A NEW YORK TIMES, USA TODAY, and WASHINGTON POST BESTSELLER! A 2021 Alex Award winner! The 2021 RUSA Reading List: Fantasy Winner! An Indie Next Pick! One of Publishers Weekly’s “Most Anticipated Books of Spring 2020” One of Book Riot’s “20 Must-Read Feel-Good Fantasies” Lambda Literary Award-winning author TJ Klune’s bestselling, breakout contemporary fantasy that’s “1984 meets The Umbrella … Award-winning author TJ Klune’s bestselling, breakout contemporary fantasy that’s “1984 meets The Umbrella Academy with a pinch of Douglas Adams thrown in.” (Gail Carriger)
Linus Baker is a by-the-book case worker in the Department in Charge of Magical Youth. He’s tasked with determining whether six dangerous magical children are likely to bring about the end of the world.
Arthur Parnassus is the master of the orphanage. He would do anything to keep the children safe, even if it means the world will burn. And his secrets will come to light.
The House in the Cerulean Sea is an enchanting love story, masterfully told, about the profound experience of discovering an unlikely family in an unexpected place–and realizing that family is yours.
“1984 meets The Umbrella Academy with a pinch of Douglas Adams thrown in.” –Gail Carriger, New York Times bestselling author of Soulless
At the Publisher’s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
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The House in The Cerulean Sea is a modern fairy tale about learning your true nature and what you love and will protect. It’s a beautiful book.
I bought the book for its cover, I stayed for the story. This was the perfect allegory for our times—acceptance is everything. It was delightful, it was meaningful, it was the perfect escape fantasy. Yes, I wish I was there!
1984 meets The Umbrella Academy with a pinch of Douglas Adams thrown in. Touching, tender, and truly delightful, The House in the Cerulean Sea is an utterly absorbing story of tolerance, found family, and defeating bureaucracy.
Sweet, comforting, and kind, this book is very close to perfect. The House in the Cerulean Sea is a work of classic children’s literature written for adults and children alike, with the perspective and delicacy of the modern day. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
This is one of those remarkable books that absolutely lives up to the hype. It’s part Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, part Douglas Adams, and it sometimes reads like someone decided to write fanfiction where Albus Dumbledore stays on and runs the orphanage where a greatly misunderstood and often sarcastic Voldemort lives. It’s funny and warm and surprising in the best way – one of my favorite reads of the year!
What a delightful book. You could describe it as part Harry Potter, part 1984, but it’s more than the sum of its parts (as one of the characters says to another). It’s set in a fairy-tale alternate version of (maybe) 1990s Britain, and it really is aimed at adult readers, but it could easily be read and enjoyed by younger readers. Children play a big role in this book, children with often weird magical abilities, and a very important theme of this book is helping children develop and find true family. That may sound dull but it’s not. The children are the most realistic part of the story, acting just like energetic kids do, in spite of one of them being a shape-shifter, etc. There’s an important message about prejudice and pre-judging people too. (And it really is British, in spite of the American edition having been edited for an American audience–when someone puts a suitcase in the trunk of a care, one just knows that he really put his grip in the boot.) One of the most original, fun, and touching books I’ve read in a long time.
Find this book and add it to your to-read-next list ASAP!!
The best word I can use to describe this story is lovely. Sounds trite, but it really is a lovely tale about acceptance and belonging.
On the surface, there’s not much going on…A rather dull caseworker goes to an orphanage to report on how it’s doing. Really, the majority of the book is just him observing the kids and their caretaker. But what he discovers there kept me turning the pages like crazy. It’s simply a story that works perfectly on so many levels.
I don’t have words to express my love for this book. It was unique and charming and sweet, and really, just nice . I laughed, I cried, I laughed and cried at the same time. With an abundance of love and laughter and truly wonderful characters, TJ Klune has written something I’m still thinking about two days after finishing it. It’s such a hopeful book that I can’t recommend it enough.
The most uplifting, beautiful, and heart-squinching book I’ve read in years. The characters are unique and uniquely wonderful. The story is important, but never told with a heavy hand. The messages are varied, some subtle and some obvious. I can’t recommend this book highly enough for ANY age! Now. Read it now. To yourself, your kids, your elderly grandparent.
Quite lovely, though I had to talk myself into sticking with it. I stayed for Lucy, but in the end, Linus was worth the time. Sometimes the most ordinary people are the most magical.
This is a wonderful story about Linus, a Department In Charge of Magical Youth caseworker who finds himself sent on a classified mission. For a man who takes a bus that’s always late, feeds a cat who doesn’t like him, and work in a job that doesn’t give him any particular satisfaction beyond knowing it’s well done, this is a big and nerve-wracking change. The early chapters detailing his day to day life are relatable from dealing with dreadful co-workers to feeling like you just can’t win at anything.
Everything changes when Linus sets off on his mission and sees the orphanage he’s to visit for a month. Little by little, he learns that there are so many different ways to look at the world and the magical children – and adults – in it. I spent the entire book cheering for Linus, the kids, and their caretakers. In particular, I enjoyed watching Linus grow from simply going through the motions with his job, to embracing everything the people on the island had to teach him.
And, even better, I was so happy to see him find love. The ending warmed my heart, but it took plenty of edge-of-my-seat moments to get there. For example, DICOMY is implied to be particularly nefarious. What actually happens to children in the orphanages or when they grow to adulthood isn’t fully explained, but it seems to me like it’s Not Good. The only thing I wanted more of in this story was an understanding of the fate of the magical children when orphanages are closed or they outgrow them, and why they fear DICOMY.
The entire story is highly satisfying and enjoyable, with both uncertainty and giggles. It kept me guessing and waiting for the other shoe to drop. I’d LOVE to read a follow-up to this or perhaps a prequel, that delves into how it all began with the DICOMY. That, and I’d love to know if Chauncey – one of the children – ever fulfilled his dream of becoming a bellhop!
This charming story is perfect for long, lazy days reading in the sunshine.
It’s a feel-good story that had me smiling. I enjoyed the audiobook version of The House in the Cerulean Sea immensely, and I loved it so much that I bought the hardcover and eBook as well.
T;LDR: A beautiful tale about a found family and speaking up for those who need it most, The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune is every bit as good as everyone says it is.u2060
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Linus Baker, a caseworker for the Department in Charge of Magical Youth (DICOMY), lives a routine, boring, dreary life. It is shaken up when he is sent by Extremely Upper Management to review an orphanage on Marsays Island for a month. What happens next shocks Linus right out of his dreary life as he realizes what is important.u2060
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Everywhere I’ve looked – reddit, Instagram, Goodreads – people rave about this book. I waited six months on the hold waiting list at the library to get it and the wait was 100% worth it. It is an amazing book that tackles some heavy duty themes in a way that feels right with the story line. Because it is a beautiful story, I give it my highest rating of five stars.u2060
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What I Liked & Liked Less:u2060
The main character of Linus is so well set up, that even his larger character arc change makes sense and fits with what we learn about him in the first chapter.u2060
The children are uniquely themselves and also just children looking for love, safety and adventure.u2060
The plot is straightforward in its simplicity and yet tackles deeper and more complex issues. It is done with a light delicate touch.u2060
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I would’ve liked to see a bit deeper into the other character, Arthur Parnasuss, more. I felt like I missed quite a lot in the conversations he and Linus has.u2060
I wanted Linus to see himself more clearly as well.u2060
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But those are my wants, which may have changed the book in a way that would leave me dissatisfied. So while I wish for them, I don’t want them to come true.u2060
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To Sum Up (Too Late!)u2060
Overall, this is a beautiful found family tale, with adventure, humor, discovery and some heavier themes. It focuses on the importance of kindness, meeting people where you find them, and finding the courage to speak up for those who can’t speak for themselves. And it’s told in a light and endearing way that feels like you’re wrapped up in a warm blanket, sipping cocoa on a cold day. u2060
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For all of these reasons and more, I highly rate it at five stars.
So unbelievable cute filled with amazing characters. I loved this book so so much. It is a perfect emotional comfort read.
While I can totally see where everyone is coming from by how utterly pure and serotonin supplying this book is, it isn’t flawless. Far and away the kids are the stars of this book. Linus certainly suffers from self esteem issues and it does get a little repetitive in spots. Will I come back to this book? Absolutely. Not only for the lyrical writing, but the kids and bellhops and buttons. Adorable.
This was a terrific book for young adults or people who remember being young adults. I reminded me of a mashup of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children and Stranger Than Fiction. If I could, I would have given it 4.5 stars. I had a few small complaints. It was rather slow to get going though I suppose it was important to hammer home the dreariness of the main character’s life. After I finished the book I realized there were a lot of people in this story and most of them were interesting or colorful or both. With only a couple of exceptions, all the people in the mundane world were awful and all the magical people were wonderful (or at least sympathetic ‘cuz Lucy is probably not “wonderful”). This is not really a complaint because the this helped cast the “good” people in sharp contrast. I did have a small complaint about the romance. Maybe I am too old to remember falling in love but it seemed to me that the main characters experienced their romance like angst ridden teenagers – which I admit was touching but also made me a little impatient. I found the ending to be satisfying and quite touching even if it was a little predictable. Definitely recommended.
One of my all time favorite!
This is a beautiful story with several important lessons buried within the words.
Linus has a fairly mundane existence. His life consists of his job at the Department in Charge of Magical Youth (DICOMY), his cat Calliope, and his small, drab apartment. He’s like a child protection worker of sorts, going out to different orphanages and investigating the conditions and how the children are treated.
Extremely Upper Management (being in upper management myself I got a good laugh out of this) unexpectedly sends him on a trip to Marsays Island, home to an orphanage housing the toughest of the toughest cases when it comes to the magical children. Linus arrives with many preconceived notions, about the island, the orphanage, and the children who reside there. It doesn’t take long for him to learn that you can’t judge people by the paper trail that follows the and that living a life of magic is sometimes better than a life of quiet comfort.
The kiddos in this book. My heart! They’re incredible and unique and amazing. I don’t want to talk about them too much because it will spoil things for anyone who hasn’t had a chance to read the this yet. I developed a soft spot for Theodore and Sal right away. Talia and Lucy are both hilarious. Chauncey warmed my heart and Phee brings her own element of magic to the group. Each one has a story to tell and, though it isn’t obvious at first, a heart of gold.
I loved the metamorphosis that Linus went through. He grew so much over the course of the story. By the time I reached the end, he was a completely different person. I love that it was his time with the children and experiences with Arthur that changed him the most. His progression felt very natural and authentic.
I loved Arthur. He struck me as an “old soul.” He’s kind, compassionate, and loves the kiddos at the orphanage as if they are his own. He was beyond patient with Linus, and taught him so much in his short time on the island. And I loved how he stood up to the villagers when they tried to cause trouble.
Klune did a wonderful job balancing the serious moments in this book out with some humor. And there’s a bit of a romance that buds as well, which I enjoyed to see. As I mentioned above, there are a few lessons to be learned in this story, about family, passing judgment, and doing unto others what you want done to you. It was nice to read a book that didn’t just offer up entertainment and tug at my emotions, but also made me think about real-life issues and how they show up in my own day-to-day life.
Five stars to this novel!
Some books are like a warm hug from the universe that makes you feel like everything will be better. The House in the Cerulean Sea by Lambda Literary Award Winning author T.J. Klune feels exactly like that.
The House in the Cerulean Sea is a heartwarming contemporary queer fantasy novel about the love of found family, the acceptance and celebration of difference, and the importance of standing up for that love and acceptance. The story follows the journey of forty-year old Linus Baker who leads a quiet, solitary life with his grumpy wayward cat Calliope and his collection of records. He is a Case Worker in the Department in Charge Of Magical Youth, responsible for overseeing the well-being of magical children in government-sanctioned orphanages. His assumptions about the world he lives in and the system he works for get tested when he is tasked with visiting the mysterious Marsyas Island Orphanage, where six dangerous children reside: a gnome, a wyvern who loves buttons, a sprite, a green blob who wants to grow up to be a bellboy, a shy were-Pomeranian, and the Antichrist himself. His Department wants him to assess the children in this last resort home and their charming and mysterious caretaker Arthur Paranassus, and decide its future.
The story is set in a world where magical beings and non-magical humans coexist, though as the story progresses, the nature of that coexistence becomes increasingly suspect. Magical and non-magical people live largely segregated lives, with magical orphans in particular being heavily monitored well into adulthood by a fearful and prejudiced human majoritarian state. What makes the otherwise by-the-book character of Linus stand out is his capacity for radical empathy for those who are different and vulnerable, and it is precisely this radical empathy that is offered as the antidote to hatred and prejudice. The true strength of this beautifully crafted story of finding belonging in an unlikely place, however, is in its insistence that it is not enough to have empathy alone. For love, empathy and acceptance to be meaningful, one has to stand up for those values and for the people who are targeted by the hate and prejudice in their absence.
This was a cute read although not what I was expecting. It was far more PG than I thought it would be, and while it started off with a Harry Potter vibe in the Department of Magical Youth and amusing dealings with Extremely Upper Management, it morphed into something quite different. The writing was amusing and the MC’s inner ramblings entertaining. There was some angst with the prejudice against magical folk but nothing too dramatic. It didn’t particularly touch me or leave a lasting impression but I enjoyed the book nonetheless and would recommend it as a light read.