The House In The Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune Review

 Hi foreverBookers,

How are you all? I hope you’re well! 

Yesterday, I finished “The House in the Cerulean Sea” by TJ Klune and I really LOVED it! It was wholesome and just cute on all levels. There wasn’t a huge threat or anything but it really kept me gripped. It was humorous as well as emotional and boy, did my heart stop, and almost break in a few scenes! 

The House In The Cerulean Sea follows Linus, a middle aged man who has a run of the mill office job at the beginning of the story. But when the powers above, at his job call him to a meeting that all changes pretty quickly. Linus is called upon by DICOMY (The Department In Charge of Magical Youth) to go and see an orphanage in a town right at the end of the country. It’s the last stop on the train route. What does he find here at this orphanage? Well, six children, but they’re children with a difference. First, Talia, a female gnome with a beard, Chauncey, a luminous green blob who dreams of becoming a bellhop, Sal, a boy with the ability to transform into a Pomeranian dog, Phee, a forest sprite that can do amazing things with fauna, Theodore, a wyvern (only a few of which remain) and Lucy, literally the devil’s son! These characters really got to my heart and I only wanted the best for them. Also there’s the head of the orphanage, Arthur Parnassus. He works with the children to help them be the best version of themselves. 

This is very much a character led story that really focuses on Linus and him learning that although people are different we’re really one and the same. We all deserve good lives and even the worst person can be good! 

I read  “The House in the Cerulean Sea”  for a few readathons/reading challenges. They were:

Reading Rivalry - Small but Mighty - The children in “The House in the Cerulean Sea”  are small but they know what they want, so are mighty in that sense, especially Lucy.

The 2025 Always Fully Booked, Genre Reading Challenge - A Book With A Body of Water in the title - The Cerulean Sea isn’t a real body of water, I know but it’s still  a body of water regardless. 

The Always Fully Booked “Reading Rainbow Challenge, Rainbow/multi-colored cover - There are lots of colours on the cover of “The House in the Cerulean Sea.”

Spoilers Below

Things start to get fantastical at around the 50 page mark. That’s when Linus is sent to the orphanage. His neighbour back in the city is mean and doesn’t wish him well before he goes. He first meets Talia, the gnome, outside while she’s gardening, doing her everyday pursuits. All the children are encouraged to have this time just by themselves doing something they enjoy. For Sal it’s writing and for Chauncey it’s learning all the ways to be the best bellhop. Lucy likes cooking. This meeting with Talia happens before Linus even steps inside the orphanage.

“He didn’t know how he’d get them off the island, but—” This is Linus thinking that the orphanage is a prison like place to begin with, set to make the children suffer. As we read the novel however, we learn through Linus that this is not the case at all. 

“It’s nice to see you,” Lucy singsonged before giggling. ”I knew you’d come, Mr. Baker. Though, by the time I’m done with you, you’ll wish you hadn’t.” The smile widen until it seemed like his face would split in half. Flames began to rise behind him, though they didn’t seem to burn the house, Linus couldn’t feel the heat that should have been pouring off them. “ I’m going to enjoy this far more than you could ever—” 

This is Linus’s introduction to Lucy, the devil child. Lucy is really the child that Linus was sent to see, I believe. The other children play a role in the story, of course but Lucy is the main child Linus has to observe for DICOMY. I really liked Lucy. He was just a cheeky, harmless little boy! Later on in the story when Linus gives his findings to DICOMY, he actually sticks up for Lucy. He’s just a boy at the end of the day. 

“And what of the Anti—what of the last child?” the woman asked quietly.

“Lucy,” Linus said. “His name is Lucy. And he has spiders in his brain. He dreams of death and fire and destruction, and it tears at him. But you know what I found? I found a boy, a six-year-old boy who loves going on adventures. Who has the wildest imagination. He dances. He sings. He lives for music, and it moves through him like the blood in his veins.”

“Regardless of whether or not you like to hear it,” Jowls said, “he is what he is. That can never change.”

“It can’t?” Linus retorted. “I refuse to believe that. We are who we are not because of our birthright, but because of what we choose to do in this life. It cannot all be boiled down to black and white. Not when there is so much in between. You cannot say something is moral or immoral without understanding the nuances behind it.”

“He’s immoral,” the bespectacled man said. “Maybe he never asked for it, but he is what he is. His lineage demands it. There is a wickedness in him. That is the very definition of immortality.”

And who are you to decide that?” Linus asked through gritted teeth. “Who are you? You’ve never met him. Morality is relative. Just because you find something abhorrent, doesn’t mean it actually is.”

This happens at the end of the novel. It’s a part of Linus’s final report on all of the children. The part above is specifically detailing Lucy and his character. Linus falls in love with little Lucy by the end of the story. This was one of the most heartwarming things about The House in the Cerulean Sea, how Linus paternally fell in love with each child.

My favourite trope of romance is present in “The House in the Cerulean Sea.” The romance happens between Linus and Arthur, as well as something little between Zoe and the mayor of Marsyas Island, Helen. Helen doesn’t have a huge part to play. She’s very much on the sidelines, like Zoe. The main romance is between Linus and Arthur. I liked this. I do think it could have gone further. I hope that in the sequel it will, but we’ll see. Klune is known for writing LGBTQ romances, I believe, so I wasn’t surprised to see one or two here. I actually didn’t know about the lesbian one. Just the gay one.

Linus and the children do have obstacles to overcome, such as bullying from ordinary people, on Marsyas Island, where the orphanage or the house in the cerulean sea is located. For instance, Talia has to cope with being bullied while out shopping when a little girl comes up to play with her but her mother snatches her away, disgusted by Talia. This shows what real life/reality is like for some people though. It’s not always easy. Talia doesn’t get upset, she just accepts it and moves on as we all should try and do. Not everybody is going to like everybody else in the world after all. Linus sees Talia getting bullied and is there for her. She doesn’t want any special attention though! I was like GOOOO TALIA, BE STRONG, GIRL!!!! Another obstacle is Arthur revealing what he truly is to Linus. I don’t want to spoil WHAT he is, but it’s not human, I’ll say that much. What does Linus think of him after he reveals his true nature? You’ll have to read to find out for yourself. There’s also a rally of protesters to the children! What happens here? You’ll need to read for yourself! This part was emotional. I didn’t cry but I was close!

The children go on adventures with Linus, Arthur and Zoe, who is like the fairy godmother character. She’s there, at the orphanage to help Arthur look after the children. She doesn’t really do much in the plot. She’s just there as a stop gap to help move the little plot forward. Zoe, while she’s driving him into town tells Linus,

 “We go on adventures with the children. It’s a tradition.”

Linus didn’t like the sound of that. “What sort of adventures?”

She looked him up and down. “I’ll need to get a few things for you. What you’re wearing simply won’t do, and I assume that’s all you bought. What’s your waist size?”

He balked. “I don’t know that it’s any of your business!” I thought this was funny. Linus is quite closed off at this point in the novel. He hasn’t begun to see things for what they truly are yet…

Well then, I thought The House in the Cerulean Sea was an amazing novel about acceptance and love. The small amount of characters really worked in it’s favour too. I like character led stories that have a few characters. That way the author, in this case Klune can focus on the key points of each child and not have to worry about repeating things several times. “The House in the Cerulean Sea” focuses on Linus, of course, Lucy, Arthur, Talia, Sal and Chauncey. One character that doesn’t get very much time, I feel is Phee, the forest sprite. I wonder if she’ll be fleshed out in Somewhere Beyond The Sea, the sequel, along with another character that’s introduced right at the end of “The House in the Cerulean Sea?” I hope she is.

Stand by for my next review, coming soon!