Not that long ago, I was swept away by the The House in the Cerulean Sea, so when the chance came to review TJ Klune’s newest novel I was absolutely ready for it. As with Cerulean Sea, it is a gentle fantasy with a theme of kindness as a catalyst for change.

Wallace Price is a ruthless and self-centered lawyer: he loves order, routine, and efficiency and despises emotions and humanity. At the very beginning of the novel, he fires a woman for a single mistake she has made after working for him for 10 years. Two days later, Wallace is dead and watching his own funeral.

From there, Wallace is taken by a reaper to a way station where a ferryman will help him in the next stage of his journey. Hugo, the ferrryman runs the intentionally named Charon’s Crossing tea shop along with Mei, the reaper, and the ghost of his grandfather, Nelson, and his dog. At the top of the stairs to the fourth floor is the door that leads to the next stage.

As the similarities to Cerulean Sea began to emerge, I found myself increasingly enchanted by the novel. Wallace is an absolute pill at the beginning but the shock of dying and the bracing kindness of Hugo and Mei soon begin to have their effect. Clearly Mr Klune has a type for his love interest as Hugo is very much in the mold of Arthur from the previous novel.

As you might expect, the author has some pointed observations about living and dying, and I found myself snuffling quietly into a Kleenex on more than one occasion. The world he has created in the tea shop is so gorgeous and gentle, and the characters are so wonderfully appealing, that I wanted to visit (in an alive state) and have Hugo choose a tea for me to drink with one of Mei’s scones. Quite lovely and highly recommended.

Thanks to Tor and Netgalley for the digital review copy.

This was such a beautiful book. The story dragged at times, but the overall message of love and grief and happiness really got to me. Wallace is a guy with zero friends and who only cares about the bottom line of his business. Then he dies and he is basically caught in the in between and is struggling with the fact that he is dead and that he has to cross over at some point. Enter the magical tea shop run by the wonderful Hugo and the lovable Mei. I loved those characters and their tea shop SO MUCH!! Wallace was grumpy and rude and hard to like at times, but he had awesome growth as a character. This story was so fantastic and I really don't think I could say enough to do it justice. Plus, I don't want to give it away! But if you like Klune's other books, you will love this one.

Unfortunately I couldn’t really get into this story. I was hoping this novel would be as captivating as Cerulean Sea and I tried so hard to enjoy it but something about it fell flat. Would not personally recommend.

Wallace Price is a lawyer, and like many of his kind, he's cold, analytic, and mean. One day he wakes up at his own funeral and is soon escorted away by the newly minted reaper, Mei. At first, Wallace doesn't quite get what's happening and he's pretty calm. But he soon catches on and he suddenly wants to get back home and runs away. By this time he's arrived at Charon's Crossing at the teahouse run by Hugo, who just happens also to be the ferryman. It's while at this way-house that Wallace learns how to live.

This was a delightful read about living, dying, and changing one's ways. Wallace is pretty unlikeable at the start but he redeems himself over the course of the story and you can't help but cheer him on as he evolves. Hugo is like the calm in the storm and he is extremely talented at making tea and also at helping people to cross over. But Hugo's life isn't perfect and there's plenty of room for him to grow. He's accompanied at his teahouse by his grandfather, Nelson, and his old dog, Apollo, who are ghosts like Wallace and waiting to cross over. Except they have been there a long time, waiting for the time that Hugo is okay to be left behind. Mei has a fiery temper but is really good at her job, even though she's only just officially started. She also helps to run the tea house.

We meet many other characters, like the woman who "speaks" to spirits through a Ouija board, the mother of a child who crossed over in difficult circumstances, and a man who is a husk of himself after running away. Even Wallace's ex-wife gets some attention along the way as he reshapes himself during his time in the way house.

At the heart of this story, there's love, in a general sense and in a romantic sense. It never gets gushy or mushy and it all feels sincere and natural. Wallace learns how to love others and it changes his life.

Overall, this is a great book and I give it 4.5 stars. I would like to thank Netgalley and Tor for providing a free advanced reader copy. I have written this review voluntarily.

When I heard this book was the perfect combination of The Good Place and A Man Called Ove, I knew I HAD to read it. Under the Whispering Door felt like a warm, comforting hug. While it did deal with heavy topics such as death and regret, it had the most kind way of delving into these subjects. Thank you to the publisher for an advanced copy of this book.

This was not as good as Cerulean Sea, but I think it is also unfair to use Cerulean Sea as a benchmark. This was great in its own, unique way and I think that it deserves a lot of attention too!

Amazing magical delightful perfect. TJ Klune gets better and better each release and that is saying something!

DNF. I couldn't make myself finish reading this book because it was so boring and twee. Clearly not for the cynical likes of me.

Another witty, heartfelt story from T.J. Klune.

Similar to The House in the Cerulean Sea, the story starts with Wallace. A man who follows the rules and never cares about anyone but himself. After dying, he begins to see things differently and changes as Hugo, Mei and Nelson help him. The story was thoughtful and I loved all of the characters especially Nelson.

Sometimes the story seemed to drag but everything mentioned was important to the story and Wallace. The ending was so sad yet so perfect

The House in the Cerulean Sea was one of my favourite books of 2020. So naturally, I jumped at the chance to read Under the Whispering Door as well. Unlike Cerulean Sea, this wasn’t an instant hit with me – but it won me over completely before the halfway point and that’s vanishingly rare. It counts for something.

Wallace, a cold-hearted asshole of a lawyer, suddenly finds himself dead. From his own funeral, attended by few and mourned by no one, a reaper leads him to a quaint little teashop, where Hugo, a ferryman, serves tea to both the living and the dead who need to cross over.

Just like in Cerulean Sea, Klune manages to handle some heavy topics like death and redemption in a very light, readable, and heartwarming way. I loved the slow character development and the compassion, the found family vibes, how slice of life it was. If there’s a list of tropes that can make me love a book, that would be it.

The one thing I didn’t like all the way through was the humour. At the beginning, it relied too much on Wallace ending up in embarrassing situations or being frustrated for my liking. Sure, he wasn’t a great person before he died. But that doesn’t really matter to me – if I have a least favourite type of humour, that would be it. I was getting worried whether it might be a dealbreaker. Luckily, it got infinitely better at some point after the first third or so, and the rest was smooth sailing. Which surprised me.

In fact, Under the Whispering Door is one of the very few books that managed to win me over completely after some initial doubts. That alone makes it something special.

Recommended, and make yourself a cup of tea while you’re at it.

While a romantic fantasy about a newly deceased man, who to be honest wasn't that great of a guy during his life, and the bureaucracy of the afterlife seems like a reach, in the hands of T.J. Klune it really really works. Like REALLY works. Klune's gentle and thoughtful work is at the forefront of a movement towards a new kind of fantasy. For everyone who is sick to death of Grimdark, here comes Hopepunk. Or Noblebright. Fantasy readers haven't quite reached an agreement about what to call it. But they are loving it.

Read this if you are sick of books filled with murder, rape, and betrayal. Read this for happy, joyful, gloriously queer gentleness. Read it if you are sick of queerbaiting, or of the one and only queer character being killed off. Read this for a hug in book form.

You're welcome.

Thanks to Netgally for the review copy. I loved this book. It was a wonderful, cozy, a times hilarious, at times heart wrenching and heartwarming story. Klune tackles grief and death in this story but adds love, laughter and plenty of tears. It definitely brings the message of live life to the fullest to the front of ones mind when reading this book.

Klune is the master of writing that feels like a hug and characters that you wish you could keep hanging out with. This book is sure to make you laugh, cry and melt you on the inside. I highly recommend that you check it out. It is a great story to devour curled up in a nice warm spot with your fav warm deink this fall season.

Excellent story! Totally engrossing!. Looking forward to reading more by this author! Could not put this down!

My colleagues loved TJ Klune's first book (which I haven't read - YET) so when I saw this title on Netgalley I immediately requested it.
I was intrigued by the opening chapter, because you are introduced to an unlikeable main character. But as the story develops Wallace learns what life can be like, and how beautiful it can be.

Synopsis: Welcome to Charon's Crossing.
The tea is hot, the scones are fresh, and the dead are just passing through.

When a reaper comes to collect Wallace from his own funeral, Wallace begins to suspect he might be dead.

And when Hugo, the owner of a peculiar tea shop, promises to help him cross over, Wallace decides he’s definitely dead.

But even in death he’s not ready to abandon the life he barely lived, so when Wallace is given one week to cross over, he sets about living a lifetime in seven days.

Hilarious, haunting, and kind, Under the Whispering Door is an uplifting story about a life spent at the office and a death spent building a home.

Review:
Wallace isn't the kind of character it is easy to relate to or root for but somehow that seems to be Klune's sweet spot for characters that make you feel things deeply and break your heart a little bit. Despit knowing this book was about death I wasn't prepared for this book to be so heartfelt or heartwarming.
I should've know after reading The House on the Cerulean Sea, but I was still suprised by how much I enjoyed this story in this crazy world. Wallace is a well developed character and Klune proves again he is capable and talented at writing exceptional books.

How can you love something so much and have it break your heart at the same time? A different look at the connected between life and death. Overwhelming heartwarming, comforting and heartbreaking with a splash of laughter

Quick and Dirty: This book is a beautiful Soul. I finished it months ago, and posted on bookstagram a small release day review, but had been trying to find the words for my review on here about this book. But I think that first sentence sums it up. It is a beautiful soul. It is full of warmth, love, sadness, denial, acceptance, courage and more, all wrapped up in a hug between the covers of these pages. You will cry, you will laugh, and you will not want it to end. You start out hating the MC, he is an ass, but by the end, you will love him. Trust me, you will.

TJ Klune is definitely an auto buy author for me, and for good reason. I highly, highly, recommend his books, especially this one, and The House in the the Cerulean Sea. They are among my all time favorites, and for good reason. These books have a little bit of everyone in their pages, they deal with acceptance and feeling seen, and other hard topics, but in an absolute beautiful way.

**Possible Trigger Warnings: This book deals with death, in all its forms. Suicide, Murder, Natural and Accidental; as well as the stages of grief. It maybe hard for some.

Thank you to Macmillan-Tor/Forge via Netgalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Under The Whispering Door is the second book by T J Klune I have read. I will say I was a little hesitant at first because The House In The Cerulean Sea is a book I keep very close to my chest - I give copies of it out to all my friends and frequently press it into the hands of customers at work.
I was pleasantly surprised by The Whispering Door - although it was a heavier subject in my eyes, it was dealt with in such a loving and gentle manner. Klune has a way with taking a very character driven plot and within a few sentences, you fall for the characters.

We follow Wallace, a man who had a boring life being quite a dick, as he navigates being dead with the help of his Reaper Mei and the ferryman Hugo, who both live and work in a weirdly built tea shop, along with the ghosts of Hugo’s grandad Nelson and Hugo’s beloved dog Apollo. In being dead, Wallace learns to be a better human being to those around him and also to have a little care for strangers - you never know what someone may be going through and life isn’t all about reports and the numbers adding up at your legal firm.

Klune effortlessly addresses the afterlife in a gentle way, not giving too much away and leaving a lot of it up to mystery and the imagination - which I found rather comforting.

This was a warm mug of tea on a chilly, wet autumn morning in a cosy tea house. It’ll make you laugh, cry and clutch at your heart in a completely different way to Cerulean Sea. I look forward to anything else this author publishes, as he just keeps hitting all the right notes.

4.5 stars

Even though the author’s note contains a spoiler, and even though it takes on quite a few heavy issues for book of its length and genre, Under the Whispering Door drew me in and held my heart in a vice grip through the very end.

As in Cerulean Sea, Klune creates a really fun cast of fantastic characters for the protagonist to encounter. He also maintains a skillful balance between emotional intensity and comic relief, each done exceptionally well on its own. Some of the scenes are so dramatic that they seem to be written especially with a movie version in mind. Perhaps we will see one? In the meantime, readers can bask in the afterglow of this one and wait impatiently for the next.

Thank you to T.J. Klune, Tor Books, and NetGalley for an Advance Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed The House on the Cerulean Sea much like everyone else, and Under the Whispering Door. definitely lived up to my expectations from that book! He's great at creating such warm, welcoming, and safe feeling worlds while also staying interesting through embracing topics such as death and grief. A really great read from the master of queer comfort reads.