A review by heyleigh05
The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

adventurous funny lighthearted relaxing medium-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

4.0

 Its giving Zootopia for adults

The House in the Cerulean Sea is a funny, whimsical novel about Linus Baker who finds himself in a monotonous rut. He’s forty years-old, single, thick around the waist, and balding. He works a rote, unfulfilling job, as a social worker. He has no friends, no hobbies, and all he has to keep his attention is his cat, Calliope. Linus’ life lacks color and zest until one day he is sent on a special assignment to investigate the mysterious workings of a remote orphanage with unusual children and caretakers.

TJ Klune has created a world in which there are both humans and magical beings however, the magical beings are kept isolated from the human population and they are targets of prejudice and discrimination. You can probably see how I drew the connection to Zootopia. The novel and the  movie discuss racism and discrimination in whimsical, simplified way. You know the angle where race and discrimination is boiled down to “just because someone is different, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t treat them with respect”. The book very much purports that narrative which is cute for kids, I guess, but would definitely not be acceptable in adult conversations. I don’t think anti-discrimination is the main message of the novel so I won’t go too deep into it but, I do hope that grown adults are not using this book as a resource to learn about racism and anti-discrimination. As adults we should be having far more nuanced conversations about race and racism and this book should not be the springboard for that. I’ll end my soapbox here. Rather, I think the central message of this book is to live your life fully and to find and pursue the things and people who make you happy. Life can pass us by before we know it and then we’ll be left wondering what we did with it. Linus has to choose the life that he wants to live.

The story is driven by its characters. Each character is distinct and they all have a lot of charisma. I was never confused about who was who because their characterizations were so unique, even the children. And while each character had distinct personalities you could still see their character development. (Slight Spoiler) Seeing the children warm-up to and eventually come to love Linus and vice versa was very endearing. The found family in this novel was very touching. The children were especially funny in this book and their interactions with Linus always made me laugh! Overall, this is a cute novel. The characters are funny and it's just a whimsical story. I can see why so many people enjoy it! It's a fun, refreshing novel especially when you want to read something to shake up your TBR or even for non-avid readers who are looking for something fun.

4 stars