Hello friends! Welcome to our discussion of Somewhere Beyond the Sea by TJ Klune. This discussion is part of our 2024 Holiday Book Exchange. It is the sequel to House in the Cerulean Sea.
Content Warning!!! Before reading this book please be aware it contains situations and subjects related to: violence, physical abuse, emotional abuse, and mental abuse.
Spoiler Warning!!! This post is full of spoilers for Somewhere Beyond the Sea by TJ Klune.
Discussion:
Jac: Hello friends and welcome to our discussion of Somewhere Beyond the Sea by TJ Klune. As you all know, we are HUGE TJ Klune fans over here at Shelf Explored. When we heard he was writing a sequel to The House in the Cerulean Sea, we were ecstatic. In fact, I happen to have a half sleeve tattoo dedicated to the book! Thank goodness I still have some room on that arm, because there are some additions I need to add after reading this sequel.
This book definitely felt more high stakes and a tad less cozy, but it is very much still a heartwarming story. The threat of Rowder trying to take Lucy and use him for her own evil plans was intense, but the happily ever after made it all worth it. I loved having the book be from Arthur’s perspective. I feel like we got to get to know him so much more, and the contrast between his ever-jolly outward appearance and the fears and worries and guilts he held on his shoulders was heartbreaking. And through his eyes, we also got to know all of the other characters on a deeper level, too. I always say that characters are really my primary draw in stories, and these characters are some of the best I've ever read - especially the children. I've felt touched by many characters in my life, but none reside in my soul the same way those children do.
Michaela: It did feel a lot more high stakes than HitCS. I felt really nervous reading it, especially in the beginning with Arthur’s “voluntary statement”. Reading that whole scene made me so angry. Rowder has become one of my most hated characters of all time just for that scene alone. Then add all her other nonsense on top of that…throw the woman in the trash. I felt like I had no idea where this book was going to take me. I could kind of assume we would get a happier ending because of the nature of the first book and this series, but I did not know how unstable the journey might be.
I did miss the coziness of the first book but the story has progressed to the point where action needs to take place so the cozy needs to be set to the side temporarily. There were still a whole lot of beautiful moments and so moments that made me actually laugh out loud. I loved getting to see how the village has evolved, especially Merle and Martin. Showing that the most unexpected people can actually change, given time and exposure to things.
Jac: If Klune hadn’t taken the story in a darker direction, I think it would have felt a bit too naive. I think the story and the conclusion still felt pretty idealistic - but it’s not actually our world. It’s just supposed to be a parallel to our world, to reflect some of the same issues that plague our world right now. I really like the fact that the story manages to focus on these very real issues of discrimination, bias and injustice - but provides so many depictions of humor and love and compassion and strength that it still feels like an escapist read, something that leaves you feeling like there may be more hope than you might feel.
I think my favorite part of the entire book was all of the people we see embrace compassion. We have Merle and Martin in the village who have made a complete 180 and changed their ways. We have tourists who are just visiting Marsyas seeing an injustice and refusing to allow it. We have Ms. Bubblegum who seems to have been working her own righteous subterfuge from the inside of DICOMY and DICOMA this entire time, who comes out victorious with enough of a pull on the prime minister to ensure he begins to work towards a better relationship with the magical community. Sometimes it feels a bit silly to feel such intense pride in fictional characters as I did with these, but that’s what makes reading magical for me.
Speaking of characters to have pride in. The children. Those beautiful, lovely children of Linus and Arthur. David, our new yeti addition, couldn’t have been a better fit. I loved the way that he and Lucy took to each other, like two sides of the same coin. When the kids left a frame empty for David in Linus’ birt present??? Incredible. Phee encouraging Chauncey?? Heartwarming. Sal insisting that the adults let them help shoulder the burden - and allow them the privilege - of creating change as they had been raised to do??? Brave, courageous. There’s really no words to accurately express how wonderful these children are.
Michaela: The return of Ms. Bubblegum was the most shocking thing to happen in this book for me. I was not ready for her to be any more important than what she was in the first book, and I think that was part of the point. I didn’t expect her to be important and that’s exactly why she was, we know she always was important. Also loved the feminine power, being used against the sexism bias, of Ms. Bubblegum and her friend that helped Arthur and Linus.
Sal was the stand out character in this one. He fully came into his own person and it makes me want to cry because it’s so beautiful. Remembering how small he was when Linus first arrived at the island, and now to see him stand in front of a crowd and speak confidently and with sass. Then throughout the book he felt comfortable enough to stand against Arthur and Linus to propose his, and the other children’s, own ideas. THEN when their magic all combined at the end and his came out as words (brittle, thin, paper), so freaking beautiful!
Lucy was absolutely hilarious in this one, more so than the last. I laughed so much throughout the story because of him. And to see his growth in starting to understand the differences between what he wants for himself, what the world thinks of him, and his instincts that work against him. He is such a beautiful character, I find so much hope and love in his character. All the children are just perfect examples of how amazing children, and people, can be when you let them exist and give them love.
There’s so much that happened and so many moments that I feel like I can’t begin to cover how amazing this story is. I hope we get to see more of this family someday. I didn’t expect to get a sequel at all, I thought HitCS would have been our only chance to spend time with these characters. It really feels like an honor to get to continue to read their story because they are such charming characters. It did feel like a very optimistic ending, when compared to how things have gone for us in our world, but I think those kinds of endings are needed sometimes. It gives the reader hope that their own world could be better. Art shouldn’t always reflect the world we’re given, sometimes it should show us the world we could have, that we can wish for.
Jac: I would absolutely love to get a third book and see more of the magical haven they are building in Marsyas, and to see what happens with Ms. Bubblegum in charge. I’d love an opportunity to see David grow and learn more also, in the same way we’ve been able to see the other children grow. I totally agree that it feels like an honor to have more time in this world with these characters.
Zoe’s arc in this story was unexpected to me, but I loved it. We always knew she was incredibly powerful, but to learn her background, to know how old she really is? That was such a stunning, poignant reveal. The show of magic at the very end had me sobbing. It was her and her family, including Linus, because you really can find magic in the most ordinary of things. I really really hope we get a third book so we can see more of her reign, too. I want to see more of her magic, see what she’s capable of, see what they all can build together.
Well friends, that’s it for this discussion. We’re sad to say goodbye to this world and these characters for now, but hopefully we’ll be back in the future with the next installment in this series. Until next time!
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