T. J. Klune: The House in the Cerulean Sea

I was finally able to finish a book! Things with the baby got crazy and I wasn't able to finish this before he came, but I've finally settled in and have gotten back to reading. It will take me a little while to finish another book. Next on my list is Ruta Septys' new book I Will Betray You.

The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune felt distinctly Harry Potter-esque. Linus Baker is a case worker for DICOMY - the Department in Charge of Magical Youth. He visits orphanages and seeks to help the kids he observes with the utmost objectivity, never getting attached nor revisiting the cases to see what ultimately happens to the children. He leads a dull and dreary existence with his small house, his monogrammed pajamas, obnoxious neighbor, and unusual cat, Calliope. That all changes when he is summoned by Extremely Upper Management and sent on a secret assignment to the most unusual orphanage Linus has ever seen. There, he meets the most unusual children, and possibly the most dangerous (among them, the son of Satan himself). Linus finds himself entranced by the mysterious Arthur Parnassus, the master of the orphanage, and challenging his own views about the DICOMY and the children at the orphanage. Will Linus change his perspectives? Or will he return to DICOMY with his unbiased report?

Overall, I did enjoy this book. I loved the magical creatures and the fairy-tale-ish kind of feel to the author's word choice and diction. This is an extremely character-driven novel, which I typically enjoy, however, I felt that it was almost too heavy on the characters and tended to drag in the middle. I also felt that the characters, particularly Linus and Arthur had the same conversation several times in different contexts with nothing seeming to have changed. They seemed to rehash the same issues over and over again. I also found a lot of the dialogue sappy and bland. Once I got through the middle, the novel picked up significantly and I enjoyed how everything was ultimately resolved.

I rate this book ⭐⭐⭐⭐

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