Somewhere Beyond the Sea

By TJ Klune

☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎

The House in the Cerulean Sea is a book I press on people. It is absolutely required reading.

What I loved in the follow up is that the creativity hasn't dimmed at all. David is one of the best additions to this world Klune has made, and getting more time with the original six, watching who they've become with a little more room to grow, was exactly the reunion I wanted. This is still a book with a genuinely inventive imagination and warmth.

My only (small) critique is that it is more political than it needed to be to land the point. There were stretches where the book stopped trusting the story to carry the message and just said the message, in a way that almost seemed preachy. And here's the part I keep sitting with, because I don't think I get to have the first reaction without the second, we are living in a moment where quiet politics doesn't seem to be working anymore.

This is a book about a found family of kids who don’t fit anywhere and are faced with so much prejudice before they have had a chance to be anyone. I'm not sure subtlety is the responsible choice right now, even if it's the one I'd pick as a reader. I can be a little bothered by the heavy hand and still think Klune might be right to use it.

This book is such a fun, joyful, creative adventure. I loved it, and I think you will too.