I am a huge Frederick Bachman fan so when I saw this book compared to his works I think my expectations were way too high. Definitely an interesting novel but not one I was over the moon for.

*Rating is 4.75/5*

After reading The House in the Cerulean Sea I knew I had to read more books by T.J. Klune so I was elated to find that I was approved to read his latest book, Under the Whispering Door, prior to its release in September.

Under the Whispering Door follows the life of Wallace, a successful lawyer, unsuccessful in maintaining relationships, who is ruthless and unkind. When Wallace unexpectedly dies he awakens at his own funeral to discover that his coldness and inability to empathize with his colleagues has led to hardly anyone showing up to his funeral.

"The grave filled quicker than Wallace expected. The first stars were starting to appear by the time she finished, though they were faint given the light pollution from the city. And that was it. All that was left of Wallace Price was a mound of dirt and a body that was going to be nothing but worm food. It was a profoundly devastating experience."

Wallace is whisked away by Mei, a reaper, tasked with brining Wallace to Hugo, a ferryman assigned to help Hugo cross over to his final destination. When Wallace arrives at the peculiar tea shop run by Hugo he has no idea what he is in for. The longer Wallace stays at the teashop the more he uncovers about the beauty and realness of death.

"Death has a beauty to it. We don't see it because we don't want to. And that makes sense. Why should we want to focus on something that takes us away from everything we know? How do we even begin to understand that there's more than what we see?"

He also begins to see the value of long-lasting relationships and companionship, especially with Hugo, who needs Wallace just as much as Wallace needs him. But is it too late?

Klune has a beautiful way of writing about death by adding humor to an already uncomfortable and sensitive topic. Through his book Klune shows the importance of creating strong relationships, being selfless for the sake of others, and the importance of living (even when you're dead). I absolutely LOVED this book.

Fans of The House in the Cerulean Sea will not be disappointed. Klune has once again taken a sensitive topic and turned it into literary artwork. *chefs kiss*

TW: Discusses topics of suicide

Yet again TJ Klune rips my heart out while at the same time caring for it lovingly. How he does this I do not know but it is definitely an amazing skill.

Some parts of this book were incredibly hard hitting, but done in such an understanding way. The characters draw you in and you feel like you are on a journey with Wallace. The different stories which all weave throughout the book drew me in and I became so invested in the outcomes of so many characters, not purely the mains.

TJ Klune contines to show he is a master at story weaving.

I gave this book 5 stars! If I could give it more I would. Reading about death was not easy, it made me think a lot about. I wasn’t the biggest fan of Wallace in the beginning but I ended up loving his character. I loved the found family trope in this one as well. This book made me laugh and oh my did it make me cry. I sobbed at the end so much. This book is definitely on my top list of favorite books I’ve read this year!

I really enjoyed this. As with Klune's other books, the heart of this book is the characters. They are wonderfully quirky and seem like real people. They are so easy to root for and also feel their pain which makes this a real emotional rollercoaster. I teared up in multiple places and laughed out loud in others.

The world in this one is also really interesting. The tea shop is really cute and has a great atmosphere for the rest of the story going on. The magic is explained well to the extent it is known by the characters but still leaves you with a hint of mystery that manages to work without being frustrating.

I went with 4 stars instead of 5 because the beginning (really first half) is pretty slow going. I does start to pick up the arrival of the Manager (which is literally in the blurb) is after the halfway point. The first half of this really needed to be cut down. The end left me with that warm fuzzy feeling I tend to have after every TJ Klune book I read but it was a little predictable and convenient in how they get there. I could see myself picking this one up again though, it'd be a great cozy read in the winter with a cup of tea so let's call it 4.5 stars.

Overall, I really did enjoy this and would recommend it to anyone who is good with reading a book that is literally all about death.

**I received a free ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**

I cried three times reading the end of this book. I was in no way prepared for the way I would feel when I closed it. It was like saying goodbye to friends. Friends you love and knew that one day, when you least expected it, you'd see them again and it would be like no time had passed.

This book was incredible. Every character had their own distinct voice. Even the ghost dog was memorable.

And the character growth? Phenomenal. Absolutely the best I've read in such a long time.

Wallace Price, Hugo Freeman, Mei, Nelson and Apollo are all so well written and so real that I could see them as I read. It was almost like watching a movie. Everything they did made since, every action taken moved the plot and none of it felt contrived. It was stunning.

I will give no spoilers for this book. I will say read it. Read this book.

We've got a man, Wallace Price who is bisexual are you kidding me? And it's sated right there on the page! And there are no bisexual stereotypes. None! It made me smile to see.

Hugo is queer as well and Black! A Black, queer love interest! And again: no stereotypes!

Mei is a cinnamon roll, I loved her. And her taste in music.

And watching Wallace grow. I cannot stress enough how incredible his transformation was. How evenly paced the book was, how well every single sentence meshed and moved the story.

The story and characters grab you and don't let go.

And the ending is fantastic. It yanked at my heart hard and I felt so much when I finished it. I can't even name the feeling. It just got me in the chest and stayed there.

Please read this book.

Five (5) stars.

I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Another magical book by TJ Klune. I just adore his quirky and lovable characters. He has cemented himself as a must-buy author for me. This book is both heartbreaking and heartwarming and I guarantee you cannot read it without shedding a few tears. However, it is worth it. I read this book slowly to absorb all the gems it has to offer. This book is a lot about grief and death but it also covers life and warmth. I highly recommend it!

Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

This book is set to be published on September 21, 2021.

I adored <i>The House on the Cerulean Sea</i> and wondered how Klune's sophomore effort would do. Now I have my answer: he's written an entirely different book, one that still encompasses magic (of a sort) but is more about the here-and-now and coming to terms with mortality. In this world, people don't just die, they're provided with a Reaper who escorts them to what I can only think of as a halfway house where they can adjust to their new status (and drink tea!) before going on to whatever is next. Wallace, one of those newly dead, isn't ready to leave... perhaps he'll never be ready. And if the idea is that the dead decide when they'll move on, if Wallace is never ready, well, what next?

In many ways this is as good a read as the first book, albeit slightly less charming. The characters are more well-rounded so let's call this a draw. Rounded up for four-and-a-half stars just because.

eARC provided by publisher via Netgalley.

Under The Whispering Door by TJ Klune.

I was so excited to be chosen to receive an ARC of this book and it did not disappoint!

Although not much of a fantasy reader, I had previously enjoyed TJ Klune’s book The House in the Cerulean Sea. It was heartwarming and funny.

Under the Whispering Door was similar in feel despite the different story line.

Wallace Price finds himself at his own funeral. There he meets Mai - the grim reaper who has some to take him to the ferryman.

What follows is a heartwarming story filled with charming and humorous characters.

This book does deal with death from several causes, so it should be noted that there are potential triggers. That being said, I didn’t find that any of that went into too great of detail and the story was mostly focused on Wallace and the lessons he was learning, the relationships he was developing.

Definitely worth a read. I gave this book 5⭐️

A Christmas Carol remastered - this book will talk to you if you like that traditional tale and enjoy calm fantasy. This wasn't exactly what I thought I was picking up and I must admit I was not as excited about it as most readers here. I did not know Klune before reading, but while it was a well written book, I wasn't engaged by the characters very much. Obviously, this is the point, this is about the transformation of Wallace from a mean workaholic to a freed man with emotions back in his life. But all the characters and situations felt a little too much like characters and situations I have already read and seen. The pace was a little off and too slow at the beginning.

**I was provided an electronic ARC from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for honest review.**

TJ Klune's newest work, Under the Whispering Door, explores life, death, and grief with care and humor. Readers follow Wallace Price, who is a white-collar attorney and a bit of a jerk. When Wallace has a heart attack, he discovers there is more to life and death than he bargained for, courtesy of a Reaper and Ferryman charged with leading him to cross over.

Klune, in consideration of his readers, included a content warning in the form of an author's note at the beginning of the book. This book deals in depth with grief and death, including deaths of various types (illness, suicide, accident, sudden, unexpected, etc). This book may be too much for some readers based on that content. I am not a reader who has anything I would list as a trigger. I work around dead people daily as part of my profession. Yet I still caught myself needing a minute to gather myself due to feeling anxious at some of the passages. If you have discussions of death and dying as a trigger, this may not be the book for you.

That being said, Klune still managed to make this novel into a hopepunk sort of low fantasy. There is a sort of whimsical tone that infuses both this novel and The House in the Cerulean Sea. While the latter is more joyous and lighthearted throughout, this book is more pensive and reflective. Both leave the reader with a message of hope in adversity.

Klune's strength, to me, continues to be his character work. Mei, Wallace, Hugo, and Nelson were all perfectly lovely characters. I also enjoyed Nancy and Cameron's character arcs. I found the ending of the book to be very predictable, but if I am honest with myself I would have been disappointed and unsatisfied if it had ended any other way.

Overall, I am grateful to have had the opportunity to read this book early and am eager to go through more of Klune's backlist while waiting for his next release.

Anyone else find they go back to the cover of a book they've just read and notice things they didn't before? Because it me.

<i>Here, at the end, he'd found a friend.</i>

Surprising no one, this book made me cry. A lot.

"<i>I can't grieve for myself.</i>"
"<b>Of course you can. We do it all the time, regardless of if we're alive or not, over the small things and the big things. Everyone is a little bit sad all the time.</b>"

If you've read the synopsis for this one, there honestly isn't a whole lot more I can say without ruining everything. But this story deals with grief, death, and the unfortunate reality of hindsight and perspective; and how often it occurs to us too late. But it's also about being a better person, or trying to be, even if -- especially if -- there's no benefit to you. Just doing the right thing because it's what should be done.

<i>What if across the top, written in bold letters (and in Comic Sans!) was a summation of Wallace Price's life that was less than flattering? HE DIDN'T DO A WHOLE LOT, BUT HE HAD NICE SUITS! or, worse, NOT THAT GREAT, IF I'M BEING HONEST.</i>

For all the tears, and for all the story is saying something lovely, though not particularly profound -- though maybe the simplicity makes it profound? you decide -- I'll admit that, some fun antics with the characters who live in this bizarre tea house side, there was only so much that could happen, that we could see play out. The journey is mostly internal for Wallace, our lead, to relive moments of his life, to relearn things he had forgotten, to be better. We do sort've go through some motions, which makes sense because, I mean, he's dead, all he has is motions to go through, but this story is almost all character-driven. There is more action, more excitement, near the end, though. Both related to, but also not, to all my tears. There's one character, Cameron, well.. yeah, lots of tears for that one.

<i>Honesty was a weapon. It could be used to stab and tear and spill blood upon the earth. Wallace knew that; he had his fair share of blood on his hands because of it. But it was different now. He was using it upon himself, and he was flayed open because of it, nerve endings exposed.</i>

You'll definitely find some Klune-esque humour, though not quite to the extremes he can often get, and some of his characters -- Mei, Nelson -- all but leap off the page in your face. As much as I enjoyed Wallace, and Hugo, they weren't my favourites; and seeing as the story focuses the most of them, that might be why this isn't a full five stars. Their parts were sometimes lovely, moving, and often sweet. But when I think back on this story, which I'm sure I will, they won't be the first ones to come to mind.

"<i>We don't murder people.</i>"
"<b>Maim, then</b>."
"<i>We don't do that either.</i>"
"<b>Nothing's stopping us. You told me that we should always try and achieve our dreams.</b>"
"<i>I didn't have murder in mind when I told you that.</i>"
"<b>That's because you think too small.</b>"

Full of thoughtful exploration and devastating observations, tea, and equal parts cozy and sad and strange, as long as you don't go thinking this is another THE HOUSE IN THE CERULEAN SEA -- though you may see a little blink and you miss it throwaway reference to it, and another of Klune series or two -- I think you'll really appreciate this story. But don't forget to pack the tissues.

Thank you to netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

I absolutely adored this book, so sweet and emotional, if you haven't already I encourage you to check it out! It will break you but you'll love it

Grab the tissue box or your sleeve if it’s closer because there is a very good chance that you will finish reading Under the Whispering Door in tears like me. If the words TJ Klune or The House in the Cerulean Sea (aka my favourite read of 2020) weren’t enough to bring me to this book, the premise itself would have intrigued me to pick it up.

Wallace is not a good man. Or rather, he was not a good man when he was alive. And when he is suddenly faced with death, he is having trouble understanding what is going on. He’s picked up by a very chatty Reaper by the name of Mei, who guides him to Hugo, a ferryman, who works in a tea shop. They are there to guide him so that he is ready to continue on his journey. Whatever that means.

And such is the start of a reading journey that ended in tears. How could it not? Such big topics about death, grief, letting go, moving on, redemption, forgiveness, family and friendship. But just like The House in the Cerulean Sea, I’m left with a feeling of comfort, love, and warmth in my heart as I finished the story. While I know that this was all fictional, somehow in reading TJ Klune’s version of what happens when people die, Under the Whispering Door has given me a sense of peace for what may be after death. And that is a surprisingly spiritual feeling to manifest from reading a fictional novel. As of writing this review (shortly after completing the novel), I’m also left with a feeling that something was missing from the story to make it as perfect as Cerulean Sea. I’ll try to pinpoint what that may be - perhaps with a second reading of the story - but for now, I will say that I really enjoyed Under the Whispering Door and it definitely make the list for this year’s favourite reads.

Wallace is a cold-hearted lawyer who suddenly die. He comes to awareness in the afterlife at his own funeral, where a grand total of four people are in attendance. A young woman leads to him an odd tea shop that serves as the bridge between life and what comes next. Here he meets Hugo, the ferryman who leads people on to the next step, as well as his ghost grandfather and ghost dog.

I am probably going to have some rocks thrown at me for this review, but so be it.

This book just didn’t do it for me. I found the overall writing style and plot with lengthy sections consisting just of conversation to drag on and felt overall it seemed very preachy and sappy and repetitive. I felt like there was very little character development and was completely unable to grasp the relationship that develops in the book because the development is just not shown. The book opens with Wallace showing his horrible personality in full force, and he very rapidly does a complete personality 180 after his death without any reasonable demonstration as to WHY. So much time is spent on Wallace figuring out how to touch physical objects or change his clothing his ghost wears and I completely failed to understand why this developed the plot whatsoever. Many of the characters felt exceptionally Mary Sue to me. Very disappointing read overall that I struggled to get through.

Thank you to Netgalley for this advanced reader’s copy.

Another wonderful book by TJ Klune! With another beautiful cover to match the story. I loved all of the main characters and their unique personalities. This book made me feel a range of emotions and found me both laughing and crying. Ultimately it’s another heartwarming and hopeful story. Thankful to NetGalley and Tor Books for giving me an ARC of this beautiful book.

It is hard to write a review of a book that has made you feel so much that you don't even know where to start. So I'll give it a try.

Life, adulthood, mistakes, forgiveness, and grief. Is it fair? Is it someone's plan? Do you believe it? How are you dealing with life? Are you pretending? Are you doing something to reach your happiness? Can you forgive others? Can you forgive yourself? Why not? What are your worries? Is your family important to you? Do you care about your close ones? Do you love others? Do you love yourself? Are you stuck? Do you have someone to lean on? Why not? Did you lose someone? Are you grieving? Are you feeling lost? Are you reaching out? Would you be there for someone? Have you ever think about all that?

That's the story in this book that I picked because of its beautiful cover and got me right where I needed the most. I've enjoyed every single page of it. Of course, I wept like a child but also lmao like the strong woman I am.

Congratulations to the writer, for this magnificent piece of work!

OMG 😭 What a story! Holy moly. This book was amazing. Seriously, ALL THE FEELS. It was hilariously charming and heartbreaking in the most beautiful way. We follow Wallace into the afterlife as he begins to process and accept his death as well as reflect on his life. He meets up with Mei (a reaper), Apollo (the bestest pooch sidekick), Nelson (the bombest grandad), and Hugo (a ferryman) who all help him through this trying next chapter of his existence, eventually becoming his friends and family 🤍

I LOLed an incredibly good amount while reading this! The fast-paced witty prose is intoxicating and profound. Really. It's that unexpected dry wit and deadpan humor that sneaks up on you so much so that you grin like a dork and then snort-laugh, giggle uncontrollably, or just full-on deep belly cackle 😂 I also cried a whole bunch 🥺

The character interactions are lively and snarky and thoughtful and kind. Their banter and group dynamic is always on point! I loved the processing and working through of feelings as well as the empathy and warmth given to said feelings without judgment.

I love Mei to pieces. Nelson is the bombest grandad. Apollo is THE best. And Wallace and Hugo 😭😭😭 Together, they make the most amazing found family. And I am just absurdly fond of everything in this story. I would LOVE to see it as a TV show 🥺

• Read This For •
— LGBTQIA+ rep
— feelings and empathy
— anxiety and grief awareness/processing
— positive self-growth
— found family
— the bestest pooch sidekick
— grumpy x sunshine trope
— snark and banter

Potential Triggers: death, the afterlife, grief, murder & suicide, panic attacks, anxiety, heart attack, divorce

Thank you to the publisher and author for my advanced copy!

After enjoying The House in the Cerulean Sea, plus this book being described as "Man Called Ove meets The Good Place", plus the abundance of 5-star reviews so far, I had REALLY high expectations for Under the Whispering Door. And that might have been a problem. I didn't *dislike* this book, I just thought it would be very different.

Run don’t walk to grab a copy of Under the Whispering Door! From the moment you set foot into Charon’s crossing Tea and Treats your life will never be the same. The exquisite writing brings the characters to life as you follow Wallace on his journey through death. Surrounded by the ghost of grandad and the dog Apollo, the tea shop owner Hugo and his right hand Mei Wallace must figure out what his life meant and what comes after death. A profound story of love, family and redemption.