Wish there was an option to give 10 stars rating! Then this book would have gotten all of those stars from me!!

What strikes me most of author T.J.Klune’s writing is the simplify of how he narrates the complex topics. It’s mind blowing! I am a forever tjklune fan! This heartwarming book had everything you would want in a great book, quirkiness, warmth, self realization, love, fantasy and much more!

Wallace, a middle aged man after his death is tread of going to after life is taken to the tea shop which is a Charon’s Crossing for the dead before going to afterlife. Hugo is the owner of the tea shop for the locals and ferryman to the troubled souls. The love story between Wallace who is dead and Hugo who is still alive was so heart wrenching.

I did not want this book to end and when it did, I was almost ready o start over!

A big thanks to @torbooks and @netgalley for providing me early advance copy and ALC! If you have not already, go ahead and pre-order this beautifully written gem to have it in your hands on September 21, 2021

Beautifully written story that deals with big feels like grief and anger and death. This book felt like a really long inner monologue at first but then once I just accepted it for what it is, I really really enjoyed it and the pacing. It is a slower read full of much introspection and thoughts but it brings to light a lot that is usually left unsaid with touchy subjects like death and afterlife. I love how even in the end there is still a chance for love to win. And these characters were so amazingly fleshed out, I felt as if I’d also found my chosen family among the strange group of misfits in Charon’s Crossing tea shop.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone. I think it’s acceptable for a wide range of age groups as well as genres.

Content warning- death, suicide, suggestions of sexual activities.(for younger readers)

All in all a great read and I can’t wait to see what Klune comes out with next!

"It took you dying to find your humanity."

Under the Whispering Door is the whimsical and heartwarming tale of Wallace Price, a high-powered attorney who cares only for success, status, and well-tailored suits... until he dies, and begins to learn that perhaps there was more to life than he ever realized.

"What’s happening is that you lived your life. You did what you did, and now it’s over. At least that part of it is."

In his afterlife, Wallace is escorted to a semi-haunted tea shop, where he gets to know Mei, the take-no-shit reaper who came to collect him from his own funeral; Hugo, the kind & empathetic ferryman tasked with escorting him to "the other side;" Nelson, Hugo's fiesty, trouble-making grandfather, who also happens to be a ghost; and Apollo, Hugo's loyal and loveable ghost-dog. (No worries, pet-lovers, the dog doesn't die in this story, because he's already dead when it begins. But he's also still very much alive and well, keeping everyone company as his friendly little ghost-self.)

"You’re my friend,” Hugo said, as if it were the easiest thing in the world. No one had ever said that to Wallace before, and he was devastated by it. Here, at the end, he’d found a friend.

It isn't until Wallace begins to build relationships with these people that he realizes how much he missed out on while he was alive. But with time running out before his inevitable cross-over through "the whispering door," Wallace is left wondering if there's still a way for him do anything with this newfound understanding of the meaning of life.

"We’re all on different paths, but death doesn’t discriminate. It comes for everyone. It’s what you do with it that sets you apart."

In this story, TJ Klune has created a perfectly atmospheric afterlife, with all of the quirk and whimsy of Pixar's Coco, all of the effortless wisdom and quotability of The Midnight Library , and all of the emotional range of The Deal of a Lifetime . Put it all together, and you've got a vibrant story beautifully told, with diverse characters you'll immediately fall in love with, and enough poignant insight on life & death to make you feel ready to conquer whatever your own future holds.

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

I loved reading this story - I found it so charming, yet so profound at the same time. In my head, I pictured the entire thing as an animated movie. Klune's descriptions were so vivid and imaginative, and I would just love to see how illustrators and animators would bring all of it to life! I can imagine the voices of Neil Patrick Harris (Wallace), Awkwafina (Mei), Leslie Odom Jr. (Hugo), and Eddie Murphy (Nelson) just perfectly as the main cast.

"I can’t wait to see them again, to hold my son’s face in my hands and tell him how proud I am of him. We think we have time for such things, but there’s never enough for all we should have said."

I wasn't overly impressed with how the ending was handled; I felt like there was a decision (made by a secondary character) that seemed a bit incongruous with his previous behavior and attitudes, and it felt a little too convenient / "neat-and-tidy" for me. For most of the book, it seemed like the ending was heading in a very different direction, and then there was an abrupt shift in the last 5-10% that just felt off. But overall, the story itself was beautiful, empathetic, and so touching.

"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."

I'd call this 4.5 stars, rounded up to 5. I highly recommend this one to any lovers of fantasy, magical realism, or just general literary commentaries on death & the afterlife; and am absolutely going to be reading more of TJ Klune's work!

"What will you do with the time you have left? I can’t wait to find out."

——

A huge thank you to TJ Klune, Tor Books, and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

As always, Klune's writing is sublime and he is definitely in his element when shining a light on loveable misfits. His glorious imagination and canny ability to create the most wonderful of found families is something that are at the heart of both this title and The House in the Cerulean Sea, and work to great effect. Unfortunately this book didn't quite reach the heady heights of Cerulean Sea, which for me, immediately became an all time favourite. The relationship didn't feel quite as believable and the ending was a little too much of a Deus Ex Machina.
I'm still anxious to read whatever Klune publishes next. Queer families and life-affirming lessons are my kryptonite!

This is my first experience with this authors work but I am aware that there have been others before this one and I will need to go and pick them up.
This book follows the story of Wallace, a man who has recently died and his struggle to accept this and navigate his afterlife in a house in the woods which doubles as a cafe. With help from a reaper, another ghost and a ferryman.
It's a very thoughtful read and I enjoyed it, there is humour within but also a slight sadness.
I really enjoyed reading this book, I think I will be picking up a hardcopy to keep on my shelves and will be reading the other works by this author.

I listened to the The House in the Cerulean Sea audiobook for book club this summer. I enjoyed it a lot, as did my wife who listened to it in the car with me and many of my fellow book club members. Under the Whispering Door follows a similar trajectory: a middle-aged gay man leaves behind his familiar life as an unfulfilled bureaucrat and is introduced to the supernatural world by a handsome mystery man and a whimsical cast of side characters. (I enjoyed this narrative the first time, so I certainly didn’t mind doing it a second time!) Aside from that, this book reminded me a lot of The Graveyard Book and Lincoln in the Bardo. I did not think it was quite as powerful as either, but it is still quite a good book, and worth reading.

Sometimes it takes death to see how we can become a better person. Wallace finds himself meeting Mei, a reaper, at his funeral and she takes him of a journey to meet Hugo, the ferry man before crossing over. Wallace is the least likeable and most relatable character. You can feel his anger, his frustration, his happiness, and his determination. Wallace finds himself in his death and along the way he finds friends and family. Just as he's started to find himself he is given one week to come to terms with his death.

TJ Klune has a beautiful way of writing relatable, diverse characters. I cannot wait to see what comes next.

[1.5 Stars]

**spoilers ahead**

soooooooo...............here are my issues:

1. the romance between Wallace and Hugo didn't need to happen. It was unnecessary, came out of nowhere, and added nothing to the story. This would have been more powerful staying as a friendship/found-family narrative.
2. I think I have bruises from how hard the themes were beaten over my head. Yet despite this, the message never truly felt "deep". It was more reminiscent of a clichéd Hallmark card than anything actually meaningful
3. the overall pacing was inconsistent and the story became repetitive. I felt like the same points were being made over and over again in an incredibly mind-numbing way
4. the ending completely undid the main message of this book. The whole time we're talking about how 'a river only ever moves forward' and we need to embrace the inevitability of death openly.................yet............................*side eye*


This was medium-alright the entire way through but then the ending destroyed everything it had going for it. Not sure I'll continue reading from T.J. Klune

This is only my second TJ Klune book but I think it's safe to say that I will adore absolutely anything and everything he writes. This book broke me in ways I wasn't imagining and then softly picked the pieces back up. I know the author wrote this book from his own experience with grief and the raw emotion really shows throughout this entire story.

Content warnings: Death, grief, Suicide, Death of a loved one, Divorce, Anxiety & panic disorder, Depression, Animal death (in past and off page)

This book, while pitched as a love story and most definitely contains one, is much more of a story about coping with grief. Following Wallace through his grief and character arc was somehow simultaneously heartbreaking and uplifting. I mourned for him but was also awed by the amazing growth he goes through.

Because while Wallace is not an easy character to root for at first, TJ Klune somehow wrote a redemption arc for the ages. And by the end I was completely enamored with his character.

Every character in here was fantastically developed that I fell a little in love with all of them. This book is full of soft, wonderful character that will leaving reaching for your loved ones.

I'm honestly just blown away by how the author wove such a magical and sweet story from a topic so heavy. But don't be mistaken by this whimsical cover - have your tissues handy!

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. A big thank you to NetGalley and Tor!

I think I have an unpopular opinion on this one. DNF @ 26%. With its absolutely beautiful cover and rave reviews, I really wanted to love this book, but I really could not get into this at all. Picking it up became a chore. While there have been many books (perhaps too many, if I'm being honest) that have tried to tackle the concept of what happens after death/in the period of time between life and death, this book immediately felt like a cartoonish caricature of the concept. All of the characters I met in the 26% that I read seemed flat and to be composed of one sinular personality trait and nothing else--Mei: Quirky; Wallace: Grump; Hugo: Wise. It all had me rolling my eyes. The final straw that really made me want to abandon this book was that it was filled with grief/appreciation of life platitudes. There's a subtle, tactful way to handle these subjects, but this book was just so clunky and overly silly, and this is coming from someone that usually loves humor in books!

On another note, though, I really did appreciate all of the representation in the characters, and T.J. Klune is really a lovely writer. I just wish this was a little bit less "quirky". I'm sure this book will be loved by many, but it was not a good fit for me.

Sigh. It hurts my heart to write this because the House in the Cerulean Sea was one of my favorite reads of 2020, but Under the Whispering Door fell flat for me.

Wallace Price thinks he has it all- money, an important career and success, but one day he just dies and it all falls apart. When a reaper comes to collect Wallace from his funeral, he begins to realize he’s really dead. The reaper takes him to a small tea shop where a ferryman promises to help him pass over.

My biggest problem with this book? It didn’t have enough action! I was bored and felt like Under the Whispering Sea was just way too long. Nothing really happens and it felt so overdone and repetitive.

On the pro side? The supporting characters were great. Who doesn’t like a ghost dog! As always, TJ Klune writes so beautiful and is a master at quirky.

In the end, this one was just fine. I was happy it was over. Read this one if you’re a fan of character driven plots and whimsical characters. Three stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan Tor/ Forge for the advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for a review. #UndertheWhisperingDoor #NetGalley

What It's About
Wallace Price is an asshole. He's spent his entire life more concerned about success than anything or anyone else. So when Wallace dies it's no surprise that no one cares. Wallace on the other hand is pissed. He has important work to be doing, and in his opinion, doesn't have time to be dead.

While attending his own funeral Wallace meets his Reaper Mei. Mei explains that she's here to collect Wallace to take him to Charon's Crossing, a cozy teashop that acts as a way station between the world of the living and the world of the dead. It is there, Mei explains, that Wallace will meet his Ferryman Hugo, the one who will be able to answer all of Wallace's questions and assist him in coming to terms with his death, as it is the job of the Ferryman to lead souls into the next stage of their death.

What Wallace soon realizes is that death, just as life, is what you make of it. Throughout the course of the book Wallace reflects on his life, learning what it means to truly live...his life after death.

How I Discovered It
Started keeping tabs on TJ Klune after reading The House in the Cerulean Sea

Thoughts
I really didn't know what to expect going into this. All I knew was that after reading The House in the Cerulean Sea, I was eager to devour whatever TJ Klune served up next. What I got was a book about death and transitioning into the next stage of life, whatever that may look like. While Under the Whispering Door doesn't draw a ton of comparisons to The House in the Cerulean Sea, what we do get is a lot of the same whimsy, Klune's ability to make fun of corporate drones, and beautiful dialogue.

As we go through the stages of grief with Wallace, reflecting on his life, we watch as Hugo, his extremely empathetic Ferryman, patiently and thoughtfully provides new lenses for Wallace to view his past and consider his future. It's through these conversations I felt their relationship took root. Slowly steeping, between the said and unsaid, bonding them intellectually. It's because of this mental intimacy, I feel, that any of the playful, sexy/sexual comments that came later in the book seemed out of place. Leading me to understand why some may have felt that the relationship came out of left field.

I loved the idea of a functioning teashop as the setting for a way station between the world of the living and the world of the dead. The overall mechanics of how the world worked was detailed, original and explained thoughtfully with each additional character adding more depth to the story.

If I were to point out a few things I wasn't happy about, they would be Klune's blunt dismissiveness of Christianity through comments made by the characters in the book. (Note: that while I was slightly annoyed by this, as a Christian, I will say that I can still appreciate an alternative belief to what comes after death). Second, I would like to understand why Mei always thinks they're under attack when something unexpected happens. Did something happen, or can it? Is this why she thinks they could be under attack? I would have liked a story about this, or just a little more detail. With the amount of times she says this, it felt like a missed opportunity. A funny reaction the first time but not as funny after the third or fourth time she says it and we don't get an explanation. I would have also liked to know more about the Manager.

Overall this book is beautiful and heart-warming. It gave me all the feels and had me reflecting on my own life. I laughed and I may have cried on more than one occasion.

I would recommend this to anyone who has read other books by TJ Klune, fans of Studio Ghibli and fans of the Good Place (I've never seen it, but I've heard there's some similarities).

Thank you so much to Macmillan-Tor/Forge, Netgalley and TJ Klune for this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review. Under the Whispering Door comes out on September 21, 2021.

Link to Review: https://tapolito.com/Home/review-under-the-whispering-door-tj-klune

What a wonderful, perfect little book! If I could give it more than five stars, I would. I'll settle for immediately adding it to my favorites shelf.

Thoughts:
This is a story about life, death, grief, family, love, growth, and beyond. It had so much heart and it made me feel a lot. I laughed way more than I thought I would and spent a lot of the ending chapters with tears in my eyes. The premise of this story is not a very happy one, but there are so many moments of laughter and light in it. That said, it is a T.J. Klune book, so be prepared to feel your feelings a bit.

I fell in love with all the characters at Charon's Crossing. Wallace, Hugo, Mei, Nelson, and Apollo are characters I will miss and loved getting to know. I hate tea and I've never wanted to go to a tea shop more in my entire life than when I was reading this book.

Wallace lived life as a not-so-nice guy and goes on quite the journey to find himself and the things that really matter after his untimely death. His character growth was fantastic to read. His relationship to Hugo was particularly sweet and lovely. Even more wonderful to read, was seeing the changes in Wallace's actions and view of the people around him.

I absolutely loved this book! It was exactly what I didn't know I needed and I highly recommend it. Just remember to be near a box of tissues toward the end.

Thank you, NetGalley for the ARC. I want to start by saying I absolutely devoured this book. I also loved The House in the Cerulean Sea which is why I chose to read this one too! He has a way of creating characters that you are so attached to that you share all their emotions. I laughed, I cried, but mostly I loved. TJ Klune has an amazing talent for creating unique characters and fully emerging you in the story, you feel their pain, happiness, sadness, quite literally all the feels in this book. It is book about death and the life you are missing while you are living and the regrets that follow. The main story's focus is on Wallace but all the other characters breathe life into the story as they help Wallace cope.

"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.

Everything that TJ Klune writes is magical. The House on the Cerulean Sea is on of my favorite books of the past few years, so I was really looking forward to reading his latest, Under the Whispering Door. I really got into the story of Wallace, who finds himself in between the living and the afterlife - and with the help of Hugo, learns how to live a better life. I am not a big fantasy fan, but for some reason, Klune's novels appeal so much to me. Highly recommended!

I loved this book so much. I became a fan of TJ Klune after reading The House in the Cerulean Sea and recommending it to everyone who reads. Now I am going back to all those people to let them know there is anew must-read and they simply need to pre-order or get on the reservation list at their library for this book!

3.5 stars

This book has such an interesting plot, and the author is known for writing heartwarming books that really make you think, and I was so excited to read this book and fully expected this to be five stars. So here’s where I’m a bit lost on where to rate this. Like a lot of other readers, I was expecting some deep and profound thoughts on life and death and everything in between. And, to be frank, we didn’t really get that. There really are no new thoughts in this book.
But does that make it bad? No.
I really did enjoy what I read. And I’m not sure why we expected Klune to have some secret key to life; that was a bit of unrealistic thinking on my part.
My major problem with the book was the main character Wallace. He is a smarmy, snotty, awful human to the nth degree. I do understand that was the point of Wallace. But at the end of the day (without giving away too much of the plot) Wallace is basically rewarded and there are no consequences for his past behavior. So is the message of this book that you can be as big of an asshole as you want to in life but it’s never too late for a second chance? Because I don’t think that’s a great message to send. Just my opinion. I’m disappointed I can’t give this 5 stars, but I still recommend it.

Thank you to NetGalley & Macmillan-Tor/Forge for this advanced reader copy. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Whelp. TJ Klune just became an autobuy author. If you are looking for someone who can weave a magical story while still remaining realistic and inclusive, look no further. This twisted, something of a retelling of Dickens' A Christmas Carol mixed with mythology was wonderful and I devoured it.

The narrative is an amazing exploration of death, fear, and grief via the use of a paranormal reaper & ferryman to help guide the dead to the afterlife. This is handled with extreme delicacy and care and is amazingly inclusive, avoiding any alienation due to adherence to one particular religion.

I was both enamored and heartbroken with this read. It is so beautiful and evocative. The writing just flows and gripped my heart. I loved it. The characters are fantastic and vibrant; they are characters you want to be friends with, a family you want to be part of. Wallace's journey is wonderful and I just had all the feels.

A character driven story, this moves at a bit of languid pace, but it immerses the reader in the world and really dives into Wallace's emotional journey. The atmosphere is fantastic and the dialogue is quirky and fun, just like you would expect from TJ Klune.

Bottom line: Klune has written another winner. Soon I'll have a full shelf of nothing but Klune novels. He has a gift...and I'm 100% here for it.

* Disclaimer: I received a copy of this novel from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. *

TJ Klune has done it again! Moving, magical, and a must-read! I loved the whimsical writing and the character development. I laughed; I cringed, and I cried. It was perfection! I did not enjoy the subject matter quite as much, but he can pull it off like no other!

Wallace Price, a Scrooge-like lawyer, is frankly a terrible person. He lives an isolated life after alienating those around him, he is callous towards his employees and nobody around him can stand him. He suddenly dies after a heart attack and the only people who attend his funeral are there out of obligation – including Mei, a reaper who is tasked with taking him to his ferryman. Hugo, the ferryman, is an affable owner of a tea shop who is to help Wallace move onto the next phase of existence.

Wallace rages against the entire idea of death and moving on – for about 8 hours. Then, suddenly, he decides that he is not only content in this new life as a ghost in the tea shop, he undergoes a personality transformation in all of about one day. Sadly, this is where the book starts to fall apart for me. We are shown for the first few chapters of the book that Wallace is a miserable man with close to zero redeeming qualities, but we are then told that in a very brief period of time in the tea shop he overhauled his entire "deal" to become a treasured member of the tea shop family.

There is of course an interesting idea behind this character development, and it's not unheard of that a man who lived life poorly would want to course-correct in death. However, this character development is simply missing from the middle chunk of the book. We jump from point A to point Z a bit too quickly. It felt like on one page he's an awful person, and on the next page he's practically the glue holding this found family together.

I wanted to enjoy the ending and where the characters ended up, but it almost felt like a cop-out given the themes of the book and where everything seemed to be headed for 95% of the book. This book deals with grief and death – and the idea of doing your best in life and being able to move beyond – but at the last minute it felt like those themes were all sacrificed for a twist ending and warm fuzzy feelings. Not that I hate books with nice endings, but it felt like emotional whiplash for the sake of being emotional whiplash.

Ultimately, this book has a fantastic concept but lacked a bit in execution.

Thank you to Tor and NetGalley for the ARC!