Reviews with content warning for Xenophobia - The House in the Cerulean Sea

Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

311 reviews

_izzi_'s review

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adventurous challenging emotional funny inspiring reflective 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

spellbindingtomes's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing 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

𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴, 𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘢, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘺 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘵, 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬.

Linus Baker is a caseworker for the Department in Charge of Magical Youth. He strictly adheres to the rules of his job and has accepted he'll forever be alone in his mundane life. So when he gets assigned a peculiar case to assess 6 dangerous kids and their caretaker, he sets out to do his job, not knowing the many surprises that are in store for him.

If a book can encompass a warm, fuzzy feeling, it would definitely be this one. This was such a joy to read. The narrative and prose had me laughing multiple times.

𝘉𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘴, 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘺. 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘥𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘦.

𝘛𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩.

Don't even get me started on the children. Each of them were so chaotic and loveable in their own unique quirky way, it's so hard to pick a favorite! Sal's the gentlest boy. Chauncey and his fascination with bellhops was priceless. Lucy and how he always delivers the best lines highlighting his parentage with the most deadpan expressions killed me 😂

𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩.

I highly recommend the audiobook. It was truly an experience to listen to. Daniel Henning did an impeccable job with his clear distinct voices for every character.

If you're looking for a lighthearted read with so many endearing characters and tender moments that tug on your heartstrings, then check this out! I'm officially a TJ Klune fan and will definitely read his other books!

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jacobevje's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.5

Content Warnings

anchik's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective 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

scmiller's review against another edition

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4.0

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chenderson79's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

Content Warnings

shamciar's review against another edition

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hopeful lighthearted reflective 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

I enjoyed this book a lot. I wanted to find a fantasy book with queer characters that didn't use typical fantasy love stories, and this book delivered. Unfortunately, Klune's inspiration for the premise of this book is extremely questionable at best and I would heavily consider that anyone look that up before decided to read this book. Part of me wants to say that you can enjoy the story if you can look past it, but personally I can't ignore it when he could have entirely avoided most if not all of the problematic content. Disheartening, but that's on me for not doing my diligence beforehand.

Content Warnings