Magical Readathon – The House on the Cerulean Sea

Genre: Adult, fantasy, LGBT, romance

The synopsis

Linus Baker leads a quiet, solitary life. At forty, he lives in a tiny house with a devious cat and his old records. As a Case Worker at the Department in Charge Of Magical Youth, he spends his days overseeing the well-being of children in government-sanctioned orphanages.

When Linus is unexpectedly summoned by Extremely Upper Management he’s given a curious and highly classified assignment: travel to Marsyas Island Orphanage, where six dangerous children reside: a gnome, a sprite, a wyvern, an unidentifiable green blob, a were-Pomeranian, and the Antichrist. Linus must set aside his fears and determine whether or not they’re likely to bring about the end of days.

But the children aren’t the only secret the island keeps. Their caretaker is the charming and enigmatic Arthur Parnassus, who will do anything to keep his wards safe. As Arthur and Linus grow closer, long-held secrets are exposed, and Linus must make a choice: destroy a home or watch the world burn.

An enchanting story, masterfully told, The House in the Cerulean Sea is about the profound experience of discovering an unlikely family in an unexpected place—and realizing that family is yours.

The review

This month’s prompt was ‘reading a book with a building on the cover’. So, I decided to kill two birds with one stone by reading a book with a building on the cover and in the title, and that was on my TBR for ages.

Even though this book is a bit different from my usual reads, it was everything I expected and even more. It was well written, including the characters and so I cared about them and was intrigued to see what would happen to them. It was as heartwarming as I was promised it would be and I loved the found-family aspect of the story. I laughed with the characters, especially the children, which is a bit surprising since I don’t really like child characters usually. But to be honest, I preferred them to the adult characters for once (especially Theodore and Talia). It was inspiring to see the resilience child can have when confronted with the hatred and stupidity of humans.

Another thing that positively stroked me during my reading is how vividly the writing was enabling me to imagine the scenery. It was creating a clear and sharp contrast between Linus’s former grey, cold, lifeless life to the one he is building in this book, colourful and full of joy, a contrast made just by depicting the main two locations of the story.

In brief: I absolutely don’t regret having picked this book up! I liked the fact that Linus was more an antihero than a hero, the children, the Cerulean House and the plot. The morality behind the story was clearly enunciated and important, without being too heavy and making me feel like a child in front of a teacher. I absolutely recommend it to anyone that is looking to get out of a reading slump or is looking for something heartwarming!

My rating: 5/5

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