Okay, I LOVE TJ Klune. Loved The House in the Cerulean Sea, so I had really high expectations for this book.

It took me a while to get into it (actually, around the 40% mark), but once I did, I really enjoyed it. Like… really, really, REALLY enjoyed it.

The details are immaculate, and Klune does a great job of making me feel like I was there with Wallace and Hugo and everyone else, even though the concept of this story was unlike anything I’ve ever read before.

When I got to the 90% mark, I had to put the book down several times because I couldn’t stop crying. I was crying ugly tears, and at times, I actually thought I was going to start hyperventilating because of how hard I was sobbing. In the best way possible. I don’t know how TJ Klune does this every single time, but best believe I’ll be purchasing every book he ever writes.

Under the Whispering Door is the latest from one of my all-time favorite authors, the wonderful T.J. Klune. To say I was excited to read it would have been a massive understatement as I've read literally everything this author has written.

Was I expecting great things? Yes.
Did I enjoy this book? Absolutely, yes.
Do I feel more conflicted about this book than I expected to feel? Also, yes.

Under the Whispering Door is an interesting book in many ways. This isn't the first time that T.J. Klune has written a sad book that revolves around death, but it still felt very different to me. I am so, so, so beyond happy that this book didn't feel like we got any recycled characters. I love TJ's writing with all my heart, but there are a few stock kinds of characters that tend to repeat themselves in his stories. Here, I feel like we got all original people, which made me so very happy.

The strengths of the book are in the meaningful message and in the beautiful writing. This isn't a funny book, but there are parts that made me laugh and lots of parts that made me smile. TJ is one of the wittiest writers I know, and he can inject banter and humor into the bleakest of stories with ease (though this story isn't nearly as angsty as it could have been). I loved the dialogue and I loved the concept of the story, and I really understood the deep, personal meaning this story had for the author. Also, the ending was very touching and powerful, which I loved (always the best when a book ends on a high note).

Where this book falters a bit, and what almost caused me to drop my rating lower, is the long, long middle of the story. I think this book tries to do too much. There are side plots that really didn't need to be there, and I wish this book was trimmed down a bit to make it flow more steadily. Also, I wish the MC was more grumpy/rude for longer and we got a bigger change as the book went on. I think some of the mechanics of the world and the purpose of the ferryman was a little vague, perhaps on purpose, but I felt like I wanted more structure and details in parts of the story and fewer details in other parts. The romance could also have been bumped up a notch, but that is just because I'm a die-hard romance reader, and I'm not sure this book is marketed as such.

While I think there are a few things I would change about the story, it wasn't enough to keep me from wholeheartedly enjoying this book. It was a treat to read, and I think this is another story that will convert new readers to TJ and queer romance into huge fans.

*Copy provided in exchange for an honest review*

4 STAR, SWEETER THAN CERULEAN!!

I wasn’t as enamored with Cerulean Sea as many readers, but I had a feeling this one was going to be more down my alley. And I was right.

Everything said about Cerulean Sea I echo with this read. Whimsical and imaginative with an important takeout for everyone. This one was all about the end of life in respect to the life that was lived; the lesson to embrace your life and those in it before it’s too late.

“Wasn’t that the great answer to the mystery of life? To make the most of what you have while you have it, the good and the bad, the beautiful and the ugly”.

“I see it now. It’s not always about the things you’ve done, or the mistakes you’ve made. It’s about the people, and what we’re willing to do for one another. The sacrifices we make. They taught me that. Here, in this place.”

I really adored all of the characters and I’m hoping that if the next journey really starts with Hugo, Apollo, Mei, Nelson and the Tea Shop, then maybe the idea of death isn’t so bad.

This book is a beautiful reminder to live life to the fullest and with all the gratitude you can muster. I didn’t want it to end but I loved the resolve.

The trick is to… “unexpect it, unexpect it” 😉

"The House in the Cerulean Sea" was one of my unexpected joys last year, so I had high hopes for T.J. Klune's follow-up. "Under the Whispering Door" did not disappoint, and I loved the occasional references to a house perched above cerulean waters. The book is slow=paced, and largely takes place within four walls, but once the characters were fully introduced, I fell in love, especially with Hugo. This was a lovely read that I highly recommend.

Thanks to NetGalley and TOR for the free ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Having loved The House in the Cerulean Sea last year, I was beyond eager to pick up Klune's newest novel. While at first glance the plot is quite different from Cerulean Sea, at its core the two novels share many of the same themes: found family, love, reconciling a difficult past. Like Linus (of Cerulean Sea), Wallace undergoes immense personal transformation throughout the course of the novel. At the beginning, he is angry, mean, selfish, and lonely. By the end, through his experiences, his heart is opened to others and he finds love.

Even though the end is wrapped up rather neatly, I didn't mind. It might sound strange to say about a book about death, grief, and the afterlife, but Under the Whispering Door is incredibly heartwarming. TJ Klune is becoming a season pass author for me.

This is a story that basically happens in one place. A tea shop. Most of the dialogue and action takes place here with a few jaunts into the outside world.
I loved the concept of this story. It seemed like it was playing off of Greek myths but with a modern interpretation. The story was unpredictable and I haven't read anything quite like it. It wasn't preachy but it did deal with life, death, and regrets.
My only criticism was the ending. It seemed contrived. The beauty of the story was you don't know what lies beyond life. So the ending shouldn't have been so forced..

I was super excited to read this book when I read the synopsis as I really enjoy paranormal books. Sadly, I was just not a fan of this book. It is probably the most underwhelming book I have read all year. I stopped multiple times and almost (should have) DNF'd it. Maybe this one just didn't fit me and is better suited for a different audience.

Wallace is self centered, rude and thinks the world revolves around him. Then he dies of a heart attack and only a few people show up for his funeral which he gets to see. He doesn't seem to understand why no one showed up. Next thing you know he is meeting Hugo, the ferryman, who is supposed to help him cross over. So many, long and drawn out pages talking about death and of course, you can probably guess that at the end he changes and becomes a nice human.

I loved Hugo's father's character and the dog!

Thank you to Tor Books and NetGalley for the #gifted ARC.

This is a whimsical, heartfelt, funny novel. I felt like parts of this book were 4 star quality while other parts just dragged and were filler. I would still recommend this, but House in the Cerulean Sea is still my favorite.

Under the Whispering Door has a wonderful premise, but it left me wanting more.

I found the synopsis a bit misleading. The action doesn't really pick up until the final third of the book. The majority is spent providing the exposition for a quick dilemma then a wrapped up in a bow ending. The pacing felt off, especially for the romance which seemed to flip on without much growth or chemistry shown to the reader . Also, the philosophical layer didn't feel fully fleshed out. At times I didn't quite grasp it, but perhaps that was intentional for the reader to project whatever meaning or spirit into the story they like.

I bet a lot of folks will very much enjoy this book and appreciate the messaging. Overall, it was good but not great for me.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Under the Whispering Door by T J Klune

Thank you @netgalley and @mcmillonbooks for this Advanced Readers Copy! This lovely book published on September 21st.

Wowowow, this book deals with the very hard subject of death in the most creative, unique, and beautiful manner. I was floored. Thank you @bookloverinblue for forever encouraging T J Klune books! 😂

I won’t share much about the plot, because I’m so glad I didn’t know much going in. I did find the first third to be really slow and hard to get into, but then it seemed to just *click.* I implore you to keep reading! I couldn’t love the main characters, Wallace and Hugo more and found them to be such a refreshing romantic coupling. This book was challenging, heartbreaking, brave, romantic, adorable, and enlightening.

‘Under the whispering door’ made me cry four separate times in 25 minutes. I am dead now. I dearly hope that waiting for me on the other side is a tea shop where I will have time to write TJ Klune a note about how rude he is for killing me like this.

Seriously, though. I was a little bit dubious at the start of the book- Wallace seemed like an archetype, not a fully fleshed out character. The premise was cool, but it all seemed contrived and precious. This is the second book this year, though, that has used a tame beginning to bamboozle me into sobbing at the end (‘Anxious People’ being the other one). It is sweet, and a little bit dark at times, and very gay in the best possible ways, and I stayed up FAR too late finishing it. Like, going to have serious regrets tomorrow- but only about not starting to read earlier in the night.

[oh, this was an ARC I got through NetGalley- thanks to TOR for the opportunity to read and review]

I'm very disappointed to say that I genuinely struggled to get through Under the Whispering Door because I was so excited to finally read one of T.J. Klune's books. However, it would have benefited from much more development in some areas. I didn't care much for the main characters. Their personalities and their relationships with one another were underdeveloped─Wallace's romance just seemed to come out of nowhere, in all honesty. Furthermore, I'm aware that this book is meant to contemplate what it means to be alive and how to come to terms with death, but nothing much seemed to happen throughout the entire book. It just follows Wallace whilst he learns to become less awful. Of course, there were some funny bits that kept the book entertaining, but even they would feel forced from time to time. For example, the scene in which Wallace learns to change his clothes would have been much better suited for the big screen. Of course, this is not to say that Under the Whispering Door was bad, because it was most definitely not. It was simply not the kind of book that I typically enjoy, but I would not want to discourage anyone from picking it up and reading it. In the end, T.J. Klune is simply an amazing author, so I am looking forward to picking up and reading The House in the Cerulean Sea soon.

Under The Whispering door by TJ klune was the first I had read by this author. I really tried to connect to the story, like the plot, or even the characters, but ultimately it was not for me. I ended up giving up on it half way through with no intentions to read further. I found the pacing atrociously slow and the characters unlikeable. Which for me was odd, because I normally enjoy characters meant to be hated, but definitely not this one.

I don’t think I am going to pick up another TJ klune book as I didn’t enjoy the writing either.

What would you do if you found out you had a week to live? What if this discovery was made after you were already technically dead? T.J. Klune's new novel does it again, taking a slightly unlikable protagonist and showing him what life is really all about. Wholesome and heartwarming, even in the face of death and what comes after.

Gosh, this book hits pretty hard right now. At the (hopefully) tail end of a worldwide pandemic, when so many of us are grieving one or more people we’ve loved who are gone before their time, a book about what comes after we die, about the nature of grief and acceptance… it hits pretty hard. If you’re anything like me you’ll find yourself tearing up more than once while you read, whether it’s while reading about the therapy dog who wasn’t going to leave his master behind or the grandfather who refused to move on while his grandson still needed him.

There’s a remarkable love story at the heart of this book, as well as a story of redemption for Wallace, who doesn’t realize until after his death what an absolute jerk of a human he was in life. Collected from his own funeral by delightfully sarcastic (and occasionally wannabe homicidal) Reaper Mei, he’s taken to Charon’s Crossing Tea House where he meets Hugo, the ferryman whose job it is to help Wallace cross through the door to the afterlife. The more time he spends with Hugo, though, the more Wallace realizes he doesn’t want to cross over anywhere. And while originally he wanted to go back to his old life, now he wants nothing more than to stay with Hugo and his family, found and otherwise. But the all-powerful Manager has the final say, and he says there’s no place for the dead in the land of the living.

If you have grief you’ve yet to process, you might find this helpful even while it’s heart-wrenching. It’s more than a little heavy at times, being literally a story about death, but I found it extraordinarily beautiful and I put the book down with a smile on my face, happy with the ending and how things turned out. Five stars for a beautiful, tragic story which I’ll certainly be revisiting in the years to come.

DNF Review- Under The Whispering Door

Welp, this one just wasn't for me. I enjoy TJ Klunes writing style & I was hoping to love this one but after reaching 50% I just couldn't anymore.

I was confused as to when the point of the story was going to be made and 50% is a long ways in (in my opinion) to still not be drawn in. Maybe one day I will come back to this one and understand the hype but sadly today is not that day.

Thank you to NetGalley, TJ Klune, and Tor Books for the chance to review this one. I hope my review doesn't deter you! This one can be picked up anywhere books are sold now! ✨

Under the Whispering Door is a gentle fantasy about life after death--but also about family, learning kindness, and finding love. Wallace Price in introduced in the act of coldly firing a longtime employee at his law firm. The next thing we know, he is at his own funeral, with no idea how he got there. His Reaper explains that he's dead, and transports him to a strange, distant tea shop. It's a waystation, run by a ferryman named Hugo (whose grandfather and dog are both keeping him company as ghosts).

After a spectrum of emotions--anger, denial, bargaining--Wallace accepts that his death is real, and begins to find a place in this blended human/ghost family. The expectation is that he will use the titular door to cross over into the afterlife when he is ready. But an odd thing happens: he begins to bond with the family, and to grow as a person in a way he never had in life. The unusual situation draws the attention of the Manager, a mysterious (and extremely powerful) figure who is not God, but certainly seems god-like. Wallace is given a one-week deadline to cross over, and uses that time to attempt to experience a lifetime of living.

Ultimately this is a love story in which a straight-laced gay man finds love, which is starting to look like a Klune trademark. The ending is a bit of a deus ex machina, but is nonetheless sweet.

Thanks to NetGalley for the Advanced Reader's Copy.

Oh my, what a beautifully poignant, emotional, and heartbreaking book wrapped up and presented as a warm hug after a long day this was! The prose was beautiful, the ultimate message was touching and so moving and it make me think about what I want my afterlife and my regular life to look like

10 Stars please! T.J. Klune is an amazing soul. He is the only author who can make me cry while reading.
This story is everything you need in life. You need to read Under The Whispering Door!

🌛 The moment I finished reading The house in the Cerulean sea, I was eagerly waiting for this one. Unlike the previous book, which dealt with children and life, this one dealt with death and after life. However, it was quite beautifully executed by the author. It can be rightly claimed that only T J Klune can take up such a sensitive theme of grief and trauma and turn it into hope and healing.

🌛 Under the whispering door is a humorous tale of life after death with queer protagonists. The story is narrated in third person, starring a grumpy middle aged lawyer, Wallace Price. The story starts when he dies and finds himself in a strange place that apparently is impossible to explain with logic. There he meets Hugo, who is known as a ferryman. A ferryman is someone who is supposed to help you move forward through a door in the ceiling post your death. At first, Wallace is reluctant to accept the reality of his death but eventually he not only changes his attitude towards life but also find a family. A beautiful saga built from elements which are otherwise considered as disturbing or triggering, this book is a must read for everyone. It was published on 21st September. It takes approximately 9 hours to complete the book. The cover, the characters and of course, the typical slow burn romance are sure to keep you hooked to the book, just like Wallace was hooked to Hugo.🤭

🌛 To sum up, this book feels like a home, a lovely family and a warm, tight hug. All in one combo. The lesson that this book teaches us is that sometimes we need to die in order to truly live. Highly recommended!