This book was originally self-pubbed by Klune back in 2018. It’s since been picked up by Tor and is being re-released, so if anyone sees something about a “new book from the other of House on the Cerulean Sea” and is confused because they’ve read it before - well, now you know what’s going on.
Anyway.
Nate, our protagonist, is going up to the remote Oregon cabin left to him by his estranged parents. He was disowned by them for being gay, and with their recent deaths he’s got a lot to work through. His feelings towards the cabin are complicated, but the isolation feels like the right thing. So he’s more than a little surprised to get there and find a large, taciturn, armed ex-Marine in his cabin, who is vigilantly guarding a little girl who cheerfully tells Nate her name is Artemis Darth Vader.
Artemis (“Art”) is being chased by … someone, but neither she nor the ex-Marine Alex will tell Nate much. Alex was ready to shoot Nate when he showed up, and Art had to persuade him not to do so. Art, meanwhile, is a very strange girl, with an odd mix of knowledge and ignorance. For example, when she eats the bacon that Nate brought up to the cabin with him, Nate learns that she’s not only never had bacon before (though now she’s certain it’s the Best Thing Ever) she also questions that one animal can be the source of bacon and ham and pork chops.
The action of the book is, in some senses, predictable. Obviously the people chasing Art show up at the cabin, and obviously Nate goes on the run with her and Alex instead of turning on them. What is less obvious about the action of the book is what exactly Art’s deal is. It’s obvious she’s not an ordinary girl, but what her actual deal turns out to be was not obvious at all.
The other side of the book is Nate’s personal journey. He’s been lonely and feeling isolated ever since his parents disowned him; now they’re gone, and he’s dealing with all the extraordinarily complicated feelings associated with that situation. And in comes these two people he comes to care deeply about. His growing feelings for Alex were another thing that was super easy to see coming, but again, the way the relationship developed didn’t really go the way I expected.
A good book, and a reminder to myself that I really need to get to Cerulean Sea one of these days.
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