Somewhere Beyond the Sea cover art

Somewhere Beyond the Sea

The No. 1 New York Times bestseller and heart-warming sequel to The House in the Cerulean Sea

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Somewhere Beyond the Sea

By: TJ Klune
Narrated by: Daniel Henning
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About this listen

A magical house. A secret past. A summons that could change everything. Somewhere Beyond the Sea is the number one New York Times bestselling sequel to TJ Klune’s The House in the Cerulean Sea.

Winner of the 2024 Goodreads Choice Award for Fantasy

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.

This 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.

‘An enchanting sequel about found family’ – The New York Times

‘Like being wrapped up in a big gay blanket’ – V. E. Schwab, author of Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil, on The House in the Cerulean Sea

***
Fans love Somewhere Beyond the Sea:

‘This beautiful, thoughtful, queer, magical story of chosen family has left me with joy leaking from my eyes’

‘These characters are like a hug for your brain. I adore them all and love watching them change and grow’

‘A beautiful story of hope, love and change, plus a message against prejudice, it’s the ideal comfort read’

‘The story is beautiful, funny, heartwarming and the narrator brings them all to life’

‘If I could give this book a million stars I would’



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

 Action & Adventure Fantasy LGBTQIA+ Creators Paranormal Romance Feel-Good Heartfelt Magic

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Critic reviews

I loved it. It is like being wrapped up in a big gay blanket. Simply perfect (V. E. Schwab, author of the Shades of Magic series and Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil, on The House in the Cerulean Sea)
A witty, wholesome fantasy that’s likely to cause heart-swelling (The Washington Post on The House in the Cerulean Sea)
The House in the Cerulean Sea is a modern fairy-tale about learning your true nature and what you love and will protect. It’s a beautiful book (Charlaine Harris, author of the Sookie Stackhouse series that inspired HBO’s True Blood)
1984 meets The Umbrella Academy with a pinch of Douglas Adams thrown in. Touching, tender and truly delightful, The House in the Cerulean Sea is an utterly absorbing story of tolerance, found family and defeating bureaucracy (Gail Carriger, author of Soulless, on The House in the Cerulean Sea)
Sweet, comforting and kind, this book is very close to perfect . . . I cannot recommend it highly enough (Seanan McGuire, author of the Wayward Children series, on The House in the Cerulean Sea)
Quirk and charm give way to a serious exploration of the dangers of complacency in this delightful, thought-provoking Orwellian fantasy from Klune . . . This tale of found family is hopeful to its core. Readers will revel in Klune’s wit and ingenuity (Publishers Weekly on The House in the Cerulean Sea, Starred Review)
This is a sweet narrative about the value of asking questions and the benefits of giving people (especially children) a chance to be safe, protected and themselves, regardless of what assumptions one might glean from, say, reading their case file (Booklist on The House in the Cerulean Sea)
This inclusive fantasy is quite possibly the greatest feel-good story ever to involve the Antichrist . . . The House in the Cerulean Sea will delight fans of Seanan McGuire’s Wayward Children series and any reader looking for a burst of humour and hope
TJ Klune is a master storyteller
A delightful tale about chosen families and how to celebrate differences
This contemporary fantasy can satisfy any sweet tooth with its found-family story and its gentle queer romance
All stars
Most relevant
I loved the first book, so my expectations for this sequel were high.
Sadly I didn't feel that it hit the same level, and the narration was the most overly emotional thing I've ever listened to, it felt exaggerated and several times I felt that it was completely misplaced.
Honestly struggled to get through it

Sadly didn't live up to The House in the Cerulean Sea

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I picked up the first book a few weeks ago, finished it, cried, and got excited when I saw the sequel releasing in a couple of weeks.

The first book was an escapist queer fantasy. While the world wasn't perfect the characters found a loving home so that was a very comforting story, this book was not that.

So when I began the audiobook and it said "For the trans community"-I knew I was in for a tough ride (Im a trans guy )

But I'm unsure whether it's my personal tastes or the narrative isn't great. But maybe somebody will understand my feelings? I'll keep this as spoiler-free as I can :3

I think if TJ Klune wants to be the (Quoting) "Anti-JK Rowling" I should critique the fact that it comes across as obvious that the author is writing from a cis-gendered perspective. At one point a character says "My partner uses they/them pronouns and if you don't like that you can get out!". Lovely message. People don't speak like that. But there are no established trans characters with a voice in this novel. The two times pronouns are brought up it's announced by cis-gendered characters. The one canonical non-binary character, in a book that is dedicated to the trans community, has nothing but a name and a description.

The best representation is done subtly, the character was already referred to as a they/them and i picked it up. I understand this book is not subtle in its messaging but the couple times pronouns were brought up as (what I interpreted to be) as jokes, i cringed and remembered that while its stated as a book for me, it isn't :/

I also understand that the characters being “magical” is somewhat symbolic of the oppression of minorities. However when topics such as being gay/black are brought up why are trans people just a metaphor?

Look Im not the prophet of the transexuals so don’t take my criticism as untied gospel but it's just my tea.

The conflict felt like "who can threaten the other one more" which both sides continuously ignored and it just got repetitive and annoying. But the ending annoyed me more. There's a reveal in chapter 14 which turns into the resolution in chapter 15, it felt so late, rushed, and not set up, unlike Arthur's powers in the first book. This book is about Arthur, why isn't he at the center of the novel's resolution of conflict? Comparing it again to the first book, Linus learned his lesson and stood up for himself- why couldn’t Arthur?

But did I still tear up at the epilogue? Aye i did

The best bits of the story were the parts with Arthur, Linus, and the children, the funny and the heartfelt. However :/

The narration of some of these beautiful moments was way more dramatic than needed to be. The hysterical voice acting took away from the message and made me cringe. I wouldn’t recommend the audiobook.


Even though i've given quite a bad review, these are just my initial feelings after finishing it. Im going to read the book myself and see if my feelings change. If you liked the first book do give this book a listen/read because its a nice continuation, just not what i was looking for.

Not what I was looking for :/

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What's wrong with the narrator? Does he have something against the values discussed in the book? why does he make Arthur Parnassus sound like a deranged predator? i've had to ditch the audio book and finish the story in hard copy because it sounds like the narrator is making fun of the emotional moments in the book. it's very uncomfortable listening.

Liked the story but had to suit due to awful narration

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the first book and this the second MUST made into a film. It's thrilling, exciting but most importantly it will get a message to wider audience. It is needed now more than ever.

outstanding

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Every sequel is a gamble. Especially if the first book was meant to be a standalone, but this book does the near impossible and is a perfect sequel. It grows the characters we know and love and gives us new ones.

perfect sequel

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