The House in the Cerulean Sea

This book is full of warmth and love and humor and I LOVE IT

A cute way to escape the world for a few hours - slow burn old man yaoi with a heavy dose of magical found family that just happens to include the antichrist.

Not for me. Saccharine and glurgy. Too little tension, too little friction, easily solveable story problems. Writing is light and as deep as a puddle.

lent to me by Eluned! so sweet, lovely characters, intriguing magic

Bad

I really enjoyed this book, it was very sweet and heartwarming, perhaps too sweet for my taste. I just wanted a little bit more drama, particularly at the end

this is something 9 yo me wouldve loved

🫶 so sweet

Such a heartwarming story about finally living instead of just surviving, found family, and romance. I always thought this book was YA but couldn't have been more wrong. The style of writing is elegant and humorous with so many beautiful moments that leave you charmed. If you’re looking for a feel good story I would highly recommend.

tj has based this storyline of adoption off the 60s scoop where the canadian government stole indigenous children from their families to put them up for adoption into white families. This systematic trauma is being used for a book that's completely now out of context as a "wholesome" story for tj's wallet. Multiple creators ,especially those are directly affected this author using their actual pain as a community, has called out tj for this over the few years. Now he's still continuing the series based on this same storyline for profits whether he held himself accountable or not. No author like this should be supported. Please keep spreading this info.

very pretty pinkwashing

Light and gentle but full of depth.

Cute, adorable and wholesome. And the love story is the sweetest of all 💕.

Listened to the audiobook read by Daniel Henning who did the best voices and accents ever!

Es el libro más bonito con el que me he topado este año, me he enamorado de él de una manera increíble. Los personajes son sin duda la cosa que más me encanto, en especial los niños, pero su historia también es una parte fuerte de esta. Linus Al principio me frustraba con sus pensamientos estoicos acerca de las normas y del su trabajo pero poco a poco se fue soltando y los demás personajes pudieron ver cómo era ese ser hermoso. Me es gracioso que por un momento, y por como le decían los niños que estaba reyenito, me recordó a Po de kung fu panda 😂 Para mi los niños eran mi parte favorita de leer, sus personalidades chispeantes me hacían reír a carcajadas sin parar y mi favorita de todas era Thalía, sus amenazas hacia linus me sacaban lágrimas de la risa lo que hizo que se adentrara a mi corazón.Ver cómo Arthur le daba un hogar a cada uno me calentaba el alma y me daban ganas de abrazarlo como a un Mochi Por favor lean este precioso libro

Really loved this book! It was recommended by a friend as something wholesome to read and it did not disappoint. The characters are all so different and equally well developed, and watching Linus' growth through the book was so heartwarming. Also, deeply loved Arthur Parnassus. Would love to know more of his story.

the protagonists (iykyk) gave me such aziraphale and crowley energy !!!!

Much more cheerful then my typical choices but a nice change of pace and very sweet.

The House in the Cerulean Sea - T J Klune . ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ . I guess I’m a bit late with the hype. This book is such a heartwarming read. I found it hard to start with but found the pace and halfway through. It’s such a feel-good book without feeling like it’s dumbed down for pleasure reading, and not so much YA vibe as well although it’s probably meant for that segment . Linus Barker is a caseworker for the Department of Magical Youth. He investigates orphanages and writes report whether they should continue in operation or closed down. Apart from his job, he doesn’t really have a life. That changes until one day he got an assignment to investigate Marsyas Orphanage with its inhabitants. . Great book to read . #tjklune #thehouseintheceruleansea #yabooks #bookstagram #booksbooksbooks #currentlyreading #2024readingchallenge #2024reads

** spoiler alert ** ja vlastne poradne nevim, jak tohle zacit. no cekala jsem proste sweet a fluffy fantastiku, ktera mi pomuze se rozecist a ktera mi privodi hezky letni vibe. jediny, co z mych ocekavani splnila, byl ten letni vibe. ja se omlouvam, ale tohle bylo napsany tak strasne corny zpusobem, ze se z toho budu vzpamatovavat fakt jeste dlouho. asi zacnu od zacatku, ze. linus baker je nasi hlavni postavou. je to pracovnik dicomy (department in charge of magical youth), ktery se stara o sirotcince s magickymi detmi a dohlizi na to, ze v nich (tech sirotcincich i tech detech haha) funguje vse tak, jak ma. je to klasicky middle aged muz (kterej je silnejsi a budeme to omilat v ty knize az do posledni kapitoly abyste na to nezapomneli ok? ma pneumatiku na brisku) unaveny zivotem, svou praci dela jen kvuli tomu, ze nic jineho nezna, mluvi se svou kockou a jedina jeho personality trait je to, ze posloucha stare desky (a zapomina na destnik, i kdyz v jeho meste prsi vic nez neprsi). jednoho krasneho destiveho dne je povolan nejvyssim managementem dicomy a je poslan na „nebezpecne“ vysetrovani „nebezpecnych“ magickych deti. na mesic. linus prijme (=nema jinou moznost) a zacina velike dobrodruzstvi, kdy mu 21 denni pobyt na slunci zmeni zivot. proc jsem ho nemela rada?? let´s just say ze ta jeho jedna jedina personality trait se actually rozroste jeste o jednu, a tou je ta, ze se strasne boji jednoho z hlavnich deti – lucyho, syna dabla. chapu, ze kdyz uslysis, ze mas bydlet mesic s antikristem, je ti z toho mdlo, ale kdyz nam byl lucy predstaven, odzacatku je uplne obvious, ze je ve svy podstate vlastne harmless, jen rad dela vtipy o tom, jak vsechny zabije a usmazi. ale je to napsany tim stylem, ze je na prvni pohled ocividny, ze to fakt JE vtip (neco ve smyslu „oh, hello, mr. baker, are you ready to be dammned for eternity?“). to ale nechape linus, ktery se ho boji snad 250 stran ze 400. pokazdy, kdyz lucy neco rekne, linus pomalu vytahuje kriz a svecenou vodu. jako pardon, zezacatku to bylo mozna bearable, ale po 30 exact same scenach „lucy neco rekne, linus si po*ira kalhoty“, uz nad tim clovek jen krouti ocima. linus je mozna jedina z postav, ktera ma nejakej character development (k tomu se jeste dostanu), ale je to cely tak strasne cringe, ze mi to je vlastne fuk, nebo ja nevim. typek, co ma na starost sledovat sirotcince s magickymi detmi si uvedomi, ze magicke deti jsou vic nez jen cisla v jeho zaznamech. mam ti tleskat, chces cherry zmrzlinu???? nedotklo se me to, nebylo to zadny huge prozreni, bylo to proste takovy to „aha, nesud knihu podle obalu, kde uz jsem to slysela? ajo, vsude.“ type of prozreni. takze asi tak k linusovi. arthur parnassus arthur byla moje fav postava, (pokud se to tak da nazyvat) takze ten jeho slander asi nebude tak bad, ale porad to byl takovy one-side character ktery tam proste… byl?? ale hlavne jako pomucka pro linuse, aby prozrel. ja vim, ze to je proste fluffy cozy fantasy, od ktery se uplne neda cekat nejak moc veliky rozbor postav a sveta, ale man, chtela jsem o nem slyset vic nez jen ze ucil lucyho a ze mel sve sverence rad. myslim, ze mohl byt rozebrany vic. a to jeho velky odhaleni ke konci??? dobre rano, to jsme asi vedeli od zacatku vsichni, ne? ja jsem hned vedela, ze dude asi nebude obycejny clovek, a kdyz nam bylo odhaleno, ze teda opravdu neni, trvalo mi approximately 15 radku tipnout si, jakou magickou bytosti teda je. cele to velike odhaleni bylo hlavne pro shock factor a kdyby se v pribehu vypustilo, zustal by stejnym a zadnou hodnotu by to tomu neubralo. ok, jsi fenix (ale vlastne nejsi ptak ale spis fire andel idk didnt make sense), byl jsi abused a ted chces udelat z mista kde jsi byl neglected hezke misto pro ostatni magicke deti… dost opakovany motiv, pomerne ohrany, pomerne corny (yet again). neudelalo to na me zadny velky dojem. co ale dojem udelalo, byl fakt, ze se do sebe panove zamilovali behem par dni (a to nemluvim o celem tom 21 dennim pobytu, to uz byli zamilovani po usi, im talking like 5 days). ja chapu, ze se linus zamiloval do arthura – charming man kterej tak trochu nevi jak se zehli obleceni, ma neustale rozcuchany vlasky ale vlastne fakt miluje svou praci a deti, se kteryma bydli na kouzelnym ostrove – ja bych se do nej zamilovala as well. ale arthur ma romantically rad linuse proc?? linus byl proti jeho detem (hlavne lucymu, prekvapive) docela dost dlouhou dobu. udrzovat si odstup je vec jedna, ale stitit se tech deti a rikat jim „to“ je vec trochu jina. porad se mezi sebou dohadovali, jestli by teda magicky bytosti mely mit a maji stejny prava jako ostatni, nebo ne (??!?) a linus si castokrat i protirecil (mi prislo), treba kdyz rekl, ze vsechny deti by mely byt treated with respect and love ale pak dodrzoval ty rules a bral je jak opicky v zoo o ktery se musi starat a sledovat jejich dny… proste ta chemie mezi nima tam absolutne nebyla, ale mozna byli oba dva tak touch starved that they simply fell in love at first sight and called it a day. taky me dost nastval ten konec, kdy linus musel odjet, protoze jeho investigation skoncila. arthur se na nej z nejakyho duvodu strasne nastval??? jako ano pane, je to uz druhy dicomy zamestnanec, do kteryho ses behem 10 dni zamiloval a kterej pak musel odjet zpet dom, protoze to porad byla jen prace, ale to lowkey zni jako you problem. proc by mu vubec vycital fakt, ze se musi vratit domu a ze ma i jiny povinnosti nez sedet s nim pri zapadu slunce na ostrove? why would he make linus feel bad about it? to slo dost mimo me a nepochopila jsem to. jako jo, mas pravo byt smutny, protoze odjizdi clovek, se kterym ses spratelil a ktery se after all k tem detem zacal chovat hezky, ale od prvni chvile jsi vedel, ze tam bude jen na 20 dni. nutit linuse zustat a vycitat mu jeho povinnosti mi vubec neprislo fer. a to je k arthurovi uz taky vse. ostatni postavy s ostatnimi jsem asi ani problem nemela, ale ze bych vam o nich dokazala rict po tech 400 stranach vic nez jednu vetu (u lucyho dve, protoze byl zarucene hlavni detskou postavou, i kdyz si myslim, ze autor chtel vsem dat stejnej screen time)? to nedokazu. phee je skritek, kterej dokaze vyrust stromy a kytky (rozhodne ne jako florence ze sirotcince slecny peregrinove, nebo jak se jmenovala). talia ma rada kytky a je sarkasticka (ty se btw taky linus moc bal protoze vyhruzky typu „zabiju te a zahrabu svou lopatkou“ jsou ocividne od maleho detskeho trpaslika hruzu nahanejici). chaucney je nejaky zele z monstra versus vetrelci a chce byt bellhopem. zaroven je strasne sweet a innocent (which was kinda napsany in a weird way idk). sal je STRASNE VELIKEJ CHLAPEC NA SVUJ VEK JE TO TAM RECENO ASI 1000KRAT TAK DOUFAM ZE JSTE SI TOHO VSIMLI ALE DOKAZE SE PROMENIT V NEJMENSI PLEMENO PEJSKA CHAPETE HAHA MA TO BYT Z NEJAKYHO DUVODU ASI VTIPNY. theodhore je… drak? had? ja to vlastne uplne nepochopila. a sbira knofliky. a lucy je uplne normalni sestilety dite, ktery ma drasticky smysl pro humor a rad posloucha desky (omg, stejne jako linus, jeste ze maji spolecnou aspon jednu vec they can bond over!!!!). zoe tam proste tak nejak je, je to mother figure ktera je hot a mysterious (doslova). to je vse. vypravec/slohovy styl pane. boze. Jak ja mela flashbacky na addie larue, kdyz jsem tuhle vec cetla (a ne v dobrem slova smyslu). tahle kniha byla plna prazdnych, naoko strasne poetickych frazi, ktery me proste bily do oci. at uz mluvime o neustalym vysvetlovani myslenkovych pochodu postav, ktery byly z toho textu ocividny a mne diky tomu prislo, ze ctu knihu pro deti, ktery jeste nechapou narazky a pocity postav a tak je vypravec musi vest za ruku a vse jim detailne vysvetlovat („linus rekl sve kocce, ze ji necha pres noc venku, pokud hned neprijde k nemu. linus to tak nemyslel. nikdy by svou kocku venku nenechal. ale to ona nemusela vedet. je dobre cas od casu trochu pohrozit.“) („lucy rekl, ze vsechny brzy necha shoret zaziva. linus zacinal mit pocit, ze lucy to tak ve skutecnosti nemysli.“ (*screams cries*)), nebo o kratkych, strasne „umeleckych“ a „hearwrenching“ vetach (str. 344 – „the wind had piked up, and it was cold and miserable. he was three blocks from home. he expected to feel relief. he did not. not really.“ a jeste mnohem horsi pripady, ale jsem lazy je hledat (i kdyz uz docela funguje ta veta s kockou)) az k neustalymu opakovani ruznych frazi typu („oh, he very much wanted to“ (insert something here), „oh, how he wished“ (insert literally anything), „i am but a paper“, „how i adore you“,…) atd. proste ne, ne, ne. nesnaz se byt strasne poetic, kdyz ti to nejde. bud svuj. netlac esteticnost tam, kde nemusi byt. takze tak. trpela jsem u toho. shrnuti jsem vlastne dost hodna, ze tomu davam 2 hvezdy. to prostredi bylo fakt cozy a ja si vlastne to cteni uzivala hlavne kvuli ty atmosfere ostrova. deti mi prisly fajn, i kdyz jsem o nich bohuzel nevedela skoro nic (autor o phee taky nevedel skoro nic a tak kdyz psal srdcervouci vypoved linuse o detech straight up tam flakl nejaky trauma o kterym se nikdy predtim nezminil jen aby ctenare jeste vic rozesmutnel???) a celkove to ten potencial asi melo. nebudeme se ale tvarit, ze to je nejaky originalni dilo, protoze napriklad ehm sirotcinec peregrinove existuje a tohle je jen takova vic vanilla verze s ne tak promyslenym svetem a akci. prislo mi to jako ceap hallmark movie typu „the holidays“ ale pro fanousky dr. seusse. so not ask me to elaborate. overall nechapu, odkud se ten hype bere, nebo jestli je ten problem ve mne, ale jsem z toho zklamana. vic nez zklamana me stve, jakym stylem to bylo napsany. jak corny to bylo. a ze to bylo v kratkych vetach. presne jako tohle. a to asi vsechny zacne brzy bit do oci. kdyz je tech 400 stran napsano. jako nejaka moderni poezie.

Chef’s kiss. Perfection. I loved every bit of this book! I fell in love with all of the characters right away. The children were all adorable and warmed my mama heart. This book was able to be a warm feel good novel yet still put through a powerful message. If you are thinking about reading this do it. I need more of this world and these characters! A second novel, Tv series, any and all of it I would take!

So precious. So wholesome. So lovely. I love all the main characters and I think I'm 100% feeling attached to them right now. Linus reminded me of Aziraphale from Good Omens and it was just too much to handle at times T_T <3. I demand a sequel!! There is a lot of heart in this book. It's about not being afraid of those that are different from you. It's about popping that bubble to find a much more colourful world outside. It's about finding the true purpose of life and protecting those who are not accepted for who they are. A book like this remains hopeful despite its cheesiness. I loved reading about this family and their Saturday adventures. There is always music, food, and laughter. I adored the quirks and nuances of each character. It's escapism—a book that brings one's mood up and lightens one's spirit. It's a book filled with lessons on how to be a better human being.

This was such a great read. I love each and every character, especially Arthur and Chauncey. It's a wholesome book. I'd recommend it to everyone.