MY RATING:
Synopsis:
Goodreads Choice Award
Winner for Readers’ Favorite Fantasy (2024), Nominee for Readers’ Favorite Audiobook (2024)
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 magical and so-called dangerous children who live there.
Read More:
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. And 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; Zoe Chapelwhite, the island’s sprite; 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 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.
- Pages: 406
- Genre: Fantasy, LGBT
- Publication date: September 10, 2024 by Tor Books
- Format: Kindle, Hardcover, Paperback, Audiobook
- Source: Audible, Kindle, Owned
PURCHASE LINKS:
AMAZON
BARNES & NOBLE
KOBO
THE REVIEW:
Why on God’s blue oceans was not there more of Frank?!!
Whilst I am waiting for my answer here are my thoughts on one of my most anticipated releases of the end of 2024!
As you might already seen I adoreee The House in the Cerulean Sea, this book was everything and it was pure and wholesome in its own right. Now the same can be almost said for its sequel, almost, except for a few things that irked me and rubbed me the wrong way. I still loved the characters and the messages behind it, but there is one big but and I will get into it shortly.
I am so glad I was right to expect more of Arthur’s backstory and boy was I not disappointed! The way his story was delivered and recounted was great it brought tears to my eyes. We also did see a lot of Sal and Phee for which I am extremely happy, they were somewhat of a mystery in the first book and there wasn’t much to their characters there were only bones but here we have all the rest and I really appreciate how they got out of their shells.
Chauncey is his usual sweetheart he too was funny here and I loved how he discovered different things about himself and how comical it all was.
Lucy and Tia never fail to crack me up with their humour, I really love them two. Additionally, David was an interesting addition to the family and he was funny and broken too.
What I really appreciate about Klune’s writing is how he manages to make all of the characters pop up each with their own quirkiness, intellect, flaws, story, and ache. They feel real and it is all delivered with heart, humour and tenderness.
Arthur and Linus did not disappoint either, the way their relationship progressed and how their love for one another and for the kids grew even more throughout the book was palpable and heartwarming. Along with Zoe and Helen, I really loved Zoe’s story and how she was incorporated into the plot was brilliant.
Also Calliope, girl, you have my full respect! If you know you know.
Overall without giving too much away, this was a great sequel that left me wondering maybe this won’t be the end of the Baker-Parnassuses’ family shenanigans…
Now to the not-so-stellar part... Why would you push a political agenda and go anti-JK Rowling in this wholesome and cosy story is beyond me. For an inclusive book at times, it felt like preaching and lecturing. I don’t like politics, I want to stay away from them and for sure spreading this message is not helping anyone’s cause because it incites hatred and defies the whole purpose of being tolerant and inclusive. However, her views on the matter everyone is entitled to their own opinion and should voice them out freely without this whole backlash and stress. We read to escape reality and bringing this matter into the story sure did the opposite for me.
This said the first book remains one of my all-time favourites, had this one not been so politically driven with the final message it carried it would have been amazing. But alas, I stand corrected.
4/5
Lin's Perspective 
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