The House in the Cerulean Sea: A TJ Klune Book Review
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A fun contemporary fantasy novel featuring unlikely family, magical youth, and a truly enchanting story all wrapped up in a big gay blanket.
Introducing The House in the Cerulean Sea
Spoiler free!
The House in the Cerulean Sea is a quirky fantasy novel by author TJ Klune. Klune excels at creating endearing characters, comfortable and relatable settings, and weaving his own lived experiences as a queer, neurodivergent man to create an utterly absorbing story. The House in the Cerulean Sea has the feeling of a modern fairy tale and of classic children’s literature written for adults – while still being totally appropriate reading for children.
The House in the Cerulean Sea was something of a breakout contemporary fantasy novel, a piece of thought provoking Orwellian fantasy about magical children a society which fears them.
Heavily inspired by the real world Sixties Scoop, a period in Canada during which Indigenous children were removed from their homes and families to be placed with white, middle class foster parents instead or government sanctioned orphanages instead, The House in the Cerulean Sea certainly doesn’t pull its punches. This is fantasy with a message, which is built around its premise and its queer characters in a way that feels authentic and truly central to the endeavor.
The eponymous House in the Cerulean Sea is one of a series of government sanctioned orphanages designed to house magical children. In the world of The House in the Cerulean Sea magical beings face discrimination for who and what they are in a clear parallel to the situation faced by many minority groups in the real world today. This is an allegory which could feel perhaps a bit on the nose, but it avoids this through the story’s framing as a piece of classic children’s literature written as a kind of modern fairy tale, and just works as part of the setting.
This particular House is one in which six supposedly dangerous children reside, and protagonist Linus Baker is sent to audit by the Extremely Upper Management of the Department in Charge of Magical Youth for which he works – creating the conditions for the story to unfold.
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Linus Baker Loves Rules
At first glance, Linus is an unusual sort of choice for a protagonist, as he loves rules and is generally on board with how society functions. Although not perfect, for Linus Baker the world makes sense and things are the way they are for presumably good reasons.
In many ways Linus is simply going through the motions of life. He’s a strange but charming man who treats magical children much more kindly than many in his profession, and is seen by Extremely Upper Management as the sort of fellow who gets things done.
Linus Baker leads a solitary life, one lived without much companionship or excitement until he becomes thrown into TJ Klune’s quirky fantasy story. And despite his seemingly uninspired existence, Linus Baker is essentially the perfect protagonist for The House in the Cerulean Sea because he sees magical youth as children instead of the dangerous magical children many others in his society see and despite his somewhat uptight nature, is willing to listen.
Set loose in this modern fairy tale, Linus and his unusual charm, his no-nonsense approach to work, and his surprising capacity for compassion upend life in the House in the Cerulean Sea to create an utterly absorbing story with endearing characters, unlikely family, and a breakout contemporary fantasy.
Klune’s Baker is a star in what is a truly contemporary fantasy, a story fit for the modern era. Relatable on many levels, Baker is an overworked caseworker little time for fun. Klune’s work is part of a growing movement of inclusive fantasy, one which is unafraid and unashamed of telling stories with bold LGBT+ themes. The life Linus Baker leads is one which should be recognisable to many readers and this is, I think, part of the success of the character and this enchanting story.
The House in the Cerulean Sea: No Spoiler Review and Verdict
The House in the Cerulean Sea is a fun contemporary fantasy novel, a standalone outing from author TJ Klune featuring magical youth, an enchanting love story, thought provoking Orwellian fantasy and a tale of found family all wrapped up in what’s been described as a big gay blanket.
For me, The House in the Cerulean Sea felt like more than just a wholesome fantasy romp through a modern setting. As a young gay man, growing up I didn’t have anything even halfway like The House in the Cerulean Sea, so reading this gay fantasy romance novel for the first time as an adult felt almost like a profound experience.
Klune’s skill at creating endearing characters and way in which he weaves his own experiences into a sweet narrative on a magical island, a wholesome fantasy novel which became a Washington post bestseller mark him out as a true master storyteller.
Verdict
An utterly fantastic found family story by bestselling author TJ Klune. TJ Klune creates worlds which feel lived in, and The House in the Cerulean Sea is a delightful tale well worth reading. An inclusive fantasy masterpiece, The House in the Cerulean Sea is one of my personal favorite novels of the 2020s.
The House in the Cerulean Sea: Review with spoilers
Spoilers ahead!
According to Extremely Upper Management, dangerous children reside on the magical island in the Cerulean Sea, children which must be kept far away from the rest of the world. Watched over by Arthur Parnassus – a man with his own burning secret – these six dangerous children live on a tiny house on an island. Marsyas Island Orphanage is home to a gnome, a sprite, a wyvern, an unidentifiable green blob, a were-Pomeranian, and the Antichrist.
Add in one Linus Baker, case worker at the Department in Charge of Magical Youth, and things are about to change for everyone involved. In what is in some ways a completely typical love story, Linus Baker eventually comes to love Arthur Parnassus and in doing so forms an unlikely family with the mysterious man and the six dangerous magical children in his care.
But this delightful tale from TJ Klune uses all the trappings of comfy, cosy fantasy and romance tropes to tell an unapologetically queer story of love, found family, and belonging – as well as deeper discussions of nature and nurture and the sort of life young adults growing up to be second class citizens may have.
The House in the Cerulean Sea was at times a profound experience. The story of this unlikely family, as well as the machinations of Extremely Upper Management, and the literally burning secret of Arthur Parnassus, secret phoenix ready to watch the world burn, was at times meandering, and at others focussed.
The story of Linus, who develops romantic feelings and eventually comes to love Arthur Parnassus in an enchanting love story, ties the whole narrative together. As he comes to know the six dangerous magical children, he realizes that they are anything but. Even the unidentifiable green blob and the Antichrist, literal son of the Devil, are much more than they at first seemed. These magical youths are part of a sweet narrative that helps Linus to realize that his work – and indeed his life – has been missing something of extreme importance.
Baker ultimately leaves his solitary life behind to fully embrace his found family in a proper realization of his character arc.
From the tiny house in the Cerulean Sea and its island orphanage, the solitary life of its protagonists, to the six dangerous children, and the TJ Klune creates worlds that are equal parts fantastic and mundane.
Verdict
The House in the Cerulean Sea is a masterpiece of modern fantasy, an inclusive fantasy novel featuring a wonderful cast of characters, an enchanting story, and an out and proud love story fit for adults and children alike. TJ Klune is emerging as a master storyteller, and The House in the Cerulean Sea is a fantastic novel in every sense of the word. Well worth a read or two!
