“Don’t you wish you were here?”
Arthur Parnassus, headmaster of an orphanage for magical children, has got a reasonably good life going on. His life on a small island with the love of his life Linus Baker, the local sprite Zoe Chapelwhite, her girlfriend Helen Webb, and the six wonderful children whose adoptive father he is desperately wanting to become. However, when the government branch in charge of magical beings raise their heads to investigate the island, and a new child comes to the island whose personal philosophy is at odd with everything Linus has raised his children to feel, will his life continue as it has, or will it all fall apart?
You have to love when a sequel is almost as good as the original book. Sure, there are some dings off; the plot synopsis doesn’t really tell the actual plot, and the ending is borderline rushed, forced and slightly preachy. Still good, but smacks a bit of “there are two sides; 100% with us, or 100% in the wrong”. Which doesn’t mean that I think the message isn’t needed, or that I disagree with it; I just think that in this book compared to the first, there are no shade of gray characters. There is a late book reveal about one of the characters that did comes as a big shock, and I love that it blindsided me. I also love that Klune is setting himself out to be the anti-Rowling author so much that the main villain is what would happen if Rowling and Margaret Thatcher had a child that had all human decency and empathy sucked out of it. So maybe she’s supposed to be a British bureaucrat, maybe she’s a member of an American political party, who can tell?
David, the new child whose appearance was set up in The House in the Cerulean Sea, is a great addition to the house, with a personality that fits in with all the joy and madness of the other children. Linus has stayed a snarky delight, continuing the personal growth from the first book. Talia is as happily murder-y as originally, and I love the body hair positivity she exudes; Sal, Chauncey, Phee, Theodore are all continuing to be as delightful as previously shown, and they have their own character growths. And then there’s Lucy; dear, sweet Lucy. Can we have more Lucy, please? He was my favorite in the first book, and he has only gotten even more delightful in the second. I think the “best lines in the book” contest has Lucy and Linus tied for first, with David and Thalia close behind. Who knew the most relatable character in a book would be the Antichrist?
I also liked that this book was from Arthur’s point of view, giving a whole new spin on events, and seeing Linus from an outside perspective. Though as much as Arthur suggests it for other people, I’m think therapy would be a great fit for him. I know life hasn’t always gone well for him, but bottling it all up quite obviously doesn’t help anyone.
If you love TJ Klune, dysfunctional in all the right ways found family stories, books where a wide range of people actually get representation, or just a book that will make you feel good reading it, I would recommend this book.
