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

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective 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

4.75

I just really loved this book. Linus was incredibly relatable. His journey of self discovery, of learning to love and know the children, Zoe, and Arthur was touching. I feel like there are a lot of people, including myself, who occupy places of privilege in the various systems in the world who want to do good and think they know how, but they really don't. Linus took the time to get to know the people behind the files and learn what they actually needed to thrive, not just what the system said they needed. I loved the development of Linus' relationships as well as watching the children especially change and grow during Linus' stay. One of the only things I wasn't a fan of was how Phee kind of faded into the background. I hope she gets more attention in the sequel.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse

A lot of the homophobia is more allegorical than anything. There are moments of homophobia that are outright, but mostly the story line parallels real-world bigotry without explicitly drawing a connection.