The House in the Cerulean Sea

Content Overview

Overall Content
Severity
1.3

Language

1.6/10

Alcohol, Drugs, Smoking

0.2/10

Intimacy, Sex, Immodesty

2.0/10

Violence, Weapons, Blood, Crime

1.5/10

Potentially Intense Themes

1.2/10

**As an Amazon associate I earn from qualifying purchases. 

The House in the Cerulean Sea

T.J. Klune

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.

-Excerpt taken from Goodreads.

Check Goodreads to see the book’s ratings. 

My Opinion

5 out of 5 stars (5 / 5) There are not many adequate words to describe this book. But I adored it. I read Extraordinaries a few months ago and died laughing at the audio. I decided I need to find more Klune books to see if it was just as funny as the others. I can definitely say this one was just as funny too! I laughed out loud more times than I can count. Klune creates characters that I instantly fell in love with.

The premise of the story is utterly predictable. I did not complain. Instead of being sad about it, I eagerly waited for it to play out. I’ve never had a book do that. It was happy, emotional and heartwarming. I couldn’t have been more happy with this book.

This book is labeled YA which I found interesting because the characters were all adults or young kids.  I honestly feel it has the potential for more of an audience than YA. Due to the low content, I feel most people would enjoy this.

It was whimsy, it felt like childhood and it was thoroughly enjoyable to listen to.  I’m really liking Klune as an author and I’m excited to see what else he has written. It did have a very small male gay romance.  It is very sweet with not many details.  It would be a good book to start with if you’re not sure a gay romance would be of interest to you.

Detailed Content Review

Language 

F***-

H***- 3

S***-

A**- 3

B****- 2

D***- 8

Bas****-

Religious Cursing

J****-

Chr***- 1

G**- 8

L***- 1

Derogatory terms etc-

Daft

Git 

Alcohol, Drugs, Smoking

A woman smokes a pipe. 

A woman smokes a pipe.

Intimacy, Sex, Immodesty

*Mild LGBTQ+ aspects included* 

A woman remembers a man is “not one for the ladies” so she suggests dating her grandson. 

A young boy notices his skin tingles when the neighbor mows with his shirt off. He realizes he like guys instead of girls. 

“Where did you come from?” “A vagina, after it was penetrated by a penis.”

A man talks of sounds from a teen boys room. Another man says he’s sure it’s normal, and teens like to “explore.” 

Two men are attracted to each other but it’s very mild. A touch of a hand, a warm feeling. They had a small slow dance where one leans his head on the other’s chest. 

A man kisses a man. He then kisses his cheek and chin and lips. 

A man holds a man’s hand and kisses it. It is eluded to the fact that the men are sleeping together because one moved in with the other and kids are sent away on sleepovers. One man admits to love. One wraps their arms around the other from behind. He kisses his nose. They talk of getting married. 

A woman and a woman kiss, one kisses the others hand. 

Violence, Weapons, Crime, Blood

A woman states if anyone tries to hurt certain children that it would be the last thing they do.

A young boy plays a lot of jokes on a man. He tells him he’s the “bringer of death” and more. One day the man wonders if he will see dead bodies and carcasses with intestines strewn about. The boy also has magical abilities and talks about being able to melt people’s organs. He does it in a funny manner trying to scare the man. 

A young boy had previously been physically abused.

A man hears crashes behind a door and breaks down the door. A man is unconscious. The boy had thrown him against the wall for being rude. 

A man tells of his childhood abuse and neglect. 

A man throws a rock at a woman. 

A group gathers together threatening a group of children. It’s not clear if physical harm was intended. 

Potentially Intense Themes

A woman comments that a man should not be alone. She’s hate for him to blow his brains out cause it would affect resale in the neighborhood. 

Playing a joke on a man, kids talk about a smell being cannibals cooking meat and they need to go check it out. 

A young magical boy has extreme nightmares that shake the house, floats items and he roars. 

A young girl was found in squalor, her mother’s body nearby after starving to death. 

A young girl digs a grave as a threat to a man that he holds up a bargain. 

**As an Amazon associate I earn from qualifying purchases. 

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