This contains some character related spoilers that might also spoil some of the story’s plot.
“They don’t see the children”, she said. “Not for who they are but for what they’re capable of”
~The House in The Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
By the time I bought this book, TJ Klune’s House in the Cerulean Sea had attracted all the hype (and some criticisms, which I found out after finishing the book), although I purposely avoided seeing any reviews because I did not want my reading experience to be spoiled. So, it is safe to say that I went in blind, and I must say, this book was like a warm hug for me.
But let me start from the beginning….
Trigger Warning: The book mentions instances of physical abuse towards children, children neglect, bullying, prejudiced behaviour (but doesn’t go into too many details)
What is this book about?
This book tells the story of Linus Baker, a rule-following caseworker in the Department in Charge of Magical Youth who lives a quiet life alone. He is comfortable in the familiarity of his job, his cat, his records and his small apartment but not his nosey neighbour who complains about his plants and his cat. Despite his comfortable (or so he believes) life, there seems to be a sense of loneliness gnawing at him.
His thoughts shift from ….
“If one were to ask if Linus Baker was lonely, he would have scrunched up his face in surprise….”
To …
“He’d accepted long ago that some people, no matter how good their heart was or how much love they had to give, would always be alone.”
Resignation to his fate… that seems to be a defining character of Linus Baker when it comes to almost all aspects of his life. But we don’t dwell on this for long …
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“DEPARTMENT IN CHARGE OF MAGICAL YOUTH MEMO FROM EXTREMELY UPPER MANAGEMENT
CC: Belinda Jenkins
MR. LINUS BAKER IS TO REPORT TO THE OFFICES OF EXTREMELY UPPER MANAGEMENT AT NINE A.M. ON WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6.
ALONE.”
~excerpt from The House in The Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
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Linus is assigned to a VERY IMPORTANT and HIGHLY CLASSIFIED task by Extremely Upper Management – he is expected to travel to an orphanage in an island called Marsyas Orphanage and make sure that the six magical children living there are in fact, not so dangerous that they could “bring about the end of days”
But before going further let’s do a head count of all the important characters **(drumroll please)**
· Linus Baker: Our main protagonist as mentioned above.
· Calliope: She enters Linus Baker’s life as a kitten and soon becomes the center of his small world. Even though she isn’t as affectionate towards him, she finds a way to go with him on his highly classified assignment.
· Marsyas Island and the Marsyas Orphanage
· Zoe Chapelwhite: She is the caretaker of Marsyas Island and drives Linus to the island and the Orphanage when he first arrives. She is an island sprite who is very protective of the island- but this also extends to everyone in the orphanage.
· Talia: She is a garden gnome with white beard and pointed hat. She loves her garden and always finds ways to make it better.
· Theodore: He is a Wyvern who has a hoard of trinkets hidden somewhere in the house and is protective about them. He is one of the children who warms up to Linus quicker
· Phee: She is forest sprite who looks about 10 and has red hair and wings. She is generally suspicious of people and so is cold towards Linus too
· Sal: He is shapeshifter who goes from a tall boy to a small white Pomeranian when Linus first meets him. He is very nervous around people because of past experiences at other orphanages. Calliope (and other animals, as mentioned by Talia) seems to be really fond of him.
· Chauncey: He is an adorable child in the body of a shapeless tentacled green blob with red lips and black teeth. He has eyes stuck above his head on stalks. But don’t be alarmed by his appearance because he is a sociable child with dreams of being a bellhop.
· Lucy: It is short for… umm… Lucifer… as in the anti-Christ? Yup, that’s right. He appears as a child of about 6-years old with red eyes. Initially he gets great joy in scaring Linus (just like Talia) but it is easier for him to do that because of his identity as the Anti-Christ. But they warm up to each other because of their shared taste in music.
· Arthur Parnassus: He is the master of the orphanage. But he is more like a father to the children. Under his protective care the children seem to thrive and grow rather than merely exist and he gives them the freedom to be themselves. It is obvious from the get-go that the children adore and regard as their parent.
· Helen: She wears many hats and is introduced later in the book. She is the owner of the hardware store, she serves the children, Arthur, Zoe and Linus with ice cream when they visit the town (and are mistreated by the owner of the ice cream shop, including a few other townsfolks). Most importantly, she is the town’s Mayor who starts off being wary of the magical children but warms up to them.
Linus starts off on shaky grounds with the children but as his heart and mind opens up, he starts seeing the unique and strong bond between all the children, Arthur and Zoe. And before long, he has become Linus to them, and he starts regarding Mr. Parnassus as Arthur and Ms. Chapelwhite as Zoe.
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“Sometimes,” Mr. (Arthur) Parnassus said, “our prejudices color our thoughts when we least expect them to. If we can recognize that, and learn from it, we can become better people.”
“Home is where you feel like yourself,” Ms. Chapelwhite said, and Linus could only agree. “It’s the same for us, isn’t it, children? Home is where we get to be who we are.”
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These two lines by Arthur and Zoe are said somewhere in the beginning of the book but they remarkably capture the essence of the story.
Prejudice and stereotypes are major themes that the orphaned children (magical youths) in the orphanages face and drive people to ostracize them and harm them. But at Marsyas, the children live as a family, the orphanage is their home. Arthur takes it upon himself to raise magical youths who have been deemed dangerous even compared to others like them and yet under his care, the children feel like they are home.
But Arthur has a mystery of his own and that weaves through the plot to highlight the abuse children go through by the people around them. But T.J. Klune tries to maintain a balance between talking about the harsh reality of these organizations meant to safeguard children (and not doing a good job of it), prejudice of people who don’t understand the magical children and the light-hearted warmth that is otherwise prominent in this story
This book feels like a break from the dreariness of life, just like the Island of Marsyas– “Don’t you wish you were there?”. The book is set around the atmosphere that used to be popular among many children’s books with the trees, ocean breeze and sunny days.
Criticisms
One of the major criticisms of the book was that TJ Klune based his story on the Sixties Scoop and the horrible treatment of indigenous children who were separated from their families, abused and even killed – all with intention to assimilate them to the white society. But the story has a fairytale-like setup and focuses so much on the magical youths finding hope in being accepted, despite the mistreatment and the finding some form of justice through the unfairness. This left a bad taste in people’s mouths.
When I started the book, I wasn’t aware of these criticisms (which were just, to some extent) and so I interpreted it as a story that had a dreaminess to it while showcasing important themes of hope, standing up for what is right and value of finding a family and love (even when they aren’t related by blood).
Overall, I rate this book with 3.8/5 stars.
It was rather easy to like the children and their personalities. TJ Klune did an amazing work with pacing the story and letting their unique personalities unfold (it was easy to see that despite their magical attributes, they were after all, kids)
I also liked how the love story between two of the characters was developed seamlessly within the plot and I could feel their feelings deepen for each other as the story progressed. But it didn’t take the attention away from the other elements of the story.
But the characters at times talk about their hardships almost to the point of preaching about toxic positivity. This seems to mask the extent of discrimination (and isolation) the children (and the adults taking care of them) face for most of the book. Yet, the ending of this book made me feel somewhat hopeful of everything working out (even when reality seems otherwise).
#milyin #writing #books #author
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