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A review by redpandareviews
The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune
emotional
funny
hopeful
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
3.0
I want to start with the pros. The worldbuilding and characters are very enjoyable. I found the plot setup to be a great hook for getting me reading and are its best virture. I think the writing style is pretty good as well.
Now for the cons.
The biggest and most glaring sin is a consistent issue with telling-not-showing. I felt at times that I was being beat over the head with certain themes or points the story was trying to make. To the point where it felt I was reading a book meant for a younger age bracket. [There is no indication of this, so I will assume it is meant for a slightly older audience.] This was also combined with a rushed pace near the end of the book, leading to a lot of long-winded dialogue in places where it doesn't make sense.
There were also a lot of holes in the story and worldbuilding as well. There were times where I was confused by the main character's reactions to certain events when it doesn't really make sense. It almost feels that he is completely new to magic, when his entire job is to work with magic children. Or there are mulitple somewhat intimate scenes seemingly in the middle of a public setting.
This last point is more of a personal gripe, which is that I feel Lucy's character could have had way more subtlety or nuance. He is just an edgy child who doesn't cause any real trouble at all. It feels as if the book didn't know how to find a middle ground between Antichrist and normal child. It is difficult to not compare this to Good Omen's similar Antichrist setup, which was vastly superior in my opinion.
I want to like this book more, I do like it to an extent. However, it could have used more time to brew and get more polish.
Now for the cons.
The biggest and most glaring sin is a consistent issue with telling-not-showing. I felt at times that I was being beat over the head with certain themes or points the story was trying to make. To the point where it felt I was reading a book meant for a younger age bracket. [There is no indication of this, so I will assume it is meant for a slightly older audience.] This was also combined with a rushed pace near the end of the book, leading to a lot of long-winded dialogue in places where it doesn't make sense.
There were also a lot of holes in the story and worldbuilding as well. There were times where I was confused by the main character's reactions to certain events when it doesn't really make sense. It almost feels that he is completely new to magic, when his entire job is to work with magic children. Or there are mulitple somewhat intimate scenes seemingly in the middle of a public setting.
This last point is more of a personal gripe, which is that I feel Lucy's character could have had way more subtlety or nuance. He is just an edgy child who doesn't cause any real trouble at all. It feels as if the book didn't know how to find a middle ground between Antichrist and normal child. It is difficult to not compare this to Good Omen's similar Antichrist setup, which was vastly superior in my opinion.
I want to like this book more, I do like it to an extent. However, it could have used more time to brew and get more polish.
Content Warnings
Minor: Child abuse, Religious bigotry