REVIEW Somewhere Beyond the Sea (The House in the Cerulean Sea #2) by TJ Klune

Somewhere Beyond the Sea (The House in the Cerulean Sea #2) by TJ Klune
Rating: 5 Stars
Release Date: September 10, 2024
Format: Hardcover (Personal Library) + Audiobook (Borrowed from Library)
Publisher: Tor Books

The long awaited sequel to TJ Klune’s The House in the Cerulean Sea, Somewhere Beyond the Sea, was well worth the wait. Following the events of the first book, Linus Baker is settling into life on Marsyas Island with the kids, Zoe, and Arthur. However, after an attempt to change the minds of the public via testimony to the government goes awry, their way of life is threatened and they must work together to make sure the children are not taken away.

 
All of the children have their own personalities, and it wove together beautifully to create the tapestry that is those on Marsyas Island. David, the newest member of the family and a young yeti, was adorable in his mannerisms and love for the dramatic arts. Readers are introduced to some of the difficult moments in Arthur and all of the childrens’ pasts, and it was both heartbreaking and encouraging to see what they’ve overcome. The author makes very strong commentaries on the idea of what a family should like (spoiler: there’s no one right answer), foster care, and government. In the acknowledgement section, the author mentioned that he wanted to be the antithesis to J.K. Rowling, and I think he achieved all of that and more. 

Daniel Henning did an excellent job of bringing the story to life with his performance in the audiobook. I loved how he captured Lucy’s mischievousness, Chauncey’s radiant love for life (and being a bellhop), and Sal’s growing maturity and determination to protect his brothers and sisters. I’m also quite impressed with how he brought Arthur’s phoenix to life.

Overall, an excellent book and a great close to the story of Marsyas Island. I loved the twists and turns, and how the book closed. I highly recommend this book to those who enjoy found family, diverse casts of characters, LGBTQ+ romances, and a little bit of magic in the everyday life. 

The Extraordinaries (The Extraordinaries Trilogy Book 1) by TJ Klune

 

The Extraordinaries (The Extraordinaries Trilogy Book 1) by TJ Klune

Rating: 5 Stars

Release Date: July 14, 2020

Format: Audiobook (library)

Publisher: Tor Teen

Check out my review of the final book in the series, Heat Wave!

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The Extraordinaries by TJ Klune is a quirky, queer superhero love story. I had this book recommended by so many fellow bookstagrammers that I absolutely had to pick it up. After reading Wolfsong and The House in the Cerulean Sea, I went into this with high expectations and I was not disappointed. 

Our main character, Nick Bell, is the biggest fan of Nova City's resident "Extraordinary" Shadow Star. When he's not writing the top-rated fanfic in the Shadow Star Fandom, he's dealing with all the complexities of his ADHD brain and the strain in his relationship with his father following the death of his mother. We have the best friend Seth who is precious and must be protected at all costs (and also very obviously in love with Nick). To round out the main cast of characters, we have their female best friends Jasmine “Jazz” Kensington and Lola “Gibby” Gibson. 

The characters were a highlight of the book. There is Nick’s dad Aaron, who is a police officer and struggles to interact with his son at times following the death of his wife. He’s not an absent parent by any means though, he does his best to be there for his son in every way possible despite working (i.e. after Nick comes out, he demonstrates how to put a condom on using a banana as a demonstration much to Nick’s horror). We have Nick, who has the best lines in the book and is completely clueless about how much Seth cares about him. There’s also the whole cast of supporting characters in the book, who really show up after one of the main characters is injured and lands in the hospital. There’s nothing I can really critique with the characters in this book because everything was as close to perfection as humanly possible. 

Michael Lesley is going to be one of my new favorite audiobook narrators ever. He has a very upbeat and humorous style when he reads. Between his narration and TJ's witty writing style, I found myself laughing a lot while reading. While I can’t comment on the gay rep in this book due to not belonging to that community, I can comment on the ADHD representation (having the condition myself) and it was spot on. Lesley did such a great job narrating Nick’s inner rambles and monologues. I really related to it, and all the moments that referenced Nick’s ADHD felt very natural (and not like it was thrown in to hit some type of “diversity” quota). 

If you've read Klune's The House in the Cerulean Sea and Green Creek series before, you should expect a very different vibe from The Extraordinaries. It’s a very lighthearted and humorous read, but it also addresses some heavy and serious stuff (i.e. parental death). I highly recommend this book to any young adult fans of the superhero genre. There are no intimate sex scenes, but there are some descriptive makeout moments and the main character does have some slightly sexual tones to his inner monologues while fantasizing about his crush. 

About the Author

TJ KLUNE is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling, Lambda Literary Award-winning author of The House in the Cerulean Sea, The Extraordinaries, and more. Being queer himself, Klune believes it's important—now more than ever—to have accurate, positive queer representation in stories.

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The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

Rating: 5 Stars

Release Date: March 17, 2020

Format: Paperback

Publisher: Tor Books

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“Because even the bravest of us can still be afraid sometimes, so long as we don’t let our fear become all we know”

The House in the Cerulean Sea is such a heartwarming book. It felt like a warm hug while I was reading. 

Linus Baker is a social worker in the Department in control of Magical Youth (also known as DICOMY), who is regularly sent out to evaluate magical orphanage’s under DICOMY’s control. He does everything by the book and is known for meticulous, detail-filled reports. One day, he is sent to evaluate the orphanage of Marsyas Island, filled with the most unique children in the system and under the care of Arthur Parnassus. His time on the island with the children, Arthur, and island caretaker Zoe Chapelwhite changes the way that Linus looks at the world and what he wants for his future. 

The adults in the story are important but my favorite part was the kids of the orphanage. Chauncey is such a pure little soul, and his dream of becoming a bellhop is adorable. Talia’s sass and quips are to die for. The way they and the other children have come together like siblings and made their own little quirky family was beautiful. One of my favorite “found family” books ever!

If you’ve been thinking about reading this book and wondering if it lives up to the hype, it is undoubtedly worth the read and completely lives up to expectations. 

About the Author

TJ KLUNE is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling, Lambda Literary Award-winning author of The House in the Cerulean Sea, The Extraordinaries, and more. Being queer himself, Klune believes it's important—now more than ever—to have accurate, positive queer representation in stories.

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Wolfsong (Green Creek Series Book 1) by TJ Klune

 

Wolfsong by TJ Klune

Rating: 5 Stars

Release Date: June 20, 2016

Format: eBook

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press

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“That’s what life is, Ox. Choices. The choices we make shape what we’ll become.” – Wolfsong by TJ Klune, pg. 16

Such an amazing book (and series)!! Wolfsong is all “candy canes and pinecones and awesomeness” (this is a reference from the book for those of you who haven’t read it). I think this is a serious contender for one of my top books of the year.

I normally don’t do this (especially when I’m on a book buying ban), but as soon as I finished Wolfsong I knew I had to buy the rest of the books in the Green Creek series. This series is addictive, full of angst, romance and has an insane level of imagery (including scents, visuals, and auditory signals). If you’re looking for a read featuring LGBTQIA+ characters for pride month, then may I recommend this series?

First, Ox and Joe are such a cute couple. It was kind of weird to see the commitment from Joe at such a young age (he gave his stone wolf to Ox at 10, the day after he met him, and this is basically the shifter version of a promise ring). However, all the serious stuff happens once they are adults, and once Ox fully understands what he’s getting into. I liked watching the relationship progress and getting committed to seeing the relationship work out over the course of the book.

I think the part that hooked me was how Ox and Joe must learn to love the new version of each other after they’ve spent time apart. They met when Joe was around ten and Ox had just turned sixteen. You can’t reasonably expect someone to be the same person after they’ve grown older and experienced massive trauma (and there is a lot of different traumatic moments in this book). TJ Klune fully embraces this idea within Wolfsong, and I am all here for it. The relationship starts out cutesy and holding hands and fully progresses to steamy moments. He turns up the temperature all the way, and the chemistry between Joe and Ox is off the charts.

While the relationship between Joe and Ox is amazing, I think my favorite character is Gordo. TJ hints at his relationship in this book, so I’m excited to see how everything turns out between Gordo and Mark in Ravensong.

CONTENT WARNING: mentions of child abuse, kidnapping, murder, parental death, violence

About the Author

TJ KLUNE is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling, Lambda Literary Award-winning author of The House in the Cerulean Sea, The Extraordinaries, and more. Being queer himself, Klune believes it's important—now more than ever—to have accurate, positive queer representation in stories.

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