House in the Cerulean Sea

The House in the Cerulean Sea is a young adult story story about Linus Baker, a case worker for the Department in Charge Of Magical Youth (DICOMY) who is sent to investigate Marsya Island Orphanage, a government-sanctioned orphanage where a number of unique children currently reside. Deemed “dangerous” by the government these children are looked after by Arthur Parnassus, a mysterious man with a secret of his own. Linus, who would rather spend his days at home listening to golden oldies in the presence of his cat, Calliope, initially just wants to remain impartial, observe the children, make his report and then head home. Instead, what he finds on Marsya Island will change him forever.

I’m in two minds about this book. One the one hand, it was kinda cosy and warm and hopeful. On the other hand I cannot ignore that it was apparently inspired by the Sixties Scoop. A real government policy from Canada where indigenous children were institutionalised in government care homes. It also reminded me a lot of Australia’s Stolen Generation, something that only ended within recent living history. But, this is a book review and not a history lesson. So I will just mention that I thought about these things within the context of this story, as I think it is important to acknowledge the background for the book. I will now move onto the rest of the review.

At face value the book was mostly delightful. I did enjoy all the characters, especially Linus who I grew quite fond of. I found myself wanting to learn more about some characters, like Zoe, the island’s caretaker. The setting was interesting with location of the home being on a secluded island with lots of space for children to roam. And I feel like the writing was reasonably well done. I did struggle a little at first as the story didn’t immediately grab me, but around the half way point it improved and I ended up really liking the story, for what it was.

There were some minor issues, at times I found the concept of Lucy to be a bit over the top and I don’t want to say cliche, but yes, cliche. Also sometimes it felt like the book wasn’t sure what it wanted to be. There were some comedic elements that you would normally only find in satire, like the office executives were called “Extremely Upper Management”. At times the story read like it was aimed at much younger readers - it had the feel of a children’s book - while at other times it had some pretty adult concepts like the philosophical discussions that Linus and Arthur had at one point, where they name dropped Kant, who is a german philosopher. It’s also heavily implied that all the children are dangerous in some way, but that is only really explored with maybe two or three of the children, aside from confronting prejudices.

That said I found the book to be somewhat hopeful in the way that change came about for everyone. For the children on the island, the nearby village, for Linus and Arthur, and even for DICOMY too. It presented kindness and positivity, even in the face of judgement and trauma. Perhaps sometimes a little too much, sometimes. So I think if you are looking for an easy read full of love and hope then this book might be for you.