Sunday, December 1, 2024

Somewhere Beyond the Sea

            


Title: Somewhere Beyond the Sea
Series: Cerulean Chronicles #2
Author: TJ Klune
Published: Tor Books, September 10, 2024
Pages: 406
Genre: LGBTQ Fantasy

A magical house. A secret past. A summons that could change everything.

Arthur Parnassus lives a good life built on the ashes of a bad one.

He’s the headmaster of a strange orphanage on a distant and peculiar island, and he hopes to soon be the adoptive father to the six dangerous and magical children who live there.

Arthur works hard and loves with his whole heart so none of the children ever feel the neglect and pain that he once felt as an orphan on that very same island so long ago. He is not alone: joining him is the love of his life, Linus Baker, a former caseworker in the Department In Charge of Magical Youth. And there's the island's sprite, Zoe Chapelwhite, and her girlfriend, Mayor Helen Webb. Together, they will do anything to protect the children.

But when Arthur is summoned to make a public statement about his dark past, he finds himself at the helm of a fight for the future that his family, and all magical people, deserve.

And when a new magical child hopes to join them on their island home—one who finds power in calling himself monster, a name that Arthur worked so hard to protect his children from—Arthur knows they’re at a breaking point: their family will either grow stronger than ever or fall apart.

Welcome back to Marsyas Island. This is Arthur’s story.

For as chronically online I am, I am also ridiculously unplugged from some of the book-world controversy. When I read the first book in this series, it was my introduction to T.J. Klune. He is such a swoony author. That man really knows how to pull my heartstrings. But this series is also at the heart of some pretty big controversy. I did read this second book, despite that. I'm still feeling weird about that choice. I really enjoyed this book, and a lot can be said for "separating the art from the artist." But at the same time, the choices made in the creation of this series were problematic and I found it really hard to forget about that while reading. 

But I've obviously made the choice, and it is a beautiful story. But I think that's all I can give it..

Ratings
Stars: 4/5

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