Another awesome book by TJ Klune. I felt this was a great addition to their other works and I cannot wait to see more from them. Definitely will be recommending to my coworkers and friends.

I really wanted to like this but I ... strongly disliked it right from the beginning all the way to the end and I just about have nothing nice to say about it? I'm ... I don't know, I'm sorry I really tried and I was really excited to read it, hoping for a 5 star read based on all the reviews but god damn, everything about this infuriated me.

The main character starts off as a cartoonish villain akin to that of Ebenezer Scrooge, except Scrooge is actually an interesting character and Wallace is most definitely not! He's simply an asshole in a way that can only exist in children's books because human beings do not act like that. And what's worse: he's an asshole for no reason, there's no backstory to explain, nothing to justify, not one single redeeming quality in his entire life and background and then, very quickly within the first 10-15 pages of the book, he dies and he suddenly stops being an asshole, again for no reason, and is now just mainly a stupid fool.

He is then taken by his seemingly incompetent (yet cool and quirky!) reaper to a tea house to prepare for "crossing over" (idk man) and he has to come to accept that he's dead. Except that this acceptance is super muddled because it seems like he has accepted? He is aware that he's dead, he was at his own funeral? Yet ... the logic here and this whole segment's character needs & wants are just up in the air for me (and for the writer, many many times it's mentioned that Wallace doesn't know what he wants and what he's hoping to get and like ... then what's the point?!). He remains a stupid fool for a while until a few chapters down the line where he, AGAIN for no reason suddenly turns into a cartoonish hero that inspires all and fixes everything and has all the magical answers to all of life's deepest questions and is now worthy of the brooding handsome ferryman who owns the teashop.

There is not even a shred of character development here, there's no redemption arc because there's no depth to this character (or any of the other caricatures that litter the book) and there's no excitement or joy or even sadness whenever things happen just because everything feels like a children's 2D drawing and all the events just fall so damn flat. The roman comes absolutely out of nowhere, does not develop, and does not serve any kind of a purpose rather than to try and humanize Wallace but like ... it doesn't work if it's sudden!!!

There are pages and pages filled with ridiculous things like Wallace's attempts at changing out of whatever he's wearing (which he died in) or him messing with a fake medium or descriptions of tea and its importance and it's all just so pointless, jumping from one branch to another without any sense of coherence. There are so many potentially touching issues brushed upon here, in a book about death and grief and the various types of loss, there wasn't a single moment where I felt like the book was moving me or able to make its point and I'm super disappointed in that to be honest. I'm not even going to mention the ending because I had just completely lost faith in the book and was just reading to get it over with but man ... all signs point to a book that doesn't really know what its message is, to be honest.

The House in the Cerulean Sea blew me away. So charming and cosy. So naturally I had high expectations for Under the Whispering Door, and it did not disappoint! Yet, it also wasn’t quite what I was expecting.

This was a slow burner story, and it took some time to become invested. Some moments with more telling than showing, but mostly a flowing, easy to read story.

Klune excels with his characters. They are quirky and endearing. They immediately wormed their way into my heart. I love the found family trope, and it excels here.

Overall, another quality installment from Klune.

Like everyone else, I adored TJ Klune's previous adult fantasy The House in the Cerulean Sea. To be clear, Under the Whispering Door is not a sequel to that book (despite the similar cover art style) and I knew this going in, but I still had high hopes for it. Ultimately, I found this novel very readable and the characters endearing, but at the end I found myself asking that dreaded (to me) question: what was the point? I can't say that this book does much either in contribution to the genre or really that it made me think on any interesting ideas. The plot felt overly simple, to the point that it wasn't satisfying in the end. Though I was honestly disappointed here, I will still be looking out for Klune's next adult fantasy/fiction book because I do think he's capable of much better.

I think I would have had a different opinion of this book if a) I had read other Klune books first or b) my grandfather had not recently passed. This was an excellent depiction of grief but was not as strong as "The House in the Cerulean Sea"

this is not a bad book by any means, but it was not the book for me.

so, i'm going to try and keep this review short.

i found under the whispering door to be plentiful in platitudes (as trite as, literally, “it was better to have had it... than to never have had it at all”) and lacking in emotional poignancy for me personally. my hopes were uplifted toward the middle of the book when i started developing genuine affection for and connections to wallace, hugo, nelson, mei, and apollo, but my enjoyment was utterly robbed by (view spoiler): it felt like all that the book was (hopefully) building up to - with its navigation of the complexities of grief and moving on and letting go - was suddenly relinquished in favour of something more along the lines of wish fulfillment and ultimately far less satisfying.

again, for me personally.

last thing i want to mention: i know that this book underwent review by sensitivity readers, and yet i still am dissatisfied with its depiction of the three key BIPOC characters: hugo, nelson, and mei. the reason is simple - they seemed to exist primarily to help wallace, a cis white man, develop and grow. in other words, hugo, nelson, and mei were flattened into magical BIPOC, both in a literal sense (they are ferryman, ghost, and reaper, respectively) but i am also specifically invoking the tired, problematic trope in which BIPOC happily provide tireless emotional labour for the sake of bettering white characters. i don't think this was the book's intention, but this was nonetheless its impression and impact on me.

bottom line, though: i could totally see this becoming a blockbuster film that gets folks WEEPING in theatres. tj klune's writing would translate *seamlessly* into a dramedy, and someone should make that happen stat!


many thanks to netgalley & macmillan-tor/forge for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

TJ Klune does not disappoint.

Under the Whispering Door handles life's most difficult questions with compassion and tenderness. In Klune's typical style, all of the characters are loving, willing to change, and also perfectly funny.

I really enjoyed Mei and Nelson the most, as secondary characters they really shine.

This book did make me cry, but luckily not as much as I was expecting. It was the stories of the other people passing through the tea shop that made me start sobbing.

The themes of Under the Whispering Door have been explored by authors a million times over, but TJ Klune found a unique way to discuss them. I am so glad that there was a happy, if bittersweet ending.

Wow! All I can say is wow! I’m speechless by how brilliant this book was. TJ Klune has created a literary masterpiece and I cannot recommend it enough

An incredible follow up to House on the Cerulean Sea. I had such high hopes going into this book, and this book upheld them all. TJ Klune has written another addictive story.

I thought I would like this book. I really enjoyed The House in the Cerulean Sea. However, this book fell a bit flat for me. Under the Whispering Door follows the life...or in this case death of Wallace Price, a curmudgeonly lawyer. Wallace is a jerk, and he doesn't care who he hurts. After firing one of his paralegals, Wallace suffers a fatal heart attack. After his death he meets Mei, his reaper. Wallace is incredulous about his recent death and wants to keep business going as normal. Mei eventually introduces Wallace to Hugo, his ferryman. Hugo and Mei change Wallace's "life" in this tale reminiscent of a modern day Christmas Carol. I found myself struggling to like Wallace, despite his new and improved attitude in the afterlife.

Quirky characters, a tea shop, a love story, and learning the lesson to be a better person and to enjoy life while you can. These are all things I took away from Under the Whispering Door.

Wallace Price is not a nice person - a lawyer, he values efficiency and winning over all else, including human relationships. So when he suddenly dies of a heart attack, there are few mourners at his funeral. This is Wallace's journey to discover what his life actually meant and what he was missing from it. Wallace is a character that experiences a ton of growth throughout this story as he finds a place to be happy.

Favorite Quote: “The first time you share tea, you are a stranger. The second time you share tea, you are an honored guest. The third time you share tea, you become family.

If you liked House on the Cerulean Sea you'll love this one too!

Thank you NetGalley, TJ Klune and Tor Books for this ARC - I am left with a strong reminder we only live once and to make each day count!

Thank you NetGalley for this book.

Oh wow does TJ Klune knock it out of the park again! I loved The House in the Cerulean Sea and wasn’t sure what to expect this time around. Granted, this book isn’t in any way related to Cerulean, but a second effort might not be as rewarding. But this book is just wonderful. Full of heart and love and kindness and all that is good in the world.

From Goodreads: When a reaper comes to collect Wallace Price from his own funeral, Wallace suspects he really might be dead.

Instead of leading him directly to the afterlife, the reaper takes him to a small village. On the outskirts, off the path through the woods, tucked between mountains, is a particular tea shop, run by a man named Hugo. Hugo is the tea shop’s owner to locals and the ferryman to souls who need to cross over.

But Wallace isn’t ready to abandon the life he barely lived. With Hugo’s help he finally starts to learn about all the things he missed in life.

At first, you really hate Wallace. He’s a terrible person, but to really appreciate how he evolves, he has to start out rough. You love Hugo and the others in the tea shop (no spoilers), and watching certain people move in and out of their lives is interesting. But the kindness that Hugo shows from day one is so wonderful. Klune, in my book, has written another lovely book. I will gladly recommend him to anyone and look forward to his next publication.

RATING: 3/5 STARS

I am a huge TJ Klune fan, so it's a bummer I didn't love this book like his others. The concept was so unique and I ordered the setup for the story. I just wasn't able to connect with any of the characters and there wasn't enough action for me propelling the story forward.

TJ Klune just knows how to write a book that will take you away from this world and you are so happy about it. Under the Whispering Door is magical and captivating and I can't wait to read more and more from Klune. This book will pull at your heartstrings and it will make your feel so great.

This damn book took me half its length to get into because the main character was such an asshole. I did not like him and that clouded my judgment of the other characters. But something changed halfway through. He changed and I was suddenly flying through the book and by the end I was crying. It was beautiful but by golly, it was ugly as a husk (read the book and you'll know) in the first half or so. I was reminded of the movie Ghost through this whole book, of the denial, anger, acceptance, and reluctance of death. Then the joy of life, the celebration of life, and memory of life. I found much of the words meaningful by the end and damn if the feeling, if not the words, are going to stay with me.

I forgot to review this one, but this one was definitley different from house in the cerulean sea. The writing was still really good though! I’d be interested to see a YA fantasy like this

This book took a while to kick off and the author had to work to change my mind about Wallace. Ultimately it's a sweet queer love story about death and how to really live.

A delightful book full of adventure, action, and thrills. Fun to read, engrossing world building, and very descriptive imagery made it feel like it was cinematic. It's hard to resist the story as it drives forward. Would recommend.

“𝘋𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘢 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘞𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦. 𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨.”

What an absolutely special book. I was one of the many readers gushing over last years The House in the Cerulean Sea, so I was absolutely thrilled when I received a copy of Klune’s follow up. While the cover of Under the Whispering Door definitely elicits the same feelings as The House in the Cerulean Sea, this is most certainly not a sequel, and indeed is written for a slightly different audience.

I admittedly had a hard time sinking into the writing style, which felt a bit tonally unbalanced. The language, moral cadence, and humor all feel middle-grade—and even a bit slapstick—but then there’s cursing and conversations about sex…so not middle-grade. It feels like TJ Klune is writing to a demographic that is specifically adults wanting middle-grade stories.

Which—look—I’m all for that.

I often argue that adults should engage in younger stories (ahem, watch cartoons) so if this is becoming a new genre, I’m in. It just means that the writing is something I needed to acclimate to.

And once I settled into the writing, I found the story to be fantastic. The conversations around setting boundaries were especially delightful, and some of the scenes had me outright sobbing and running to my fiancé for extra hugs. Read this book, and make sure you have a box of tissues handy.

This book is so well written, I found myself devouring it before I could stop myself! The characters are affable and the plot is most interesting! I would re-read it in a heartbeat!