House in the Cerulean Sea follows Linus, a case worker who is sent to check up on an orphanage that takes care of supernatural children. This one in particular contains not only the antichrist, but a mysterious headmaster and a town that is racist against the supernatural people on the island.
I kept hearing that this book was cute and it turns out that was right! The story feels very much like a light, slice of life narrative where it’s more about Linus meeting the children and helping them overcome obstacles than anything else. There is the idea that he could shut this orphanage down lingering in the back of your mind at the start, but ultimately you know pretty soon into this book that it is going to be a fairly calming read about interpersonal relationships and seeing how people learn to accept themselves in a healthy environment.
I’d argue that there is a framing device, but ultimately there is no overarching plot. This isn’t ultimately a bad thing, but there are no major antagonists outside of the general circumstances. It’s entirely characters interacting with one another and growing.
It does do that thing at the end, though, where it explains the thesis of the book in very direct terms. This isn’t so much a criticism of the book as a trend I’ve been noticing more and more in modern fiction that I’m not sure how I feel about.
Overall, I really liked it. It was a calm, light read about people finding themselves and I do like stories about that.