No longer interested in reading, given the author’s incorporation of problematic elements in his work. The way police were included in The Extraordinaries was one thing, as he apologized and promised to do better. But the way he cavalierly talked about being inspired by indigenous residential schools in an interview and decided to dress it up as a cutesy cozy fantasy for House in the Cerulean Sea puts me off reading anything of his ever again.

Due to realizing that The House In The Cerulean Sea was directly inspired by the Sixties Dcoop, I won't be finishing this arc. As a Canadian with indigenous family, I cannot In good faith provide feedback.

Thank you very much for the ARC.

CW- death, grief, suicide
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Under the Whispering Door follows Wallace, a man whose life expands after it ends after meeting a ferryman and his family.
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I absolutely adored this book! It was so charming and it just made my heart so happy! Each of the characters were so well developed with their own nuances, and I loved all of them. This is truly a character led story, and while there is a plot, it takes a backseat to character development.
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The relationships in this book were so well done as well, with both romantic and platonic relationships having an equal weight. I also loved the cozy atmosphere and the writing style.
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This is truly a wonderful book and I recommend it to really everyone!
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Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Wallace died now his reaper mei has come to take him to the ferryman Hugo to go to the next phase.
Tj Klune writing always keeps you on your feet and if you’ve read any of his other books you will see little Easter eggs and this book is the same I was in for the get go loved every page and it made me cry and laugh out loud so many times.

Wallace Price was not a good husband. He was not a good boss. And he was not a good person. Now he is dead and all the failings of his person or triumphs of his business don't matter at all. Or do they?

I did not gel with the first quarter of this book. It set up a 'It's a Wonderful Life' type scenario, only with more humour and whimsy, and I anticipated I would know everything that was to occur before it had already happened. I also did not appreciate the humorous tone, which was merely a personal preference as I tend not to welcome anything other than dry wit in the books I read.

However, after these first 80 pages my feelings entirely altered. This was the most wholesome and emotional story featuring the most pure and precious of characters! It opened up many conversations on life, loss, love, and laments, which I truly appreciated, and, although still not my favourite, the small, humorous moment added some much needed brevity in what could so easily have become a gloomy and depressing read.

Instead, this was a book full of hope and promise and life and laughter. I did not expect, especially after my lukewarm response to the first quarter, to be sobbing at the end, but four consecutive scenes tugged at my heartstrings and I closed this book both lighter and heavier with all I had read.

I don't know how to put into words how much I loved this book and I read it at the perfect time in my left. This book had me crying and laughing out loud. Hugo's grandad Nelson has to be one of the best characters ever and don't get me started with how much I loved Mai. I loved how much they helped Wallace grow as a character just as much as Hugo did. T,J. Klune made me feel so much with this book and I need that. I will be picking their other books ASAP.

Ugh. This was beautiful. I cried and cried and I can’t wait for other people to get their hands on it. Klune's books always just make me feel so warm and fuzzy inside.

I don’t know if I can even describe how much I adored this book. While I haven’t read most of Klune’s books, The House in the Cerulean Sea is one of my all-time favorite books, and I knew when I saw the cover reveal and the synopsis of Under the Whispering Door that I’d love it too - and I wasn’t wrong.

Wallace Price isn’t a good guy. He’s an attorney and, from what I can tell, he works in a similar branch as I do - helping plaintiffs in class action and personal injury claims. But he’s downright mean to everyone in his life, a fact which is proven not just from his behaviors at the start of the book, but also from the (extremely minimal) attendance at his funeral. But after Wallace dies and is taken to Charon’s Crossing Tea Shop by a grim reaper named Mei, things start to change. He meets Nelson and Apollo - a ghost man and a ghost dog - and, of course, Hugo, the Ferryman who is there to help him cross into the afterlife. Charon’s Crossing, after all, is just the in-between for people just after they’ve died but before they’ve passed on.

I don’t think I’m spoiling anything by saying that Hugo and Wallace fall in love (it’s in the book’s synopsis after all), and personally I loved the inclusion of a bisexual character, which is something I don’t see a ton of in television, film, and books. But beyond falling in love, Wallace also learns to be a much better man than he was when he was alive. I’ve seen the book described as a cross between The Good Place and A Man Called Ove and, while I haven’t read the latter, I do think that the comparison to The Good Place is accurate.

The characters in this book are so real and lovely, so that just finishing the book was heartbreaking in and of itself because I don’t get to read about them anymore. Beyond the characters themselves though, I loved Klune’s take on death and the afterlife as something we don’t just pop right into, but instead settle ourselves into accepting over the course of hours, days, or even weeks.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for the advance copy of Under the Whispering Door in exchange for my honest review (I literally screamed, out loud, when I saw that I’d been given an e-copy because I was just THAT excited).

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Book Review: Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune
50
TJ Klune is without a single shred of a doubt my favourite author discovery of all time. I have blazed through the Green Creek Series, House in the Cerulean Sea, The Extraordinaries, and now, the master of Found Family did it again with Under the Whispering Door.



Wallace Price was not a very nice man. A lawyer by trade, he was ruthless in getting whatever he wanted, and if someone got in his way, be it his long-term secretary, ex-wife, or law firm partners, he cut them out of his life without a second thought. So, when he wakes up at his own funeral after suffering a major heart attack, it's a bit of a surprise. Even more so when he discovers that the four people who bothered to show up to his funeral can't see him- but Mei can.

Mei is a reaper who brings Wallace to Charon's Crossing Tea Shop, where he meets the ferryman, Hugo, who will help him on his journey to the afterlife. Also inhabiting the tea shop are Apollo, Hugo's deceased dog, and Nelson, his grandfather and closest friend (also dead, just to be clear.) Through trial, error, and having his butt handed to him a couple of times, Hugo eventually does enough self-reflection to come to terms with the fact that he wasn't a very nice person in life, and seeks to make amends.

In addition to being as beautifully written as all of Klune's other works, Whispering Door is also full of prose that makes you stop, think, and yes, sometimes shed a tear. A couple of my favourites:

'"I can't grieve for myself."
Hugo shook his head slowly. "Of course you can. We do it all the time, regardless of if we're alive or not, over the small things and the big things. Everyone is a little bit sad all the time."

And

"...No matter what you do, no matter what kind of life you live, good or bad or somewhere in between, it's always going to be waiting for you. From the moment you're born, you're dying."

And

"He hoped wherever he was going that there'd still be the sun and the moon and the stars. He'd spent the majority of his life with his head turned down. It seemed only fair that eternity would allow him to raise his face toward the sky."

This book made me cry. How could it not? I think we all can see part of ourselves in Wallace. Who have we hurt to get where we are, to accomplish what we wanted to do?

Ultimately, this is a book about grief. This is a book about coming to terms with the life you lived and the people you hurt along the way. This is a book about love and regrets and that taste on your tongue when you realize, when you can really see where you went wrong in the past and know that no matter what, some things just cannot be fixed.

Also tea. It's also about tea.

This wasn’t an easy book to read. I realized that it was so well-written that I was feeling all the emotions that the characters felt. When Wallace was confused, stressed, or sad, I felt the same way.

"Under the Whispering Door" was both heartwarming and heartbreaking. It was about death, grief, and what comes after death. I found myself feeling anxious for the characters and sobbing multiple times - TJ Klune knows how to make me feel his words straight to my core. The characters, especially Wallace, were so multi-dimensional I felt I knew them and wanted to give them all a big hug. I loved this book so much!

What a lovely book.

Somehow this book is about life more than it’s about death, even with a reaper and a ferryman as main characters.

Seriously heartwarming. ❤️

I’m not at all surprised that this book was a 5 star read. Klune adds a quirky twist to reality in the same style as Cerulean Sea. The characters are all unique and interesting and the story flows so well. This is a story all about life, death, and what makes a family. Just like Cerulean Sea, the romance isn’t the primary plot but is important to the overall story. An adorable, not steamy, queer love story.

CW: Death (Suicide/Murder/Long Illness), depression, anxiety/panic attacks

Rep: MM (Gay/Bi)

While I felt the story dragged a bit, taking place in one setting for the majority of the book, the characters completely won me over. As with all of Klune’s books, the writing was fantastic and I laughed out loud so many times. The ending was just so perfect and I definitely cried more than once. I would definitely hand sell this one to any reader dealing with grief and mourning and needs a little laugh, even those who aren’t hardcore genre readers.

First thank you to @Netgalley who provided an advanced copy for review.

Second about the rating; 3 stars for me is a book I enjoyed reading, but don't forsee re-reading anytime soon.

Third, the review. To begin, my impression is that this is a character, not plot, driven book. What does that mean? It means that the story is really focused on character development, connections, and growth. For those familiar with anime or manga, its like the slice of life genre. Some plot does come into play about halfway through, with a snippet or two before that so it's not completely out of nowhere for the characters. As a result, the pacing can feel off. My advice is to keep going.
Overall it was an emotional journey. I didn't realize how well TJ Klune was able to build up my emotional connection to the characters until it was over.

Do I recommend it? Yes, yes I do. Dont expect to be able to compare it to The House in the Cerulean Sea; it's not that kind of story. As the blurb mentions, it centers around Wallace after his death. As you can imagine, that isn't a joyous event so be prepared for all of the emotions that come with that.

Wallace Price was a despicable human being. Mean, inconsiderate, and cold, he didn't care about anyone. Not his ex-wife, not his employees, no one. And then he died.

He is guided to a tea shop by a reaper, Mei, who has no interest in giving in to Wallace's demands to take him back. He wants to speak with someone who can bring him back to life. But no one can; he has to accept that he is dead and deal. So what happens when a man who is used to being powerful and feared has to ask for help and be powerless? Maybe he finds out what it means to be human.

This book was so beautiful. I cried a lot, in a good way. I couldn't put it down, but I didn't want it to end. The characters are so wonderful, and I felt attached to each and every one of them, even Wallace, but he took a few chapters to warm up to. And it's not all heavy. There were times I had to put my book down because I was laughing so hard. Highly recommend this book. T. J. Klune is, without a doubt, a singular writer who has found the balance between deep feelings and humor.

NetGalley sent me an advanced kindle version of this book early for my honest review. It doesn’t come out until September.

I have 20% left in this book but I have enjoyed reading it this week. It’s about death and life and love and happiness and hurt. And doing better. Highly recommend.

Those of you that are familiar with TJ Klune's work, you know it's high praise to compare something to The HOuse in the Cerulean Sea... And I'm currently fighting the internal struggle on whether or not I'm going to place this one above it or not in terms of pure joy... Both are fantastic, both are books you MUST read, and if you enjoy even the slightest bit of paranormal/after-life fiction, grab this book immediately!

7 out of 5 stars. I'll be buying multiple copies!

I got an advanced reader copy through NetGalley and boy howdy am I glad I did!

This book is WONDERFUL! A really rather awful man dies, is taken by a Reaper to a tea shop that is also an afterlife way station and...well, then stuff happens. Really wonderfully written and emotionally powerful stuff happens.

I read this book in about 6 hours. I didn't want it to end and couldn't wait to get to the end. It is in turns funny, hearfelt, and emotionally resonant. I cried multiple times during the last 20% of the book.

The book explores themes of loss, grief, and love. It also presents a cohesive and imaginative vision of the afterlife. I was reminded of authors like Christopher Moore and A. Lee Martinez who know how to build a fantastic framework into the modern world.

The characters are great, the story is engaging, and the writing is wonderfully paced. I loved, loved, LOVED this book!

I loved the author’s House by the Cerulean Sea, so I was looking forward to reading this novel. The premise is that Wallace, an extremely obnoxious lawyer, dies suddenly. He is met at his funeral by Mei, a reaper who guides him onto his next step, where he meets Hugo the ferryman, Hugo's grandfather Nelson, and Apollo, a friendly canine who is also dead. (Anyone who has lost an animal companion will like the description of Apollo’s passing: “He took a breath…and then, he didn’t. The vet said it was done. But he couldn’t see what we could. [Apollo] was still here. Full of pep and vigor as if all the ailments of life had just faded away.”) In some ways, the premise reminded me of the play Steambath, or a very long episode of The Twilight Zone--interesting, to be sure, but a bit drawn out. I also wondered about the deus ex machina ending. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.