{"id":40580,"date":"2022-10-10T06:30:45","date_gmt":"2022-10-09T17:30:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/?p=40580"},"modified":"2022-10-09T18:47:08","modified_gmt":"2022-10-09T05:47:08","slug":"what-im-reading-the-house-in-the-cerulean-sea-by-tj-klune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/2022\/10\/10\/what-im-reading-the-house-in-the-cerulean-sea-by-tj-klune\/","title":{"rendered":"What I\u2019m Reading: \u201cThe House in the Cerulean Sea\u201d by TJ Klune"},"content":{"rendered":"

Well, it\u2019s been a while \u2013 7 July, to be precise! \u2013\u00a0 since I posted that The House in the Cerulean Sea<\/em> <\/strong>by TJ Klune had just arrived, thanks to the good offices of the publisher (TOR\u2019s) regional rep.<\/p>\n

I also shared that I was already reading and enjoying, so it’s definitely a case of \u201cshame on me\u201d for taking so long to post my “terribly important thoughts.” O:o!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

First up, I enjoyed the story, which follows a “midlife sea change\u201d storyline for the protagonist Linus Baker. Linus has lived a life of quiet obscurity as an i-dotting and t-crossing bureaucrat employed by the Department in Charge of Magical Youth.<\/p>\n

Linus\u2019s i-dotting and t-crossing, together with his departmental line-toeing, is so exemplary that he is selected for a special inspection of a school for magical children in the titular Cerulean Sea. At which point, Linus\u2019s carefully ordered life begins to unravel \u2013 for a number of reasons, including a growing attraction to the charismatic and enigmatic principal of the school; the challenges but also the charm of the six magical pupils; and the holiday atmosphere of life in a combined island and ocean environment.<\/p>\n

Faced with these challenges, Linus begins his endearing and heartwarming discovery of found family and a life outside the scope of the Department\u2019s Rules and Regulations.<\/p>\n

The House in the Cerulean Sea<\/em> is<\/strong> heartwarming. It\u2019s also fun, entertaining, and mostly lighthearted, but with enough depth to hold the reader\u2019s interest. The characters are engaging, and while the plot follows a \u201cmidlife sea change\u201d formula, the interest lies in the characters and their relationships rather than narrative twists and turns.<\/p>\n

I was a little surprised to find The House in the Cerulean Sea<\/em> is published as adult fiction, since the story has a Hogwarts meets Good Omens<\/em> <\/strong>vibe—although the story is recounted chiefly from the adults\u2019 perspective, which may be reason enough. I believe, however, it can probably be read as \u201ccrossover\u201d fiction, suitable for and enjoyed by both adult and younger readers.<\/p>\n

Overall, I enjoyed the read. I think those of you who\u2019ve enjoyed Harry Potter<\/strong> (especially the earlier books) and Good Omens<\/em>, but also Diana Wynne Jones\u2019 Chrestomanci <\/strong>stories, or Howl\u2019s Moving Castle<\/em><\/strong>, AJ Fitzwater\u2019s Cinrak the Dapper<\/em><\/strong>, or Paul Gallico\u2019s The Man Who Was Magic<\/em><\/strong>, may enjoy it, too.<\/p>\n

Oops, almost forgot! I read a paperback edition, 400 pp, published by TOR in 2020. As noted above, my copy was supplied by TOR’s regional rep.<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"\"\"\"\"\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Well, it\u2019s been a while \u2013 7 July, to be precise! \u2013\u00a0 since I posted that The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune had just arrived, thanks to the good offices of the publisher (TOR\u2019s) regional rep. I also shared that I was already reading and enjoying, so it’s definitely a case of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40580","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-what-im-reading"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40580","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40580"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40580\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40592,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40580\/revisions\/40592"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}