I’ve realized this year that I do not enjoy magical realism as a whole. I actually think the vast majority of people will love this book, but because of the genre it’s not my cup of tea.

This book follows a not-so-savory lawyer who passes away, and then grapples with what it means to be dead and what parts of life are important through the characters he meets in the afterlife. His characterization is lovely, as are the characterizations of the other people in the tea shop. The (gay!!!) romantic relationship he develops is so wholesome to read about and a nice change of pace from such a standoffish characterl.

My largest problem with this book is that it was just ~not for me~ and that's okay! I would actually recommend this book to most people, especially if they like magical realism and books with introspective themes.

I've chosen not to rate or review this book online because I don't want to yuck anyone's yum and I genuinely think most people will enjoy it!

"𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒆𝒂 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒂 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒆𝒂 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒏 𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒈𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒕. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒓𝒅 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒆𝒂, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒚."

Wow, where to start? This book took me a while to get into as it’s maybe outside of my normal reading genres, and it’s a slow building story, but it was absolutely worth the wait and I fell completely in love with the characters. Wallace, Hugo, Nelson, Mei and of course Apollo will forever have a sweet spot in my heart. Also, this book made me cry… more than once, which I always take as a telltale sign of a well-written story.

It was unique, deep, and a beautiful second-chance story. I loved the tie-in with all the beautiful teas. I think Hugo and I as fellow tea lovers would be very good friends!! And last but not least I really think this would make an amazing play! I hope one day it makes it to Broadway and I’d definitely go see it ☺️

"𝘼 𝙧𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙢𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣, 𝙣𝙤 𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙢𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙬𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙨𝙝 𝙞𝙩 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣'𝙩 𝙨𝙤."

4.5 stars rounded up - simply because it took me longer than I like to get into the story.

Thanks so much to TJ Klune and #NetGalley for gifting me this beautiful story to read. 💕

I was approved for an ARC on NetGalley and waited so long to read it that the book already debuted. And I kind of hate myself for waiting.

This book was beautiful and sad and perfect. It’s like a therapy session wrapped between two covers. I laughed, I cried, and I resonated with each character. Such a good book.

I was so excited to read this book after absolutely LOVING the House in the Cerulean Sea. T.J. Klune has such a special way of writing characters that you fall completely in love with. He has this ability to address larger sometimes more sensitive topics in a more lighthearted and beautiful way. Under the Whispering Door was no different. I loved each of the characters for their special quirks and personalities. While the first half of the book was a little slow and slightly receptive, I still loved the main messages that were being discussed and introduced. The ending was so beautiful and heartwarming. I would absolutely recommend this book to others, with the note that there are some heavy subjects, including but not limited to, death, murder, and suicide. Looking forward to reading more novels by Klune in the future.

I hugged this book multiple times and cried and laughed. This book is fantastic and I will be purchasing to reread over and over again.

Under the Whispering Door will make you howl with laughter and sob until you can't read the words on the page. It's a poignant look at death, grief, and what might come after. Although I don't believe in an 'after', I still found it to be a comforting and thought-provoking read, as well as being possibly the most wholesome book I've ever read. I'd highly recommend it to anyone who loves found families, magical realism, and a good dose of emotion.

The reason I knocked the book down to a 4* rather than a 5* is because the ending was a little too happily ever after for my cold grinch heart, but I'd take that as a reflection of me rather than the book.

TJ Klune truly has a gift. I first read The House in the Cerulean Sea at the beginning of the year and it ended up I being an all time favorite of mine. Once again, I find one of his books and favorite. I would say Under the Whispering Door has more dark elements in it than House but it’s beautiful none the less. It’s a story about grief, and love and loss and finding your true self. Wallace, Hugo and the entire gang will stick with me for a very long time.

TJ Klune always makes me think about something differently. I don't like to think about death, none of us do. We all have varying ideas of what that process looks like. Klune has built a world from the very first page that seems improbable, unbelievable but the deeper you get into this book the more at home it becomes. The very exploration of what if death is not the end and the transition at the heart of this book takes us from a protagonist that when introduced, you can't fathom he will be someone to root for.

A simply beautiful book of transition, facing our fears, and becoming the best self even after death.

Klune has done it again as the master of charm, wit, kindness, and heart breaking humanity.

Wallace Price is an awful person and now a sudden heart attack has led him to the afterlife - or rather a way station before the afterlife that takes the shape of a tea shop in the middle of the woods. The pieced together family that lives there (both and alive and dead) act as guides to help the newly dead cross over. As Wallace slowly comes to terms with his new reality, he finds himself changing and truly living now that he is dead. He finds a family in these people and a hope for a future he never had before.

Klune KILLS me with his writing. He is so unique and so mind boggling creative and has the perfect grasp on how to make you cry and cry and cry as you read his heartwarming stories. Cerulean Sea got me and now this one has too. UGH BRAVO!!

Thank you to Tor Books and NetGalley for the review copy!

Oh dear. I hate to be the party pooper but that just wasn’t my cup of tea.
I can see it would be perfectly suitable to be made into the type of movie I would never watch.

I had hoped it would be a quirky but profound story about someone coming to terms with their life and death, peppered with a few heart-breaking observations
Instead there is a too cute tea-shop stuffed to bursting with clichés and platitudes.

It started reasonably well with the portrayal of the horrible Wallace Price doing his worst, getting his come-uppance and then the ‘comedy’ funeral with Mei the, chipper but sensitive, Reaper dragging him off to his future existence while Wallace’s infuriated ex-wife tells the whole world just how awful he has been.

Except, that is a large part of the problem – we are told Wallace is an awful human being but we aren’t shown much convincing evidence.
True he is harsh and unfeeling to a pretty irritating employee but on his arrival at the tea shop he is upset and confused - not a totally unexpected reaction considering the circumstances.
During his sojourn at tea-shop he, and therefore we, spend a lot of time thinking about his childhood and the first years of his marriage when he really did care.
There is little development of why that deteriorated and how. It is simply assumed we will accept that constant work and fine suits are proof enough that Wallace was a terrible person.

In general, there is rather too much telling. The dialogue both inner and outer goes on and on, explaining every sentiment, rehashing feelings already expressed with little nuance or subtlety. The reader isn’t allowed any space for their own thoughts as every single emotional response is splurged out on to the page.

At about 60% in there was a splash of darkness, a redeeming stain of reality and the appearance of The Manager. However, that was soon smoothed over with more trite platitudes.

And then the ending… Well, it perfectly fits the tone of the book so unsurprisingly I didn’t like it and, of course, it was dragged out for far too long.

I knew I had to request this as soon as I saw the author! Loved Cerulean Sea, and Klune's next book Under the Whispering Door does NOT disappoint. I was a bit apprehensive to read this since I generally don't enjoy books that deal closely with death, but Klune handles such a raw and depressing topic with his typical love and tenderness, and care. I cried many times while reading this-- both happy and sad tears-- and feel all the better for it. A truly amazing book from a truly amazing writer.

I really enjoy TJ Klune's books. After reading The House in the Cerulean Sea, I knew that I needed to read this book as soon as I could. It is a bit more somber and not as light hearted as Cerulean Sea, but a beautiful story nonetheless. Klune writes the best characters and I loved his depiction of the afterlife. I'm recommending this book to all my friends.

Thank you Tor Books for this eARC via netgalley.

Wallace Price is dead. When Wallace dies unexpectedly and alone he learns that there are larger things at play in regard to the afterlife. Wallace is taken in by some of the caretakers of the dead as they work to transition them to their next stage of life. As he spends more time with these individuals, Wallace soon finds a place in his new home. Wallace learns through his new friends what it really means to live a good and meaningful life surrounded by those who love you.

This book was quite the wholesome and thought-provoking read. I loved seeing so much character growth and change throughout this story. I think this cast of characters was well done with good humor, characterization and love. I love how this author loves to include a great dynamic of found family and love in his books.

Overall I fell for all of these characters throughout the story. I think the concept of the book was well written and accomplished. While the book did feel a bit slow and repetitive at times, I did still really enjoy it.

In Under the Whispering Door, the protagonist is dead almost from the novel's start. His body is buried, unable to scramble out of the ground. His life was not a life well lived. It was one of bitterness and heartless misdeeds. And now death has robbed his body of any opportunity for redemption. It's an image of hopelessness, of being tamped down by earthly forces out of your control without any recourse of getting out. But while his living body's journey is complete, he has a new one in ghostly form. That ghost, as it leaves his body, is a form of a second chance. Just because his life was a lost cause doesn't mean his death has to be, too.

Following Wallace's death, he is situated in a place where people with fantastical gifts, including Mei, a reaper, and Hugo, a ferryman, work to acclimate Wallace to his death with eventual plans of him transitioning to what lies beyond. His rehabilitation and preparation is done at a tea shop owned by Hugo. Warring with Wallace's protestations are feelings of affection beginning to form for those in the tea shop. Feelings that he never felt before, even when he was alive.

While the premise doesn't exactly break new ground in fantasy, the character interactions are where the novel is at its best. Whether its friendship between the protagonist and other the other ghosts he meets, budding, believable romance that had its hooks in me until I was tensed and engaged, along with heartbreak and grief that is native to deathly situations--everything is handled with sincerity and emotional intelligence. The bits of wisdom might be parceled with a couple anodyne platitudes, but that adds to the cozy feeling that covers Under the Whispering Door like a warm blanket.

Don't go into the novel expecting rollicking, action-packed chapters. The roiling is more within the characters than pyrotechnic spectacles. The settings aren't varied, with most of the interactions confined to the tea shop--which sometimes have conversations extended to superfluity. But often it feels like a crucible for character growth with all the epiphanies, realizations, and disillusionments that comes with it. Just because the setting is relatively static doesn't mean that characters are taking steps of their own, even if they're metaphorical rather than literal.

Wallace might have been stuck in a rut in life, but in death the novel showcases him finding a pathway of ascending. In the year I'm writing this (2021), in which I am confined, often static, and sometimes pathless, Under the Whispering Door has come at a perfect time to offer a roadmap forward in literary form. Its pages might not be literal steps, but as the characters evolve internally, the novel's words made my heart warm and molded it into something sweeter, something that I think is more capable of approaching the world's clinical processes and rampant rage with more grace.

I loved The House in the Cerulean Sea so I was eager to get my hands on Under the Whispering Door. While still a fantasy-lite novel, Whispering Door is definitely darker than Cerulean Sea. I really liked the premise: a man (kind of your stereotypical Scrooge-type) dies and is brought by a Reaper to a quaint Tea Shop, where he learns to be a better person. Like his other novels, Klune is great at mixing in his unique brand of humor to lighten up more serious topics.

However, where I struggled with this book were the characters. Wallace is just annoying, even when he inevitably gets better. The rest of the characters felt very stereotypical and flat. The thing that bothered me the most though was that Klune basically breaks the rules of his own world just to give his characters a HEA. I get wanting a happy ending, but it was frustrating to essentially bend the rules for Wallace, of all people.

This is the second Klune novel I've read this year and the second one that I've been disappointed by, so I think his writing is just not for me.

Thank you to Tor Books for a gifted copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

TJ Klune has done it again! I loved The House In the Cerulean Sea and I was nervous about this next novel because I heard it is a bit more dark. Yes, the topic of death is grim and hard but somehow Klune made it bearable and even funny at times? I absolutely love his sense of humor and there were so many scenes that made me chuckle. Nelson was my absolute favorite character. This book will make you smile, laugh, cry and dig a little deeper into the meaning of life and death. I absolutely loved it and I hope you will too!

Ooh.. my heart; this one took me a few days to get through because it was kind of heavy. ⁣
⁣
TJ has this wonderful way of writing that immediately pulls you in. He hits on so many difficult topics in such a moving, thought provoking way. ⁣
⁣
We all think about death, but do we really… think about our last day? This story really makes you stop and think; if I died today, would I have any regrets? Would I be “stuck?” How have I treated those who made an impact on my life? ⁣
⁣
The power of letting others carry your weight when you’re defeated; is something that humans struggle with, and this story just drives home, how we all need just that at times. ⁣
⁣
That ending… 💔 was a bit of a tear jerker for me.⁣
⁣
I will be thinking about this one for a while.⁣
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⁣
#bookstagram #books #underthewhisperingdoor thank you @torbooks for an ARC for my honest review. #netgalley

What an incredible story! House in the Cerulean Sea and The Extraordinarines were wonderful and Under the Whispering Door keeps the goodness going.

I'm new to T.J. Klune, and I went into this with pretty high expectations I will admit. T.J has the ability to create a world so vivid to the imagination it feels like you are fully immersed into it as you read along. It was deep on so many levels - understanding the importance of life, appreciating life because it really can be taken away from you at a blink of the eye.
Wallace irritated me in the beginning, he was pretentious and incredibly uptight I'm surprised anyone had the patience to deal with him, but as it went on, he grew in so many ways and came to love him. My heart did break for him when he was at his funeral and nobody really cared about him. That's possibly one of the saddest things because every person should be cared about. As he copes with his death with the help of Hugo, Nelson and Mei, he begins understands what true love and friendships is like, and watching him blossom into the man he became was so heartwarming.
Despite the primary focus being on death, Under the Whispering Door is wonderful, tackling heavier subjects and balancing it out with humour, incredible characters and that warm fuzzy feeling of love!

"It's life, Wallace. Even when you're dead, it's still life. You exist. You're real. Youre strong and brave and I'm so happy to know you.”

As a big fan of "The House in the Cerulean Sea" I couldn't wait to get my hands on this one, but was also afraid it might not live up to the same expectations. I'm so happy to report that wasn't the case. The tone of "Under the Whispering Door" is much darker, in general the setting and story are quite different from what people might expect after Cerulean Sea, but in the most beautiful way imaginable. I have rarely read a story that deals with death and grief in this way, and for me personally it really was a book that came at the right time in the right place.
While the theme is quite different, it still had the same charme and heart as that of Arthur and Linus and the children of the island (there may even be a small reference as an ode to Klune's previous book).
Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this and, while I wouldn't have minded a sadder ending for this one, I would like to thank TJ Klune for saying he will write gay stories with happy endings and sticking with it. It means a lot and doesn't go unnoticed.