Somewhere Beyond the Sea

I really like T. J. Klune's writing style. And, coming back to these adorable characters made me feel happy. I wish this book didn't feel so...sloppy? I dunno. I don't like it when people describe fiction as preachy because I feel like it is an easy word to grab when speculative fiction or fantasy is not written as well as it could have been. But, I felt preached to while reading parts of this book. And, like, he's preaching to the choir here. It was a bit performative. Yes. That's the word I am looking for. Performative. Otherwise, I was so happy to read about these kids making messes, playing in their garden and tormenting the adults in their lives.

The first in this series really was amazing; I call it a warm hug. The sequel, while good, wasn't as good as the first. I still enjoyed it, but it didn't quite have the magic the first did. The ending also was a bit anticlimactic in that it seemed they were gearing for something much bigger, and then it just went away.

@sam

Soo. It is much more stressful to read than The House in the Cerulean Sea. But I like it.

It's about how to engage with people who want the worst for you and the ones you love. And I like that the answer found here is not a brilliant strategy for winning, but just.... stopping to make yourself small.

There's so much stressful stuff. It's all about state violence on abstract and personal levels. We get to see Arthur super super triggered and it's so bad, like, it's written very well imo, but I still wished I hadn't read it.

And then there's a ton of nice stuff, and cheesy stuff, and it is a very fluffy story all in all. Just. With a lot of ouch.

I thought I spotted a few nods to Harry Potter in the beginning, and the Acknowledgements make me think I got that right. I snorted out loud when I got to that part. The Anti-JK-Rowling! I feel like granting that title to TJ Klune. Why not. Someone has to take that position.

While I really enjoyed this book and it still had a lot of what made "The House in the Cerulean Sea" so enjoyable, I didn't find the ending particularly compelling. While the the trans allegory is great, I found the contradiction between the earlier chapters where they're having to convince Lucy that taking the easy way out isn't helpful and will be a hollow victory (he wants to use his power to remove free will and force everyone to accept them), and the end where a queen unilaterally uses force to impose her will on the town, which amounts to the same thing, felt a bit jarring. Surely the point of the early chapters was that the correct way is solidarity and community organizing, not force, but then they end up doing the exact thing the non-magical peoples fear? Unclear exactly what was being said here. That said, I suppose there's nothing wrong with a feel good narrative where you can just punch all the bigots in the face too, it just felt out of place with the rest of the book.