A review by nclcaitlin
Somewhere Beyond the Sea by TJ Klune

3.75

Whilst the House in the Cerulean Sea was like a warm hug, this was a strangling squeeze of reality partnered with a hopeful embrace.

With six children of varying shapes, sizes, and magical abilities, the adventure never ends. 

Told from Arthur’s perspective, our beloved cast must face the prejudice of the world and the trauma from their past to pave a better, more loving and inclusive future. 

Arthur set up the Island so that things would be different form his own abusive upbringing there. He pledges to give orphaned magical children what he never had: a place to be whoever they want to be, no matter what they can do or where they come from.

Now, Arthur is testifying against the government to show the corrupt system and highlight the changes that must be made.

As usual, Klune keeps a light tone with bright humour and scenes that had me giggling. There is also a lovely new addition called David - a yeti. 

But before he could finish, Lucy yelled in unfettered joy, "You can breathe fire? Holy crap, Theodore! Let's burn everything!"

"And that's our cue," Arthur said.

"This is what happens when you sleep late," Linus muttered.

Klune always writes his themes with a heavy hand. His on the nose approach is obvious dealing with the queer community, finding belonging, and standing against a passive, non-transparent, unaccountable, and untrustworthy government.  

In fact, Klune acknowledges himself as the Anti-Jk-Rowling. 

For some reason, the chapters were soooo long! There were paragraph breaks, but sometimes I felt starting a new chapter would have worked better.

This felt cathartic. A scream into the void surrounding a cerulean sea.

Thank you to Del Rey for providing me a physical arc (AHHHH) in exchange for a review.