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

2.0

I super wanted to like this book because the premise is very intriguing and set up to be charming (or dark! I wasn't sure what to expect). Unfortunately, when the main character is such a sadsack with a lot of self-deprecating humor, the last thing I want is a whole narrative built with everyone else ganging up on the protagonist and keeping him in the dark. The first have was SO hard to get through and then I just... could not pay attention. There was nothing wrong with the protagonist either. I found him sympathetic. The rest of the cast? No. No, it was frustrating to read and I get the sense that I was *supposed* to find the children charming and the whole house darkly whimsical, but I couldn't. With all that in motion, it was hard to find the funny parts funny, and the humor didn't hit the right beats for me though I just don't tend to lean towards slapstick comedy anyway.

I tried!!!!