I’ve heard so much great buzz about this book, so when I had a moment to pick it up, I did. And I didn’t want to put it down. I’ve finished it, and I still don’t want to put it down. This book’s a gem, and I can’t overstate how much I enjoyed reading it.
The premise of this book reminded me a bit of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs (another really good book by a fellow Kenyon alum,) but while in the same genre, the books are very different.
Linus Baker is a case worker at the Department in Charge of Magical Youth, where his job is to make sure that the orphanages that house the magical children are following the Rules and Regulations to the letter. One day, he is summoned before “Extremely Upper Management” and is given a new, month-long assignment. He must travel to Marsyas Island Orphanage and report back in great detail on the children living there, and especially the caretaker of the children, Arthur Parnassus. When he arrives, he finds six magical children, including a gnome who threatens to kill him the moment he arrives and the Antichrist (who is a 6-year-old boy,) and he finds he is terrified of all of them. But what he finds with Arthur Parnassus will threaten all of their safety and will turn Linus’s world upside down.
I loved all of these characters. Chauncey, the unidentifiable green blob, whose big dream was to become a hotel bellhop. Sal, the boy who turned into a Pomeranian when scared. And even Lucy (short for Lucifer,) with a love of records and Bobby Darin, was endearing. The children – all magical and seemingly strange – at their core were just children, with their own troubles, fears, and (most importantly) dreams.
But, I really loved Linus Baker and his development throughout the book. I loved his dream to see the ocean, the sunflowers he plants in front of his house to try to bring some color into his life, the relationship with his cat. From being a person who only sees the world in black and white to someone who can see the color, with the help and guidance of Arthur, is magical in and of itself. We need more Linuses in the world. We need more Arthurs, too.
I also really liked the gay-positive tone to the book. It’s about time that gay relationships are portrayed in mainstream books as just part of the norm, and I thought the way the author included these characters’ budding romances was so beautifully written. I was definitely crossing my fingers for them to find happiness with each other as the book went on.
I have a feeling this is a book I will revisit again.