The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune - Book Review

 

On the surface, this is a story about a lonely older man whose sole purpose is to ensure the safety of magical children in magical orphanages – and to keep his beloved cat alive. In the story, he is sent on an obscure mission and given little information except what he already knows about how to do his job.

BUT – that is just on the surface.

If you are paying attention, you’ll find that T.J. Klune has written a beautiful story about a group of misfits that we like to call a family. They each have their strengths and weaknesses, supported and tempered by one another to keep each other in check. Each of them plays a role – each role being crucial to the functioning of the family and the household as a whole. The absence of one is felt collectively by the group. Klune uses our real-life system – the Department of Children, Youth & Family Services as a reference for his fantasy version – Department in Charge of Magical Youth. His use of this fantastical world to convey some real-world issues is brilliantly done and the story he intertwines within it is cozy and whimsical while also powerful and thought-provoking.