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A review by soapsoapsoap
The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
4.0
THITCS is a heartwarming, whimsical, light fantasy about a social worker (of sorts) named Linus.
So what makes Linus special?
Well, he works for DICOMY, or the Department In Charge of Magical Youth, and Linus’s job as a caseworker means that he goes around to orphanages and inspects whether they should be open or not. He’s been doing this work for 17 years, he has it down pat, and can even recite some of the RULES & REGULATIONS by heart.
But then, Extremely Upper Management summons him.
Extremely Upper Management is known for their awful Christmas meals and their solidarity. So when Linus is summoned, he’s TERRIFIED.
What Extremely Upper Management wants is unexpected- they want Linus to go to an unknown island to an orphanage which Linus has no knowledge of, and see if said orphanage needs to close.
The twist? It’s a classified level 4, the highest level of classification. No one can know about this.
So Linus is sent along his not so merry way, with his not so merry cat, Calliope, and he soon arrives at the coastal city and island of Marysas. Almost immediately, he is greeted by a large and instantly lovable group of characters, and so begins the month long adventure- no, investigation, into the Marysas Orphanage.
The thing that stuck out almost immediately to me about this book was the whimsical writing. It felt almost fairy tale-esque in its nature, which makes sense as this book is very fairy taley. The second thing that stuck out to me was the characters. Listen, I am a SUCKER for any kind of children/found family story, and so of course I loved this book. It felt like none of the children were left alone- and it showed in how flushed out they all felt.
One thing that also stood out to me, negatively, is the fact that all of the villains were cartoony. They all sounded like:
“rawr I hate people with magic boooo screw them >:(“
While that was one aspect I didn’t like, the rest of the book I loved!
WHY YOU MIGHT LIKE THIS:
- a heartwarming story of finding your family and what it means to be home
- children as a main focus/found family
- it’s a light read, not meant to be a heavy book
- extremely flushed out characters
- whimsical way of writing
WHY YOU MIGHT NOT LIKE THIS:
- characters > plot
- very “cartoony” villains
- a slow burn
- writing can repetitive
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
bottom line: I love children in stories.
So what makes Linus special?
Well, he works for DICOMY, or the Department In Charge of Magical Youth, and Linus’s job as a caseworker means that he goes around to orphanages and inspects whether they should be open or not. He’s been doing this work for 17 years, he has it down pat, and can even recite some of the RULES & REGULATIONS by heart.
But then, Extremely Upper Management summons him.
Extremely Upper Management is known for their awful Christmas meals and their solidarity. So when Linus is summoned, he’s TERRIFIED.
What Extremely Upper Management wants is unexpected- they want Linus to go to an unknown island to an orphanage which Linus has no knowledge of, and see if said orphanage needs to close.
The twist? It’s a classified level 4, the highest level of classification. No one can know about this.
So Linus is sent along his not so merry way, with his not so merry cat, Calliope, and he soon arrives at the coastal city and island of Marysas. Almost immediately, he is greeted by a large and instantly lovable group of characters, and so begins the month long adventure- no, investigation, into the Marysas Orphanage.
The thing that stuck out almost immediately to me about this book was the whimsical writing. It felt almost fairy tale-esque in its nature, which makes sense as this book is very fairy taley. The second thing that stuck out to me was the characters. Listen, I am a SUCKER for any kind of children/found family story, and so of course I loved this book. It felt like none of the children were left alone- and it showed in how flushed out they all felt.
One thing that also stood out to me, negatively, is the fact that all of the villains were cartoony. They all sounded like:
“rawr I hate people with magic boooo screw them >:(“
While that was one aspect I didn’t like, the rest of the book I loved!
WHY YOU MIGHT LIKE THIS:
- a heartwarming story of finding your family and what it means to be home
- children as a main focus/found family
- it’s a light read, not meant to be a heavy book
- extremely flushed out characters
- whimsical way of writing
WHY YOU MIGHT NOT LIKE THIS:
- characters > plot
- very “cartoony” villains
- a slow burn
- writing can repetitive
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
bottom line: I love children in stories.