La Maison au milieu de la mer céruléenne, tome 01

LA MAISON AU MILIEU DE LA MER CÉRULÉENNE, #1

by Tj Klune

Hardcover, 474 pages

français language

Published July 1, 2021 by DE SAXUS.

ISBN:: 978-2-37876-111-0

(4 reviews)

Linus Baker mène une vie tranquille et solitaire. À quarante ans, il vit dans une petite maison avec un chat caractériel et ses vieux disques. En tant qu'agent du Ministère de la Jeunesse Magique, il doit s'assurer du bien-être des enfants dans les orphelinats supervisés par le gouvernement. Mais lorsqu'il est convoqué de manière inattendue par les Cadres Extrêmement Supérieurs, il se voit confier une mission curieuse et hautement secrète : se rendre sur l'île de Marsyas dans un foyer où résident six dangereux pensionnaires. Obligé de mettre ses craintes de côté afin de rédiger un rapport objectif sur l'établissement, Linus va vite comprendre que les enfants ne sont pas le seul secret que renferme l'île. Il devra également réussir à cerner le charmant et énigmatique directeur des lieux, Arthur Parnassus, qui fera tout pour défendre ses protégés. À mesure qu'il découvre d'incroyables secrets et qu'il se rapproche d'Arthur, Linus …

10 editions

Phil in SF reviewed The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune (Cerulean Chronicles, #1)

Delightful character arc

4 stars

Content warning revelation of Linus Baker's character arc may reveal the gist of the plot

Linus Baker evaluates orphanages that house magical children. For some reason, the department he works for is extremely rigid and controlling for their workers (they issue demerits to workers??!). But he's given the assignment to investigate one orphanage by Extremely Upper Management. For reasons I never quite understood, this orphanage is different. Extremely Upper Management pays special attention to them, and nearby residents fear the magical children extra vehemently.

Despite a premise that doesn't quite hold together, a delightful story emerges during Linus Baker's 4 week visit to the orhpanage. The children are kooky! The headmaster, Arthur Parnassus, and Linus Baker develop a friendship. Linus gets to learn that maintaining a distance and objectivity limits him, and he gets to break out of a decades long deference to authority and fear of connection.

If you listen to the audiobook as I did, Daniel Henning does a wonderful job of voicing a multitude of characters that gets to the essence of each of the children and adults. I often find it hard to follow audiobooks with lots of characters, but Henning's narration does such a great job of making each of them distinct and memorable that I had no problems.

ansate reviewed House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

Finished

No rating

I was iffy in the beginning and well into the middle, but i cried over children for the last couple of chapters. (Im not sure i actually care that much about any of the adults??)

cliftonmr reviewed The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

A nice read

No rating

I don't know what I was expecting when I picked this book up, but it turned out to be a charming gay romance story but also so much more.

John McChesney-Young reviewed House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

Review of 'House in the Cerulean Sea' on 'Storygraph'

5 stars

Sweet romantic queer dramedy with charming magical children. My only two complaints are that the general course of the plot was predictable from quite near the beginning and that the Underlying Message was conveyed entirely without subtlety. It's a good message, mind you, but I prefer the moral of the story to be offered rather than being hot over the head with it. But it's a fun and quick read and I definitely recommend it.

Subjects

adulte
fantastique