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vickyreadthis 's review for:
Somewhere Beyond the Sea
by TJ Klune
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I spent many days coming up with these few paragraphs, because I’m conflicted.
I read The House in the Cerulean Sea during quarantine, loved it thoroughly, read it again translated to my first language after lobbying for it to be my book club’s pick for that month, loved it again… and then the controversy sprung to light. It really tainted that original experience for me because I couldn’t and still can’t unsee how a rightfully condemnable action was turned into a whimsical fairy tale in the name of creative licenses.
Unfortunately, it tainted my experience with this book too. I went into it with the hope the my love for this characters would carry me through, but the more I think about it, the more I feel it’s not enough.
The concept in itself was fine, if unnecessary. A continuation to a beloved story… that we didn’t exactly ask for. Even with all the reproachable context, I would’ve been content leaving it at the first book.
The story was… okay. I wasn’t as moved as with the first book, even if that feels wrong to say given everything that came after. I appreciated the look into Arthur’s past, but again, the context makes it murky. And then there were some aspects that came out of seemingly nowhere for me.(Zoe being a queen all of a sudden? I’m a self proclaimed dummy reader and all, but I would’ve liked more foreshadowing for that other than a mud man calling her Majesty at one point. And the old treaty thing? What?) As a supporter of the Chekov’s gun as a narrative principle, I took offense.
The fact that Linus and Arthur’s relationship took a bit of a backseat throughout the book made it feel more apparent that the DICOMY “villains” lacked substance. Sure, Linus was never a villain in his book, but had a lesson to learn and it caused a ripple within the whole system.Here, the DICOMY people (can’t bother to look up the spelling of their names, sorry) didn’t really face any consequences for their actions other than unemployment, and their motives were never explained in depth for them to actually matter.
David’s addition to the bunch was beautiful, and I really liked the way his integration into the dynamic was depicted. In fact, the kids are this book’s saving grace for me: I loved them in the first book and I loved seeing them grow, both in age and as a family. I still struggled to believe their relationship with the people of the village would improve this significantly after a few speeches and ferry trips, but maybe that’s just me being my skeptical, jaded self.
Overall, I don’t know. I’ve used the word feel a few times throughout this review because that was what I came looking for, to replicate the feeling of a warm hug the first book left me with. That sensation has been since ripped away from me, so the expectations were much lower for the sequel, but sadly, they weren’t quite met.
I read The House in the Cerulean Sea during quarantine, loved it thoroughly, read it again translated to my first language after lobbying for it to be my book club’s pick for that month, loved it again… and then the controversy sprung to light. It really tainted that original experience for me because I couldn’t and still can’t unsee how a rightfully condemnable action was turned into a whimsical fairy tale in the name of creative licenses.
Unfortunately, it tainted my experience with this book too. I went into it with the hope the my love for this characters would carry me through, but the more I think about it, the more I feel it’s not enough.
The concept in itself was fine, if unnecessary. A continuation to a beloved story… that we didn’t exactly ask for. Even with all the reproachable context, I would’ve been content leaving it at the first book.
The story was… okay. I wasn’t as moved as with the first book, even if that feels wrong to say given everything that came after. I appreciated the look into Arthur’s past, but again, the context makes it murky. And then there were some aspects that came out of seemingly nowhere for me.
The fact that Linus and Arthur’s relationship took a bit of a backseat throughout the book made it feel more apparent that the DICOMY “villains” lacked substance. Sure, Linus was never a villain in his book, but had a lesson to learn and it caused a ripple within the whole system.
David’s addition to the bunch was beautiful, and I really liked the way his integration into the dynamic was depicted. In fact, the kids are this book’s saving grace for me: I loved them in the first book and I loved seeing them grow, both in age and as a family. I still struggled to believe their relationship with the people of the village would improve this significantly after a few speeches and ferry trips, but maybe that’s just me being my skeptical, jaded self.
Overall, I don’t know. I’ve used the word feel a few times throughout this review because that was what I came looking for, to replicate the feeling of a warm hug the first book left me with. That sensation has been since ripped away from me, so the expectations were much lower for the sequel, but sadly, they weren’t quite met.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Xenophobia, Abandonment
Minor: Racism