Somewhere Beyond the Sea

I enjoyed this sequel. I listened to it & the narration is very good. Parts of it are laugh out loud funny. It does take a bit of a dark turn though. I did feel at times like it went a bit long & was repetitive in parts.

Did I enjoy the banter, the setting, the scenery, and everything that screams rainbows, puppies, candy, and cheerios in this book? Yes, absolutely. Did the realist in me raise a skeptical eyebrow every now and then, trying to make sense of the lack of any realistic opposition to this cotton-candy view of the world? Also yes. For most of the book, I found myself wishing every kid, past, present, and future, could read it. It's such a kind way to look at the world, to imagine it, and hopefully to inspire readers to help build it. A large part of the story made me want this world to exist somewhere, a sweet, compassionate, accepting island community tucked away from everything else. I'd happily live there. And there's a but. I snapped out of that world during the last 70 or so pages. The plot and its resolutions started to feel a little disjointed, floppy, and simplistic. It was enough to pull me out of the reverie and remind me that this isn't real, at least not in a way that meaningfully takes the reality of the reader’s world into account. Despite that, a part of me still wanted to believe in it. Maybe that's the book's strength. It presents an ideal that feels worth hoping for, even when the path to it feels a bit convenient.

Not as good as the first book in the series but still heartwarming.

Enjoyed the revisit to my favorite characters. But this book came off with a bit more preachiness that landed with a little cringe from time to time. Luckily, Lucy, Chauncey, and Talia make up for it.

I love this book as much as the first.