Somewhere Beyond the Sea

Basically, T.J. wrote the first book in the series (the house in the cerulean sea) again, but without the magical joy it brought.

In the first book, an inspector comes to the island, and the caretaker of six magical kids and the inspector fall in love. It's such a heartwarming book and I loved it so much.

In the second book, an inspector who reminds me of Dolores Umbridge from the Harry Potter books (oh irony) comes to the island and, well, so much misery ensues.

I'm well aware of T.J.'s beef with JK Rowling, and I feel like this book was written as a complaint against her, not as a sequel to a book I loved so much.

There is no heart in this book, because it feels like it was written in anger. T.J. calling himself the anti JKR doesn't help me change that thought.

I wish he had written a manifesto or something, and not a sequel that ruins the first book for me.

Soo. It is much more stressful to read than The House in the Cerulean Sea. But I like it.

It's about how to engage with people who want the worst for you and the ones you love. And I like that the answer found here is not a brilliant strategy for winning, but just.... stopping to make yourself small.

There's so much stressful stuff. It's all about state violence on abstract and personal levels. We get to see Arthur super super triggered and it's so bad, like, it's written very well imo, but I still wished I hadn't read it.

And then there's a ton of nice stuff, and cheesy stuff, and it is a very fluffy story all in all. Just. With a lot of ouch.

I thought I spotted a few nods to Harry Potter in the beginning, and the Acknowledgements make me think I got that right. I snorted out loud when I got to that part. The Anti-JK-Rowling! I feel like granting that title to TJ Klune. Why not. Someone has to take that position.

While I really enjoyed this book and it still had a lot of what made "The House in the Cerulean Sea" so enjoyable, I didn't find the ending particularly compelling. While the the trans allegory is great, I found the contradiction between the earlier chapters where they're having to convince Lucy that taking the easy way out isn't helpful and will be a hollow victory (he wants to use his power to remove free will and force everyone to accept them), and the end where a queen unilaterally uses force to impose her will on the town, which amounts to the same thing, felt a bit jarring. Surely the point of the early chapters was that the correct way is solidarity and community organizing, not force, but then they end up doing the exact thing the non-magical peoples fear? Unclear exactly what was being said here. That said, I suppose there's nothing wrong with a feel good narrative where you can just punch all the bigots in the face too, it just felt out of place with the rest of the book.

Reading and finishing this book post-presidential election 2024 under the United States was very depressing as the themes of the book have and continue to be a reality. Prejudice and oppression of any sort should not be tolerated... And contrary to others beliefs non violence does not always work. One thing that I am glad TJ Klune does is not to pretend it is easy or shy away from hard truths. I keep wondering if a certain character visiting the island could have been changed... Just one person at a time but to Klunes point there will always be a subset of the population that feels hatred towards others that are different. We will need allies and to unite somehow. Going back to America... I'm not sure how when >50% voted for hate, fascism (gestepo level), and to be represented by a man who is not only a criminal but one that cannot speak or read above a 9 year old level.