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emotional hopeful inspiring 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: Yes

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emotional hopeful inspiring 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: Yes

Such a sweet book! Highly recommend!

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes

This book was heart-warming and hopeful and had the most tenderly realized characters. 
Was it a little corny? Yes. Did I still love it? Also yes. 

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emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes

This book felt like a bright, warm hug for me. Linus is used to a daily grind that kept his life small and dreary until he's sent on an assignment that opens his heart up to choices. A space that's utterly surprising to him, we see how at home he feels in the new environment yet how he resisted it, which created many laughable moments in the book. His cat acts as an emotional barometer throughout the story, which I thought was super cute and clever.

Our experience of this magical world that poignantly parallels our own - where those who are different are systematically isolated and marginalized - is shaken up as Linus himself embraces a new trajectory. I appreciate how serious issues are brought up in a way that doesn't leave the readers stuck in re-living traumatic triggers. There is flow here, and enough resolution towards the end so that we land softly in the realm of possibility, which I thought was very important.

Through this story, we see how the changing tide of Linus' life is responding to structural needs for change and healing. We join him as he navigates the challenge and the courage to be led by love. The pacing, writing, and characters were enjoyable. I had to remind myself it was okay to finish reading this because it meant I can re-read it later (lol). Highly recommended for a cozy, hopeful read that brings in a boost of chosen family love, heartfelt character growth, and funny dialogues 🌈

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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

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious 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: Yes

maybe it’s recency bias but this has to be one of the best books i’ve ever read. i have never cried so much. i devoured this, i could not put it down. pump this shit into my veins

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective 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

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective 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: No

Oh my gosh! THIS BOOK! I'm so happy I read it! It made me feel happy and yet there was a time when my eyes burned due to the tears in my eyes. I loved all our main characters! EVERY. SINGLE. ONE! I was so unwell after I finished it. Heartbroken even. I love this book so much! 🥰😥

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous emotional lighthearted reflective relaxing fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

After hearing so many good things about The House in the Cerulean Sea, I finally got around to reading it! (Thanks to my Secret Santa, Matty. <3)
The book definitely is hard to put down, so it was a fast read, and all the scenes with the children on the island were absolutely adorable. I loved their magical forest, and how much the main character sometimes reminded me of Aziraphale from Good Omens, who is one of my absolute favourites.
Still, I feel like this story didn't quite meet my (very high) expectations. It took about 150 pages before I finally had the feeling that it had really started, and while it makes sense that the reader needed to be given a lot of information about this world, I really felt this could have been tightened up with some thorough editing.
My biggest issue was that I didn't quite "feel" the romance.
To me, it felt a bit as if Linus at first fell for Arthur simply because he was the first handsome man who gave him as little as a friendly smile, but I generally prefer if romance stories give me, as the reader, some sense of "why that one?". By the time the story made me feel that a little more, even Linus had already realised he had fallen for him.

Looking back at my review for Under the Whispering Door, I'll have to conclude that TJ Klune's writing style is just a little bit too zoomed out for me. Seeing everything at a distance can be useful to maintain the sense of comfort that his books all have, but for me personally it makes it harder to really be as invested in the characters' emotions. Then again, I doubt I'd call The House in the Cerulean Sea a "comfort read" for myself, considering the underlying themes that made this world so unsafe for children that are "other", and I wasn't entirely satisfied with how Linus' internalised fatphobia was handled.
I'm definitely happy that many readers got to know this book and the cosy fantasy genre in general thanks to the marketing behind it, but for me personally, it didn't quite hit the spot I'd hoped it would.

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adventurous hopeful medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes

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