Somewhere Beyond the Sea (Cerulean Chronicles #2) by T.J. Klune -- Starting November 20th 2024

[Jenn]

Somewhere Beyond the Sea is the hugely anticipated sequel to TJ Klune’s The House in the Cerulean Sea, one of the best-loved and best-selling fantasy novels of the past decade. Featuring gorgeous orange sprayed edges!

A magical house. A secret past. A summons that could change everything.

Arthur Parnassus lives a good life built on the ashes of a bad one.

He’s the master of a strange orphanage on a distant and peculiar island, and he hopes to soon be the adoptive father to the six dangerous and magical children who live there.

Arthur works hard and loves with his whole heart so none of the children ever feel the neglect and pain that he once felt as an orphan on that very same island so long ago. He is not alone: joining him is the love of his life, Linus Baker, a former caseworker in the Department In Charge of Magical Youth. And there’s the island’s sprite, Zoe Chapelwhite, and her girlfriend, Mayor Helen Webb. Together, they will do anything to protect the children.

But when Arthur is summoned to make a public statement about his dark past, he finds himself at the helm of a fight for the future that his family, and all magical people, deserve.

And when a new magical child hopes to join them on their island home—one who finds power in calling himself monster, a name that Arthur worked so hard to protect his children from—Arthur knows they’re at a breaking point: their family will either grow stronger than ever or fall apart.

Welcome back to Marsyas Island. This is Arthur’s story.

Somewhere Beyond the Sea is a story of resistance, lovingly told, about the daunting experience of fighting for the life you want to live and doing the work to keep it.

[Jenn]

Starting this one now. Just reread the first one 💙

[Jenn]

Prologue: (view spoiler)[ i love that the book began with arthur coming back to the island. Finding out his past in the first book was heartbreaking and reading from his pov about coming back for the first time was heavy. Tou can feel his nerves and fears but also his hopes. Hes such a good man (hide spoiler)]

[Jenn]

Chapter 5: (view spoiler)[ This Rowder person is very much an Umbridge type character. She just makes my blood boil. The poor children who had to listen to Arthur just get torn apart. And now another inspector is going to visit the island. Just let them live in peace! (hide spoiler)]

[ellen]

Jenn wrote: "Somewhere Beyond the Sea is the hugely anticipated sequel to TJ Klune’s The House in the Cerulean Sea, one of the best-loved and best-selling fantasy novels of the past decade. Featuring gorgeous o..."

I'm on the last chapter! I will start this tonight.

[Jenn]

Chapter 9: (view spoiler)[ how are they going to hide david for 2 weeks??? I love how the kids have accepted him but i knew it was going to cause problems that he was told he could be a monster but lucy wasnt. Definitely a fine line to walk there.

Im really worried about this caseworker showing up. She better not hurt any of the children or i will riot (hide spoiler)]

[Jenn]

Chapter 12: (view spoiler)[ ugh so all this is just to get lucy working for the government. What selfish people. Also for that lady to harm david like that. The amount of restraint it took everyone to not retaliate. I have no idea how they're going to get out of this mess (hide spoiler)]

[Jenn]

Finished: (view spoiler)[ so zoe is a queen. Love it. This book definitely felt more political than the first but i can get that with the subject matter. So happy they all get to stay together and that the villagers rallied behind them. Beautiful ending (hide spoiler)]

[ellen]

Jenn wrote: "Prologue: [spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[ It was more profound after re-reading book 1. Not only did I feel his pain, but also Zoe's pain and regret. Zoe immediately helping him get the house together was heartfelt as well, showcasing in such a small action their resolve to make the future much better for the kids and themselves. (hide spoiler)]

[Jenn]

Agreed! Rereading the first book just made the feels hit harder!

[ellen]

Chp 3: (view spoiler)[Oh gosh. The forays of discussing puberty with the magical children are hilarious and also just too familiar. I can only imagine Linus' face being beet red and him trying to approach it without embarrassment or stuttering throughout. These characters are too endearing and I never want this story to end. (hide spoiler)]

[ellen]

Jenn wrote: "Chapter 5: [spoilers removed]"

THAT! (view spoiler)[ she very much is Umbridge! I almost threw the book across the room due to how angry she was making me. Thank goodness for Linus to refocus Arthur cause I was so for burning that whole building down. Ugh. It is interesting to learn that Arthur and his Phoenix have separate thoughts or can be separated as man and monster. Also, finding out that other phoenixes he has helped exist is making this story even more exciting to continue reading. (hide spoiler)]

[ellen]

Chp. 8: (view spoiler)[ Welp. I guess I'm going to hell cause your girl loves some seafood. The character development of Chauncey is very unexpected. I love that we are seeing a more dimensional kid rather than the repetitive practicing in a mirror as a bellhop. He is a hoot, and I loved his fainting damsel character plotting revenge on his lover. LOL the fact that he ate Frank says a lot about this kid. Jeez. I'm going with he has some sort of pica with his uncontrollable ability to stop putting everything in his mouth. (hide spoiler)]