The Palace at the End of the Sea by Simon Tolkien (book cover is in image) is the coming of age story for Theo Sterling. Set in 1929, New York City, it tells us of the turbulent relationship he has with his his Jewish Father and Mexican mother. Dealing with themes loss of a family members, identity and the Spanish Civil War, this book is the first installment of Theo Sterling's life journey, and I look forward to reading the next installment by the grandson of J.R.R. Tolkien.

The narration by Thom Rivera is the first time I have had the opportunity to experience Rivera and was great. I will be looking for more from him.

Thank you @brilliancepublishing, @amazonpublishing / Lake Shore Publishing and @netgalley for the opportunity to listen to this ALC and read this ARC. All opinions are my own.

Rating: 3 Stars
Pub Date: Jun 01 2025

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Very good book, coming of age and historical fiction. I´m not to keen of coming of age books, when I requested this I thought it was only historical fiction. However, I am not disappointed! The plot is very interesting and I enjoyed very much following Theo throughout his life and travels around the world.

This review is for both the audiobook and the ebook.

I'm super picky about audiobooks. If a narrator annoys me in any way, I can't get past it. I usually much prefer to read it myself, because I can get through it a lot faster. The Palace at the End of the Sea is not one of those books.

I flipped between reading the ebook and listening to the audiobook. I probably listened to 50-75% of it (because, Thom Rivera!), and read the rest when I couldn't listen easily. I got both the ebook and the audiobook from the publisher on NetGalley in exchange for my review. A big thank you to both Brilliance Publishing and Brilliance Audio for letting me use both!

I love, love, love, love, loooove this audiobook! Serious props to the narrator, Thom Rivera, for all the accents and voices that he does - it really helps sell the different characters, and I was able to easily imagine each one of them from a mixture of Thom's great accents and Simon's vivid descriptions.

There is so much heart in this book. Simon Tolkien really nails the absolute mixed bag of emotions necessary for a great coming-of-age story.

I took my time reading this one. I would read or listen for an hour or two here and there, and then just sit with it. It's that kind of book.

I turned 39 this year, and even though it's been a minute since I've been a teen, I have young adult children, so I've been through a lot of it from the parent side in the last few years. Having kids of your own really changes how you view your own parents. Things you used to be upset with them for suddenly make sense through the lens of a life lived for a few more years.

I enjoyed seeing the main character, Theo, go through a lot of similar changes. He is an observer. He is always paying attention to what's going on around him, and he wants to make a difference. He wants to be the change he wishes to see in the world. He also has a healthy-ish level of self-preservation, so he has a pretty good head on his shoulders. He does get pulled in different directions by various people, and I like that the book explores a character who's not the standard trope of "the chosen one." In this book, one could argue that pretty much everyone EXCEPT Theo are the movers and the shakers, and I kind of like that. This book is just about a kid. A kid whose life spans different social classes, races, religions, cultures, and regions. The Palace at the End of the Sea gives us a glimpse into all of these wildly different experiences, and shows us where we can draw parallels, where we can spot the differences, and what that can mean to us.

I really enjoyed learning more about the historic events mentioned in the book. They didn't overshadow the main story, but they clearly shaped it, and I think that's the perfect combination.

This book made me THINK. It made me think a LOT. I took my time reading, because it contains heavier themes than probably the majority of the books I read, but I like that. I keep them decently few and far between, but I do enjoy ruminating on the state of the world we live in now and how wonderfully this book draws the parallels without feeling preachy.

While this book didn't give me soaring high good vibes, like most of the books I rate 5 stars, it did give me a lot to think about. I would actually probably rate it 4.5 out of 5. The actual writing of the story was great - when I read it, I NEVER thought about weirdly-worded sentences, misspellings, or any kind of grammar. That's always a relief, because mistakes like those pull me out of the story, and that was NOT an issue here!

TL;DR:
Overall Rating: 4.5
Writing/Grammar: 5
Enjoyability/Fun: 3.5
Themes: 4.5
Audiobook version: 5

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to listen to the audiobook of The Palace at the End of the Sea.

The beginning of this novel was absolutely captivating—Theo’s time in New York was rich with character development and historical intrigue, and I honestly felt it could have been an entire novel on its own. However, as the story progressed, the pacing became increasingly dense. So many new characters, events, and settings were introduced that it became difficult to stay fully engaged, especially in an audio format. There were moments when I found myself zoning out or even dozing off.

That said, I’m glad I stuck with it. The themes came together in a meaningful way by the end, and I appreciated the exploration of social structures across Europe and America during the time period. As a fan of historical fiction and coming-of-age stories, I found value in the depth of the narrative—even if it could have benefitted from tighter editing.

Overall, this is a beautifully written story with strong thematic threads, but the sheer volume of content made it feel longer than it needed to be.

Historical fiction set against the stock market crash of 1929 and the ensuing depression in New York City, the rise of fascism in the UK (and elsewhere), anti-Semitism, and the dark powers of the church in Spain — all seen through the life of a boy in his high school years, born to parents of very different backgrounds with little in common except their son and their hatred of Communism. At times heartbreaking, the boy’s experience in NY then at a UK boarding school are well described and narrated. The novel ends as the boy returns to school after a summer in Spain where he witnessed the growing tensions that will lead to the Spanish Civil War. I enjoyed the way the author woven some of the various contemporary happenings into this one novel, knitting together the Depression, workers’ rights, and the rise of Fascism on a global scale. It ends rather abruptly (as most summer vacations must), but I see there is a follow-up coming in September 2025. I look forward to listening to that audiobook and the continuing adventures of Theo Sterling.
My thanks to the author, publisher, #BrillianceAudio, and #NetGalley for access to the audiobook for review purposes. It is currently available.

3.75🌟 rounded up

I always get excited when a historical fiction novel features an event I'm unfamiliar with - in this case, it was the Spanish Civil War. One can only read so many WWII novels before having to branch out.

The novel takes place in New York City, England, and Spain, chronicling the journey of the main character, Theo, to adulthood. Events that transpired in both his and his mother's lives significantly influenced how they grew up. It was fascinating to listen to. The characters were carefully thought out and felt realistic to me, including the school bullies. God, kids can be such assholes. Tension was developed throughout the novel, and I found myself not wanting to stop listening.

Thom Rivera did the audiobook narration. I enjoyed his tone and cadence, and he was easy to understand, even at higher listening speeds.

A sequel to this novel is scheduled for release this fall, and I would be interested in reading it to see what happens next.

Recommended for historical fiction readers.

Thank you to NetGalley & Brilliance Publishing for the ALC.

First time reading Simon Tolkein, and really enjoyed this book. The characters were great, and the plot/pacing was also great. Can't wait for the next book in the series. The reader was very good also.

The Palace at the End of the Sea is beautifully written and rich in historical detail, but wow—it really drags. The setting is vivid, the premise intriguing, and the writing has a lovely elegance to it, but the pacing was so slow I found myself constantly distracted. It felt like not much actually happened until the final stretch, and even then, it lacked emotional payoff. If you love slow-burn historical fiction with atmosphere over action, you might enjoy it more than I did.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3 stars)
Rated PG-13 for mature themes, war-related content, and some language.

Thanks to Netgalley for this arc. It’s worth noting this is Book One. Book Two is set to publish September 16, 2025.

“The truth was hidden behind the dishonesty of the picturesque.”

In this coming of age story, we follow Theo, a child of early 20th century New York. His world consists of a wide variety of worldviews and perspectives: we meet his grandfather, a devout Jew and refugee of the pogroms; his father, a secular capitalist who believes in the American Dream (Theo’s name is a tribute to President Roosevelt, and a portrait of Herbert Hoover graces their wall); his mother, a devout Catholic immigrant from Mexico who sees the world through a religious lens; eventually an English step-father, complete with a hyphenated name, title and all the trappings of his class; the Marxist student who takes him under wing at boarding school… as Theo navigates all that life brings during these turbulent years of vying ideologies, we watch him develop, and ultimately defend, his own convictions.

The Palace at the End of the Sea is a reference to Ellis Island.

The author is the grandson of J.R.R. Tolkien and a director of the Tolkien estate.

The Palace at the End of the Sea is a thoughtful, deliberately paced coming-of-age saga that follows Theo Sterling's journey from Depression-era New York to the brink of the Spanish Civil War. Tolkien crafts a measured exploration of identity, faith, and belonging as Theo grapples with his mixed heritage—caught between his Jewish father's unwavering American optimism and his Catholic mother's traumatic past.

The novel's strength lies in its patient character development rather than plot momentum. Theo's evolution feels authentic as he navigates grief, questions inherited beliefs, and searches for his own moral compass against the backdrop of rising fascism. The geographic scope—from New York's Lower East Side to English boarding schools to Andalusian villages—mirrors Theo's internal journey toward self-discovery.

While the pacing may challenge readers seeking faster narrative drive, those who appreciate introspective historical fiction will find depth in Theo's struggle to define himself in a rapidly changing world. Tolkien succeeds in creating a protagonist whose personal reckonings with faith, family legacy, and political conviction feel both period-specific and timelessly relevant.

Narration was spot on and really engaged me, if not for the narration being so engaging, I would have DNF this book early on. The narrator did a great job of humanizing Theo.

The story follows Theo Sterling from his childhood in New York during The Great Depression to his schooling in England at the rise of Fascism and onto Spain, where he gets caught up in the beginnings of the Spanish Civil War.

It could be a good story about causes and belief, but unfortunately, Theo is (for me) a particularly unlikeable child and young man. Fair enough he's not exactly been lucky having been born at a time when everyone except the ultra rich were flung into poverty but he's the most easily led character I've come across in a long time.

He does show some admirable qualities, such as compassion, in his younger days, but he begins to follow causes blindly from his teens. And it's never because he's passionate about a cause - he's just desperate to impress people. So he ends up fighting for communism because of a charismatic boy at public school, then he fights the fascists because he fancies some girl and finally becomes involved with the anarchists because of a pretty girl.

Now I don't imagine that there weren't people like this who saw the civil war as a romantic adventure only to find out that getting shot is the same no matter who you fight for; or saw communism as a balm to cure capitalism but they don't make for great "heroes". I certainly didn't warm to Theo at all.

The narration by Thom Rivera was also problematic. Theo's voice was fine but Sir Andrew, Theo's stepfather sounds like a Monty Python character; a Welsh schoolboy wandered between Welsh and Scottish; I think one couple was Irish but they could have been English West Country. Saving the best for last, the clear winner was Theo's Mexican mother, who was one "ay ay ay" away from being Speedy Gonzalez. My advice, as always, to narrators is that if you cannot do anything but caricatures of accents then don't attempt them.

I'm sorry to sound so negative and I'm happy I'm in the minority but there wasn't enough history and, failing that, there were no great characters. The story is set at a fascinating time in history but this felt like so much melodrama with little substance.

Not for me.

Thankyou to Netgalley and Brilliance Audio for the audio advance review copy.

I read all of part 1 and couldn't go any further. I was so surprised that I picked such a disapointing book, that I reread the description again to try and see what went wrong. It's completely different then the synopsis. Yes, it starts just before the great depression but it goes on and on about the main characters life and his parents. It's very religious and there is exhaustive backstory about both of the parents religions and what they think about it and how it affects their lives.

When I read a historical fiction I want to be taught about history. I'm educated, but I don't particularly know anything about the great depression and I learned nothing new.

It is full of boring played out stereotypes; the bullies are dumb football players, his mom is super emotional, his dad is strict and scary, his parents embarrass him etc... I think I've seen this before and I didn't even like it the first time. And I'm sorry but his first experience of true happiness is being on a sports team? I think I'm going to throw up.

Don't even get me started about the entire dialog sounding his mother! She's always crying and emotional? And he resents her for it? She is a very poorly written character. Near the end of part 1 the author does reel themselves in a little bit and try to make it better but the damage had already been done.

Maybe part 2 would redeem the book as the characters are taken out of their bad situation but I don't have any interest in finding out.

DNF at 54%.

While the writing and narration are both quite good, I just felt stuck behind this book. It is quite long for one and secondly, I'm not really a fan of coming-of-age stories. Over 50% in and a lot has happened but it feels like nothing has happened. The story feels disjointed. At the point where I have given up, Theo is in boarding school in England and I just don't care...just want to move on to something more exciting. As I have some other books I'm excited to start I've decided to just give up on this one. Life's too short.

The prose is solid, but the novel suffers from trying to do too much at once. It aims for epic, sweeping scope, yet in doing so, spreads itself too thin. The result is a narrative where a lot happens, but little of it carries real weight. Characters felt underdeveloped—especially the women, who tended to drift toward caricature or instability. And after 400 pages, ending on a cliffhanger felt less like bold storytelling and more like a cop-out.