3.5 stars, rounding to 4.

I loved The House in the Cerulean Sea. In fact, it was probably my favorite book in 2020, so I rolled into this one with ridiculously high hopes. And in some ways they were met: the writing is smart, I got attached to the characters, the humor was dry and LOL funny, and the book touched on Big Themes about how we live and what happens to us after. But ultimately it fell a bit flat for me – even though I definitely cried at the ending. In many ways it was TOO similar to Cerulean Sea, making it feel a bit formulaic. And the author wasn't subtle with the points he was making, so this read like more of an allegory than just a novel.

Don't get me wrong – I'm a fan. Klune's books are sweet, funny, and wholesome, like a cozy mug of tea.