The premise of this book was interesting and had potential, but it fell a bit flat and came across more Hallmark-y. The plot was very disjointed, slow, and quite random. The characters did develop, but their development came out of left field and didn't add much to the plot or the progression of the story, in my opinion. The imagery was really powerful and well done, so kudos to the author's ability to paint vivid scenes and settings. Overall, it wasn't the book for me, but the descriptive work was well done.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for giving me a free eARC of this book to read in exchange for my review!

So much emotional torment in this one. It took 3 days to read it because the beginning of the book was so depressing. I enjoyed it. It was good the ending left us filled with hope.

I just can’t get behind this author knowing how problematic Cerulean Sea was. I’ve now tried a couple of times and I just can’t do it.

Of course, I had to read Under the Whispering Door after falling madly in love with The House in the Cerulean Sea. This is a very different story, and much harder for me to read - it deals deeply with grief and death and you'll either buy into the characters or you won't. Did I like Wallace? No, I did not but similarly to House in the Cerulean Sea it seems that Klune likes to take unlikeably curmudgeons of characters and take you on an emotional journey with them. I did enjoy Cerulean Sea much more, I thought that Linus was much more redeemable than Wallace. Death and grieving are very close to my heart, I'm not sure if those who have not dealt with a very close death in their life will want to give Wallace a chance. I thought this book was heartwrenching, beautiful at times, and pretty difficult to get through without tissues close by.

A story and world full of charm, Under the Whispering Door will grip you from the first page and never let you go. The characters shine on every page and feel oh so real. This is a beautifully crafted story and romance filled with magic.

This was an ok story, I didn’t like nor did i hate it. I like the authors writing style and will continue to read from her.

This book was such a nice warm hug that I didn't know I needed until I read it! TJ Klune is fantastic at writing books that have a strong "found family" plot. The book opens up with a sarcastic main character who just is an awful person. Throughout the book, we get to see the realization of his own flaws and him discovering things he didn't have when he was alive.

Good book! It is reminiscent of A Man Called Ove. I enjoyed the characters and the plot. It wasn’t as quick of a read as I expected but it was worth it all the way to the end. Many will enjoy this book. It explores grief, changing your outlook, love, family and so much more.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the DRC.

TJ Klune is a huge hit in my system. I knew there would be a long holds list for this one and I was happy to order extra copies so that I could recommend it to anyone and everyone without worrying as much about their wait.

Such a heartwarming read with an incredible cast of characters. I fell in love with every single character and their own personal storylines.

This book has the feeling of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty mixed with a fairy tale, but also after death. Wallace is a total jerk in the beginning as a heartless attorney. Following his death he meets Mei his reaper, and Apollo the dog…but most importantly he meets Hugo his ferryman. Hugo is supposed to help Wallace crossover when he realizes he is really dead. Except, nothing really goes to plan and Wallace starts changing for the better and falling in love.

It’s a very heartfelt book, but is slow moving…maybe because It brings a lot of introspection and philosophical questions. It helps though that there is a lot of cute humor. This book is best to read on a rainy day or right before bed with how it is paced. It was sweet.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge, Tor Books for sharing this ARC with me in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 rounded up. This is another heartwarming read from TJ Klune. Another delightful found family, themes that tug on your heart strings, and standard Klune banter, which I think he does really well. We follow Wallace, who is brought to a tea shop essentially between worlds after he dies. Cue all the lessons the miserable (in life) man needs to learn: how to love, how to care about others, etc. I don’t know if any Klune book will ever compare to The House in the Cerulean Sea, but this is a cozy one too.

I was a huge fan of The House in the Cerulean Sea and have only heard good things about Klune's more recent publications.

Having recently lost a family member, I found this to be a beautiful exploration of grief and "what comes after". Klune kept up his ability to create an extremely lovable cast of characters who gel together as found family and you want to keep coming back to.

I went through the story curious of how the ending could deliver the characters what they deserved. I loved the way it was finished but was a bit confused with the execution. This is the only reason I didn't award 5 stars.

TJ Klune does it again! His storytelling is so immersive and soft, but also packs a punch. I was a huge fan of this one!

Under the Whispering Door was the first book I read by TJ Klune, and it's made me an immediate fan of the author! This book was truly magical and gave me a new meaning to life.

The storytelling, the plot and the characters were all amazing and brought up some really strong emotions for me. It's such an interesting topic, contemplating life after death. Klune portrays a really unique perspective in the book, but it's one that makes you think about what comes after.

There's not much I can say apart from that this book is so worth the read. If this is your first time picking up a TJ Klune book, then I recommend you take a chance because I sure didn't regret it. In fact, I immediately picked up more books by Klune which just showed that this author cannot write a bad book! I can't wait to see what comes next!

This was a beautiful and poignant story about life, death, grief, tea and scones. I struggled initially to connect with the narrative, not because the writing wasn't good (it was), but because I found the content too raw for me. However, I pushed through and once I found my feet, I thought that the plotting and writing were great. The characters are what really make this novel and I loved Mei, Hugo, Nelson, Wallace and Apollo. Yes, there is a lot of grief in these pages and people should be ready for that when they go in, but ultimately, the book is one of hope, joy and love and I recommend it highly - but it won't be right for everyone.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I'm not sure what I am missing. I want to like Klunes books so badly because everyone is always talking about them like they're modern day literature but I guess I'm just missing something? I'll keep trying though. DNF.

Thanks to NetGalley / Edelweiss and the publisher for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for a review.

Sadly with the controversy that surrounds the author I will not be giving a full review on this novel.

This book is a masterpiece. The characters are so well developed and have so much growth throughout the story that they seem real. I loved everything about this. It's a warm hug in a book. I cried at least five times while reading it.