The House in the Cerulean Sea

The House in the Cerulean Sea is a young adult story story about Linus Baker, a case worker for the Department in Charge Of Magical Youth (DICOMY) who is sent to investigate Marsya Island Orphanage, a government-sanctioned orphanage where a number of unique children currently reside. Deemed “dangerous” by the government these children are looked after by Arthur Parnassus, a mysterious man with a secret of his own. Linus, who would rather spend his days at home listening to golden oldies in the presence of his cat, Calliope, initially just wants to remain impartial, observe the children, make his report and then head home. Instead, what he finds on Marsya Island will change him forever.

I’m in two minds about this book. One the one hand, it was kinda cosy and warm and hopeful. On the other hand I cannot ignore that it was apparently inspired by the Sixties Scoop. A real government policy from Canada where indigenous children were institutionalised in government care homes. It also reminded me a lot of Australia’s Stolen Generation, something that only ended within recent living history. But, this is a book review and not a history lesson. So I will just mention that I thought about these things within the context of this story, as I think it is important to acknowledge the background for the book. I will now move onto the rest of the review.

At face value the book was mostly delightful. I did enjoy all the characters, especially Linus who I grew quite fond of. I found myself wanting to learn more about some characters, like Zoe, the island’s caretaker. The setting was interesting with location of the home being on a secluded island with lots of space for children to roam. And I feel like the writing was reasonably well done. I did struggle a little at first as the story didn’t immediately grab me, but around the half way point it improved and I ended up really liking the story, for what it was.

There were some minor issues, at times I found the concept of Lucy to be a bit over the top and I don’t want to say cliche, but yes, cliche. Also sometimes it felt like the book wasn’t sure what it wanted to be. There were some comedic elements that you would normally only find in satire, like the office executives were called “Extremely Upper Management”. At times the story read like it was aimed at much younger readers - it had the feel of a children’s book - while at other times it had some pretty adult concepts like the philosophical discussions that Linus and Arthur had at one point, where they name dropped Kant, who is a german philosopher. It’s also heavily implied that all the children are dangerous in some way, but that is only really explored with maybe two or three of the children, aside from confronting prejudices.

That said I found the book to be somewhat hopeful in the way that change came about for everyone. For the children on the island, the nearby village, for Linus and Arthur, and even for DICOMY too. It presented kindness and positivity, even in the face of judgement and trauma. Perhaps sometimes a little too much, sometimes. So I think if you are looking for an easy read full of love and hope then this book might be for you.

For someone who doesn’t really like YA, I sure seem to be reading a lot of YA lately. I blame my friends. In particular, this small group of remarkable people, kind & smart & patient, each one apparently feeling obligated to make me a better more open-minded person by foisting books on me that I would otherwise turn my snobby nose up at.

This one, like [b:that other book I just finished|58388343|Some Desperate Glory|Emily Tesh|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1668621616l/58388343.SY75.jpg|91580340], was almost unbearably painful at the start. This one, too, paid off after initial effort. Here the setup was cartoonish; the protagonist a humorless, soulless, unlikable bureaucrat; and the dialog made my teeth hurt from gritting them. But I kept going, because see above. And then somewhere near page 50 my brain just did a flip of sorts and I started getting it... and, soon, really enjoying it. This is escapist fantasy, a chance to snuggle safely with warm lovely marginalized people -- which is why we read [a:Becky Chambers|17650479|Becky Chambers|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png], after all, though that’s a parallel that only just came to me; I didn’t make the connection while reading.

The story arc is predictable, but only broadly speaking: you know Plot Trope X is coming, but when it does it’s not quite how you thought it would be. Maybe the best way I can describe the book is “charming”: it charmed me.

Thank you, friends.

Un libro que me compré en un aeropuerto, por leer algo mientras mi avión se retrasaba. Y menuda maravilla.

Es una historia muy tierna, con humor a veces sutil, a veces desternillante. Unos personajes que te dan ganas de abrazar todo el rato y, creo que lo que más me gusta, unes niñes que puedes creerte. En definitiva, personajes con buen diseño.

La historia, pese a ser previsible, te hace disfrutar del viaje. Que al final, es de lo que se trata. Me gusta el slow burn, me gusta la representación positiva que hace (de hecho, me encanta que la orientación de la gente no suponga ningún drama, los dramas van por otro lado) y una reflexión interesante sobre la bondad humana. ¿Se nace o se hace?

No sé si estaba más tierna de lo habitual, pero me ha gustado mucho. Tanto, que me he hecho una lista de música con las canciones del libro.

I'd seen the cover of this book around on social media a lot but hadn't really paid attention until someone said the magical phrase WERE-POMERANIAN.

Of course I was immediately all in.

I can not even begin to describe how delightful this book is. Linus is an inspector for group homes for magical children. He cares deeply about the kids and thinks that he is doing the best for them by making sure that they are cared for by the book. His eyes are starting to be opened to the fact that not everyone around him may be as benevolent as he is. When he is tapped for a secret inspection of a home for dangerous children all his assumptions fall apart.

I highlighted so many quotes from this book. The banter was so much fun. These are just a few.

“I am evil incarnate,” the dastardly voice said. “I am the blight upon the skin of this world. And I will bring it to its knees. Prepare for the End of Days! Your time has come, and the rivers will run with the blood of the innocents!” Talia sighed. “He’s such a drama queen.”

...we talked about the locust plague. That’s only to be done under direct supervision.

Because it’s better not to know if we’re about to die. That way, we don’t start screaming right now. It’ll be a surprise. We can always scream then.

I was a bit disappointed in the Pomeranian. He turned into a Pomeranian whenever he was scared. It would be more on brand to have him turn into a Pomeranian and then blindly run at whatever he was scared of intending to tear it to shreds regardless of size discrepancies.

If you haven't read this book, go get it right now. Seriously. Right now. You won't regret it.

I really thought I was going to like this book, but I simply didn't. There are so many issues with it, starting with a few and getting worse and worse.
To begin with, it's so easy to guess how the book ends after Linus is introduced in the first few chapters. A simple character that always follows the rules ... what else could happen other than him changing and/or having an 'epiphany' about the fact that rules and laws aren't everything? Argh.

The first thing, and probably my biggest issue is with how creepy the book came across in several situations. I thought it was weird that one of the main characters literally shared a private room with one of the children but ignored it because I was waiting for the actual reasoning behind it or an explanation, which never happened. In general, very little gets resolved in this book.

The second time I got creeper vibes was when Linus was talking to Sal about him showing his room, telling him that he, "Doesn't need to do anything he doesn't want to do." In connection to that I should probably mention that the book is a collection of superficial sayings, 'inspirational' life quotes, hipster tropes and so on. At times I felt I was scrolling through a tumblr blog from 10 years ago reading through this book. All the adults know better and seem to be preaching shit to each other and the children every chapter. It felt awkward and was way overdone.

Another situation that felt off and completely out of place for me was Linus and Arthur talking about 'hearing sounds from one of the children's rooms', referencing masturbation. I'm far from prude, but this felt invasive, unnescessary and downright creepy, again. I literally grimaced during that passage.
Since we're already talking about Linus and Arthur ... to me, there was nothing. Absolutely no chemistry. The book feeds you little mentions of Linus finding Arthur attractive, beautiful, him liking the sound of his voice or how he moves and does things, but it had absolutely no effect on me. Especially since it comes out of nowhere. He's barely interacted with him and those thoughts suddenly pop up. He barely knows this guy and is absolutely smitten. Again, it felt superficial and pretty silly.

Before I move onto the other characters, big fucking TW for fatphobia. Linus' weight is mentioned again and again in negative ways. The way he looks at himself, the way society perceives him. That he's not sporty, that he's not thin, that he doesn't fit into clothes, that he shouldn't have too much to eat or sweets and the like. It is mentioned so many times that after a while you're just waiting for it to come back up. I couldn't help but roll my eyes, but this content could absolutely be dangerous to children or especially young teens struggling with their perception of themselves; which you know, is a thing for basically every teen at some point. The short mention of Talia saying that there's nothing wrong with being round doesn't protect you from the criticism, Klune. Especially since she's a gnome. Linus weight comes up again and again after, the way it's written is pretty disgusting at that point.

The character of Helen, the town's major, came out of the blue for me and was WAY too supportive, quickly. It made absolutely zero sense, especially with how prejudiced the town as a whole was towards magical beings. With a soft major like that, I doubt people would've voted her into office. I doubt that a simple interaction with Talia would've had that huge of an impact for her to be not only supportive, but protective of children and beings she barely knows. No explanation to why the towns people were so negatively prejudiced either. No connection to the former orphanage's "master" either. What the heck.

Talking about magical beings, this is probably the first and only fantasy book I've read and disliked. Maybe because the fact that they're magical has very little impact on the story, since it's so flat. That might even be the point of the book, that you could project it onto (other) minorites in general ... but if you're trying to sell it to me, don't call it fantasy and magical when there's very little of it.

The reasoning for 2 instead of 1 star is the fact that I did like a few of the characters and how they were described. The children are likable in general. Zoe, Phee and Chauncey are precious. Even though I liked both Zoe and Helen I thought the ending of the story and them two getting involved felt again, out of place, out of nowhere. Just don't include it if you don't have time for the buildup. It feels empty (and tokenizing) to include relationships that way.

The ending of the book felt rushed, diminishing all the issues raised within the book, especially with DICOMY. We also never find out about any of the schools or the futures of the (registred) magical beings that were part of the system in the past.

The writing style is simplistic and super repetitive; the characters regurgitate the same stuff over and over again. It's easy to follow and obviously geared towards Young Teens or even younger children, and I get where the 'simple, wholesome' description in a lot of people's reviews comes from. Because it is indeed simple. 'Wholesome' is very subjective. To me the book, the writing and the content was weak, downright annoying and uncomfortable.