Somewhere Beyond the Sea - Iridescent BookWyrm

QuietCat@bookwyrm.social reviewed Somewhere Beyond the Sea by T. J. Klune (Cerulean Chronicles, #2)

Encompassing

4 stars

In this sequel, we switch our point of view character to Arthur Parnassus, learning more about him even as we see the advancement of the plot and world setting.

This book feels like it's trying to tackle and cover a LOT of ground--more than the first book, which already had a fair amount going on. It has its sweet moments, but it also has more that are grounded in reality than I'd say the first book. I find it a worthy successor--I quite enjoyed it.

The Mad Codger reviewed Somewhere Beyond the Sea by T. J. Klune

Not quite the first

4 stars

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

Catship reviewed Somewhere Beyond the Sea by T. J. Klune

This book, oof!

No rating

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. …

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.