Scan barcode
A review by ametakinetos
The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
4.0
Never knew a story involving the Antichrist could be so heartwarming.
3.5/5
Overall, I greatly admired this book. The fairly minimal worldbuilding perfectly matched the storylines, and the cliché of found family felt beautifully well done.
My biggest issue that sharply prevented my experience from receiving a higher rating was that it seemed obsessed with telling rather than showing. Characters have these lengthy monologues conveying their feelings or a thinly-veiled morality lesson or love for each other or any such thing with such frequency that it took away a lot of the impact that would have otherwise had. It seemed more like a self-help book in its overt "this is the message you are going to take away from this paragraph so help me" vibe rather than showing the same sentiments through action - which was still there, but it felt redundant. Found myself zoning out through a significant portion of the dialogue.
Still. Enjoyed the experience.
3.5/5
Overall, I greatly admired this book. The fairly minimal worldbuilding perfectly matched the storylines, and the cliché of found family felt beautifully well done.
Spoiler
I absolutely teared up when Chauncey gets his chance to be a bellhop at the hotel.My biggest issue that sharply prevented my experience from receiving a higher rating was that it seemed obsessed with telling rather than showing. Characters have these lengthy monologues conveying their feelings or a thinly-veiled morality lesson or love for each other or any such thing with such frequency that it took away a lot of the impact that
Spoiler
Linus's big tirade against Extremely Upper Management in the endStill. Enjoyed the experience.