Wallace is a hard-ass, business-before-all-else kind of guy. He lives and breathes his work, and he’s very good at it.

But when a reaper comes to collect Wallace from his own funeral, he begins to suspect he might be dead. And when Hugo, who runs an unusual kind of tea shop, promises to help him cross over, he decides he’s definitely dead.

But even in death, he’s not ready to abandon the life he’s barely lived.
So when he’s given one week to pass through the door to the other side, Wallace sets about living a lifetime in just seven days.

After absolutely adoring The House in the Cerulean Sea, I was more than ready to dive into this book. It’s a slower pace than some of my usual reads but in a nice way. It doesn’t rush you. It urges you to take your time - ironic, as our protagonist has run out of it.

The narrative is charming and full of thought-provoking prose. I really love Klune’s way of framing a story, and this one no different. It tackles the really difficult topic of death in a deep, meaningful, and yet still somehow lighthearted way. By forcing Wallace to consider the impact of his actions in life, the book has you appreciating the importance of the smaller things, like sharing a cup of tea with a friend, and simply being present for someone who needs nothing more than to not be alone.

Wallace’s emotional journey from the kind of person to whom empathy is as useful as a head cold, to someone who goes out of his way to help people he barely knows was really lovely to read.

The influence of the other characters on the way he sees the world is funny and relatable, and I could easily picture them in the room with him.
Hugo is calm and patient, Mei is sharp-witted and straight-talking, and Nelson brilliantly embodies the stereotype of grandad grousing from his chair by the fire. Each of them makes their own unique impression on Wallace during his stay at the tea shop. I absolutely loved the found family aspects they wove into the story - they were beautiful and had me welling more than once.

This is another lovely, genuinely heartwarming story from Mr Klune.
Definitely worth reading for a bit of a pick-me-up 😊

I am pretty sure that I have read at least a handful of T.J. Klune’s earlier works. Not because I remember anything about them but because when I looked up his bibliography after reading The House in the Cerulean Sea last year, half the covers and summaries seemed eerily familiar. But, as I said, I didn’t really remember any of them. The same does not go for his two newest novels however: Even though more than a year has passed since I read The House in the Cerulean Sea, I still remember excatly what reading this book felt like. And although I have only just read Under the Whispering Door, I have a feeling, that this novel will stay with me for quite a while as well.

The two novels have a few things in common: For one, they both feature a middle aged protagonist who could be described as rather boring, stiff and not exactly empathetic. Linus Baker from The House in the Cerulean Sea is a case worker for the Department in Charge of Magical Youths and every inch the boring beaurocrat. And Wallace Price from Under the Whispering Door is one of the founding partners of a successful lawfirm and pretty much an asshole. Both of them are stuck in mindnumbing routines with little in their lives beyond their jobs. However, both of their lives are soon turned upside down and they have to reevalutate their priorities.

In The House in the Cerulean Sea Linus is assigned a new case that requires him to check in on an island orphanage for especially dangerous magical youths and their care-taker Arthur. However, Arthur and his charges aren’t exactly what he expected, nor do they fit his prim and proper by the book approach to life. They are essentially the anti-thesis to Linus, chaotic, warm and, despite all the tragedy that has shaped their lives, happy with their little found family. And Linus comes to realize that there might be more to life and living than just work.

Similarily, Wallace in Under the Whispering Door also has to face the fact that maybe work and success are not the key to happiness. His turning point is a little more drastic than Linus’ though: He dies. Of a heartattack, while working on a Sunday. And he is not happy about that, after all there was so much left to do! But when a snarky reaper brings him to a tea shop in the middle of nowhere, where he meets Hugo, the kind ferryman supposed to help him cross into whatever comes next, he slowly realizes that he might not have lived his life very well.

So, not only do these novels start out with similar protagonists, they also juxtapose them with similar love interests that help them on their journey. Both Arthur and Hugo are warm and open and loving and both lead rather magical lives that differ greatly from those of the protagonists – even though, as caretaker and ferryman, they are also defined by their jobs. Interacting with them and their families and seeing how they live their lives, helps the protagonists come to some important realizations about their own lives.

And I think that’s where the novels differ the most: The topics they deal with. While the basic elements are very similar, the issues they tackle differ and so do the magical elements and the setting as well as the tone: The House in the Cerulean Sea is about being different and other and being ostracized for it but also about finding happiness, friends and family against those odds. It features a variety of magical children and their titular home and is, despite its themes, mostly lighthearted, quirky and funny. Under the Whispering Door mostly takes place in a cozy tea shop (that contains the titular door) and is filled with ghosts, reapers and otherworldly beings. The main questions it asks are what makes life worth living and how to we deal with death and it is solemn and soulful while also feeling very cozy.

I enjoyed both novels immensely. T.J. Klune clearly knows how to make his characters feel alive and real to the reader and he also manages to tackle heavy topics in a way that makes them enjoyable to read about. Despite all their similarities, The House in the Cerulean Sea and Under the Whispering Door are very different novels but both are entertaining and heartwarming in their own way and I can wholeheartedly recommend both!

Wow, this book was absolutely immaculate. While it does feel a bit plotless, it somehow all comes together and wraps up really nicely. I couldn't stop crying toward the end to the point where I had to stop reading every so often because my eyes were so blurry.

This book really pulls you in and makes you feel for the characters. It's funny because in the beginning I was really excited for Wallace to eat it, but then I end up wishing he were alive toward the end of it.

This book manages to have so many different tones, but they all meshed together so well. Once it hurts you, it heals you. At one point, I considered rereading The House in the Cerulean Sea to console myself, but honestly? This book consoled me just fine. I think that's the mark of a good book. If it can heal you after hurting you.

What a fantastic read. I highly reccomend giving it a go once it comes out!

2.5 Stars

When I saw this book pop up on Netgalley I knew I had to request an ARC. I (like most of booktok) read and adored TJ's House on the Cerulean Sea earlier this year and I had such high hopes for this book but it never delivers.

We follow Wallace Price an attorney who has passed away and is now contending with the fact that he wasted his life and that in death no one really misses him. Price sets off to live his life in 7 days.

Here is where the book fails to reach its potential. What could be a very profound story about what it means to live and how to accept death becomes a cliched story that doesn't add anything new to the discussion. I came away from this book having learned nothing new about why life is worth living how death is an important part of that.

The book is unnecessarily long with at least 100 pages where nothing, except the same conversations, happen over and over again with slight variation, and the 'love story' is very superficial to the point that you're not rooting for the characters and Hugo just feels like a mechanism to make Wallace a better person.

The redeeming part of this book is that Klune is still an excellent writer and his writing style makes all of the issues the book has bearable. However, you're probably better off picking up one of his other books and leaving this one on the shelf.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I had to go out and buy an almost new spittle-o-meter due to this book, but I'll explain that later.

I found Under the Whispering Door quite charming. It's also profound in it's way, if you look deeper at what's really happening to the characters. And the dog, Apollo! Why can't my dog stay with me as a ghost? I would snuzzle him and woofle him and love him. This novel gives us hope in many ways. Hope for people. Hope for the afterlife. Hope that our dogs hang around us after they're dead. I went into my back yard awhile ago just in case Yahtey was still out there.

The characters are just smart-ass enough that their goodness doesn't get irritating. They are good but not goody-two-shoes. I have to admit there was something attractive about Wallace, the protagonist, when he was a jerk. I guess it was because he was so good at it. And the Manager! His assholery was a highlight. Mei, is too perfect in what she does, but she endeared herself to me because she knew just the right insults to make her goodness even out.

Back to the spittle-o-meter. As you know, if you follow my reviews, it irritates me that modern books are full of smirking, eyeball rolling, and lip-biting. I'm happy to say that I didn't have to use my smirk-o-meter at all on Whispering Door. It's out for repairs, anyway, as so many novels cause it to top out. My eyeball-roll=o-meter got about halfway across it's arch. But, every character in the book had to gnaw on their lips. Changing bite to gnaw does not make it original. My lip-bite-o-meter had to be oiled after this. And, and, I've noticed that more and more spittle-on-lips is showing up in books. Almost everyone in Whispering Door had spittle on their lips including the ghost dog. My new spittle-o-meter smoked...smoked!

Authors are so original with their stories, yet they copy each other with such silly things as lip biting (or gnawing), eyeball rolling, smirking, and now spittle...of all things. I'm begging all writers, begging them on my arthritic knees, to please think twice before smirking, spiitling, eyeball rolling and chewing on lips. Too many say the same thing. Think of new words. Make them up if you have to. Shakespeare made up words and everybody wants him over for dinner, right?

I'm going out again to see if my ghost dog is here. Here, boy! Good Dog!

What emotion didn't this book make me feel!?! I laughed, I cried, I wanted to punch a boy lol. This book is so good. The characters are so wonderful its easy to live them all. Nelson has to be my favorite. This is my first book by TJ Klune pardon me while I go binge the rest of his books!!

It PAINS ME to say this, because The House in the Cerulean Sea was one of my favorite books I read this year! But unfortunately I found this read mostly boring and trite. (Clearly I’m in the minority here though!)

I liked the first chapter and the overall concept — I wholly expected to love this book. It follows Wallace’s experience in a “waystation” between life and death, detailing his personal growth from total jerk of a lawyer to decent human and his relationships with the people assigned to help him cross over to the other side.

But it just felt VERY drawn out — not much happened in the whole book, and I found the characters and most of their conversations very one-dimensional. The romance seemed thrown together, the plot was all over the place, the humor fell flat.

It wasn’t that I hated it — I just thought more could have been done with the premise & it needed either a stronger plot or more fleshed out characters. I probably would have DNFed it if it hadn’t been an ARC I was so excited to get.

YIKES SORRY TO SAY IT. Don’t skip it if it sounds awesome, just manage your expectations!

This book is such a beautiful take on death, grief, anger, and loss. I received it as an ARC and I loved this book. Stories about death are hard for me as I very recently lost someone very close to me unexpectedly but this book does such an amazing job of validating all those complex emotions that surround death that makes you feel so safe. They characters were beautifully developed and I fell in love with them. I absolutely recommend this book if you were a fan of A House in the Cerulean Sea although be prepared that the tone is different while keeping the writing style very similar. Thank you for the ARC, I will be picking up a copy to own once this book releases

I struggled to get into this book more than I thought I would. It still has Klune's eccentric and heartwarming storyline similar to The House in the Cerulean Sea (that I've read and loved!) by him. But I found this one difficult to become engaged in, specifically the first half of this book.

It was still beautifully written and I loved the message it sent. It causes you to look inward at yourself, the choices you make, the legacy you want to leave and how you treat others. I just wish it captivated my attention better at the beginning. It felt like it took too long for us to get to the meat of the story. By the end, I was in tears and I truly loved the second half. I would give it a higher star rating, if the entire book was like the second half.

TW: death, suicide

***Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me an advanced copy of this book!

I'm going to blame this horrible review on me recovering from surgery :)

This book was so much fun. I laughed out loud so many times and I loved all the characters and their relationships with each other. While this book does deal with death and the afterlife, it doesn't make the book depressing or sad. And while it does not align with what I believe happens in the afterlife, I think it was very unique and interesting.

Nelson has to be my favourite though. He is the cutest, grumpiest, sarcastic old man. And Mei has a soft spot in my heart.

The only complaint I have is that it felt like Wallace changed a bit too much from who he was before. And I get that was the purpose, since this is a very character-driven book, but I just found it a little unrealistic that he was having such deep conversations with everyone when prior to his death he was pretty much an "asshole" and cared about nothing and no one. The ending also felt a little too perfect, but I guess it was balanced out in the epilogue.

Overall, would rate this more a 3.75/5 stars. Definitely a fun read, would have finished it quicker if I wasn't busy/had surgery.

Under the Whispering Door broke my heart, but also helped put it back together.

This book celebrates the beauty of death and grief, and pulls you in from the first chapter. Wallace is, well, an asshole, but TJ Klune's trademark humor makes you root for the character anyway, and once his reaper finds him (only a little late), you are swept away into a beautiful found family story.

The romance, the friendships, the growth, all of it is expertly woven into this vivid story of tea and the afterlife. Author TJ Klune gives us his unique idea of what happens when you die, and makes you hope his version is accurate. A tale of hope, second chances, and the transformative power of love. A queer romantic fantasy to chase away your bad dreams.

READ THIS BOOK.

Big, big thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC of this title in exchange for a review!

Content warning for death (obviously), but more specifically suicide. The topic is visited multiple times throughout this book.

To start off, I think that if you liked The House in the Cerulean Sea, you'll like this. It has just as much whimsy as its predecessor, but also manages to tackle some really hard, heavy subjects. At the risk of oversharing, I have a whole lot of fear and anxiety surrounding death. Not my own, necessarily, but I am beyond scared of the day when my family or other people that I love end up leaving us. So this book in general might have just really hit spots for me that it might not hit for everyone else, and that's okay. I personally found the way it discussed death and what comes after (even if it's just a fictionalized version of it) comforting, and the concept of there being people at the end of the line still taking care of us is super soothing to me.

In particular, I love the types of protagonists that I've read from Klune so far. I found Linus endearing, but Wallace Price fits perfectly into so many tropes that I love. I enjoy nothing more than reading about a bastard of a character, with almost no redeeming qualities, with walls a hundred feet high, just completely unravel because of the never ending support, kindness, and love from the people they end up around. Watching Wallace slowly become a better and kinder person was so delightful for me, and I loved watching the other characters slowly crack him open until the good man that they knew he could be just spilled out and all over the floor of their little tea shop. He really isn't a nice man, though, for a good chunk of the book. If that type of character isn't one that you enjoy reading at all, this might not be a great fit. If you're willing to give it a chance, though, I do highly recommend it.

The rest of the cast were so wonderful to read, even the ones that I knew I wasn't really meant to like. Klune puts so much personality in every character, regardless of how long they show up for, and I think that really makes such a difference in the reading experience. Hugo, Nelson, and Mei were all delights to read, but Nelson (and Apollo!) stole almost every single scene they were in. I really loved the grace and tenderness with which he wrote Cameron's story, in particular.

My only real complaint (if I could even call it that), was that the plot described in the synopsis doesn't really kick in until about 80% of the way through the book. Up until that point, I was perfectly content just reading about the day to day in the shop with these characters, and when the aforementioned plot finally started I was kind of like "oh, yeah" because I had forgotten it was supposed to be happening at all. I'd say that this book is much more character driven because of that, and the very heavy focus on the relationships between all of them.

Personally, I think I may have loved this more than I loved Cerulean Sea because the topic just hit so much closer to my heart, and it earned an easy 5 stars from me.

Under the Whispering Door keeps the whimsy of TJ Klune's prior work, but adds a level of insight that goes far beyond what Cerulean offered. This tale of life after death has the same comforting elements, but with the addition of a well-defined philosophy and a bittersweet thread running through it. There is insight about death in a world where it is not the end, but also isn’t paradise, where there is always a level of separation between the living and the dead.
4.5/5

For my full length review click here: https://sam-duffy.medium.com/death-is-not-the-end-in-under-the-whispering-door-3b94c29f0131

Oh MY POOR HEART.

This was beautiful and so well written. This author just has a wonderful CINEMATIC way with words, pictures are painted, music plays, it's an experience to read!

Let's start with the cover. Super intriguing and colourful.

Next, the plot. Its far fetched BUT it works. As humans we are curious and death is something that is unknown. Its scary but i like the way that it is layered in this book, in the form of a tea shop. So when Wallace dies, he's at this sort of "pit stop" before he goes towards the whispering door! There are some amazing characters introduced here.

Mei was my favourite, but i also loved Nelson and ofcourse Hugo... ok that's all the characters 🤣🤣🤣🤣

It is a bit cliche, something happens towards the end that made me go NOOO ABSOLUTELY NOT, NOT HAPPY ABOUT THIS, RATING THIS 3 STARS NOW, but hindsight, it actually made sense for it to end like that.

Highly recommend!

Thank you to The publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an e-arc of this book.

Listen. This was a wholesome, beautifully written, gut wrenching and endearing cotton candy book. The story had me giggling one moment and sobbing the next. Reading this was a journey much like the one our main characters go through and all I have to say is how very dare you?! I expected I would enjoy this but man I did not see myself crying my way through the final chapters. I should have known. I had an inkling at about the halfway mark, chapter 12 specifically, that this book was going to leave me in pieces and yeah it does not hold punches. But it is written with such care and love that I felt safe nonetheless. Nothing felt gratuitous or mean spirited. Everything had a purpose and just overall a wonderful wonderful story. I loved this book and genuinely want to read it again immediately.

<i>My thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge for providing me with this e-ARC in exchange of a honest review. All opinions posted here are my own</i>

<b>Triggers warning for this book:</b> suicide, death, death of relatives, non-graphic murder description

<u>So what is this book about?</u>

Wallace Price, arrogant and eccentric attorney just died of a heart attack. He is brought to Charing's Crossing Tea by a Reaper, Mei, where he meets Hugo, the ferryman, who would help him coming to terms with his death and crossing to the afterlife.

<u>My general thoughts:</u>

I adored [book:The House in the Cerulean Sea|45047384]. I picked this book up, expecting to find the happiness I had experienced while reading THITCS, and the result is quite disappointing.
This book is not light-hearted like THITCS. It's about grief and death. Despite the humor and the wholesome setting of a tea shop, it's still a heavy book to read. But I don't complain about that, because I do think that we need more books approaching these topics the way [author:T.J. Klune|5073330]. However, for such an interesting premise, the execution is a "meh" for me. I laughed while reading this book. My heart swelled while reading this book, but I did not <u>love</u> it. It pains me to say this, but this book doesn't live up to my expectations, at all. A complete surprise, to be honest.
Okay, so it sounds like I really hate this book or something, I do not. I still like it, I gave it a 3.5/5, which is obviously not that bad of the rating. I am just caught off guard by UTWD.

<u>Things I don't like:</u>

<b>The pacing</b>
I have a huge problem with the pacing of this book. After the first two chapters, nothing significant happened, until around @50%. T.J. Klune's long chapters didn't exactly help either. I repeatedly checked my progress during the first half of the book, thinking I was reading 800 pages worth of prose because it was so, SO, long to get through. At @51% things started picking up and I was like "YAY FINALLY I am really liking this" and the book started slowing down again until @73% with Wallace's encounter with the Manager (which for me, should have been the plot of the whole book, not just the last 100 pages.) The final 20% is pretty fine.

<b>The characters:</b>
Well, this is not entirely negative since I love Nelson and I ADORE Mei (heaven bless her heart.) Hugo is loveable and Wallace is okay. What I have a problem with, is Wallace's character arc. I hate him when he was alive. He was the kind of boss that every single person wants to throw out of the window. For someone like that, he did change a little fast??? Like one page ago he was in denial and angry and insufferable and <i>bimbamboum</i> he is soft and quiet and respectful of everyone. I get it that people can change and I like his arc at the end. But isn't it weird that someone as arrogant and eccentric as Wallace can become a saint in two weeks? Guess that what death does to people.

<b>The romance:</b>
It nearly came out of nowhere. One second ago Wallace just stopped being disrespectful to Hugo and one second later they're in love and Wallace wanted to butcher a man for making Hugo's life hell after he rejected a date proposal (ngl that man is a bastard.) I get it, people get attached when they found a family they had never had before, but the romance still annoys me a bit.

<u>Things I like:</u>

<b>The found family:</b>
Who doesn't love a nice and supportive family <i>*smacks those who don't*</i> A good found family trope always makes my day a little brighter. And I am happy to announce that the one and only writer who NAILED this trope EVERY FUCKING TIME is [author:T.J. Klune|5073330] Gratitude to him, for making my dead heart melts every time.

<b>Portrayal of grief and death:</b>
All the light-hearted things besides, I believe that this book is incredibly important, because I have never, ever, read about grief in fiction this way. The way they talk about grief is so genuine and true, and somehow incredibly soft and meaningful at the same time. I can't say much without spoiling, but it's so wonderful that a portrayal like this exists. Also all the applause to Cameron's story. It did make my eyes wet a little bit.

<b>The humor:</b>
The author's trademark quirky humor did not disappoint! I laughed a lot because of the incredibly bright prose. As someone who the sense of humor doesn't exist, those jokes definitely entered the collection of mine (yes I am that dry, having to use others' jokes)

<u>Final words:</u>
Although <u>Under the Whispering Door</u> did not live up to my expectations, I would still recommend it to someone who wants to read something light-hearted and meaningful at the same time. I definitely look forwards to T.J. Klune's upcoming works.

<i>Find me on my bookstagram: @delilahfcirchild</i>

Under the Whispering Door is a warm and touching novel that will capture your heart until the very last pages.

This book offers a great deal of strong feelings and tears, and we love to follow Wallace - who just found out he died - on his path to "the other side", through the help of kind and quirky characters (with among them the sweet and attentive ferryman Hugo) who quickly become a touching found family.
The way death and mourning were treated was also very moving, and you'll find some heart-wrenching quotes in here as well as a love for tea that makes you want to drink some all day with every single one of your friends.

With Under the Whispering Door, T. J. Klune offers us a stirring and beautiful story about helping others and find one's way.

it hurts my heart to have to rate this a 3 star, and not the 5 star i had hoped it would be.

meet Wallace. he is a lawyer. and that’s basically all his life has going for him. he has allowed his profession to consume his life entirely, until one day, he finds himself sitting at his own funeral.

Wallace is made to be unlikable, and i really enjoyed him. he was such an a$*. he cared about nothing and no one. he was awful, i loved it. the initial realization of him being dead and meeting the people who are going to help him cross into the next part of his journey was enjoyable. i LOVED Mei and her quirkiness. hugo was okay, not really interesting, but full of compassion and understanding, and Nelson was such a treat with his constant remarks and sarcasm. but then the days just started becoming really repetitive and somehow in the nothingness that was Charons Crossing, Wallace all of a sudden shifts his anger to understanding? He all of a sudden becomes nicer, and friendlier, and tries to help the living and the dead? it just didn’t really make sense to me how or why. there was nothing really significant that made him change his whole outlook on life, aside from the obvious, but it was just… weird to me. it felt strange.

i liked the book once Wallace met the manager and that agreement was made. it felt like after that happened, things started actually progressing in the book and happening and excitement started.

this is one book that i feel would have had a better ending without the epilogue. i was really satisfied with the ending of the book, although i saw it coming (not exactly how it happened though), and i felt like reading the epilogue bored me and actually took away from the story.

thank you NetGalley for my advanced readers copy in exchange for my review!

This is both one of the most heartwarming and heartbreaking books I've read. Klune expertly makes you care deeply for all the characters like they are part of your own family, then breaks your heart just to glue the pieces together again in the end. I hate crying, and this book made me cry. But I loved it

Thank you to Macmillan and NetGalley for sending me an e-arc of this book

Under The Whispering Door is a wholesome yet heartbreaking story dealing with death and the afterlife. This book is set in a four-story tea shop that is run by Hugo the Ferryman who helps spirits/ghosts reach the other side. We follow the character Wallace Price as he reflects on his past life and takes on a journey of self-discovery. With the found family trope and the subtle slow-burn romance, this was everything I would want in a book and more. This was my first T.J. Klune read and I was not disappointed.