#read if you like

[lowswirlreviews]

The House in the Cerulean Sea, TJ Klune

TJ Klune’s cozy and heart-warming fantasy novel The House in the Cerulean Sea follows the understated, lonely caseworker Linus Baker as he learns shed prejudice and embrace the strengths of his own heart.

Brief Plot Summary: When orphanage caseworker Linus Baker is summoned by Extremely Upper Management to evaluate a mysterious orphanage on Marsyas Island, he leaves his familiar–if dreary–life in the city to fulfill his duty to his company. But his trip to the coast isn’t what it first seems: Linus isn’t just an ordinary caseworker, and Marsyas isn’t just an ordinary orphanage. Linus works for the Department in Charge of Magical Youths, and Marsyas Island serves as a home for young magical creatures, including a wyvern, a werewolf, and, naturally, the six-year-old Antichrist. Governing all is the orphanage's strange and strangely charming caretaker, Arthur Parnassus. Thrust rudely out of his ordinary office job and into the wonderful and bizarre world of the Marsyas, Linus must confront both the responsibilities of his role as a caseworker and the demands of his own heart.

What I Liked About It: The House in the Cerulean Sea is exactly what it sets out to be: a straightforward, uncomplicated tale about finding love where one least expects it. Once timid, reserved, and professionally distant from his charges, Linus learns to find his inner strength and embrace his capacity for love. Central to this book is the evolving relationships among Linus and the residents of Marsyas Island, chiefly the six children and their caretaker, Arthur. There’s something sincerely heart-warming about watching Linus evolve from feeling skepticism and distrust for the children to feeling genuine love and responsibility for their well-being. The children themselves are a refreshing take on some well-known mythical creatures, and moments of humor keep the tone light throughout the book. The message to accept oneself pervades all here, and the fairy-tale ending for Linus and his found family couldn’t be sweeter.

What I Didn’t: The plight of magical youths in The House in the Cerulean Sea is very explicitly an allegory for real-life marginalized communities and unhoused youths. In some moments, the authenticity of a scene erodes to allow one character or another to wax poetic about the difficulties and necessities of accepting oneself despite one’s differences. I would have preferred a slightly subtler approach to this message, letting the interesting cast of characters do the moralizing with their actions as much as their words. Additionally, several plot lines, including the secrets behind the Extremely Upper Management team and the antagonism of the coastal town toward the island, had less than satisfying conclusions. If you’re looking for proactive characters or a tightly constructed plot, this is not the novel for you.

RIYL: In many ways, The House in the Cerulean Sea delivers on the promises of its premise: a charming setting, a delightful cast of characters, and a happy queer romance. If you like contemporary fantasies like Prachett’s and Gaiman’s Good Omens, touching gay romances like Madeline Miller’s Song of Achilles, or adult books with a YA feel like Erin Morgenstern’s The Starless Sea, you may like The House in the Cerulean Sea.

Rating: 3/5 stars

[starbuck]

“…to me” is one of the most powerful disclaimers we have on here… is this character analysis accurate? debatable. but it’s real… to me.

[arynneva]

wait do people read first person stories and think they're the ones in the story???

Saw people talking about not liking first person, which is fair, but their reasoning was like "I would not do that" and I don't understand that mindset.

First person stories are still about a character. A character making their own decisions. First person isn't about you???? At least I thought it wasn't. What am I missing? I've always seen first person as just a more in-depth look into a character's mind and stricter POV. Not as a reader stand-in.

[alfea]

spin this wheel of hobbies

[inkskinned]

please i love you i'm begging you bring back suspension of disbelief bring back trusting the audience like. i cannot handle any more dialogue that sounds like a legal document. "hello, i am here to talk to you about the incident from a few minutes ago, because i feel you might be unwell, and i am invested in your personal wellbeing." "thank you, i am unwell because the incident was hurtful to me due to my childhood, which was bad." I CANT!!!!

do you know how many people are mad that authors use "growled" as a word for "said"? it's just poetics! they do not literally mean "growled," it's just a common replacement for "said with force but in a low tone." it's normal! do you hear me!! help me i love you please let me out of here!!!

[holographings]

someone on twitter said Imagine what s2 jayce would give to talk to s1 viktor just one more time. and someone had a time travel alternate dimension fic ready to go. and i read it. and now my face is being eaten by 3750 feral dogs i think

[tawnysoup]

Finally now that the comic is fully public on comicfury, I get to share it with all of you here, too <3

If you enjoyed, please consider supporting by buying a PDF of the comic on itch.io: https://tawnysoup.itch.io/home-in-the-woods

[color-ns]

Sometimes tweeter people know their stuff- this is the right kind of toxic angst I want to read.

[sanguinifex]

You gotta read and watch some old books and films that aren’t 100% modern politically correct. I’m not saying you should agree with everything in them but you need to learn where genres came from to understand what those genres are doing today and where media deconstructing old tropes is coming from.

Also, more often than you might think, they’re not actually promoting bigotry so much as “didn’t consider all the implications of something” or just used words that were polite then but considered offensive now.

Kill the censor in your head.

[batcavescolony]

Katniss is such an unreliable narrator. She says "Then something unexpected happens. At least, I don't expect it because I don't think of District 12 as a place that cares about me" girl you deliver strawberries to the Mayor, you hunt and trade for the district, when you fell at Prim being chosen someone caught you, when you went to Prim people parted for you, when you volunteered EVERYONE stopped. Idk how to tell you but I think you're a pillar of the community.

[morganbritton132]

No one tells you when you get a Big Serious Job™ how many fucking abbreviations you’ll be forced to learn.

[ered]

Here’s my take on the whole audio books vs. reading:

Oral tradition of storytelling predates written ones by millennias, and honestly, which one you like is just a personal preference.

The actual difference is

when listening, you have no idea how to write characters’ names

when reading, you have no idea how to pronounce characters’ names

hope this helps!

[beepboopappreciation]

Is this anything

[beaft]

google help me

[bardofavon]

not to be controversial bc I know this is like…not in line with shifting opinions on fanfic comment culture but if there’s a glaring typo in my work I will NOT be offended by pointing it out. if ao3 fucks up the formatting…I will also not be offended by having this pointed out…

‘looking forward to the next update’ and ‘I hope you update soon!’ are different vibes than a demand, and should be read in good faith because a reader is finding their way to tell you how much they love it. I will not be mad at this.

‘I don’t usually like this ship but this fic made me feel something’ is also incredibly high praise. I’m not going to get mad at this.

even ‘I love this fic but I’m curious about why you made [x] choice’ is just another way a reader is engaging in and putting thought into your work.

I just feel like a lot of authors take any comment that’s not perfectly articulated glowing praise in the exact manner they’re hoping to receive it in bad faith.

fic engagement has been dropping across the board over the last several years, and yes it’s frustrating but it isn’t as though I can’t see how it happens. comment anxiety can be a real thing. the last thing anyone wants to do is offend an author they love, and that means sometimes people default to silence.

idk where I’m going with this I guess aside from saying unless a comment is outright attacking me I’m never going to get mad at it, and I think a lot of authors should feel the same way. ESPECIALLY TYPOS PLZ GOD POINT OUT MY TYPOS.