This was a beautiful, but difficult read. Wallace is a terrible person, until he dies. After he dies, he meets several people who help him change and teach him that there is more to life than work. The writing is amazing, but it felt like the plot dragged a bit in the middle. There is a lot of talk of feelings and questioning why the world works the way it does. It was also a slower read because I could really feel Wallace's despair at various points, and I needed to take breaks while reading. By the end of the book, I was crying my eyes out. I wasn't sure how it was going to end, which helped me keep reading. Overall, not my favorite TJ Klune book, but definitely a solid read.

A slew of five-star reviews today. I can't wait until everyone gets to read this, and I can hash it out with everyone. If you loved The House on the Cerulean Sea, this will pull on your heart the same way.

Under the Whispering Door unfolds like a rose bud, slowly and beautifully. Where TJ Klune's previous title, The House in the Cerulean Sea, was a fun, quickly moving, fantasy novel for new adults, this novel is for adults looking for a thought provoking and richly developed fantasy exploration of what happens after death. Hugo is "The Ferryman" tasked with getting souls ready to cross over to the next world. TJ Klune wrote characters that came alive for me. I cared about each and every one of them. When I finished this novel, I felt the need to sit and think about it. I am sure that it is one that I will look to reread in the future.

I went into this book blindly having just recently read Klune’s previous novel, The House in the Cerulean Sea. What was true about that book is true about this one— the plot line is wholly original with delightfully flawed characters you can’t help but love. The similarities end there though. Under the Whispering Door is filled with darkness, sadness, and some of life’s deepest questions. In some parts, this book is like a cup of brewed tea; it is warm, cozy and comforting. In other parts, it can leave you feeling a bit empty. This book takes on very tough topics like death (obviously), murder, suicide, child loss, and parent loss. The great triumph of this book is that it manages to do it in a way without completely breaking your heart. My only criticism would be that in some parts, the dialogue felt very drawn out and disconnected from the overall storyline and leaving me wondering where the book was headed. It always got there in the end and I think it was a smart move to not have the reader trudge through darkness for an entire book without some lighter moments, but I felt it could have less focus on the sub plot that didn’t add to the overall storyline or depth of the characters.

TW for death, suicide, murder, child and parent loss

Thank you to the publisher for this ARC!

I enjoyed this new novel by TJ Kline, who wrote the absolutely beautiful story The House in the Cerulean Sea, one of my favourite books of recent years. Under the Whispering Door is full of whimsy, lyrical writing and emotional exchanges. I liked the side characters, and Hugo, though the setting itself sometimes fell flat. Everything is centred around one location, and though this makes complete sense for the story, it also left things feeling static at times, with pages of description and similar conversations playing out more than once. The ending was somewhat predictable, and I didn't entirely feel an emotional connection to the gathering love story, but the book's dealings with loss, death and growth were often touching and always carefully written. Not my favourite book of Klune's, but it has plenty to offer a reader looking for an exploration of deeper themes in a lighter way.

I am grateful to the publisher, NetGalley and TJ Klune for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was very disappointed by this book. Klune has written the best book in the English language with House in the Cerulean Sea and then this plodding, obvious and depressing book. The hook between the two men screams that the two will be together right from the beginning, Subtlety, be damned. Mei, Hugo and Hugo's grandfather spend they entire book waxing philosophical on life and death, which after awhile is just tedious. I hate it when characters just sit around telling us the story. Show me instead. It's far more interesting.

Possible Triggers:
Death, but more specifically murder and suicide - and the trauma that comes with both.

Characters:
This story follows one point of view (Wallace Price) for the entirety of the book.

Nelson: Gotta say this was my absolute favorite character in the book. While most of the time he was used as kind of an instigator or initiator for comic relief, I really preferred when he was being vulnerable. Something about his reason for staying really resonated with me. T.J Klune is amazing at writing about the many different kinds of love, and Nelson’s towards his grandson was just so ridiculously beautiful to me.

Positives:
+ Yet again T.J. Klune writes another beautiful love story. This author has the most amazing talent of writing slowly unfolding love. I especially appreciate that the love is mature - there is something so stinking adorable about realizing that no matter what age you are (or where you are in life/not life), you still get those stupid feelings you gotta deal with when you are smitten. I’d also like to mention that once again he does an amazing job of encompassing the various types of love; found family, platonic, friendship, even self-love.
+ I love how much tea is discussed in the book. Now I have a whole list of tea that I have never tried that I want to drink. Yay for opening up new tasty doors!
+ This book discusses death, grief, and acceptance in such a creative and heart-warming way.

Negatives:
- The humor in the book fell flat for me most of the time. I felt that this story had a much more serious tone, so the level of ridiculousness that was sprang to lighten specific moments was jarring.

Final Thoughts:
I was not ready for this book. I have to admit that I was expecting something along the lines of what “The House in the Cerulean Sea” was; soft, fluffy, cuddly, heart-wrenching, and lots of crying while laughing. I enjoyed this story, but it didn't bring the same type of feelings at all (not that you should expect it to, it is ENTIRELY a different story - don’t be dumb like me). Do not let the cover, font, or light hearted description on the back fool you - this story is NOT what you think it is. This story was a hot cup of tea gripped between your hands when you are having a hard time with something. It was the comfort that comes with knowing that even though you DON’T know what comes next, there is always hope. It's a beautiful story that unravels grief and also what ‘a good life’ means to you individually. I absolutely cried while reading this story, and i'm sure you will too. I think that my enjoyment of the book was a little coloured by my expectations of what i thought it was going to be, so when you plan to read it, know that it’s not a light fluffy read - this book has sadness, it has confusion, it has grief, but it also has so much hope.

This book has left me with such mixed emotions. T J Klune is an autobuy author for me and I had every expectation of loving this book when I read the blurb. And…. i loved some but I also disliked some of it.
We are introduced to Wallace who is a big shot lawyer at a top firm but is also a complete asshole. We get a glimpse of what he is like when he’s alive and then we are shown the after life once Wallace is dead and he is being taken to the way station between this world and the next where you get a chance to get used to the idea of being dead before you move on. We are introduced to Mei the repaer who leads Wallace to the tea shop which acts as the way station, Hugo the tea shop owner who is also the ferryman who guides soul to the other side and Hugo’s dog Apollo and grandfather Nelson who are both ghosts who haven’t yet moved on.
The characters, the premise and the setting were all quirky and unique and had the typical Klune touch which makes them flawed but endearing except for Wallace. I knew he was the protagonist and that we were supposed to come to love him but I just didn’t. Atleast not for the first half.
I was expecting a character arc that shows Wallace’s change from this asshole character to someone who burrows into the bottom of your heart. Or atleast someone I can root for. But that didn’t happen. One second we are shown his bad side and then we are just told that he’s changed. We are seeing his change, or he’s changing but there’s no progession to this and that just left me confused. I wanted to love this character, I was prepared to love this character but I was not given any reason for it except that the other characters somehow do.
The chemistry between Hugo and Wallace was also lacklustre. I just didn’t understand why Hugo would fall for Wallace. And Hugo as a character was also a bit difficult to love because there was just a bit too much preaching going on there that I wasn’t a big fan of. The messages were all wonderful and great but it didn’t add anything to the story or the characters.
Nothing much happens in the first half after Wallace reaches the tea shop and the pace drags on and on. But I did love Mei and Apollo and Nelson and there was just enough humor mixed in to keep me going just a little bit more. And that did finally pay off after the 50% mark.
Things start picking up towards the middle and the second half becomes the book I expected from T J Klune. I ended up sobbing my heart out and forever in love with most of the characters in the book. Wallace does redeem himself towards the end and I got more invested in the romance as well. The second half explores grief and death in the beautiful way I was hoping for from the start and will definitely pull on all your heartstrings. The ending was predictable but it still left me in a puddle of tears.
So objectively this book deserves 3.5 stars but since the second half was sooo good and left me in tears that I can’t help but add half a star to round it up to 4 stars.
If you are a T J Klune fan, I would recommend that you give this a try because the second half is worth it but if you are new to T J Klune then I would recommend his previous works more than this one.

Are you up for a heartwarming read about death, grief, and a quirky group of ghosts housed in an equally quirky teashop?
If yes, then this book is exactly what you need. And maybe you'll need a cup of Oolong tea to go along with it. You know Oolong is a transitional tea, between green and black, and I think it matches perfectly the story of this book.

Meet your protagonist, Wallace Price.
Wallace Price is/was an a$$hole.
"Wallace Price had been accused of many things in his life, but being selfless was not one of them. He gave little thought to those around him, unless they stood in his way. And God help them if they did."

But now Wallace is dead, and as he transitions towards the great unknown, he has a few lessons to learn.
Well, more than a few really.
Now Wallace joins other ghosts who are still not ready to make the transition in an odd teashop run by the charismatic and empathetic to a fault Hugo Freeman. As Wallace watches the daily activities and struggles of his fellow ghosts and Hugo's "duties", acrimonious Wallace is profoundly changed.

The story settles in inside you just like a hot cup of tea on a difficult day. The book plays out in your mind exactly like a movie. Even better, a Pixar movie (cause I'm fond of those, and of course the adorable cover helps me imagine it as such). Themes of grief, death, anxiety and loneliness turn into contentment, life, joy, and friendship. The most important thing about the book was the realization that this moment is never the end although it could be. Oxymoronic, I know. But you'll get my meaning if you read the book. I really hope you do.

"It's never enough, is it? Time. We always think we have so much of it, but when it really counts, we don't have enough at all. "

Extremely grateful to Tor Books and NetGalley for my eGalley.

I am struggling to put everything my heart is feeling into words. I wish I could just send you what I'm feeling instead. TJ Klune writes like no one else. I can feel his emotions and the emotions of his characters as if they were my own. Wallace goes on such a journey of grief, heartbreak, and discovery. He took me with him as he found his hope. My heart broke with his, as well as Hugo, Nelson, and Mei's and was also healed as he healed. He was a different man at the end of this book through gradual change, but it was deeply profound. He found people to truly love, who love him in return. It changes him in ways only love can. I felt cracks in my heart heal as I learned from Hugo. And the 2 of them! My heart! Their relationship is gentle, peaceful, and so full of heart. I am tearing up thinking about it! This book is... I can't find the words honestly, but I hope you travel to the house of the Whispering Door and see how it could heal you too!

Alright.

Okay.

TJ Klune has FLOWN to the top of authors I will blindly buy..... IN TWO BOOKS THIS IS WHAT I HAVE COME TO TERMS WITH.

Listen, if you're going to pick up a book on a whim, make it one of his. If you're going to specifically seek out purchasing a book... make it one of his too. He has this beautiful storytelling ability that I just can't get over.

Wallace is our main character and, to be quite frank, he is quite unlikeable - but that's the point. Wallace is that 9-5 businessman who clearly lives and breathes working and can't remember the last time he smiled. Life is too short to live this way and he is about to find out how true that statement is when he is floating over his dead body, wondering what he's doing there. Mei, our Reaper, sets out to bring him back to Hugo, who is the ferryman meant to help spirits adjust to being dead and eventually crossover. Wallace, surprise surprise, has no interest in being dead and wants to be put back so he can go back to work. He lives a half-life. Patient as ever, Hugo walks him through what he is feeling and what this means for him and thus the story unfolds.

Wallace's character growth is something to be noted. He really comes full circle in the end and it's a rewarding journey to experience as the reader. He's so miserable and grey when we meet him and the longer he is supposedly fading from existence, the more colour he is bringing into himself. He was jussssttttttt!!!!! JUST! Hugo was lovely. Absolutely LOVELY. HE. UGH. The soft, understanding personality of Hugo has not gone unrecognized or unappreciated, I'll tell you that much. He was the human version of :')))))) you know? Everyone else is just as important and wonderful to meet and I cannot wait until this comes out so I can reread it after I buy my copy and bring myself joy.

For now, I'm going to go and reread The House in the Cerulean Sea.

This story is magical and special and one about death and what comes afterwards (which, by the way, this book paints such a sweet picture of what could come next and I for one hope that it's true).

That was unexpected.

I was so excited when I was able to get this advanced copy as I enjoyed The House In the Cerulean Sea so much and my experience turned out to be very different than I was expecting.

In full honesty, I started off this book quite disappointed. The biggest flaw this book has in the main character, Wallace, starting off as a very cheesy "bad" character. It is fine to make a character flawed at the beginning because you want them to go through character development -and that was a huge component of this book- but they made him the grumpiest man to ever grump and it was just very cartoony. He reminded me of a cartoon villain who would ruin children's sandcastles for fun and we would be delighted when our inevitable heroes would put him in his place.

Of course, it was clear he would be redeemed, but he started off at such a extreme place that I was worried that it would seem unrealistic when he would inevitably turn better in too quick amount of time. I was right. However, as shown by my five star rating, in the end I did not care overall by this major flaw. I fell in love with his book and the remains of the tears on my face can vouch for that.

Without going into too much spoilers, while people are going to read this book expecting something very close to Cerulean Sea, I think it is important to adjust expectations. This book does not feel like the warm hug Klune's previous book did. Some people will not like how much darker this book felt, but I think this showed Klune's improvement as a writer. Sometimes you want all the sweet and sugar, but I need some true emotion and stakes to thoroughly love a book and it was here in spades. I also found it was less predictable than Cerulean Sea and that was probably my biggest flaw with the previous book.

But fear not, Whispering Door has Klune's classic humor, light fantasy that is quirky and unique and, of course, a wonderful male/male romance to swoon over. Regardless how I felt Wallace was handled at first, I will boldly say I preferred this romance than the one in Cerulean Sea.

I strongly encourage others to pick up their copy in September when it officially comes out.

Thank you Netgalley for the advance copy.

TJ Klune is a writer that maps out a lovely, pining, yearning love story. Here, as with 'The House in the Cerulean Sea', we have two characters that are seemingly vastly different but have great chemistry. There's also a wonderful little found family with sassy and loving personalities that round out this weird little after-death tale. The conversation around death and dying pulls at your heart-strings without plunging you into the depths of your sorrow and the climax builds to a satisfying, yet eventful ending. It's always a wonderful escape into the worlds that Klune creates and I look forward to any new universes to come.

The synopsis of this book is what drew me into it, especially after I had read TJ Klune's previous novel and enjoyed it. But despite being a book about death and grief which I usually like in my books, I never really felt fully into the story. Both Under the Whispering Door and The House on the Cerulean Sea seem to be for what we all fondly call "Disney Adults." I say this because much like most Pixar movies, these books deal with heavy topics (death/orphanages respectively) through a light hearted and often humorous lens with serious moments sprinkled throughout, and everything is always okay in the end. I did love our side characters though, Nelson and Mei in particular. I just didn't believe that in three weeks Wallace, our main character and the ghost we follow into the afterlife, would completely do a 180 in his personality. From what was established about who he was it just didn't seem plausible to me personally. I understand that trauma changes a person, but Wallace didn't seem traumatized by his death, just annoyed that he couldn't go back to work. Over all this was a cute book, and while it wasn't what I wanted out of a book about death I think that most people will love it for what it is.

It's a quirky tale about love and grief. Wallace is dead, and has been taken to a small tea shop run by Hugo, a Ferryman that helps spirits cross to another place. He is having a difficult time coming to terms with being a ghost, and Hugo does what he does best: he helps Wallace discover what he's missed out on. As their friendship grows, Wallace tries living again and starts to fall in love with Hugo.
Another wonderful story by TJ Klune, it's heartwarming, humorous, and incredibly charming.

I love TJ Klune's ability to take a seemingly unlikeable character and turn him into the person you are rooting for throughout the novel. As a huge fan of his first book I was excited for this new story and it did not disappoint. The premise is one that has been done before but the storyline was unique, funny, and endearing.

Wow -- I appreciate the opportunity to review this book. However, I honestly do not know how I feel about this one. I like the flow of the words. I enjoyed the characters who came to life on the page. The dialogue between the characters was entertaining, but I did not fall in love with the story. It wasn't quite what I had hoped for, but it made for an interesting read.

TJ Klune’s writing style is very prevalent and still as whimsical as House in the Cerulean Sea but with some darker topics such as death and grief. Readers that loved House in the Cerulean Sea will love this book, as pacing and characterization are just as wonderful but other adults that want to read about some more serious topics may love this one as well. Only downfall was sometimes the book got a little over descriptive, but definitely a personal opinion and preference.

Thank you NetGalley and Tor Books for the ARC!

I’m not even sure where to begin. This story was everything. Part of the beauty of TJ Klune’s books is that I think everyone from age 10-100+ would get something out of them. He covers very intense topics, in such a beautiful way.

The description of this one says so much yet so little, “a contemporary fantasy about a ghost who refuses to cross over and the ferryman he falls in love with.” It’s the gist, but it’s so much more than that.

I love both Wallace (eventually) and Hugo quite a bit, but the supporting characters shine so bright. Nelson, Mei, Apollo…I already want to reread just to get lost in their stories again.

I don’t want to post any spoilers, but wow. I only needed one box of tissues while reading this one!

A highly recommended 5 stars!

When I read The House in the Cerulean Sea, it was the warm hug I didn't know I needed. I was so excited for the next novel from TJ Klune! Under the Whispering Door was not another warm hug, but it was the pat on the back I needed to get out of my reading slump. It carried a heavier plot, but the relationship between Wallace and his new companions was sweet to watch as it unfolded.