I absolutely loved this book; I am pretty sure that it is being added to my favorite books of all times. Throughout this novel, we get to see the character of Wallace Price develop from never truly having anyone in his life to finding family, from being selfish to doing anything he can to help others. This book had the perfect amount of love, found family, and character development. Throughout the book, I went from laughing to feeling emotional, and the ending had me crying a combination of happy and sad tears. I am so glad to have gotten to read this book and cannot wait for it to be officially released!

Under the Whispering Door by T J Klune

I loved The House on the Cerulean Sea by T J Klune and so I was incredibly excited when I received an arc of his new book from NetGalley. Under the Whispering Door is a tale of ghosts, tea, and magic, but most importantly it is about living and what that enormous word could possibly mean.

Wallace Price is a scrooge. He is the worst boss imaginable until he just isn’t, isn’t alive anymore that is. A reaper comes to collect him at his rather appalling funeral and takes him, not to the afterlife, but to Charon’s Crossing Tea and Treats where he meets the ferryman who helps souls cross over. However Wallace isn't ready to abandon the life he barely lived.

This may be my favorite book I read this year! From the first chapter I was laughing, by the sixth I was spiraling into a life crisis going around picking up chairs (if you’ve read this then you understand), chapter 10 had me filled with happiness, at the 14th I was filled with anger, and the last 4 chapters were a constant flow of tears. When I tell you this book made me feel things, I mean ALL the things.

I really hate ghost romance (and really ghost books in general). The difficulties involved like the inability to touch always aggravate me, but this book is an exception. It isn’t quite about the romance. While the slow burn did have me awing and oohing, there is a whole cast of lovable characters and a captivating plot dragging you into the story. It deals with so many different aspects of death, goes into detail of the grieving process, and while I know this may not be for everyone, I appreciated the depth of this book so much. It made me want to really live and that is priceless.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Books for an arc!

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Under the Whispering Door tackles the universal question: What happens to us after we die?

I would say this book is part fantasy and part philosophy. I found it very interesting to see what TJ Klune dreamed up for the afterlife with reapers, ferrymen, the Manager, Husks, and a door with voices from beyond. It's intriguing to follow the journey of Wallace, who is completely unlikeable at first, and watch his transformation.

Nelson and Mei add comedic relief to a heavy subject. Under the Whispering Door has characters working through being murdered, death by suicide, and death from natural causes. These issues could be a trigger for some readers. There is a romantic relationship between two male characters but no sex on the page.

Some of the themes in this book include:
Grief
Death
You matter
Everyone needs love
Acceptance

I had two minor complaints about this novel.
1. I felt like the book cover is more whimsical than the subject.
2. I felt like the characters repeated their thoughts and moments of growth too often.

Overall, I was fascinated to delve into the world and afterlife created by Klune. The characters were interesting and deep. The key characters grew through the story. There was a small plot twist I didn't see coming, and that always intrigues me. I enjoyed the majority of the story.

Every once in awhile a book comes along that you just know will stay with you for a long time. Under the Whispering Door is that book. The main character, Wallace, is a lawyer who only cares for himself until he suddenly dies of a heart attack. He is greeted at his funeral by Mei, a wonderful character that is there to take him to the Ferryman.
Wallace goes through the stages of grief and with the help of wonderfully developed characters, learns how to live and be a better human. The book does a wonderful job with dealing with the concept of death and what comes after as well as the importance of putting others ahead of yourself.

Thank you Netgalley for the arc and for letting me read this amazing book.

**Before getting to the review of the actual work, I would like to first and foremost acknowledge that any harm TJ Klune has brought to BIPOC readers and creators is to be taken with the utmost severity. I personally have seen BIPOC creators voice a range of opinions when it comes to Klune's work and thus hesitate to make any claims about him as an artist; this is all to say, please listen to BIPOC reviewers with any work, and specifically with Klune's.**

Wallace is a self-proclaimed "asshole." A man who has been chewed up and spat back out by his own life, he has lost much of any compassion for those around him. But all of this can change when life throws him a curveball: death. After suffering from heart failure, Wallace finds himself in a tea shop: Charon's Crossing. It is here that he is given the resources and time to cross over to what lies beyond. With indelible characters in Mei, Hugo, Nelson, Apollo, and even "The Manager," Wallace might just find himself learning something about life when it has already escaped him.

"Under the Whispering Door," once again proves that Klune is able to find nuance in what feels like a classic tale. There's nothing incredibly revolutionary happening when it comes to his stories, but what makes them feel so fresh is the delicate precision he brings to the plot and characters. He is able to find nuggets of beauty and life lessons where one is least expectant to find them.

The world building within the Crossing was stellar, providing a great sense as to its characteristics and nature. I would have loved to have seen more world building when it came to the world outside the crossing. Where are the other Husks? How does the ghost world mesh with the real world? Questions like this would have helped me color in and understand the larger scale of what we were operating under.

Ultimately, this book left me with the classic "lump in the throat" feeling that Klune books normally leave a reader with, and I'm excited to see how this book lands with the general audience.

This was a unique and riveting story about death and loss, and I was sucked in by the sweet characters especially Hugo and his grandfather Nelson. As someone who recently lost their grandfather who I was extremely close to, it made me wish that he could still be with me as well. I didn’t love the main character and thought his development was too fast to be believable, but I was touched by the ending and will pick up Klune’s next book.

This book is amazing! I love Klune’s writing and I enjoyed every second of it. The way the book made me think about death and how wonderfully written it is are the reasons why I would recommend this book. If you have already read The House in the Cerulean Sea and enjoyed it, get Under the Whispering Door because it won’t disappoint.

4.5/5 - I was beyond ecstatic to receive an early copy of this upcoming novel! Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an eARC.

In this story, a grumpy lawyer named Wallace Price dies suddenly of a heart attack. He is picked up by his Reaper, Mei, who escorts him to a tea house which is his way-station before crossing over. At the tea house, Wallace meets Hugo (his ferryman) who is tasked with answering all of his questions before escorting him to his afterlife. In spite of Wallace's anger, he begins to learn that death can be a start of new beginning.

Initially, this book felt like Dickenson's A Christmas Carol, but it becomes so much more than a redemption story. For fans of Cerulean Sea, there is lots to love about this new book and there are some major differences. The characters are witty, genuine and very memorably written. They each pull at your heart strings and I cried (aka wept with tears rolling down on the pages) a few times.

Alternatively, the subject matter of this is very dark; there is even a note from the author at the beginning regarding triggers. It is a slower paced book focusing on character development and every page and detail was worth it.

I have trouble expressing all of what this book is and will be for some people. It's beautiful, touching, emotionally heavy and full of love and hope.

“...Life is messy and terrible and wonderful, all at the same time.” – Nelson Freeman.
This saying sums up this uplifting story about a life spent stuck in a rut and building a life that makes a difference in your feeling of happiness and sorrow. A place called “home”.

The theme of the book is about death, fear, grief and acceptance. In essence, it has touched my heart in many ways through those hard-hitting messages it send. It has brought me good tears especially in the latter part. The whole storyline is truly heartwarming and moving because the author has beautifully written the formula with a great balance of philosophy, humor, queer love story and compassion.

A few takeaways I took for myself from the book: redefine oneself to become who we are meant to be. At the same time, be smart enough to use the gifts we have to help other people.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an e-arc. I wanted to read Under the Whispering Door because I loved The House in the Cerulean Sea so much. I had high hopes going into this one.

Overall this book was not for me. I struggled with the message of this story and couldn’t get past the unbalanced tone. The book attempted to be both cute and dark, but the mix of the two was off in my opinion. I think this is a story that could have benefited from omitting the romance and focused more on the personal journey. I was disappointed with parts of the ending and didn’t fully understand the villain. However, one of the side characters, Nelson, was a favorite. He brought a sense of humor, warmth, and meaning to the story.

There are many trigger warnings for this book. Warnings for loss of a child, murder, suicide, loss of parents, and loss of a pet. I believe the author did his best to handle these topics with care.

Reasons others may enjoy this book:
-It has a quirky sense of humor
-There is a cute tea shop
-A spunky old man ghost + a dog ghost
-Explores the meaning of life and the afterlife

“I like the dead more than the living. Dead people usually don’t care about the little annoyances of life.” “He hadn’t thought about it that way. He’d give anything for those annoyances again. Hindsight was a bitch of a thing.”

TJ Klune writes the SWEETEST characters. By the end of his books you want to be part of their “framilies”.

Under the Whispering Door introduces us to Wallace Price. He’s practically the Ebenezer Scrooge of the legal world, & runs his life with an iron fist. Upon his death(heart attack) he is discovered wandering around his own funeral as an apparition by Mei, a reaper. She takes him back to Charon’s Crossing Tea & Treats to assist him in crossing over to the other side.

Wallace is not prepared for what he finds at Charon’s Crossing. He is met by Hugo, the ferryman for the dead. But Wallace refuses to accept that he is dead. He digs his heels in and refuses to pass through the door to the other side. So he begrudgingly sets up shop with Mei & Hugo as he figures out how to exist in this new world.

This book was like a hug from beginning to end. I want to visit Charon’s Crossing & drink tea with Hugo & pet Apollo & bake scones with Mei & cozy up to the fire & listen to Nelson’s stories. This was a beautiful world that I’ll want to revisit again.

4 stars! Thank you to NetGalley & Macmillan-Tor/Forge for the advanced copy!

This is the story of Wallace Price, who is a lawyer at a top firm in his state. Nobody likes him, he has no friends, and all he does is work. He's somewhat like a more modern version of Ebenezer Scrooge at the beginning of A Christmas Carol. When suddenly he's at his own funeral, and a Reaper named Mei says she's to deliver him to the ferryman, he ends up at a tea shop run by a man named Hugo. The tea shop is a waystation where Wallace is to try and figure himself out before he goes to what is next, and Hugo is the ferryman who helps him along the way. 

This was a lovely book, much like I was hoping, given my feelings about Cerulean Sea. It has that same vibe, and although there aren't any children in this one to instantly latch onto, I still found myself cheering for Wallace although he doesn't start out as a very good person. I loved Hugo and Mei almost immediately, and so this one was so easy to just get settled down with for hours. The last quarter or so kept me up into the wee hours as I had to find out what happened. 

My feels were jostled several times, as this one deals with some tough topics at times, as a book whose theme centers around death would. I thought that these things were presented with care, though others who have a difficult time with themes like suicide or the death of a child may have more trouble than I did. Some of the characters here have traumatic backstories. 

This is a great example of the found family trope yet again from TJ Klune, and I absolutely loved it. I would definitely recommend that anyone who enjoyed Cerulean Sea read this one. It's another great example of a book that leaves me feeling happy and hopeful for the future.

Content warnings for literally every kind of death, but especially child death, cancer, animal death, and suicide.

For fans of The Good Place and A Christmas Carol, I guess? Maybe even Dead Like Me, if there are buyers who remember that show. And also, of course, House in the Cerulean Sea, although this one is definitely more overtly dark than that one. Personally, I had a hard time feeling emotionally connected to the main characters. I honestly felt the most connected to a bit character, and to the main side characters. This one felt pretty intentionally emotionally manipulative - like talking to a grieving mom about things only she and her dead daughter shared to get her to accept her child's death - and I'm not quite sure how I personally feel about that, but I have a feeling that other people are going to really like this one because it's some Up-type plotting, and people loved that.

Through death, TJ Klune talks about life but not only. He talks about fears, love, vulnerability, anger and tea.

During his entire life, Wallace Price was an awful human being. His marriage has failed, he has no friends and is dedicated only to his work, where he is successful but nothing more as his employees hate him.

Thanks to Nelson (an old ghost), Hugo (a ferryman) and Mei (his reaper), it is in death that he will be fulfilled and realize that existing is essential and can take many forms.

Grief is approached in a gentle way, in a warm house over tea. Each client or ghost can find an ear to talk to, but also a silent presence in Hugo Freeman. He is full of empathy and dedicates his life to his job as a ferryman, in his tea shop where people are only passing through.

Mei is a strong woman, very honest and ready to fight to help other people in death, whatever they went through.

Nelson is Hugo's grandad. He decided not to walk out the door and find his inner peace to stay with his grandson to ensure his happiness. He teases everyone and is not afraid to use his cane to assert his thoughts and calm down people who step out of line.

All together, they form an unusual but supportive family. They will turn Wallace's existence upside down.

This story is profond and truly warmed my heart. I was moved to tears, I smiled and laughed. It was beautiful.

I recently read The House in the Cerulean Sea (thanks booktok) so was super excited to read Under the Whispering Door. Like THCS, this book felt like a nice warm hug. Klunes writing style to me is like Orwell meets YA. with mild political and dystopian themes but nothing too heavy for a younger audience.

Wallace Price's character development fell a little short. Considering the changes he undertook, things seemed a bit sped through and empty. I would have loved more developing through the defining moments of him coming to terms with his mortality. Some of the other character journeys (Nancy, Cameron, Mei) also seemed a bit disjointed and dry. I was also super confused about what happened when the manager granted Wallace's life back... Had to read it a few times to understand what was going on.

Everything came together nicely in the end, hitting my right in the feels (god damn Apollo) and I think would be set up nicely for a sequel! I was left wanting more of Wallace & Hugo's life in the tea shop.

Overall a nice read, but wish there was more focus on the characters' journeys. 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4.

Wallace is an attorney. He’s not a very nice attorney. He’s not a very nice human in general. The book opens with Wallace firing one of his employees in a brutal manner. A few days later Wallace, who is only in his 40’s, dies unexpectedly. Wallace then meets Mei and Hugo. These people (who are alive) have the job of helping the dead transition to the next phase of existence. Wallace is having none of it. That’s funny/ironic because he is no longer in control of, well, anything. Wallace has to figure out how to accept what has happened to him and reconcile what a trash human he was while alive.
.
The book is very serious. It deals with death, suicide, and grief in many forms. It deals with the heartache of regrets and missed opportunities. That being said, it is very hopeful about the ability to change course and do better. It’s never too late to turn over a new leaf.
.
I liked the book very much. However, some of the mechanics of this afterlife evaded me but it didn’t stop me from understanding the gist and being able to enjoy it. I also appreciate that the queer characters are not treated as caricatures or side kicks. They are whole, complete beings.

I thought this book was okay. For the first part of the book the narrator rubbed me the wrong way with his negative attitude. However, I was glad to see the plot work out throughout the book!

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy to honestly review.

Wallace Price is just a not liked human. His focus is on his law firm.

The story is about life, death, and the in between. For me the book was slow going but good.

He meets Hugo which is there to help him to the other side. His journey is faced with grief, loss, and plain old being too late. I think a lot of us can relate to the being too late or the what if’s of our past.

I adored the setting of the tea shop. How unique was that? This book did make me feel many emotions and left me with a smile on my face.

Absolutely adored the side characters as well.

Kudos to the author for a great story

This book tore my heart out and handed it back to me on a plate, and I loved every second of it.

I went into this book with high hopes after The House in the Cerulean Sea and they were mightily exceeded! TJ Klune managed to write a beautifully insightful and deep book focused on death without being too heavy on the reader. Under the Whispering Door made me laugh and smile too many times to count, and even made me sob! It's rare for a book to evoke such emotions from me but I found myself so in love with the characters that I dreaded reaching the end of this book (which was a conflicting feeling considering I could barely put it down!)

Overall, Klune delivered a heartwarming story that deserves all 5 stars!

TJ Klune has managed to write yet another wonderful, loving story.

Under the Whispering Door is a story about Wallace. In life, Wallace was an asshole lawyer with no friends. After death, he's brought to a way station to prepare to cross over, and there he learns the value of friendship, companionship and how to live more fully (despite being dead).

The thing I like the most with Klune's stories is the obvious warmth and how the characters interact and support each other. This is another marvellous story and I highly recommend it.

Note: Thanks to Netgalley and Tor books for providing a free advance copy of the book in exchange for an honest review. I loved this book!