If every other book I read was like this, I would be the happiest reader on the planet. While a book critic should obviously use more words to describe a book, I only need two to accurately describe The House in the Cerulean Sea – whimsical and wholesome.
This is the story about a man with a job to do. Linus Baker is our lovable main character who falls in love with a group of misfit magical creatures that are unwanted anywhere else, and one of them happens to be the Antichrist. TJ Klune does a wonderful job giving us a black and white coloring page and with every passing paragraph fills it with more and more color.
To put it plainly, this book made me happy. I could see myself as Linus. He’s just a guy doing a job, but clearly wants to break free from the monotonous every day and instead live a life out loud. He has a moral north star that he follows with all his heart. He grows. He loves. And as the reader I felt the same.
Of course, no book is perfect. There are times where Linus’s actions feel odd, the epilogue is very on the nose and unnecessary, but through it all, this was a book I wanted to keep coming back to. The front cover has a quote from an author that says that it’s like a “big gay blanket.” While the gay part doesn’t apply to me, the big blanket is absolutely an accurate description of The House in the Cerulean Sea.
4.75 stars out of 5. Incredible read.
