TW: fatphobia (both internalized and external, through fatphobic comments), disordered eating, xenophobia, child abuse and neglect,

For anyone who has been following my reviews for a while (bless your heart), you will know that I have been on the hunt for cozy feel-good stories in these hellish times for quite some time. The House in the Cerulean Sea is exactly that - a story that, at its core, aims to make you feel good and soothe your heart. The characters are a loveable bunch of children and outcast adults that all come with their own emotional baggage. The dialogue is cute and snappy, the children have a fantastically sassy sense of humor and the side characters oftentimes show a lot of heart.

One thing I did not enjoy quite as much was the constant emphasis on the main character's weight - while I understand that his weight plays a huge role, I found it painful to so often read about how much grief this caused him and how he aimed to lose weight. There's been a lot of conversation happening of how fat characters are starting to play more central roles in literature, though often at the expense of their weight being their sole plot point. I enjoyed that Linus' homosexuality was completely normalized, but I would have loved to see a lot more of his negative emotions (which are central to his character) being centered around different aspects of his life.