A review by nicoleisalwaysreading
The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

adventurous emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

The whimsical writing and fantastical premise is often its strength, but some of the feel good-isms veer into cheese really fast. The characters were precious and unique, and I did love reading about each of their personalities.

I read some about the “inspiration” for this book being the so-called boarding schools for indigenous children in the US and Canada and then seeing how this book “solved” this parallel problem rooted in prejudice, segregation, and abuse/torture with one well-intentioned and hapless guy who never made any effort to connect with people before who comes to a bright and colorful island of misfits and is swept off his feet wasn’t right. It was dumping sugar on violent, systemic issues.

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