Klune once again hits it out of the park. Whispering Door may not be quite as outstanding as Cerulean Sea - but that is an awfully high bar to match and this is by no means anything other than an outstanding book. Klune once again explores love in the new book and readers should expect more than a few tugs on the heartstrings. With an easy-to-read writing style, this is the book to pick up and savor over a long weekend.

This book totally pulled at my heartstrings. I started off not really liking the protagonist but by the end, I loved his growth and his journey to becoming a better version of himself.

Unfortunately not the target audience for this and had to DNF. Did not review.

I would trust the other reviewers on this one- it is loved!

*I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

5 stars

I love pretty much anything TJ Klune writes. I really enjoy how he creates his characters and gives them mostly complete stories (backstories and make-up, etc). His stories are like escapism for me. Would recommend him to most anyone.

Wallace Price has died, only he doesn’t know what the next step on his journey means. He is collected by his Reaper, Mei, and is taken to his ferryman, Hugo, to help answer his questions and guide him to his next stop. But all isn’t what it seems with Hugo and Mei and what unfolds is a beautiful story of acceptance, humanity, and so much more.

If you love a good redemption story or unlikely friendship story then pick this one up. While I would have liked to have seen more of Wallace's transformation from the evil guy at the beginning of the book the found family and friendship made it okay. It kind of reminds me of the "Can we skip to the good part" audio for reels/tiktok, but I digress. Wallace is a jerk, he cares about himself and no one else so when he has a heart attack and has to face his mortality and the cast of characters to help him crossover he realizes how he has lived does not make a life he can be proud of looking back on.
When he gets to the wonky looking house with his reaper, Mei he meets Hugo, his ferryman; Nelson, Hugo's grandfather ghost; and Apollo, Hugo's dog ghost. While there are other key characters throughout I really just fell in love with this core group and felt their emotions. There were also interspersed bits of comedy mixed in with the deeper lessons of the book to balance each other out.
While this book will, of course, be compared to The House in the Cerulean Sea I feel like there are plenty of comparisons to be made but it is a book of its own to be compared to only itself. I did, though, appreciate that some of the pictures in the house most certainly seemed to be nods to The House on the Cerulean Sea.

This is a fabulous story about the living, the dead, and the adventures we have between both.

I do admit that I struggled a bit with the grammar, some sentences didn't flow naturally, and some of the character dialogs didn't read as natural dialog to me. But overall it was a wonderful story.

While The House in the Cerulean Sea was one of my favourite books of the year a few years ago, this one didn’t *quite* live up to the hype. I did still love it - don’t get me wrong, it just didn’t unbelievably move me like Cerulean Sea. While this book is still beautiful, the writing is incredible and its full of thought-provoking dialogue and passages, it just lacked the connection to the characters, but that may be because the Cerulean characters were perfection (and kids).

I suppose it’s hard to rate a book as an individual when you’re spending the whole time comparing it to another of the author’s books. I know this is unfair, but I had high expectations. I LOVED the audio of this one. It’s plot is a very original concept in my opinion and while the characters should be so unlikeable, you really grow to love them. This book does an excellent job of discussing and describing grief and how to try to navigate how we deal with it. I laughed, I cried, I sobbed, I cheered and I smiled immensely. Prepare yourself for this one and give it a read (or a listen!)

The portrayal of the Chinese character and the fraught relationship with her mother makes me very uncomfortable. Although there are conflict between Chinese parents and children, like there are conflicts between any parents and children across background, This book is written by a white man. The way TJ Klune phrased some of the conflict feels insensitive at best and racist at worst.

For example, he has his Chinese daughter character mock her own mother by speaking with a Chinese accent, while the daughter talks about her relationship with her mother to our white male protagonist.

“Her voice dropped to a lower register, the words taking on an accent. It took Wallace a moment to realize she was imitating her mother.“

Also the way there seems to be a suggestion of the Chinese mother being "fascinated by the idea of being American." This indicates a hero worshipping of US culture, although it does exist in some Chinese immigrant population, but coming from a white man's writing just makes it seems very condescending as TJ Klune uses this kind of words to describe it:

"She didn’t like her history. China in the twentieth century was filled with war and famine, oppression and violence. During the Cultural Revolution, religion was outlawed, and anyone who disobeyed was beaten or killed or just . . . disappeared into thin air. （…）She wanted fireworks on the Fourth of July and picket fences, to become someone different. She wanted the same for me. But even coming here, there were certain things she still believed. You don’t go to bed with wet hair because you’ll get a cold in your head. Don’t write names in red ink, because that’s taboo.”

Portraying Chinese characters who have lived through the trauma of 20th century China (civil war, famine and the Cultural Revolution), just so they are obsessed with American culture?? Except the only thing they kept are the stupid superstitions?? This seems like a very caricature portrayal of Chinese-Americans. Yes, a lot of Chinese immigrants moved out of the country due to the distraught situation back home. But there is also a common consensus that USA isn't superior, instead, there's a sense of resentment and detachment with the west, even without immigrant community. Why is that? Well, because the Western Imperialism and colonization, because racism experienced within western society. I love how the author ignored ALL these nuance, instead just making the Chinese mother a complete caricature who thinks USA is all rainbow and unicorn.

"“I know you probably don’t get this, but we don’t talk about stuff like that in my family. It’s . . . ingrained. She wouldn’t let me get help, to see a doctor because for all that she wanted to be American, there were still some things that just wouldn’t do.”"

This. Another huge misconception is that Chinese household, or just Asian household in general, are more toxic and abusive because lack of verbal communication. Like I said before, this kind of family do exist, but NOT ALL CHINESE FAMILY ARE INHERENTLY TOXIC OR ABUSIVE JUST BECAUSE WE DON'T COMMUNICATE LOVE THE WAY WESTERN PPL DO. My grandparents would constantly ask if I'm hungry, but they rarely hug or cuddle me. My mom listens to my problems and are there for me, she was supportive of my coming out as queer and has never refrained from showing her being proud of me (eventho not in words). Saying It's "ingrained" that just because there is no communication is like saying Chinese parents are doomed to be toxic and abusive. When it's not??

“Either her way or the highway. She said it just like that, and she was so proud of it, because it was such an American thing to say.”

Okay, maybe it is a very American thing to kick your children out of the house. So i guess at least TJ Klune acknowledged that. Still, reading this rendition of a white man writing the nuance and trauma of a Chinese character growing up in a Chinese immigrant household is just, so awkward and painful.

To fellow Chinese dispora, I understand that this kind of toxicity depicted exist in our community and culture. It is still very present and is something we all need to discuss. But the way TJ Klune depicted it feels like a very condensed and insensitive version of the real situation - where things are more nuanced.

Also, why would you have the Chinese daughter mock her mom BY FAKING A CHINESE ACCENT, when this is the very same meothod so many white racists use to harass the Asian community??? Like You cannot convince me this Chinese girl literally never experienced her people being racially harassed by mocking of the Chinese accent, just for her to do the same thing to her mom Bc she's mad at her lmao.

This was such a wonderful story of finding oneself. Yes, in this case it just happened to be after death. But doesn't everyone deserve a second chance? Oh how I loved this book. Thank you NetGalley for this arc.

✨Book Review✨
Under the Whispering Door by T.J. Klune
⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
.
I really don't know how I felt about this book. I guess I enjoyed it, but it was definitely not a plot based book. Not much happened, but the story did strongly push the chosen family theme which I always enjoy. There were parts that were a little slow, and parts that I was more excited about, but overall it was a pleasant read with a creative concept.

This is perhaps the most beautiful books I have ever read, and I know it will stay with me for a long time. I never thought a book about death could be so funny and heartwarming. I was nervous to read it as I was worried it could be depressing, but I had faith TJ Klune would deliver and he did. This is a beautifully written book full of heart, soul and grace in a way I wasn't expecting.

I wish more than anything that Hugo, Nelson, Mei, Apollo and Wallace were real. I loved each of them so dearly, as distinct and characterful as they all were. They were such a lovely group to follow and I adored seeing their relationships blossom and Wallace learn to be a better person in death. I could read this book over and over just to watch Wallace and Hugo grow together.

TJ Klune doing it again! I was so excited to read this book after loving The House in The Cerulean Sea. He truly brings all of his characters to life when you are reading/listening along to the story.

Wallace is a grumpy lawyer who died unexpectedly and is taken in by Mei, a reaper from the afterlife. Mei helped Wallace transition into the afterlife with the help of a dear friend Hugo. The story is mainly based in a shop called Charon's Crossing, which is a midway point for the dead. Mei is such a quirky character that it helped with the fact that Wallace was not a great man. They give Wallace seven days before his final crossing and he needs to live life to the fullest.

This book hit me with all the feels. Bring on the tears(in a good way)
"It’s never enough, is it? Time. We always think we have so much of it, but when it really counts, we don’t have enough at all.”

4.5 rounded to 5

I love the fact that I didn't know how this book was going to work when I was going into it, and yet it did. I mean, this is a book that basically starts after our main character dies. And it's supposed to be heartwarming.

Let me tell you. It was exactly that!

I fell in love with all the characters that were at Charon's Crossing. And that is a testament to TJ Klune's characters and character growth. Because if you asked me when I started reading, I would say that I hated our main character of Wallace. How he started to how he ended up is a complete 180 and I loved that.

I haven't read a TJ Klune that I haven't loved yet.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing the E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was purely a delight and it was an unexpected one. A new forever favourite for sure.

It is a book that deals with grief and death but at it heart is so much more than that. It follows our protagonist Wallace as he dies unexpectedly and is escorted to begin his journey to what is next in life.

As he discovers that there is much more to life when you have people to share it with. The supporting characters are wonderful, especially the dog Apollo. I should add that the setting of the tea shop is delightful and I loved every second of this wonderful book.

Big fan of this author and his wonderful imagination. I loved this one.

ARC provided by Tor Books via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review..

I loved House in The Cerulean Sea so I wanted to read Under The Whispering Door, naturally. I will say yes this is wholesome but in a sad way. This book is about death and grief, and how life still continues beyond death. I liked the discussion about death and grief however, I wanted more of a plot like House. I also wasn't as attached to the characters as I was in House. This felt very surface-level in terms of characters and plot so I couldn't love it as much as I do House. I did think the m/m romance in this was very precious but again I wasn't very invested. If there was more of a plot and more depth to these characters I would have loved this but alas. I would still recommend this to someone who wants a melancholic read.

I enjoyed this book but it wasn't what I thought it was going to be.
I was hoping it was going to be a sequel to The House in the Cerulean Sea.
It was not but it was still a good book and recommended for fans of the above mentioned title.

Thanks to the publisher for the advance review copy.

I got this book for review nearly two years ago (over two years ago?). I try to get through every single book I get for review, so for the past 18-24 months, I have repeatedly picked up this book and tried to plow on through it. Each time, I've never gotten further than chapter 3.

A lighthearted, funny book about a lawyer who dies seemed right up my alley. Unfortunately, I just couldn't stand the writing style, and the characters and dialogue seemed juvenile, like they belonged in a YA novel. There also just wasn't enough propelling this book forward. Almost as soon as I read the first page, I felt like I knew what the outcome would be: that the lawyer, who was an unfeeling workaholic in life to the detriment of all his personal relationships, will ultimately realize that friendship and love are the most important things in the world by the end of the novel. Of course, I didn't get far enough in to find out — but really, what other endings could there be?

I'm not leaving a rating on Goodreads because I don't rate books that I did not finish.

Wow. Another stunning book by TJ Klune. Hopeful and heartbreaking, with moments that were hard to read. Most of all, a book about life and love.

Read with care.

Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

I absolutely adored TJ Klune's The House in the Cerulean Sea and had to read Under the Whispering Door and it did not disappoint! I love the interesting story of Wallace, a recently deceased man, living his best life at an in-between life and death tea shop. Like Klune's other book, you laugh at the same time as learn an important message about life. It's a great read for everyone.

I started to read this and it didn't grab my attention within the first 50 pages. I stopped reading at that point. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.