“The House In The Cerulean Sea” by TJ Klune

It has been a while since I have been writing anything on this blog – because life – but it does not mean that I have not been reading anything. “The House In The Cerulean Sea” by TJ Klune has been on my list for a while and I am glad I finally had a chance to get through it. I think the background of the story is slightly controversial but it does not make it a beautiful story regardless.

“The House In The Cerulean Sea” by TJ Klune tells the story of an orphanage somewhere far away that is surrounded by the sea of cerulean color. The orphanage houses kids that are not unlike the usual human offspring but possess some special abilities and come in different shapes and looks. Linus Baker, a very conscientious employee of the education ministry, is assigned a special task to survey and assess if the orphanage is safe for the kids or if the kids need to be placed elsewhere where they can be controlled. This is the premise of how the story starts.

What I really liked about the book, besides the writing, is the strong contrast between Linus’ life in the city – it is always raining and grey and dark with nothing but music to brighten his life – to the house in the cerulean sea – where it is warm and the air is fresh and the colors are bursting. Linus’ transformation in these two different environments is truly stunning and he is once he comes out of his shell and his monotonous life, he can open himself to love and adventure. I found these parallels in writing interesting to observe.

I will leave the rest of the details for you to discover but let’s just say that this book is sweet and lovely and makes you believe that the good exists and feels like a warm hug.

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“No. Hate is a waste of time. I’m far too busy to hate anything. I prefer it that way.”

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“It’s the little things. Little treasures we find without knowing their origin. And they come whn we least expect them. It’s beautiful when you think about it.”

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“There are mysteries that may never be solved, no matter how hard we try. And if we spend too long trying to solve them, we may miss what’s right in front of us.”

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“Because people aren’t black and white. No matter how hard you try, you can’t stay on one path without diversions. And that doesn’t mean you are a bad person.”

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“It’s not fait.
No. It’s not. Life rarely is. But we deal with it the best we can. And we allow ourselves to hope for the best. Because a life without hope isn’t a life lived at all.”

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“There are moments in your life, moments when changes have to be taken. It’s scary because there is always a possibility of failure. I know that, I know that. Because once upon a time, I took a chance on a man that I had failed before. I was scared. I was terrified. I thought I might lose everything. But I wasn’t living then. The life I had before wasn’t living. It was getting by.”

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The reason why this book is considered controversial is that the author took his inspiration for the orphanage idea from the separation of indigenous kids from their parents in Canada to better assimilate them into society. It is a dark part of Canadian history but this story is not historical and is about something else. I will let you be the judge of it for yourself.