TJ Klune is a huge hit in my system. I knew there would be a long holds list for this one and I was happy to order extra copies so that I could recommend it to anyone and everyone without worrying as much about their wait.

Such a heartwarming read with an incredible cast of characters. I fell in love with every single character and their own personal storylines.

This book has the feeling of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty mixed with a fairy tale, but also after death. Wallace is a total jerk in the beginning as a heartless attorney. Following his death he meets Mei his reaper, and Apollo the dog…but most importantly he meets Hugo his ferryman. Hugo is supposed to help Wallace crossover when he realizes he is really dead. Except, nothing really goes to plan and Wallace starts changing for the better and falling in love.

It’s a very heartfelt book, but is slow moving…maybe because It brings a lot of introspection and philosophical questions. It helps though that there is a lot of cute humor. This book is best to read on a rainy day or right before bed with how it is paced. It was sweet.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge, Tor Books for sharing this ARC with me in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 rounded up. This is another heartwarming read from TJ Klune. Another delightful found family, themes that tug on your heart strings, and standard Klune banter, which I think he does really well. We follow Wallace, who is brought to a tea shop essentially between worlds after he dies. Cue all the lessons the miserable (in life) man needs to learn: how to love, how to care about others, etc. I don’t know if any Klune book will ever compare to The House in the Cerulean Sea, but this is a cozy one too.

I was a huge fan of The House in the Cerulean Sea and have only heard good things about Klune's more recent publications.

Having recently lost a family member, I found this to be a beautiful exploration of grief and "what comes after". Klune kept up his ability to create an extremely lovable cast of characters who gel together as found family and you want to keep coming back to.

I went through the story curious of how the ending could deliver the characters what they deserved. I loved the way it was finished but was a bit confused with the execution. This is the only reason I didn't award 5 stars.

TJ Klune does it again! His storytelling is so immersive and soft, but also packs a punch. I was a huge fan of this one!

Under the Whispering Door was the first book I read by TJ Klune, and it's made me an immediate fan of the author! This book was truly magical and gave me a new meaning to life.

The storytelling, the plot and the characters were all amazing and brought up some really strong emotions for me. It's such an interesting topic, contemplating life after death. Klune portrays a really unique perspective in the book, but it's one that makes you think about what comes after.

There's not much I can say apart from that this book is so worth the read. If this is your first time picking up a TJ Klune book, then I recommend you take a chance because I sure didn't regret it. In fact, I immediately picked up more books by Klune which just showed that this author cannot write a bad book! I can't wait to see what comes next!

This was a beautiful and poignant story about life, death, grief, tea and scones. I struggled initially to connect with the narrative, not because the writing wasn't good (it was), but because I found the content too raw for me. However, I pushed through and once I found my feet, I thought that the plotting and writing were great. The characters are what really make this novel and I loved Mei, Hugo, Nelson, Wallace and Apollo. Yes, there is a lot of grief in these pages and people should be ready for that when they go in, but ultimately, the book is one of hope, joy and love and I recommend it highly - but it won't be right for everyone.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I'm not sure what I am missing. I want to like Klunes books so badly because everyone is always talking about them like they're modern day literature but I guess I'm just missing something? I'll keep trying though. DNF.

Thanks to NetGalley / Edelweiss and the publisher for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for a review.

Sadly with the controversy that surrounds the author I will not be giving a full review on this novel.

This book is a masterpiece. The characters are so well developed and have so much growth throughout the story that they seem real. I loved everything about this. It's a warm hug in a book. I cried at least five times while reading it.

If you like paranormal and fantasy, definitely read this one. In my opinion the book was a little long and drawn out, but overall a good read.

Under the Whispering Door promises an intriguing premise, quirky characters, and T.J. Klune's trademark humor. However, it falls short of becoming the profound story it aspires to be. Following the journey of Wallace Price, a corporate soldier, as he learns about life and death, the book touches on meaningful themes. Unfortunately, it fails to offer anything fresh or engaging to the discussion. The narrative feels excessively prolonged, lacking depth and originality. The humor, while initially enjoyable, becomes repetitive. The love story feels forced and poorly developed. Despite these shortcomings, I appreciate this book as a universal exploration of loss and a life well-lived.

A sweet, slow, tender book - just what we've come to expect from Klune. While this is not my favorite of his, I can see how personal and perhaps cathartic this was for him. This was slower, with less "action", and focuses more on the relationships and personal development of the characters versus the plot - never a bad thing, and definitely more suited to this storyline. Overall, I enjoyed it and will continue to read anything Klune writes!

A new favorite. In classic TJ Klune fashion, we get a gorgeous world with complicated but loves me characters. The notes of grief and loss are discussed gently between the characters and from author to reader.
This book will make you cry in the best way possible.

Thank you for the ARC!

Why did I postpone reading this one when I had the ARC from NetGalley? Because apparently I'm an eejit with an endless TBR...

When I started reading this book (with the intention of reading a few chapters and then getting some sleep) I actually believed that I would be able to do that. A few chapters in, I wondered if this book would even compare to The House On The Cerulean Sea (whish is one of my all time favourites)... I Was Wrong

I couldn't stop reading, I loved the book, and while THotCS is always going to be my favourite Klune, this one comes a close second... I loved every character, even that Manager fellow... And Wallace's character arc was written to make you sign and smile...

UNDER THE WHISPERING DOOR • T.J. Klune • Pub Date: September 21, 2021

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. Caveat: I opted to listen to the audiobook, post-publishing date.

Abridged Goodreads Synopsis: Wallace Price is not a nice man. And now? He is a dead man...possibly. When a reaper comes to collect Wallace from his own funeral, Wallace suspects he might really be dead. But instead of leading him directly to the afterlife, the reaper takes him to a small village - specifically, a tea shop run by a man named Hugo. To locals, Hugo is a kind man who runs a tea shop. But to souls, he is the ferryman who will help them cross over to what comes next. When Wallace is brought to Hugo's front door though, he isn’t ready to leave the life he barely lived. So with Hugo’s help, he finally starts to learn about all the things he missed in life.

Oh, I have such mixed feelings about this book. It was beautiful, sad; a narrative steeped in magical realism that discusses life, death, grief, and what the point of it all is. The ending made my heart feel full, which is exactly what I have come to expect at the end of reading Klune's books. I also found myself chuckling a bit at the character's banter throughout the book.

This book would have benefitted from being about 100 pages shorter though. While I did feel like I was a part of Wallace's journey, his journey itself felt unnecessarily drawn out. I enjoyed spending time with our eccentric cast of characters, and I'll certainly miss them now that I have left the tea shop, but there were a few plot points I also could not get past. Such as: Why did a crotchy, forty-year-old man talk like a teenage girl? What made Wallace go from love to hate with Hugo so suddenly? And most notably, how could a book meant to be a profound take on life and death feel so surface level?

Don't get me wrong - I enjoyed this book. It simply did not capture the same magic that House on the Cerulean Sea held for me. It was much sadder and heavier, without managing to hold my interest for long stretches of time. I fear that had I not been listening to this book on my daily commute, it would have taken me another year or two to get through it.

TL;DR: If you want light and happy heartbreak, go read one of Klune's other books. If you're looking for 13+ hours of sadness, this is the book for you. The ending will be worth it, and the characters will tug at your heart strings. Just know what you're getting into (TW: death, grief, loss, suicide, etc.)

I loved the themes of love and loss in this book, and as always for TJ Klune’s books, I adored the found family. His writing is so comforting and cozy but also never fails to bring me to tears (both happy and sad).

*Thank you to the publicist at Macmillan-Tor/Forge for sending me an ARC to review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*

I can't express enough how much I loved the setting of this story; the tea shop along with all the quirky characters make the whole story so heartwarming and cute. I absolutely loved the contrast between Wallace and Hugo and thought the character development for them both was really entertaining to read. Their relationship was probably the highlight of the book, for me, and I loved how supportive they were of each other. The moments with some of the side characters like Mei, Nelson and Apollo made me laugh and had me hooked. I definitely recommend for those who love the found family trope.

While I loved the story, I do have to say that I had troubles reading it. I'm more used to action-packed and fast-paced novels, and Under the Whispering Door definitely wasn't one of them. I started off by reading the ebook, and I would only be able to read a chapter every few days because it took a long time for the story to pick up. At a certain point, I gave up on the book and didn't pick it up again until months later. I don't know what drove me to finish it but I admit I'm happy I did. I ended up finishing the story by reading the audiobook, and it was so much easier. I read it at 1.5x speed and it kept me thoroughly engaged til the end of the book.

Overall, I admit this wasn't something I'm used to reading, and I'll probably be staying away from slow paced books like this in the future, but I did enjoy this book more than I thought I would. If you find yourself reading it and having troubles getting through it, I recommend trying to finish it anyways! It was worth the heartwarming read.

Unfortunately this was a DNF for me - the writing just wasn't clicking for me and I had to put it down