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

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

(As I was not aware, at the time of reading, of the quite horrifying implications of taking genocide on Native American peoples as inspiration about such a rather light-hearted story, this fact is not taken into consideration in my review.)

This book was quite slow and seemed to drag on, but it also seemed realistic. Linus is a man used to routine and a monotonous life. That this might be mirrored in his recountings makes sense. Not having read any other of Klune's works, I cannot say whether this is intentional or not. It also seemed to easy at times: There is a village that hates everyone from the island. But do not worry, they just need to talk to them to understand that they are normal people, too, though they might look different, and voilà - wide-spread acceptance! Linus holds the power of suggesting doing things differently or at all and it all working out in the end as if by magic.

It is great to see Linus become aware of the systematic unfairness of the system he's working in and then actively see him take a stance against it. I would have prefered it if it went beyond
a brief reveal that he took all files to a reporter to reveal how bad the system is à la wikileaks
, but I understand that this is not a story about fighting against a discriminatory system, it's a story about two men meeting and falling in love. The intrigue behind Arthur's identity draws you in and makes you guess along.

Overall, though I had wished for a faster pace, I quite enjoyed this book.
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