Thanks to #Netgalley and the author for an advanced copy of this audiobook.

This book is a whimsical fantasy read for all those who have experienced love, loss and the relationships that go along with them. The story has an intriguing premise and has quirky characters. And it was just funny enough to offset the hitting deep in the feels you encounter along the way.

All in all, it is a story about living a good life, who to live it for and how it is never too late to make it mean something. Have I read other books that talk about that? Many! However the story intrigues me, I would have like to see a bit more depth to the the storyline as seems a bit superficial and repetitive as a listen. Perhaps I would have felt differently if I had read it outright.

Do not get me wrong. I did enjoy the book and the story very much. I just wanted more. Can't wait to see what the author writes next.

What an absolutely amazing book. First of all, many thanks to NetGalley for introducing me to this book, as it is not my typical genre but I am so glad I still gave this one a chance as it is now one of my new favorites. I cannot remember the last time a book made me feel so much emotion, to the point where I was actually tearing up. The narrator is amazing and I wish I could listen to more narrated by him.

Death can be a hard topic to broach, especially in a dynamic and funny way. Yet Klune brings empathy and humor to this very topic. Under the Whispering Door, Death is the main character and everything else is revolving around it. Wallace is the character you want to hate and have probably encountered in life. Someone that you feel sorry for in a way that allows you to dismiss them. Through the course of the story, we realize that Wallace had lost himself and what really mattered. The relationship between Wallace and the secondary characters makes him endearing and lovable, even if it takes more than half of the book to get there. The depictions of grief, sadness, and redemption are real and authentic. While in some areas the plot seems to wane, this may have been done intentionally. Making the reader feel the restlessness of Wallace and time in general.

The narrator did a fantastic. job on creating voices that embodied the characters and the listener could decipher each one. The pacing was superb and each character was brought to life.

4.5 stars rounded to 5 stars

TJ Klune, as per usual, is a superstar of queer literature. Such a treat to be able to listen to this audiobook. A very unique and captivating story. Not at all predictable, which made it fun. And characters are always great.

Can’t wait for whatever TJ creates next!

Wallace Prince is dead, yet he can’t quite come to terms with it. When a reaper brings him to the ferryman, Hugo, who is supposed to help him cross over, he refuses to go. He starts to fit in at Hugo’s tea shop, he decides to make things right and has a chance of finding his own happiness along the way.

This was such a moving story. I loved Wallace’s growth throughout the story, but the best part to me was Hugo’s grandpa though. He was so funny and brought humor to a serious topic about the afterlife.

TJ Klune is an auto buy author me. He writes so beautifully and makes his readers think. A heartwarming story, Under the Whispering Door is a must read for everyone.

I went back and forth between the ebook and audiobook and really enjoyed both. I thought the narrator, Kirt Graves, was fantastic and I look forward to listening to more books he narrates.

Thank you NetGalley, Tor Books, and Macmillan Audio for copies in exchange for my honest review.

As much as I tried to get into this book I could not. While the narration was good the story line fell off the track for me.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Fun book, good story. Nothing really memorable about the book. The ending is what got me though. That ending is what pushed it to 3.5 stars.

With wit, heart, and a wonderfully refreshing look at life and death, this book was completely enjoyable. The narrator, Kirt Graves, gave life to a story that seemed like it would leap off the page anyway.

Oh my goodness! I absolutely adored this book! The grief, the whimsy, the love and the pain. It was such an incredible story with so much depth and heart. Wallace was a total grump but as the story progressed, he really grew on me (and on the other characters). I really liked all of the supporting characters and how they were truly a tight knit family by choice.

The fantasy element of this story was unique and whimsical. But at the heart of the story, it was beautiful. The emotions were so raw and real. I may have sobbed a little bit near the end.

My 4 star rating was solely due to the length and random side story lines. I felt like the book was a little longer than necessary but it was still incredible.

I listened to this book on audio and the narration was phenomenal!!! The narrator did an incredible job portraying each of the unique characters. The life that the narrator brought to the story was superb. I’m glad I listened to the story vs reading because it was just so much more by hearing it!

Last read of 2021 and it was terrible for me and put me into a reading slump I can't get out of, even in the new year. Whomp whomp.

Ok... I haven't read The House in the Cerulean Sea yet so I'm not one of those people who read that first and absolutely adored it and then were disappointed with this one. I've only read one other TJ Klune and felt pretty blah about it. Maybe because so many people are obsessed with The House in the Cerulean Sea though, I still had relatively high expectations for this story. And it severely disappointed me. I'm giving this 2-stars, but it might even be closer to a 1.5.

I think maybe the synopsis is the problem. The way the synopsis describes the book is not at ALL how the book actually is. I thought that Hugo and Wallace would go on these wild adventures and learn to love life again, but they never really do. Not much ever even happens in the entire story and this book isn't short! I liked almost all of the side characters but didn't find myself connecting to any of our mains which always takes so much joy out of my reading experience. Overall, I just didn't like this. I found it so boring and I was slugging through it. I feel bad too because a lot of the topics in here are HEAVY and I cry at the smallest thing usually, but I didn't even well up at any moment during my read of this! So either I've turned heartless (unlikely- I'm a crybaby) or the story didn't have enough emotional pull to really move me.

I read half of this on my Kindle and then I got approved for the audiobook on NetGalley so I picked that up for the latter half. I did like the audiobook and I felt the narrator brought the characters to life, but it clearly still didn't change my feelings towards the plot of this book or make me more intrigued. I would recommend the audio though if you are going to pick this up!

A sad day in this house for reading. A huge disappointment. Of COURSE 2021 would end like that.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Books for an advanced copy (e-book and audio). All thoughts and opinions are, always, my very own.

I really enjoy TJ Klune's whimsical and beautiful writing. But in this book, he gives us a half-backed book. While I did not hate this book, it just felt that it was not finished. Still, he delivers lovable characters and an unforgettable romance -I believe that this romance is his best one. However, the metaphor which is quite lovely was a bit too pat. All in all, not my favorite, but I will continue on with his future work.

This story built this whimsical atmosphere even though the whole story takes place in one setting, the tea shop. I loved the satirical humor this book started off with but as the story went on it lost that humor I was enjoying so much. There was a ton of LAUGH OUT LOUD moments. The way the story went I was not expecting, I thought there would be a pretty predictable ending based on the majority of the book yet it surprised me.

The romance that was built in this story was not something I felt added to the story and it just felt out of place with the deep story Klune was writing. The writing was magnificent and it transported me to another place. The audiobook portrayed this perfectly.

I loved the side characters in this book more than the main character.

I would for sure read another Klune book again as this was my first but there were just a couple of things throughout that I just felt weren't necessary.

Thank you NetGalley & Tor books for this gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is a slow-burn story that is mainly character-driven. You get to live inside Wallace. The pace of this book is really slow and it lingers in some sections. I think this works for the narrative and the plot structure. Any faster, and you wouldn't get to enjoy the minute details. Emotions are meant to be rung by this book, and it succeeds there but at times it seems a little cliche.

The audiobook was excellent! I recommend consuming the story through that medium at all possible. The narrator does an excellent job and differentiates in tone and voice.

TJ Klune is a master at combining humor & wit with serious introspection. This book takes you on a whimsically wonderful journey to discover what you truly value in life. There were several times where I genuinely stifled a fit of laughter. I would recommend this book to anyone looking to smile while reading.

A slow burn character driven story emotionally devastating (in a good way ) beautifully written with characters that will stay with you long after you finish reading this book.

This is a story about what comes next.

I can totally see why so many readers are enjoying this one, but I struggled with it. I think I may come back to it at a later point- I found it too depressing currently. That being said, it was very well written & if you’re in the mood for something that will make you think about the nature of life this may be a good fit!

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️. 💫 rounded to 4.

Thank you so much Macmillan-Tor/Forge, for this Alc!

TJ Klune has written another beautiful fantasy full of messages of life, love, and grief. The audio version was excellent, and I especially loved the ending, as it was not what I was expecting! Thank you to NetGalley for sharing this book with me.

This is a really lovely book but at the end of the day the pacing is way slower than I prefer in a book.

I was absolutely fascinated by a lot of the concepts, super on board with the romance, and fully obsessed with the Cameron storyline. However, everything is played so slow and so much time is spent lingering on the romance that, by the end, nothing was super surprising and I had lost most of my interest in the romance succeeding.

That said, this is still rather good and something I'll suggest a lot to patrons.

So, I liked this book. It was just OK. It had some of the humor and charm I expected from the next book from TJ Klune for sure. But…
This is the story of Wallace, who was a real asshole lawyer when he was alive; you can tell because there were only 4 people at his funeral. Oh, and Wallace was there too, as a ghost, where he was met by Mei who would take him to the next step on his after-life journey. That next stop turns out to be a cozy little tea house full of fun characters where Wallace learns the meaning of life and how to be a better person and about found family and all of that.
The problem is that this all took way too long and was just overly full of preachiness. I expected it to be a little heavy handed, but this was a bit much. Also, you could see the ending a mile away.
Over all, if you enjoy Klune, you will probably enjoy this book. It was sweet and heart-warming, with lovable characters.

Thanks to Tor & NetGalley for the advanced audiobook!

This book was emotional, touching, beautiful - give me time to gather my thoughts 😭😭

✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

“𝘋𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨”

(𝕤𝕨𝕚𝕡𝕖 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕤𝕪𝕟𝕠𝕡𝕤𝕚𝕤)

🦌 Ohhh my gosh - you guys, this book was absolutely phenomenal. I’m not sure why it took me so long to gather my thoughts, but this book had me all over the place. This is definitely one of my favorites of the year for sure!! Ugh TJ Klune just writes so beautiful and knows how to make you get attached to the characters and the story.

🌲 This story does talk a lot about “death” so just a heads up! I haven’t read Cerulean Sea yet but omg I need to now!! I freaking loved each and every one of these characters and felt so attached to them. I was all over the place with this one — it’s definitely a harder topic but it just left me so emotional at the end. I was so upset when I finished the book because I just felt so connected with Wallace and the others.

🦌 Under the Whispering Door is hands down one of the best books I’ve read this year - I’ve read a ton so that says something. I highly highly highly recommended this story. I will say that normally fantasy/magical realism isn’t really my cup of tea but holy crap this book just changed my view on that genre. Oh and guess what?!? You can now pick this one up! I really enjoyed this one and I’m hoping you all do too!! You’re going to want to read this one!! 😉

✨Thank you so much Tor Books for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review. ✨