The House in the Cerulean Sea: Reviews by 2022 Reading Challengers

[Winter, Group Reads]

Tell us what you thought of the book! You can leave your review here. Even if you read the book outside of the group, please feel free to let us know what you thought of it.

Please make sure to mark your spoilers by typing "[spoiler]" at the start and [/spoiler] at the end but replacing the []s with <>s.

[Sarah]

This book is such a fun read. I’ve read it already and I’m excited to see what you all think. The author made the characters so fun to read about. It’s quirky and cute

[Ilona]

This is such a feel-good book! One of those books that I'll keep reading and re-reading for many years!

[Shelley]

Having read this only a few months ago, I do not plan to reread it this soon.

The characters in the book, especially the children, are delightful. I expected Linus Baker to be drab and dull, but he was not. Also, his office work environment reminded me so much of my own experiences in cubicle world that it made me laugh out loud.

It is such a feel-good book that it is easy to dismiss the opposition the characters face. In that way, it almost feels like a children's book. Compared to the heavier subject matter I have been reading lately, this book would be refreshing. Maybe I should squeeze in a reread. We'll see.

[Tiffy]

I'm so excited to see this book as the March group read. I picked it up on a whim without knowing anything about it after seeing it as a buddy read here for February and it earned a place on my very short list of favorite books ever. If anyone is curious, the audiobook read by Daniel Henning is very well done.

(view spoiler)[I don't know if this counts as a spoiler. Tags just to be safe. I loved that this book made the love between Linus and Arthur so tender, precious, and warm. They were simply two people loving each other, without any sort of overtones or vibes about their sexuality necessary. It is what I have been looking for without realizing in regards to LGBTQ+ romance portrayal -- where it's just treated as normal with no apologies but also no fanfare. (hide spoiler)]

[Shelley]

Tiffany wrote: "...the audiobook read by Daniel Henning is very well done."

I agree!

[Chloë]

I read this book last month and absolutely loved it - TJ quickly became one of my favourite authors.

It is an absolutely enchanting story of found families & standing up for what you believe in.

I adored that the story centred around Linus, a middle-aged, slightly tubby, self-described nobody - Linus doesn’t seem like much at the start, but as we (and Linus) eventually realize, sometimes the most magical things can come from the ordinary.

I am but paper, brittle and thin…

[K Fox]

I loved this book. It was my favorite read of 2021, and my most recommended read since. I wish I could read it again, but I am trying to tackle my ever growing TBR.

[Joan]

I read this book last year and I thought the characters in this book was awesome. It was a cute book. I probably had the more unpopular rating of a 4 star book. I just thought maybe something a little more could have happened in the book itself.

[Racheal]

This was my first Kline book and I fell in love 😍! I fell in love with all the characters and felt so uplifted by the end of it. I hated to finish the book because I felt so connected to the characters.

[John]

★★★★☆

In many ways, this book is aggressively cute and whimsical, as predictable as the tides, and doesn’t really seem like it wants to hurt anyone or be overly dramatic. But it’s such a cuddly warm blanket of a book that it’s hard to be all that bothered about it. And it has stirring allegorical qualities when one reads between the lines.

Full, spoiler-free review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Jennifer]

I truly loved this book. I thought it was beautiful, fun, but also hit on some darker points. Fantastic story. I was constantly engaged!

[SarahKat, Buddy Reads]

John wrote: "★★★★☆

In many ways, this book is aggressively cute and whimsical, as predictable as the tides, and doesn’t really seem like it wants to hurt anyone or be overly dramatic. But it’s such a cuddly wa..."

"Aggressively cute and whimsical" is the perfect description!

[PattyMacDotComma]

I loved it! There is something about books with kids who are orphans or otherwise abandoned that keeps a lot of readers interested. This has the added appeal of Linus, who has been a kind of lost soul himself. Most enjoyable.

Link to my review of The House in the Cerulean Sea