Somewhere Beyond the Sea: The hugely-anticipated sequel to The House in the Cerulean Sea, a heartwarming and life-affirming delight (The House in the Cerulean Sea, #2)

by T.J. Klune

A magical house. A secret past. A summons that could change everything.

The No. 1 New York Times-bestselling sequel to TJ Klune's The House in the Cerulean Sea.

Arthur Parnassus has built a good life on the ashes of a bad one. He’s headmaster at an orphanage for magical children, on a peculiar island, assisted by love-of-his-life Linus Baker. And together, they’ll do anything to protect their extraordinary and powerful charges.

However, when Arthur is forced to make a public statement about his dark past, he finds himself fighting for those under his care. It’s also a fight for the better future that all magical people deserve. Then when a new magical child joins their island home, Arthur knows they’ve reached breaking point. The child finds power in calling himself a monster, a name Arthur has tried so hard to banish to protect his children. Challenged from within and without, their volatile family might grow stronger. Or everything Arthur loves could fall apart.

Somewhere Beyond the Sea is a story of resistance, lovingly told, about the daunting experience of fighting for the life you want to live and doing the work to keep it.

Praise for The House in the Cerulean Sea:

‘I loved it. It is like being wrapped up in a big gay blanket. Simply perfect’ - V. E. Schwab, author of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

‘It will renew your faith in humanity’ - Terry Brooks, author of the Shannara series

‘Will sweep you away’ - The New York Times

^{Somewhere Beyond the Sea was a No. 1 New York Times bestseller w/c 16 September 2024}

• ISBN10: 1035009374
• ISBN13: 9781035009374
• Publish Date: 12 September 2024 (first published 10 September 2024)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Pan Macmillan
• Imprint: Tor
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 416
• Language: English

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

Somewhere Beyond the Sea is the second book in the Cerulean Chronicles by TJ Klune. Released 10th Sept 2024 by Macmillan on their Tor imprint, it's 400 pages and is available in all formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links throughout.

This is a warmly supportive tale for anyone who has felt like a misfit. The characters are appealing and whimsical and the entire premise of love, generosity of spirit, kindness, and found family shine through. It is humorous, and often full of slapstick comedy (one of the kids has eyestalks on tentacles; they're -all- pretty special), but always, the theme of found family and misfits-against-the-world comes through loud and clear. It's often also poignant, but the support and growth are always there too.

The unabridged audiobook has a run time of 15 hours 48 minutes and is marvelously narrated by Daniel Henning, who does a great job with the wildly divergent character voices. His timing is perfect, and he manages to delineate the kids' and adults' voices perfectly. Sound and production quality are high throughout the read.

Four and a half stars. Excellent series follow-up and great story narration. Definitely one for public library acquisition as well as for fans of YA school fantasy. 

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.