book and read it, its a hug in a book, it is amazing, it is everything you need I promise.

I actually tried to read this book in March 2020 and I DNFed it, I think I just wasn't in the right place for it but I had to come back to it because LITERALLY everyone loved it. I am SOOOo happy I came back, once I got past the little bit of slowness at the beginning I never wanted to put it down and I didnt want to leave the world this book created for me. I would adopt all of these children. I want to live on this island, I want to be part of this found family.

Just an overwhelming feeling of love and passion for this book. Everyone should read it, so fantastic!

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bookish_riz's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful 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

4.5

This book is just what I needed! To be perfectly honest, I'm not one for light-hearted books. But this had just the right amount of magic to make it such an easy read. It felt like a pixar movie playing in my brain while reading it. I'm sure I will reread it again at some point and will definitely be recommending it others along the way.
.
I've been reading so many adult fantasy/academic/long series books, it was a breath of fresh air to read a stand alone book with a surprising amount of introspection. Such a delightful book!

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silviaaa's review against another edition

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adventurous 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? It's complicated

5.0

Content Warnings

mirichasha's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing slow-paced

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

5.0

New favorite book???? New favorite book!!! Like maybe this is actually my new reread and Red White & Royal Blue can take at least a short break (we'll see though, I have already read it three times this year). This book was just so joyful, so sweet, so full of hope and so relatable in its journey from sadness to a life of color. I want that for myself. This book gives me something to dream about.

See content warnings for discussion of fatphobia in this book, though.

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