TJ Klune writes with such sweetness, and I love how intentional he is about representation.
This was a pleasant story, but it was as if Klune was trying to force Wallace’s and Hugo’s story into the formula that worked so well in The House in the Cerulean Sea. And the fit was kind of awkward.
Charming, but without that special magic.

Thank you, NetGalley and Macmillan, for the electronic arc.

For some reason, this one just didn't hit the way that Cerulean Sea did. I think it was the characters—I felt very attached to the characters in Sea very quickly, and at a third of the way through this one I didn't feel much for any of them yet.

After reading The House in the Cerulean Sea, I had high expectations for Under the Whispering Door. And while it met those expectations, I didn’t find myself as completely drawn in as I did with The House in the Cerulean Sea.

That being said, TJ Klune has a way of making the characters so realistic that they hurt to read about. One of my favorite things about this book is that, while I didn’t relate very much to any of the characters, I still was able to connect with them. Every character felt like a real person, and I loved every one of them.

The only thing I didn’t like as much about this book is that the worldbuilding felt a little bland. I was left with so many questions in the end, and there were a few worldbuilding plot holes that irritated me. The character development more than made up for it, but I was a little disappointed that my questions about the setting weren’t answered.

Overall, I loved this book. Not quite as much as I loved The House in the Cerulean Sea, but all the same, it was one of my favorite books this year. And now I want a cup of tea.

“TJ Klune’s Under the Whispering Door cleanses my soul with hope, humanity, and the perfect cup of tea. Klune’s prose is dazzling—Under the Whispering Door sparkles, entertains, and enchants, all while sharing incredible insights on loss, acceptance, and dignity. The characters and world that Klune creates are whimsical, fantastical, even mythic—yet ever so heart-wrenchingly relatable. There is so much to love in Under the Whispering Door, but what I love the most is its compassion for the little things--a touch, a glance, a precious piece of dialogue—healing me, telling me that for all the strangenesses I hold, I am valued, valid—and maybe even worthy of love.”—Ryka Aoki, Light from Uncommon Stars.

T.J. Klune seems to have invented a genre that I simply can’t get enough of: corporate fantasy. He takes something marvelous and full of fancy and turns it into something regulated, full of paperwork and tedium. This sounds awful, of course, but THEN, somehow, astoundingly, he gives it a soft landing. He puts the whimsy back into it. He assures his readers again and again that he gets it, that in the end it’s all about love, and compassion, and connection.
I simply adored this sweet, hilarious book. If you loved The House in the Cerulean Sea I am sure you’ll love this one as well, but for new Klune readers, this will appeal to fans of The Good Place and Terry Pratchett and anyone looking for a story about death that has, and I only give this minor spoiler to reassure, an unashamedly JOYFUL, champagne-glasses-clinking happy ending.

A wonderfully soft, poignant book on death, life and love. This book quite literally broke my heart, and I loved it. A new favourite.

Categories:
•
I had heard of TJ Klune after his 2020 novel The House in the Cerulean Sea garnered critical acclaim and a lot of reader attention. I haven't quite managed to get around to it just yet, but I jumped at the chance to review his latest, Under the Whispering Door. The premise struck me as a Mitch Albom-esque fantasy tale that would warm the heart while it simultaneously shattered it into a thousand pieces.
Unfortunately, that wasn't quite the case for me.
Don't get me wrong - I enjoyed the novel and found it a nice read, definitely not a bore or a chore. However, it did feel a little juvenile and simplistic at times. The humour came across like the author was trying too hard, and as such it was a little cringey. The characterisation also felt a little basic, and most of the characters were quite one-note, with only the obligatory development that would allow the plot to progress -- said development was very much in the 'tell' rather than 'show' kind of writing too, which didn't help matters.
A last gripe was that the first two-thirds of the novel were quite slow, and the stakes didn't really come into play until the final third. I felt that the ratio should really be the other way around, and it should have been the first third that was slow, with the rest building up to a climax.
All that said, I still enjoyed the novel. I found it charming and delightfully queer, and will most likely still check out Cerulean Sea in the near future.
•
I will post this review on my Instagram and Goodreads sometime in the next few weeks, and will update the review link accordingly at that time.

Thank you to NetGalley and TJ Klune for the advanced copy of this book. I don’t know how TJ Klune does it but his books always manage to hit me in all of my feelings.

What happens after we die is something most people wonder about. I know that I do. This book is so beautifully written and gives such a wonderful picture of what could be once we are no longer here physically.

I was lucky enough to get an ARC through NetGalley. If you, like me, walked into this book expecting the literary warm hug of The House on the Cerulean Sea, you are in for a rude awakening. Under the Whispering Door is an incredible novel about grief, death and all of our emotions around death. TJ Klune does an incredible job of making you love, even the most unlovable, characters. This is a story you feel down to your deepest soul. Amazing book, I just pre-ordered the hardcover so I could share this with friends and family.

TJ Klune has been publishing for a while, but he only really showed up on my radar with The House in the Cerulean Sea (one of our Subjective Kind of Chaos nominees!). And while I loved that one, I’d say that he levelled up with Under the Whispering Door. It takes the cosy atmosphere of Cerulean Sea, and adds further depth to it by discussing death and the afterlive(s). I should say at this point, Under the Whispering Door comes with a massive trigger warning of death, self-harm and suicide. If those are topics that cause you discomfort or might trigger distress, please avoid reading.

If the trigger warnings I mentioned above don’t put you off this, please, please pick this up. It is amazing and beautiful and it talks about tea so much – and tea is the second best thing when you need to feel better (the best thing being a good book). Hugo is the most adorable cinnamon roll character and I love him to bits. Its not his story, first and foremost, but he is what made me fall for it. Because Wallace is a DICK. A huge self-centred dumbass. And that is his main story arc. Coming to terms with who he is and growing into someone bigger and better than himself. He’s the kind of person who fires an employee because they made a tiny mistake after twenty years at the company with no second thought.

But all that changes after Wallace dies and meets Hugo. Accompanied by a charming cast of side characters, he undergoes a massive character development arc in a sort of halfway-house between life and death, where Hugo acts as a ferryman. Under the Whispering Door brings back all the charm that made people fall for The House in the Cerulean Sea, except that it’s deeper, expanding the comfy vibes to philosophising about life and death and how to make the most of the time we have with the people we love.

This is a delightful book, with fantastic quirky characters, a cute queer romance and feelgood vibes, while still addressing deeper themes and trauma. I highly recommend it.

TJ Klune really brought it in this one. This is so much like The House in the Cerulean Sea, yet worlds apart. But it made me sob all the same. IT’S SO FREAKING CUTE.

In this novel we follow Wallace Pierce, a mundane divorced businessman running a firm with his three friends. He’s a no-nonsense kind of guy, with no sense of humour whatsoever and takes everything seriously. And I mean everything. He doesn’t exactly believe in anything. All he wants is to keep working in his firm and get the satisfaction of firing employees.

So I guess you can believe me when I say that Wallace is quite dumbfounded to find himself standing in front of his casket looking at his lifeless body on the day of his funeral. He’s then whisked away by a Reaper, Mei, to a tea shop, where he meets his ferryman, Hugo, Nelson, who is Hugo’s grandfather, and Apollo, a wholesome little dog.

From the moment he sets foot in the tea shop, Wallace simply refuses to believe he’s dead. He witnesses the weirdest of things, from not being able to touch anyone or anything, to a hook with a cable protruding out of his chest. He eventually begins to grasp the idea, as he becomes closer to everyone.

I simply adored the found family trope in this book. At first, everyone except Hugo is not very keen about him. But it’s what they’re meant to do (help lost souls cross over, that is), so they do it. But as they learn stuff about each other, and themselves, they draw closer, and are soon an inseparable band of best friends.

Hugo and Wallace are my new favourite otp. They’re literally so cute together and have stolen my heart. I liked that it wasn’t a very insta-lovey situation and eventually grew into something they both never expected.

Hugo is a very optimistic, calm person (yes he’s alive), and helps Wallace understand the true meaning of life and death and how we need to live life to the fullest because we might never have enough time.

Nelson is the sweetest grandfather ever, and Apollo and him make a great pair. They’re the kind of people you could never get bored of and would always want to be around. Mei too. I love that we have Asian representation in this book through her. She’s such a feisty, sassy young woman, and I can’t help but love her! She’s such a mood!

There’s so much conflict in the story, which I definitely wasn’t expecting, but it only made the book more enjoyable and worthwhile.

Oooh the ending. You think you know what’s going to happen. Trust me, whatever you’re thinking, it’s not going to happen. My jaw was left hanging. It’s a not a plot twist, per se, but it’s so unexpected that I wouldn’t have seen it coming from miles away.

Overall, Under the Whispering Door is my newest addition to my favourites shelf, and I CANNOT WAIT FOR EVERYONE TO CRY OVER THIS WITH ME.

I'm just pasting this review from GoodReads so I hope HTML carries over to NetGalley. If not...my bad.

<b> This ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, as follows.</b>

I want to preface this review by saying that I will undoubtedly make comparisons to <i>The House in the Cerulean Sea</i> due to the fact that I finished that book just last month. It was as I was reading that when I came across Klune's next novel and knew immediately that it was going to be the kind of niche concept I loved, so take heed: SPOILERS AHEAD.
<blockquote><i>"Exactly. Underneath the bitterness, it has an herbal note with an aftertaste that's like lingering honey. You have to get through the bitter to find it, though."
Wallace sighed. "One of those things where you say one thing but mean something else."
Hugo smiled. "Or it's just tea. Doesn't need to mean something when it's already so complex."</i></blockquote>
<b>THE SUMMARY:</b>

Wallace Price is dead. This part, at least, is not a spoiler. Our protagonist finds himself joining the afterlife -- or, more accurately, what comes <i>between</i> being alive and dead -- in the very first chapter of the novel. It isn't until Wallace has left the world of the living that he begins to examine his own life and the choices he's made, and the person he's become. With the help of Mei, his personal Grim Reaper, Nelson and Apollo, his fellow ghosts, and Hugo, the ferryman tasked with helping him cross over when he's good and ready, Wallace will discover in death what truly matters.

<spoiler>

<b>THE REVIEW:</b>

BUT if that was a bit convoluted, it goes something like this: Wallace dies, shows up at his own sparsely attended funeral to learn that everybody in his life considered him a huge asshole, and then he's brought to a little tea shop to be told the ins and outs of his new existence as a ghost. He's given a choice: cross over immediately, or stick around until he feels ready. Of course, Wallace chooses option 3: running for his "life."

I was expecting to like <i>Under the Whispering Door</i> from the get-go because the concept of the book had already hooked me, but I wasn't anticipating how emotional it would make me. Wallace's journey and self-reflection had my throat closing up at times, and had me legitimately shedding tears during others. Thankfully, Klune injects enough humor into the novel to keep the heavier topics from settling too deeply to enjoy the read. There's a lovable set of side characters, and even the penultimate "antagonist" of the novel, Cameron, still has human grievances beneath the horror we see when we first meet him. Our primary antagonist, who I consider to be the Manager, is the only character we don't truly connect with, and it's because of his lack of humanity, what with being a primordial and cosmic being controlling that can manipulate death itself. <i>Under the Whispering Door</i> cuts to the bone of what it means to be human--to be able to look back on your life and say "I lived, I was here, I did that." I won't lie: it's a challenging read. There were a few points where I put down the novel when my brain whispered things like <i>but IS there sentience after death or is it just a huge abyss</i>? or <i>does the dog even know he's dead</i>? as I was reading. I also can't proclaim to love the ending. I'm as tired of the 'bury your gays' trope as the next queer gal, but I did feel that Wallace actually reaching the other side of the door would have been a beautifully tender ending, with the epilogue perhaps being Hugo and he reuniting on the other side after many years had passed. I fully cried when Cameron and Nelson each went through, so I'm sure that scene would have been incredibly emotional. Alas, that was not the ending we got, and I'll leave it at that.

If you enjoyed Klune's last novel, I think it's safe to say you'll like this one too so long as the heavier subject matter doesn't push you away (topics including suicide, mental health, manipulating the grieving, and some generally creepy behavior on behalf of a health inspector that's swiftly brought to an end). Personally, I think this has been Klune's best work so far (though I did get a huge kick out of his novella/short story <i>Blasphemy!</i>).

</spoiler>

Star Rating: ★★★★★ (i.e. "I want to tell everyone to read this book but am unfortunately too poor to buy it myself")

Klune has a truly talented way of writing LGBTQIA+ characters in a relatable and down-to-earth way. His characters never fail to leave you wishing that you could pull them from the page, and his stories are fresh and unique. Under the Whispering Door is filled with heart-wrenching AND heart-warming moments that make this book yet another masterpiece from Klune. I'm looking forward to recommending this book to my high schoolers.

As charming and heartwarming as The House in the Cerulean Sea! I loved every single character. Every line shone!

TJ Klune does it again!!!! I absolutely loved this one. TJ Klune will be an auto-buy author for me! Love his stories.

TJ Klune has joined my short-list of must read authors. In Under the Whispering Door, successful attorney Wallace Price finds himself at his own funeral. He is collected by a "Reaper," a young woman who will take him to a "ferryman" who will help him to cross over. But Wallace doesn't cross over immediately. Instead, he finds himself at a tea shop, run by the "ferryman," Hugo, with the Reaper as baker and the ghosts of Hugo's grandfather and dog also inhabiting the place. We join Wallace as he works through various stages of grief, and finds himself falling in love with Hugo. Wallace becomes a better person in death than he was in life.

I have to admit that I cried...a lot...while reading this novel. I have heard that sometimes the book you need finds you when you need it. I was working through a loss as I was reading Under the Whispering Door. TJ Klune has a remarkable ability to reach people's hearts. Thank you NetGalley and Tor Books for allowing me to read the eARC.

*grabs tissues*
I’m about twenty minutes out from finishing it and I’ve spent the last two hours nonstop crying.

Apart from one other writer, Klune has made me cry with every single book I’ve read. He has such a fluid and easy way with his writing and it’s never difficult to understand the meanings behind his books.

The book is about life, grief, death, love, acceptance and every other thing between. I genuinely wasn’t expecting such a hard hitting story, yet I feel like my hearts been pulled out of my chest and stamped on.

Every character you meet through out the book is so unique and so vastly different, even the characters that are unlikable...are still likeable, which I think is one of Klune’s best weapons when it comes to writing.

I don’t want to give much away when it comes to the story, but be prepared to spend hours looking at different types of teas, how much it costs to run a business and looking around your rooms, just waiting to hear faints shouts from someone on the other side.

A week ago, this book would not have had as profound an effect on me as it did. On Wednesday, I lost a dear friend and on Thursday, I started Under the Whispering Door.

Klune is both considerate and considering of death and the effect it has on those across the experience in this book. I was worried about the premise of the story going in, having so recently lost a friend. But I had read the House in the Cerulean Sea earlier this year and had faith that TJ Klune would write a book that would both comfort me and put many things into perspective. I was right.

It really resonated with me in deep and personal way and I can’t wait for more of my friends to read it because you know I am going to be telling every friend I have who has ever read a book that they should read it.

I write this through teary eyes. This book was magic that I didn't know I needed in my life. I felt very comfortable and safe in the space of Charon's Crossing. I laughed and cried and hiccuped because that's what happens when you laugh AND cry at the same time.

Beautiful. Healing. Comforting.

I deeply enjoyed this novel. Under the Whispering Door was heartbreaking and hopeful. There are not enough books that tackle topics of death and grief while still being uplifting. I didn't know what to expect going into this book. I had read The House in the Cerulean Sea and had somewhat expected more of the same, a story that makes me forget about my troubles and pulls me into the story. Under the Whispering Door provided similar effects but pulled harder on the heartstrings making the reader feel as if they were also experiencing the five stages of grief.