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A review by aruejohns
The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
adventurous
funny
hopeful
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
4.25
Updating this review because I reread the book and have a few new thoughts - and several questions. First, I don’t think it’s fair to over-analyze this book: its a sweet story that is decently well-written, and a truly fun read. It’s cute, and emotional, and worth the couple of hours it takes to read.
Second (and I am going to over-analyze here), there are definitely elements of “white savior”ism in the book, especially given that it was partially inspired by indigenous “boarding schools” across the US and Canada. Given that fact, the lack of clarity on the family history of many of the characters is also pretty questionable - the book tells us that magical adults exist, but we only meet two - where did these magical children come from?
In the interest of not over-complicating things, I’m going to leave the review there. Do I recommend this book? Yes, probably. But it still has elements that need further discussion, and I’d like to see more of that discussed in more of the author’s work.
Original review below:
I read this book for an equity-focused book club, which certainly colored my impressions if it. It is certainly a delightful read - quick, cute, and lighthearted that does not shy away from the darkness that its worldbuilding implies.
Yet, throughout the book, it fell into the trap of trying to talk about acceptance and diversity through the mask of a fantasy setting without a direct parallel in the real world, and without the actual diversity that the magical elements were presumably meant to invoke. Yes, there were several queer characters, including the main character. However, at several points the text pointed out his queerness in more of a virtue-signaling than actual way: a neighbor having to remind herself to push men on him instead of women, children asking questions unprompted. As in many books, the queer elements felt far more intentionally obvious than natural. There was also only one character described as being non-white, the only child to have skin color mentioned as part of their description.
The book deals heavily with childhood trauma and violence, and I thought it handled the topic well. It was not shied away from, but didn’t appear to be overly sensationalized.
Overall, this book told a sweet story of a found family and a fight for acceptance and forgiveness. I read it in one sitting and it was certainly a page turner - I really enjoyed it. I will certainly be very curious to hear what my book club has to say.
Second (and I am going to over-analyze here), there are definitely elements of “white savior”ism in the book, especially given that it was partially inspired by indigenous “boarding schools” across the US and Canada. Given that fact, the lack of clarity on the family history of many of the characters is also pretty questionable - the book tells us that magical adults exist, but we only meet two - where did these magical children come from?
In the interest of not over-complicating things, I’m going to leave the review there. Do I recommend this book? Yes, probably. But it still has elements that need further discussion, and I’d like to see more of that discussed in more of the author’s work.
Original review below:
I read this book for an equity-focused book club, which certainly colored my impressions if it. It is certainly a delightful read - quick, cute, and lighthearted that does not shy away from the darkness that its worldbuilding implies.
Yet, throughout the book, it fell into the trap of trying to talk about acceptance and diversity through the mask of a fantasy setting without a direct parallel in the real world, and without the actual diversity that the magical elements were presumably meant to invoke. Yes, there were several queer characters, including the main character. However, at several points the text pointed out his queerness in more of a virtue-signaling than actual way: a neighbor having to remind herself to push men on him instead of women, children asking questions unprompted. As in many books, the queer elements felt far more intentionally obvious than natural. There was also only one character described as being non-white, the only child to have skin color mentioned as part of their description.
The book deals heavily with childhood trauma and violence, and I thought it handled the topic well. It was not shied away from, but didn’t appear to be overly sensationalized.
Overall, this book told a sweet story of a found family and a fight for acceptance and forgiveness. I read it in one sitting and it was certainly a page turner - I really enjoyed it. I will certainly be very curious to hear what my book club has to say.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse