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A review by leslielopezholder
Somewhere Beyond the Sea by TJ Klune
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
I have to start by saying that I am only one of the many others who loved the first book. When I read THITCS, it broke my reading slump, made me cry, and will always be one of those stories that stay with me. However...
I was nervous going in this book because of how much I had built up the first book and knowing that sequels usually never match up (at least personally). Unfortunately, I think this is the case for me. I read in another review that this was more of a tell rather than show type of story and that was one of my top dislikes with it, to the point where I felt the tone was inconsistent with the first book. Again, like others said, it felt "preachy" which is frustrating because all the points the author was trying to make, I agree with! But rather than writing in a way that would flow with the story/worldbuilding/context, it felt forced.
My other big fault with this book has nothing to do with the content itself, but with the form. I listened to this as an audiobook and I wonder if that ruined the experience for me. I don't think the narrator had enough distinction between the adult characters so I found myself confused at times as to who was speaking. Then I felt the voices for the children were out of place and took me out of the story. Overall, it exacerbated my initial dislike with the book and made the story feel cheesy (in a bad way) too often.
Despite all this, I enjoyed revisiting all of the characters that I loved from the first book and to see how Arthur and Linus fit the parent role and seeing the "found" family grow stronger.
I was nervous going in this book because of how much I had built up the first book and knowing that sequels usually never match up (at least personally). Unfortunately, I think this is the case for me. I read in another review that this was more of a tell rather than show type of story and that was one of my top dislikes with it, to the point where I felt the tone was inconsistent with the first book. Again, like others said, it felt "preachy" which is frustrating because all the points the author was trying to make, I agree with! But rather than writing in a way that would flow with the story/worldbuilding/context, it felt forced.
My other big fault with this book has nothing to do with the content itself, but with the form. I listened to this as an audiobook and I wonder if that ruined the experience for me. I don't think the narrator had enough distinction between the adult characters so I found myself confused at times as to who was speaking. Then I felt the voices for the children were out of place and took me out of the story. Overall, it exacerbated my initial dislike with the book and made the story feel cheesy (in a bad way) too often.
Despite all this, I enjoyed revisiting all of the characters that I loved from the first book and to see how Arthur and Linus fit the parent role and seeing the "found" family grow stronger.