"Simply enchanting and enormously moving!"
Amber Ivatt, Guest Reviewer of the Month, September 2024.
I only picked up this book last month and I instantly fell in love with it. Klune's voice immediately draws you into the life of warm-hearted Linus Barker, who lives a grey lonely existence (besides his stand-offish cat companion) and humdrum life as a workaholic reporting into his bureaucratic job as a 'social case worker'. You're instantly intrigued as he works with orphanages that are exclusively assigned for children who have powerful magical (and sometimes uncontrollable) abilities and who are hidden away and shunned from larger society.
Due to his fair judgement and impeccable professional record, Linus is sent on a top-secret mission from his superiors to examine a highly classified 'off the grid' orphanage which houses many dangerous magical children including none other than the anti-christ, Lucy, a six-year-old who happens to be the son of Satan.
Despite the mild harmful threats Linus faces from the children when he first arrives, he soon discovers how these children are the most vulnerable in the world and they just need time, empathy and great care and understanding to help them heal from the harsh wounds and prejudices they have had to encounter on the outside. Their compassionate headmaster Arthur Parnassus strives to protect them and make their lives feel whole so they can best live in hope in achieving their dreams, which can be anything from an aspiring writer to a devoted bellhop.
This book feels like a big warm hug. Linus earns the children's trust one by one and ultimately feels like it's his home too which warms the cockles of your heart and will bring tears to your eyes. There is also a gorgeous love story that plays out and enough suspense and mystery to keep you wanting to dip in to read more.
I adored this quote from The House in the Cerulean Sea:
'I heard something once. Something important, though I don't think I knew just how important it actually was. A very wise person stood up in front of others, and though he was very nervous, he said the most profoundly beautiful thing I've ever heard [...] "I am paper. Brittle and thin. I am held up to the sun, and it shines right through me. I get written on, and I can never be used again. These scratches are a history. They're a story. They tell things for others to read, but they only see the words, and not what the words are written upon. I am but paper, and though there are many like me, none are exactly the same. I am parched parchment. I have lines. I have holes. Get me wet, and I melt. Light me on fire, and I burn. Take me in hardened hands, and I crumple. I tear. I am but paper. Brittle and thin.'
Simply enchanting and enormously moving!
Amber Ivatt is the Head of Publicity for Bonnier Books UK
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