The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune -- Restarting April 15th 2024

[Anna 'Bookbuyer']

A magical island. A dangerous task. A burning secret.

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.

[Dannii]

I'd love to join you for this one :)

[Eesh]

Chapter 2
(view spoiler)[Trying to figure out the tone of the book. On one hand, it's kinda sad, on the other hand, you've gotten things like the evil corporation with their Extremely Upper Management, which I love. Eager to see where the author will take it. (hide spoiler)]

[Eesh]

Chapter 7
(view spoiler)[For a guy who supposedly cares only about the children and not what they are, Linus has done nothing but freak out. He's yet to manage to see these children as children.
I also don't like the deliberate ignorance in Linus. His concern of children seems limited to his job. He's never even checked on them after filing his report! For all he knows, some of them get executed. And yet the book keeps harping on about how much he cares for the welfare of the kids. It's all starting to get on my nerves. (hide spoiler)]

[Eesh]

Halfway through chapter 8
This is where I'm stopping. I wasn't liking it much. And reading it felt like a chore.

[Susan]

Chapters 1-5
I read chapter 1 and wasn't in the right headspace to keep going or the book was just not doing it for me. I picked it up a day or two later and read chapter 2 and again it was exactly like you said Quirks, it was "sad" or just odd and rather slow moving.
(view spoiler)[
The neighbor was a nag and really negative. I think he should have mooned her and maybe that would have gotten rid of her OR it would have been the highlight of her week and she could have become even more in his business. She was definitely a peeping Tom (female version that's for sure) She was creepy.

Ms. Jenkins and Gunther were two of the worst people anyone could work for or with. Although Linus needs to get a backbone and tell Gunther to back off and get a freakin life and Ms. Jenkins she's a looney tune that's for sure. How would you like working for her??? It sounds like Linus was a remarkable employee with how thorough he was with his cases. Instead of badgering him the way the 2 of them did they should have praised him and not nag at him.
(hide spoiler)]

Unless you think I'm completely wrong about this?

[Susan]

I love to ask questions and get thoughts and feelings about the book we are buddy reading. I hope that won't bother anyone and that we can chat about the book. I have no one that I can talk books too. My daughter moved about 2 years ago and she has 4 kiddos 8, 6, 4, and 2 and she reads still but she doesn't have time to sit and talk books with me like she used to do.

[Susan]

I forgot one of the things I wanted to talk about.

(view spoiler)[
If you were Linus wouldn't you want to look at those files before you were sent on this trip for a month??? I know I would. With my luck the person I was going to meet up with would probably have been told to inspect the seal. His lady wasn't told to inspect it and he could have read up sooner.

I know why they didn't want him reading it until he got there. If I read about Lucy I would be like stick a fork in me I'm done... ha ha ha. I wouldn't go, no way in H**L
(hide spoiler)]

So far I think this is going to be a fun mix of kids and their abilities. The gnome (a girl with a beard), the wyvern, the girl with the wings, the shifter, Lucy, and the see through blobish thing.

This will be a lot of fun to read....I hope. So far I've read 5 chapters and I'm really liking it. I wasn't loving Linus our MC. He reminded me of the Dursley's. Kind of plain and boring and I didn't have high hopes for his character but after meeting the kids of the school I feel like that may have turned this around for me

Did you feel the same? What did you think of Linus and what is your thoughts on the kids? I think the kids are going to make this book hilarious. I sure hope so. I need a book that's going to be fun and light hearted

[Eesh]

Susan wrote: "Chapters 1-5
I read chapter 1 and wasn't in the right headspace to keep going or the book was just not doing it for me. I picked it up a day or two later and read chapter 2 and again it was exactly..."

No, you're definitely right. Everyone in Linus's life is terrible. I can't imagine how someone could find any semblance of joy, between the awful neighbour and the soul-sucking job. I really wanted him to tell the neighbour to mind her own fucking business.

[Eesh]

Also, I don't mind discussing the book. The entire book, even. I stopped reading at 30% but I since I don't know if I'll ever try to finish it, I'm not worried about spoilers.

[Eesh]

Susan wrote: "I forgot one of the things I wanted to talk about.


If you were Linus wouldn't you want to look at those files before you were sent on this trip for a month??? I know I would. With my luck the per..."

(view spoiler)[I would definitely read the file. Too curious not to. But I'm not religious at all so the Antichrist thing doesn't mean anything to me. Well, that's not true. I love mythology so Luci being the son of Lucifer would be the coolest thing ever. I would definitely want to meet him. Couldn't stop me if your tried.

As for Linus, I don't like him. I found him to be boring and more concerned about doing the job right than about the children, even though the book tells us that's not the case. (hide spoiler)]

[Jammin Jenny]

Chapters 1-6

I really like the book so far. I agree some of the characters at the DICOMY were pretty atrocious including the supervisor and the little minion Gunter issuing demerits. He reminded me of a character on the Office.

I was surprised Linus didn't look at the files as well. But he was told not to open them until he got to his destination - he just wasn't prepared for what he saw.

I love how the children introduced themselves to Linus - albeit with a little mischief.

[Jammin Jenny]

Chapters 7-11

I feel that Linus is starting to open up to the island and the children. (view spoiler)[ I liked that Zoe is opening up to him, and I really feel like the children aren't necessarily bad. There is definitely something up with Arthur - I think he has some kind of monstrous talent and that may be one of the reasons that guy from Extra Upper Management has it in for him (hide spoiler)]

[Jammin Jenny]

Chapters 12-15

Well I knew there was something up with Arthur (view spoiler)[ he's a phoenix. It makes sense now but I wonder why DICOMY won't let him tell the children? What happened with Chris and Arthur those years ago? (hide spoiler)]

[Jammin Jenny]

Chapters 16-?

(view spoiler)[So glad it had a HEA, and I loved how the author treated the gay aspect of this story. (hide spoiler)]

[Vicki]

Chapters 1-6

I am absolutely loving this one! The children are hilarious! I think Lucy is absolutely the funniest thing ever. I can't picture a 6 year old Lucifer, so Lucy fits him quite well. I think he might be my favorite so far.

Something else that I'm truly enjoying are the allusions to music! The Everly Brothers and Bobby Darin? Love it! I began singing in my head, "All I Have to Do Is Dream" and now I can't stop. LOL

[Jammin Jenny]

I know. I loved the musical references too and Lucy is a riot. I also loved Chauncey being a bellhop.

[Vicki]

7-11

Linus (view spoiler)[appears to be afraid of Lucy. lol I guess I understand, but he calls him the Anti-christ? That's a wee bit overboard. He doesn't mind seeing the children's rooms but not Lucy's. (hide spoiler)]

Mrs. Chapelwhite (view spoiler)[is she really that concerned for the children that she wanted them to have a chance to prosper so she did all that she did? (hide spoiler)]

[Vicki]

In response to the question why Linus didn't look at the (view spoiler)[files. I don't know HIS reason, but I know that when I was teaching, I had access to all student files; however, it was rare that I looked at them until after I got to know the student. The reason why is so that I wasn't "tainted" by comments written. Many times (sadly) students were labeled as "XYZ" when in reality it wasn't the case at all. To me, it was my way of deciding for myself my opinion of a student and his/her behavior and why. IF I was forewarned of a student's history as being violent, I would check but to be honest that rarely happened. We didn't know if we had an angel or a devil in disguise. LOL (hide spoiler)]

[Vicki]

Finished

I really loved this one! I adored the children and all the descriptions of them and their rooms. I wasn't too sure what was going to become of each one, but I have to say that the author (view spoiler)[ really did a good job of making the ending really good...at least for me. (hide spoiler)]

[Susan]

Chapters 6-11
Sorry I dropped the ball. We had some really bad stuff happen to us. Stuff you truly only read in the papers. If scam artists would use all that brain power for good imagine how much better our world would be. I would be happy to let you know what hell my family was put through on July 11th (to be exact) please message me. I can talk about it now without crying.

So chapter 6-11
I loved this book very much. I couldn't wait to see what happened next. I love how chapter by chapter you see Linus warming up to the kids and I love how his heart is starting to melt a wee bit towards them. The adventures are so hilarious and Lucy and Chauncy are by far two of the funniest characters and I love them both so much. I can't wait to see what the kids say or do in the chapters but Lucy is amazing and Chauncy makes me laugh with his fixation on being a bellhop. LOVE IT!

Zoe (Mrs. Chapelwhite is growing on me. I think the day with the raft indecent is what changed her opinion of Linus and my opinion of her.

[Susan]

Vicki wrote: "Chapters 1-6

I am absolutely loving this one! The children are hilarious! I think Lucy is absolutely the funniest thing ever. I can't picture a 6 year old Lucifer, so Lucy fits him quite well. I t..."

Hi Vicki,
I have to message you soon and let you know the most awful thing in the world happened to us. As my mom says "so we lost our house and money but our health is in tact and we have each other and the rest we'll replace."

When I first read he was a 6 year old Antichrist I thought OKAY that's extreme but I love the way the author had Arthur handle Lucy. Lucy makes me laugh in every chapter (just about 😉) I love his love of music and his choices for a 6 year old are amazing. I love his theatrics as well. He really goes for the shock value doesn't he.

How about sweet little Chauncy who just wants to be a bellhop and practices in the mirror (I may have jumped ahead in my chapters and I gave my book to my sister to read so I no longer have it it front of me to check what happens in each chapter)

I also have to give props to Arthur for understanding how to handle each individual child. THE BEST!!!

[Susan]

I can't do chapters anymore because I finished the book and gave it to my sister to read ASAP. I was so excited for her to read it I didn't think about having to write out my BR reviews.
(view spoiler)[
So what was everyone's feeling of the day the kids got to go on a field trip into the village. I loved how Linus defended Lucy and how he bought those gardening tools for Talia. All that sweet girl wants to do is garden and bash someone on the head with her shovel. She doesn't ask for much...LOL

What about Theodore? I love that his most prized possessions are buttons and things that mean nothing to us humans. Also I just want to take Sal into my home and love him the way those others should have done. In real life stories like his make me so sad for those poor abused kids. I know this book is fiction but this subject is not for so many kids in the system. (hide spoiler)]

[Susan]

The rest of the chapters.

Linus was a stuffy, played by the rules kind of character but I LOVE how he broke out of that mold and fought like hell for the orphanage and those kids.

I need to back up and talk about the gang of villagers wanting to riot the island and make the kids leave. Linus was amazing and stuck up for all of them. I also love the mayor Helen and how she had hit it off with Talia over gardening of all things. Her wimpy nephew with the fake neck brace was a real piece of work too. She cracked me up how she handled him and his fake injuries. The best part (there were so many best parts in this book I swear) was when that rock was thrown and Arthur revealed his truth self to the village and Zoe AND Linus. He was a thing of beauty I'm sure. I wish that Linus had stayed but someone had to go back and fight like hell to save the orphanage and man oh man did Linus do an amazing job. I had to reread that part twice in case I missed how he told off Upper Management

[Evelyn]

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Date changed. Restarting April 3rd 2021. Happy Reading ☺

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[Lizz (Beer, Books and Boos)]

I will be starting this on tomorrow

[Ashley W]

Chapter 3
(view spoiler)[ I feel like Linus is all of us who have felt stuck in a job that really doesn't go anywhere or change. Also, are just tired of people. lol It's what I call dreary funny and I'm enjoying the book so far. (hide spoiler)]

[Lizz (Beer, Books and Boos)]

Ashley wrote: "Chapter 3
[spoilers removed]"

I agree about Linus

[Lizz (Beer, Books and Boos)]

I am slowly reading this because I just got my first COVID shot and it has taken a lot out of me. Hopefully I will be back to normal in a few days.

[Ashley W]

Lizz (Beer, Books and Boos) wrote: "I am slowly reading this because I just got my first COVID shot and it has taken a lot out of me. Hopefully I will be back to normal in a few days."

That's okay. I'm just picking it up again.

[Evelyn]

me too! Sorry I haven't started yet, I will be starting in the next few days

[Lizz (Beer, Books and Boos)]

This month has been hard on my reading

[Evelyn]

Lizz (Beer, Books and Boos) wrote: "This month has been hard on my reading"
Yep, I totally feel that too

[Evelyn]

Chapter 5
(view spoiler)[ I love this so far! Linus is a very wholesome character with his "oh dears" lol he's so cute. And these kids are so interesting!! They are not human at all and I'm excited to learn more about them (especially Lucy!) (hide spoiler)]

[Evelyn]

Chapter 10
(view spoiler)[ So cute! I love seeing the progression Linus is having with these kids and that scene with Linus and Phee with the flowers was just too adorable. I just hope these DICOMY people aren't going to interfere too much because I want Linus to just do his thing you know (hide spoiler)]

[Evelyn]

Chapter 15
(view spoiler)[ Lucy having the nightmare and then Arthur and Linus comforting him was just SO wholesome. And when that ice cream guy refused to serve them ice cream, but Helen (finally a good villager) stepped it, it made me so happy.
Also, Arthur is a phoenix! I was suspecting earlier that he was a "magical youth" as a child, so this is cool to see (hide spoiler)]

[Evelyn]

Finished
(view spoiler)[ omgg I loved the ending! The fact that Linus went back to work, but at the end was like bye I'm done with this job was just AMAZING. And they are adopting a new kid now, a little yeti, omg so cute. (hide spoiler)]

[Jenn]

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Date changed. Restarting August 22nd 2021. Happy Reading ☺

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[Vippi]

Ready to start ☺️

[Karen]

Wasn't sure who'd set this up. I am hoping to get onto this later today.

[Vippi]

Karen wrote: "Wasn't sure who'd set this up. I am hoping to get onto this later today."

Great! The more the merrier!
Ellie & I set the thread :)

[Vippi]

17%
(view spoiler)[So far I am loving it. It's my first book by T.J. Klune and the writing is lyrical, I adore it.

I have highlighted tons of quotes, but one of my fav is this one:

“They fear what they don’t understand. And that fear turns to hate for reasons I’m sure even they can’t begin to comprehend. And since they don’t understand the children, since they fear them, they hate them.”

Can't wait to meet the children - Lucy above all! (hide spoiler)]

[Vippi]

56%
(view spoiler)[So far I am loving this book.
How the children are treated and all the prejudices that surround them are awful. Despite the fictional/fantastic setting, it's oh so easy to make parallelism to our society.

I am pretty curious about Arthur. What is he hiding? Is he a magical creature too? What happened with Mr Werner? (hide spoiler)]

[HeatherH]

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Date changed. Restarting November 21st 2021. Happy Reading ☺

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[Sandee is Reading]

HeatherH wrote: "*****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************..."

Thanks Heather! :)

[HeatherH]

Through chapter 5! Holy moly this is going to be a fun ride I think! Getting some serious Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends vibes from the characters and I love it so so much.

(view spoiler)[Very intrigued as to what the headmaster's abilities and such will show to be and if he will be a love interest for our Mr Baker! Also cannot wait to meet Lucy in the next chapter! (hide spoiler)]

[HeatherH]

Up to chapter 10.. (view spoiler)[ Its so beautiful to watch Linus start to crack his outer shell some. The little moments between him and Arthur are cute as hell. Also the little adventure they all went on, and seeing Sal start to open up some really warmed my heart. Lucy cracks me up so very much with all his great big statements of doom and his love of "dead people music". Truly just loving every moment of this one! (hide spoiler)]

[HeatherH]

Ch 17

(view spoiler)[ That surprise going away party!!!!! I had tears in my eyes! I hate watching Linus say goodbye to all of them! (hide spoiler)]

[HeatherH]

Ch 18
(view spoiler)[ I know why Linus returned home, and honestly watching him stand up for himself and Arthur and the kids was beautiful, but man it hurt my heart reading about his lonely existence back in the city. A chapter without Lucy and Talia and Arthur and the whole group just felt empty.. (hide spoiler)]

[HeatherH]

I finished on Wednesday and am so sad it is over! I loved these characters so so much and know without a doubt that I will revisit them in the future! Watching Linus grow as a character was so beautiful and the kids were so much fun - so quirky and adorable. I laughed and cried throughout the story several times!