Name: Molly
Grade: 11th
Title: The House in the Cerulean Sea
Author: T.J. Klune
Published in: 2020
Pages: 396
Rating: 4 stars
“The House in the Cerulean Sea,” by TJ Klune follows Linus Baker, a Case Worker at the Department in Charge of Magical Youth, during his time on Marsyas Island Orphanage. Linus Baker is given a highly classified assignment where he has to travel to Marsyas Island Orphanage, home to six dangerous children. The orphanage houses a gnome, an unknown green-blob, a sprite, a wyvern, a were-Pomeranian, and lastly, the Antichrist. Linus was tasked with watching over the island and deciding if these six children will bring about the end of the world. There are many secrets on the island since the children are seen as dangerous, but Arthur Parnassus, the master of the orphanage, would do anything to keep them safe. As Linus learns more about the children and grows closer to Arthur, he becomes less fearful and has the decision to destroy this family or watch the world fall apart. Linus Baker used to not think twice about closing an orphanage but throughout his stay on the island, he understands what it means to be a real family, and he learns to not let prejudices get in the way of seeing the children for who they are.
I really enjoyed this book. It was a bit slow at times and it took me around four days to read, which is why I rated it four stars, but overall it was a really good book. I really liked the fantasy aspects of this book and I loved all of the characters. My favorite character is Lucy who is the antichrist because despite who he was destined to be, he was able to not let the darkness inside of him take over and was able to just be a six-year-old boy. I loved his personality, as he was really funny, and I loved his relationship with both Linus and Arthur. This book made me feel happy because it was about finding family in the most unlikely circumstances.
I would recommend “The House in the Cerulean Sea” to everyone. I love the found family trope and this book did a really good job with it, so if you like found family, this is for sure a book you should read. I think reading LGBT books is important and while it doesn’t focus on the gay romance and is a fantasy fiction book, it has a gay relationship and is definitely a book you should read if you want to read more LGBT books. This reminded me of the book, “Ms Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children” by Ransom Riggs because they are both fantasy books where the children don’t fit into society and include the found family trope.
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