I read the book twice now, and both times after reading it, I screamed, “Give me The House in the Cerulean Sea sequel!”
This T.J. Klune’s book has become popular since it came out. It gathered more than four hundred thousand reviews on Goodreads. Most are positive reviews, with a current average of 4.4 out of 5 stars.
But does the good receptions of the book guaranteed a sequel?
Is there a The House in the Cerulean Sea sequel?
Unfortunately, there is no sequel to The House in the Cerulean Sea. The author T.J. Klune confirmed on Goodreads that until now, he doesn’t plan to write the continuation of the book.
However, he further explained that he also didn’t intend to write a sequel to How to be a Normal Person, but four years later, he published How to Be a Movie Star.
So, the door to the house is not completely shut. He may write it one day, but it’s not a promise.
Same spirit, new stories
In the epilogue of The House in the Cerulean Sea, the author seems to be setting up a potential sequel, and frankly, because of this, I’m a bit annoyed after finding out there’s no sequel planned for the book.
It is sad, but I guess there’s no point to morose.
The good news is, instead of a follow-up to the Marsyas residence life, T.J. Klune has two other stand-alone books written in the same spirit, which he referred to on the Goodreads comment above. What are those?
Under the Whispering Door
Seeing the book’s cover, many people would assume that this book is a The House in the Cerulean Sea sequel.
I was fooled by the cover myself because I thought the book would only contain a happy story with sunshine and butterfly. When in fact, the book carries a heavy theme throughout, which is death.
The book opens with Wallace, who dies of a heart attack. At his funeral, he met a Reaper who would guide him to a teashop named Charon’s Crossing.
The teashop runs by the ferryman Hugo is not an ordinary teashop because inside, you will find a door that leads Wallace to the afterlife … whenever he is ready.
According to a source, Under the Whispering Door is written by T.J. Klune as a way to grief over his husband’s passing to cancer. In the book itself, there’s a mention of the disease related to Wallace’s past.
Though amidst the sadness, something is blossomed. I can say that Wallace and Hugo in this book is the Linus and Arthur in The House in the Cerulean Sea.
You will also meet the other vibrant characters inside the teashop, like Mei, the Reaper I mentioned earlier, who will not be a reaper that you might expect.
In the Lives of Puppets
Unlike the other two, which are completely original stories, In the Lives of Puppets is a retelling or based on Carlo Collodi’s The Adventures of Pinocchio.
Even so, earlier reviews suggest while it has some nods to the classic, it’s very much its own story.
The book will be released this year on April 25, and I couldn’t be more excited to dive into the Lawson family.
I hope the two books above satisfy your yearning for The House in the Cerulean Sea sequel, at least for now.
You may also want to read my post here to find more books that radiate the same feeling and atmosphere as the magical cerulean sea.
And if there’s any latest news about the sequel, I will keep you updated here!
