Review – Somewhere Beyond the Sea (Cerulean Chronicles, Book 2) by TJ Klune (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 406 pages
Publisher:‎ Tor Books
Release Date: September 10, 2024
ASIN: B0CK7297CQ
Stand Alone or Series: 2nd book in the Cerulean Chronicles
Source: Borrowed ebook from Library
Rating: 4/5 stars

“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 dangerous and magical children who live there.

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. 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. And there’s the island’s sprite, Zoe Chapelwhite, 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 that 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..”

Series Info/Source: This is 2nd book in the Cerulean Chronicles. I borrowed this on ebook from the library.

Thoughts: I liked this but didn’t love it as much as the first book in this series. This book feels really, really preachy with a lot of the characters going into long speeches on equality. These really felt like speeches rather than dialogue between characters. I still love the unique characters here, and I love the premise of the book. I just felt like the preachy bits started to unbalance the good story bits.

This is Arthur’s story. We get a lot of Arthur’s backstory and then also move forward as Arthur and Linus are going through the process of adopting the children in the orphanage. I loved the new addition to the story, a yeti child named David with a penchant for drama. I also loved getting to learn both Arthur’s backstory and more about Zoe Chapelwhite, the island sprite. I also loved that Arthur realizes there is mental trauma that he needs to take time to heal from as well.

There was a lot I loved about this story. The unique characters, the amazing family they form, the way the whole town bands together to push forward positive change, and the fun magic the kids can do. I love that we see the kids maturing and growing and taking on responsibility for their own lives. I love that they call out Arthur and Linus for trying to protect them from too much.

There were also some things I didn’t love as much. This book is very obviously using magical citizen rights as a parallel for the real world “anyone who is different” rights. I applaud that. That is the world I want to live in. However, parts of this book get very, very preachy. There are parts where the story is dropped so we can read a page-long speech from Arthur, Linus, or one of the kids on the importance of equality and diversity. This was so prevalent that it made this story seem less a fantasy story and more of a political statement. And I hate to say it, but if you are reading this book, you are most likely already on the diversity wagon. You don’t get a lot of haters picking up a fantasy book by a known GLBTQ author. So, who are we preaching to here? I hear you Klune, and I agree with you, but I am hear to read an excellent fantasy story….not to hear everything I already believe preached back at me to the detriment of an amazing story.

Did I like this book? Yes! Did I skim some of the vastly long speeches because I found them boring and repetitive? Also yes! Aside from that, this was a fun, heartwarming, humorous, creative read.

My Summary (4/5): Overall I liked this but didn’t love it because of the long speeches on diversity and equality that were peppered throughout the story. I loved the unique characters, the humor, the heartfelt family vibes, and the creative magic. I hope there are more stories in the Cerulean Chronicles. I also hope that any future stories focus a bit more on being an amazing fantasy novel with a message rather than the same message repeatedly with a fantasy novel squeezed between the message.