“The first time you share tea, you are a stranger. The second time you share tea, you are an honored guest. The third time you share tea, you become family.”

Rating: Absolutely Loved It/All-Time Favorite

I honestly don’t think that I have ever cried over a book as much as I cried over this one. I loved it so much.

What is it about?
This is the story of Wallace. He is a high-powered, lonely attorney who dies suddenly in his office one day. Wallace finds himself to be a ghost, he meets his Reaper, and is taken to the Ferryman to help him pass on to whatever is next. However, Wallace doesn’t go immediately. He begins to settle into the routine around the tea shop that Mei (Reaper) and Hugo (Ferryman) run along with the ghosts of Nelson (Hugo’s grandpa) and Apollo (Hugo’s dog). As Wallace spends more time with the Charon crew, he slowly begins to understand himself and how he fits into the world around. It is only after dying, that he begins truly living.

What I Loved:
*The characters in this book were what made it incredible. I loved all of them, and the journey that Wallace went on. The way that the characters interact is just like a family, and it was so wonderful. Mei and Nelson were my favorites - they were so funny but each very well-developed side characters. Wallace’s growth and character arc were utterly believable and something that felt very organic. Hugo was just a ray of sunshine.

*The themes in this are hard-hitting and really poignant. This novel deals with grief and loss as well as love. Through their role of helping souls cross to the other side, we encounter all types of loss: unexpected death due to medical reasons, death by suicide, death by murder, death by car accidents, death of a partner, of a child, of parents, of grandparents, and of pets. This made parts of the book very heavy, but the plot and the characters were able to turn these difficult subjects into an utterly heartwarming story that was equally charming and heart-breaking.

*I also loved the discussion on faith, not religious faith, but just faith in an idea and in people. Relationships and human connection is what makes life worth living.

What I Didn’t Love (there’s not a lot):
-It took me a little bit to get super connected to the story and the characters. I felt unsure of where it was leading, but eventually I just didn’t care what the end game was and I just enjoyed hanging out with the characters in their lives. I was thinking that there was no way that this could compare to my love of House in the Cerulean Sea, but it turns out it holds up, it just took a bit longer for me to love Wallace like I love Linus.

-The only other thing that I have was that while I enjoyed the discussion on grief and love and moving on, a couple of the deaths that were examined hit me a little harder than others. There was one point where I was audibly sobbing and basically snotted all over. It was rough and I had to put it down for a few minutes and go hug my dog.

I think that this book was incredible, but I think that it is certainly emotionally impactful. It is one that I will definitely reread, but I don’t think it will be a comfort read if that makes sense. I will definitely need to be in the right mood to enjoy it again. But it is 100% pre-ordered.

Under the Whispering Door releases September 21, 2021.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Tor Books for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. A review and photo will be posted to my instagram page, @jemofabook mid- to late-August. Please note that any quotes in this review are from an uncorrected proof and may change upon final publication.

TJ Klune came onto my radar with the amazing novel “The House In The Cerulean Sea”, a novel that worked its way into my heart and my top ten favorite books of all time. At first glance, “Under The Whispering Door” seems like a sequel to that story, but it’s a completely separate story about life, death, love, loss, and chosen family.
Wallace has woken up at his funeral. Well, “woken up” might be the wrong term. You see, Wallace is dead. Before he can process what’s happened, a Reaper named Mei comes to escort him to a ferryman whose job is to help him process his death and pass on. When he arrives at the area shop, and meets the alluring Hugo, Wallace has to come to terms with his fatality. With the help of Hugo, Mei, and Hugo’s grandfather Nelson, Wallace begins to accept his fate…while forming a bond with the members of the Tea house. How long can Wallace hold onto the love and peace he’s found in his death though?
From the start, this book lets you know this will be an emotional read, and it certainly delivers on that. So much is handled in this book. Life? What if the life you’ve lead has been unfulfilling? And what if you’ve realized that too late? Death: what if, in your death, you realize just how little you lived? Love: what if you’ve found yourself surrounded by love for the first time in your life…but you can’t touch them? Loss: what if that love is suddenly threatened?
There’s also portions of this that handles suicide. That, along with the nature of the book overall, should be handled with care if these things trigger you. Beyond that though, “Under The Whispering Door “ is a beautiful written story about a man finding the meaning of life in his death.
Wallace and Hugo are the love interests I come to expect from a Klune novel. Tortured, adorable, flawed…and absolutely perfect for each other. Their story is a beautiful one. Coupled with the stellar characters this story brings, and it’s no wonder why this book is one of the most anticipated of 2021.
A stunning novel, and I’d expect nothing less from Klune. This worked its way into my top spot of the year, and it feels so right.

The overall message here was awesome living your life to the fullest while you still have time, instead of looking back and realizing all you missed out on, and taking time to really get to know and love those around you, as they deserve your love and you deserve to be loved. I enjoyed the characters of the tea shop, especially Mei and Nelson. However, I found that the plot really dragged at times. I managed to get myself 50% through and then I had to a break and read another book before coming back to finish this one.

This story follows a harsh successful lawyer named Wallace. A couple days after viscously firing his assistant, Wallace finds himself in a church at a funeral. Only it is his funeral. During his funeral, he meets his reaper who will take him to his ferryman to cross over to the “other side.” As Wallace moves through the stages of grief of a life he soon realizes was not ideal, he tries to come to terms with life, death, the meaning of it all, and questions if love can permeate everything.

“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.”

It is a strength of TJ Klune to write wholesome characters. Do not think this means they are flat, because they are anything but. From the very little you know of these characters you can see them, know their back story, and imagine them as if they were an old friend you have fond memories of whenever you think of them. They make you smile and intuitively know their intentions are nothing but pure and altruistic.

“A river only moves in one direction.”

My personal experience with this book was lovely. It came to me at a time I was questioning why? Why do some people become sick? Why do they die? What comes next? Are they still here? Will they remember how much they were loved? I have never cried throughout a book. Typically it is the ending but this book just hits you in the feels the entire way though. Although in my opinion the ending was the weakest part of the book, the epilogue was beautiful and I’ll remember that as the end of the story. I hope that when my time comes there will be a Hugo and a Mei.

“It warmed him. It calmed him. He hoped wherever he was going that there’d still be the sun and the moon and the stars. He’d spent a majority of his life with his head turned down. It seemed only fair that eternity would allow him to raise his head towards the sky.”

Thanks to the the author, publisher, and NetGalley for allowing me access to an advanced reader copy of this novel.

In typical TJ Klune fashion, this book is jam-packed with heart, humour, and levity in the face of existentialism. Dealing with grief and death, this book is sweet and pungent, hitting you right in the gut when it needs to and taking you on an emotional ride.

As much as I did enjoy this book, it didn’t hit me in the heart as much as other Klune works have (eg. The House in the Cerulean Sea). With that being said, mystery-esque books aren’t really my usual jam but I did absolutely devour this one. Even though it’s not my favourite of Klune’s works, probably due to its genre and my high expectations, it was still wonderful! Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this early!

5 stars isn't enough. What an incredible and thought provoking book. TJ Klune writes characters in such a beautiful way. You feel like you know them. You root for them on their journey. I don't want to give a thing away about this book, so I won't go into specifics...but I will say that it a MUST READ! I felt so attached to it that it felt like it was written just for me, saying all the things I needed to hear right now and making me think all the things I needed to think. I am honestly grateful for this experience and can't wait to have a physical copy in my hands and on my shelf. This is going to be another life long favorite for me. Loved it!

TJ Klune’s next book, Under the Whispering Door, had me ugly crying like I haven’t for years at 1:30am last night. I had laughed for most of the first 70%. Then I alternated laughing and sobbing for the last 30%. It’s a beautiful story about living life to the fullest, loving, and loss. I was worried about how TJK was going to give me an HEA, but he grabbed it right at the end.

#contentwarning for lots of talk about death, as one MC is dead.

First off, a huge thank you to @netgalley and @torbooks for this ARC!

After the masterpiece that was The House in the Cerulean Sea, I was worried this wouldn’t live up to my high expectations. Luckily, I was not let down.

TJ Klune has this remarkable ability to make me fall deeply in love with his characters. His storylines are so heartwarming and profound. Towards the end of this book, I couldn’t stop crying (which is rare for me.) I just felt so invested.

In simple terms, Under the Whispering Door is about a ghost who refuses to cross over into the afterlife and the ferryman he begins to fall in love with. Once again, Klune tackles both the feel-good topics alongside the heavy. This is still a book about death and grief, but Klune balances it nicely with his signature humor and quirkiness.

If you loved The House in the Cerulean Sea, you won’t be disappointed. This book comes out on September 21st and I highly recommend everyone check it out!

Last year, TJ Klune published one of my favorite books of the year, The House in the Cerulean Sea. It feels pretty obvious to say that I have been looking forward to the release of Under the Whispering Door since learning about it. I was even more excited to have the opportunity to review the book in advance since it is one of the most anticipated books of the fall.

One of the things that I love about Klune is his unapologetically queer stance with his writing. Both Cerulean Sea and Whispering Door seek to create worlds where representation is naturally built in. As I get older and as a mom, I realize how important it is to young adults to have natural representation in media. Klune always hits that note for me perfectly. I love his use of magical realism to create a book that is both grounded and fantastical at the same time.

Now, on to the actual story itself! Wallace Price is, to put it plainly, a bit of an exacting tyrant within his law firm. He expects perfection and will not tolerate anything outside of the ordinary. Imagine his surprise when he suddenly wakes up at his own sparsely attended funeral. Price only remembers bits of his death and doesn't quite believe it when his reaper, Mei, introduces herself. Mei explains that he is, in fact, actually dead and that it's now time to begin his journey to the other side. She leads him to Charon's Teahouse, a unique little spot that serves as both a way-stop for spirits processing their death and the most popular tea shop for humans in the neighborhood. At the shop, Wallace meets Hugo, the ferryman, whose job is to help him accept his death, and Hugo's ghostly grandfather, Nelson, and dog, Apollo. As Wallace spends more time at the shop, he begins to have the sneaking suspicion that he may not have approached life with the best attitude. His journey, and creation of beautiful friendships, is the crux of this lovely little book on grief and loss.

While he is a bit on the annoying side, the characterization really allows Klune's humor to shine through. The opening scene with Price's internal thoughts flickering through the scene was a perfect note. The humor continues throughout the rest of the book, adding much needed levity to the book that grapples with death and grief. Another strong point are the side characters of Mei and Nelson. Their interactions with Wallace bring some of the most humorous and heartwarming moments to the book.

Whispering Door takes you on a journey. Like life, it's a complicated one with ups and downs, moments that feel incredibly fast and ones that seem to go on forever. Towards the end of the book, it did feel like it wrapped up almost a little too neatly. But, I found myself surprisingly content with the end after reading the epilogue. Klune crafts a wonderful story that keeps you engaged the entire time. As someone who is still working through the ocean of grief from the loss of my father, this book was a cathartic release that allowed me to get some tears out. It felt like Wallace's journey of fighting his death was my own fight with grief.

After looking at some of the other reviews, it's clear to me that this book may end up being a bit polarizing because it has to contend with the popularity and expectations of being the follow up to Cerulean Sea and because Wallace is a bit of a twat character wise. As mentioned, I really like the counterpoint that Wallace's personality brings because it does create humorous moments and you are able to see the character go through a true transformation, but there is no doubt that he will be a turn-off for some readers.

I really enjoyed this book and cannot wait to see what everyone thinks! You can grab your copy of Under the Whispering Door on Tuesday, September 21 at a bookseller near you. Thank you to NetGalley and Tor for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

No one is more masterful at creating a novel that can make you laugh AND cry on the same page. Similar to "The House on the Cerulean Sea," "Under the Whispering Door," is filled with so much love and whimsy and wonderfulness that your face will hurt with smiling. In addition to that, Klune has crafted some of the most wonderful characters that won't soon be forgotten. Fans of Klune can expect all the wonder and delight that has made his novels famous and new readers are in for a treat. This is also a great crossover title for teens AND adults, making it a lovely opportunity for discussion about life, death, and making everything in between and after matter. Without a doubt a necessary addition to every library collection.

Me: reads books because it makes me feel happy
Also me: reads books that make me sob for half a day

4.5 stars!

This story was told in such a touching and personal way. Much like Cerulean Sea, the book is very much character-focused in its way of exploring grief and finding a purpose to existence. Because it's a TJ Klune book, this also means it's filled with heart-warming found family tropes and love of all forms, be it romantic, platonic, or familial.

To me, the concept of going through a door when you're ready to move on in existence is beautiful. In explaining this concept, I felt like the novel read almost like a therapy session. While sometimes I felt it slowed the book down in places, Klune also sprinkles in his typical humour to make things lighter during pretty intense and emotional discussions. This book was so close to 5 stars for me! I loved Wallace and Hugo but I would have liked to explore more of what drew them so close together. Or maybe I was just too busy crying to catch on to the smaller nuances of their relationship. Overall it was an amazing read!

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC, in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. This book kept me up way past my bedtime. I’d been excited for this one since reading House in the Cerulean Sea and I was not disappointed.

Klune paints a brilliant and magical picture about the meaning of life and subsequent death. The characters seemed to just fit together, even when they didn’t, if that makes sense. I rooted for each and everyone one. Many tears were shed before the end of this one. Highly recommend.

“Everyone loses their way at some point, and it’s not just because of their mistakes or the decisions they make. It’s because they’re horribly, wonderfully human. And the one thing I’ve learned about being human is that we can’t do this alone. When we’re lost, we need help to try and find our way again. We have a chance here to do something important, something never done before.”

🍵 🏡 🌳
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

I was NOT ready for Under the Whispering Door! Coming off of the optimistic high comedy that was The House on the Cerulean Sea, I was anticipating this book to be in a new lighter tone for T. J. Klune. I could not have been more wrong!

In Under the Whispering Door, we follow Wallace Price, a corporate narcissist with little regard for other people, as he unexpectedly dies. His soul is collected by a reaper and taken to a small tea shop on the outskirts of the woods, where he is to wait until he is ready to transition to the afterlife. It’s there that Wallace meets the shop’s patrons and finds the meaning of life and death.

Under the Whispering Door has the same LGBT representation and quirky writing as to be expected from Klune, but with a serious and philosophical tone. However, this does not take away from the books characters! If you are anything like me, you’ll still fall in love with every reaper, patron, and dog in this book! 💙

While the book starts slow, once it gets going, you will find all the joy, tension, and sadness you could want. I found so much love in his latest book, but it does feel tonally different from Cerulean Sea if that is your only experience with Klune.

Thank you Tor Books for my ARC! Under the Whispering Door will be released September 21st!

This was my most anticipated release of the year, and, oh, how I adored this book. This has hands down become one of my favorite books of all time. It feels like one of those books that was meant to find its way into my life, and now that I’ve read it, feels like an intrinsic part of me. To share this book with a friend and to have them read it would be bearing a part of my soul. No amount of words will ever fully be able to encapsulate what this book means to me, but I will certainly try.

Those who’ve read TJ Klune’s well-loved predecessor The House in the Cerulean Sea will definitely find some familiar undertones in this story. Wallace is a similar character to Linus in that they both come from the corporate working world, temporarily set in their ways until they find themselves welcomed in by a colorful cast of characters that call themselves a family. Or maybe it’s just the quality of TJ Klune’s writing craft that make this book feel familiar, with characters who are undeniably good at heart and challenge the protagonist to view the world in a different light, full of compassion and understanding the emotional depths of being human. Stories that are vibrant and bursting with imagination while still connecting back to the world around us and the life lessons we learn along the way.

While House in the Cerulean Sea felt very whimsical and sweet, however, Under the Whispering Door hits deeper in a way that I think readers will really appreciate and just shows how Klune continues to evolve as a writer. The story centers around death and the journeys we all take in order to find our own peace with it, but Klune has such careful precision in balancing charming, lighthearted moments with the more heavy, emotional subject matter. It never feels overkill or too much for us to handle, but just the perfect ebb and flow. In this way, the pacing is so well done and you’ll find yourself easily being carried along through the highs and lows of this story, connecting so deeply to these characters and following their day-to-day living in a teashop, mixing hilarity with tender moments while navigating death in all manner of ways. Even within the larger theme of death, there were certain parallels made and different forms of grieving and death that were incorporated into the story, from suicide to a mother's grief over her young child, and these moments, while incredibly heart-wrenching, were handled so, so well and with such care.

Under The Whispering Door is one of those truly special books that come along that everyone should read in their lifetime, and TJ Klune is one of those writers whose books will always stay with you. I highly implore everyone to pick this book up!

I received this ARC from Macmillan-Tor/Forge Publishing via NetGalley to review before it’s debut on September 21, 2021. I fell in love with TJ Klune’s last book, House on the Cerulean Sea and knew I HAD to get my hands on this one. This story of a ghost who refuses to cross over and his ferryman took me a minute to get into but once I did, I was hooked!

Klune writes so beautifully and seems to really understand grief— something I know a bit about myself. I found tears in my eyes in the last few chapters. This book is pretty special and I hope people will read it when it comes out in a few months. I also look forward to Klune’s next release!

Thank you to Macmillan-Tor/Forge publishing and NetGalley for access.

This was a beautiful story about second chances, life, death, and grief. It plays on the trope of an awful man grows to be a good person in death. I cried. A LOT, but I also laughed and smiled and took comfort.

There is definitely some heavy subject matter in this book (it is a book discussing death after all) but they are handled delicately and with care. The whole cast of characters are unique and have their own stories to tell. Nelson's in particular really hit me in the heart. As a dog lover, I absolutely loved Apollo, of course.

I was barely able to read the last few pages through my TEARS.

My only gripe with this book is the dialogue. Having read The Extrodinaries and Flash Fire (a book around teens) it was really jarring for the dialogue to be so similar, especially when I kept remembering the characters in this book are adults.

As much as I enjoyed The House in the Cerulean Sea, I absolutely LOVED Under the Whispering Door. The cover is deceiving, because it makes you think you are getting the same quirky and fun story line as you did with Cerulean Sea. Instead, you are getting a beautiful story about grief, life, death and what comes after. It is not religious, but it is also not anti-religion which I think is important to note when talking about what comes after death.

Wallace Price is not a nice man. He lacks empathy and only cares about himself. He goes to work for 12+ hours a day and then goes home to work more in an empty house. He has no time for family or friends, but even if he did he is too miserable and selfish for anyone to want to be around him. When he dies unexpectedly from a heart attack, he simply can’t fathom what to do with himself in the afterlife.

This gets 5 stars because I haven’t stopped thinking about it since the moment I picked it up. It makes you think about what is actually important in life and how you really don’t know how much time you have with your loved ones. If you were to die today, who would show up at your funeral? It seems morbid, but very thought provoking because what is the point of living, if you don’t actually live?

Possible triggers: death, suicide, loss of child

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Books for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to the publishers and netgalley for the chance to read this book.
It was amazing!
I loved the story and characters so much!
T. J. Klune has definitely become a new favourite author.

This was a surprisingly great story with so many aspects and dimensions. I loved the whole concept and the characters were very well composed. I think the mixture of sadness and humour were perfectly balanced.
Thank you to Netgalley uk and Pan Macmillan for an ebook arc of this story.

This is one of the funniest, sweetest, most tender books about death and grief I've ever read. From the very first page I was invested in the main character and his hard won redemption, and the romance absolutely swept me away. The writing was easy to read while still getting across these big feelings, and the characters are very loveable.

I do think that the pacing was a little weird in the first quarter. Everything seemed to move very fast at first especially with character development aspects, but by the halfway point the book had really found its groove. Definitely one of my favorite books I've read this year.

It was definitely more of a romance and much darker in subject matter than Klune's last irreverent fantasy comedy (The House in the Cerulean Sea) so I'm not 100% sure this will work as well for everyone who loved that book, but it worked even better for me so I am not about to complain.

I received an advanced copy of this book through Netgalley