What an honestly lovely book. I was so late to the party to read The House in the Cerulean Sea, and when I saw this title I knew I had to read it. I've been high level obsessed with reapers since Dead like Me (if you know you know) so there's another check in the to read list.

I think what I love about Klune is his humour and... how soft? his writing is. I'm not sure soft is quiet the right word, but everything he writes is just an honest delight to read. I think what I loved most about this book is that I legitimately grew with the characters - I admittedly spend the first few chapters wondering if he would be able to pull it off, but oh he did. This is an absolute gem of a book, and this one broke me a little. I'll save most of my reviews till it's been published, because this one deserves a read through to the end, without anyone telling this. I will say this one gave me a bit of a book hangover, and the warmth and charm of the characters, wonderful writing, and an epilogue that honestly moved me. I can't wait to buy this.

I love the idea that no matter when we can always find hope, and become better - maybe a message we all need right now.

ARC received through NetGalley.

I so sadly had to unfortunately give up on this book 60% of the way through. I loved House in the Cerulean Sea and had such high expectations for this one and yet it just fell short it so many ways. The whimsical feeling of Cerulean Sea that I loved comes across childish and overbearing and eye rolling in this one. The first chapter started out strong and I was interested in the office storyline, but it feels like from chapter 2 until the 60% mark nothing even happens! There are a lot of conversations about the meaning of death and afterlife and it just really drags and I feel bored even writing this review so….I don’t think I’ll be picking this one back up.

Welp... this was another fantastic book by TJ Klune! I was a little nervous starting this one, as I knew this book would be exploring death and what happens after, and it's no secret that I tend to shy away from sad books because I AM TOO EMOTIONAL hahah

That being said, this was a beautiful story that explored life, love, death and grief. And even exploring all of these heavy topics, it still managed to have just the right amount of humor that kept me smiling, even during the tougher parts. There wasn't one character I didn't like (except, I will admit I strongly despised Wallace in the beginning, but I believe you are meant to) - Hugo, Wallace, Nelson, Mei, and even Apollo - all were just so wonderful and added so much to the story. While there were some parts of this story that were hard to listen/read, in the end, I was left feeling so hopeful, which to me, is a sign of a great story.

Rating: 4 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley, MacMillan Audio, and Tor Books for an early copy of this book - all opinions are my own!

T.J Klune can do not wrong. I was actually worried about reading this after loving the House on the Cerulean Sea because I loved it so much. This follow up was beautiful, tragic, heartfelt, and absolutely magical. I could not be more grateful for this ARC.

Another heartwarming and heartbreaking novel from TJ Klune. This story gave me A Christmas Carol vibes- a curmudgeon who needs an eye opening experience to cause them to change.
I enjoyed this one, but ultimately I felt like the story was a little too familiar to ones I have already read.

After a bit of a slow start, this turned out to be the loveliest of lovely reads. It's an emotional read, one that's sad and heartbreaking, but it's also full of hope and discovery. But it's not gloomy at all because it's filled with so much heart. It will have you crying and laughing within the same paragraph, which I swear is trademark TJ Klune. Yes, it's sad--as of 74% you'll need a box of tissues right until the very end--and it left me a complete and utter wreck, but in a good way. The best of ways. One that left me with a sense of hope and peace.

4.5 stars rounded up to 5 and highly recommended.

Reading Under the Whispering Door is a bit like making the perfect cup of tea: it requires some patience at the beginning and the pleasure of consuming it is something to be savored, not gulped down. If you've read TJ Klune before, particularly The House in the Cerulean Sea, you have an idea of what to expect from his unique blend of writing: humor, lots of heart, some sadness and pain, hope, found family, queer love, and characters who will stay with you long after you finish the last page. This book deals with heavy topics but it never gets to be too much and, no matter what the characters go through, they have each other. This is a story about second chances, change, honesty, and love.

It's also an emotional journey as Wallace, recently deceased, begins to take a hard look at himself, his choices, and his life, and decides what to do in his post-death existence. Thankfully he has the best group looking out for him, from brash new Reaper Mei to the sweetest Ferryman and tea shop owner, Hugo. Mei had me laughing out loud and Hugo gave me all the soft feels. There's also a couple ghosts hanging out at Charon's Crossing and they're both a delight! This is a slow burn book that quietly but surely claimed my heart. And it pairs perfectly with a mug of tea so what more could I want?

Ah, Under the Whispering Door. Where do I even start?

What about THIS WAS SO FLUFFIN' GOOD AND IT MADE ME CRY AND LAUGH AND FEEL WARM INSIDE AND THEN CRY SOME MORE AND SOMEONE GET ME A CUP OF PEPPERMINT TEA ASAP.

I have learned that when I'm falling back into my lil' hole of feeling absolutely nothing, all I gotta do is pick up a TJ Klune book. His way of telling a story brings you a certain kind of comfort. Which sounds weird since, yaknow, Under the Whispering Door deals with grief and death. However, he just somehow writes this in the most sweet, humorous way, all while still making my poor heart hurt like hell. HOW DOES HE DO IT?

All in all, if you're a fan of The House in the Cerulean Sea and you think nothing can best it - strap in, you're in for one wild ride.

Firstly I would like to thank Netgalley & Macmillan-Tor/Forge, Tor Books for the opportunity to receive a complimentary copy of this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. It is also my first T. J Klune book that I read and for sure not the last one.
I enjoyed the book more because on my mind while I was reading it, I had scenes from the movie "Ghost" with Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore, Whoopi Goldberg, Tony Goldwin & Vicent Schiavelli.
I could see commence and differences, but the enjoyment of the book was good.
I love how whimsical T. J. Klune's writing is. And how he writes his characters. The character growth is remarkable.
At its heart, this is as much a book about death as it is about appreciating life and learning to live.
Through the book's plot, Wallace, our main character, transforms from dead inside long before his body follows suit. To someone who sees and relishes the life, love, and meaning his new “family” offers him. His transformation is an extraordinary one.
"Under the Whispering Door" deals with a difficult subject, as is death and grief, but with Klunes writing and humor, you can see a glimpse of light in the dark.
This book opened my horizons to read more books from the same author.

Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune is one of the better reads to come out of 2021. Wow. This was such a great read.

Under the Whispering Door is the second title I have read by TJ Klune and I have enjoyed them both. A well written, easy to read book, with a touch of mythology and philosophy to give the character's interpersonal relationships some depth. Dealing with death on any level can be a touchy subject and the author came through brilliantly. There is plenty of gentle humor as well as diversity throughout!

Wallace is a self centered, egotistical, cruel, selfish, lawyer, ex husband, jerk and nobody misses him when he’s dead. He even drives the reaper and ferryman to the end of their rope.
Wallace find himself at his funeral. Confused, in denial, he listens as his partners drib him as a horrible person, his ex wife spews hatred, there are no good words. This must be a dream right ? Nope. The Reaper comes for him, and escorts him to a tea house where he’s offered tea by the Ferryman Hugo.
This is a wonderful heartbreaking, heart wrenching journey. Wallace has issues on his issues. Hugos job is to help him move on to the next thing. Time, questions, soul searching and trust slowly change things. An impossible romance blooms.
These characters are amazing. Wallace (jerk), Hugo (yum), Mei (spunky), Nelson (patience), and Apollo (adorable 4 legged friend) Watch them do their job, make connections and bond had me laughing crying and cursing.
I enjoyed this read, it was very emotional. This was an unexpected joy, so unique.

TJ Klune's writing style is the real star of the book, but are any of us shocked?

I enjoyed the message of the book, and I understood the importance, but I had two big issues that I just could not help but kind of deter my enjoyment.

First: the pacing. I have no idea what the point of the book was. A chapter would open, and the narrator would say "Wallace did XYZ today, and then he did this, and now we're at here" and all I could think was... Okay ....?? Like why am I supposed to care? I just felt like there was no goal in this book. I understand that the overall goal was for Wallace to essentially accept his death, but I think that's more of a character goal rather than a plot one. I just felt so bored. Like things would happen, and then other things would happen, and I just didn't feel like they connected very well.

My other big problem was Wallace. I felt like he had two conflicting personalities that didn't go together. Apparently he was a mean guy when he was alive, and we're meant to believe that, but not even a few days after dying he's suddenly so sweet and thoughtful and always apologizing for being mean. And even when he was alive, there was conflicting messages being sent. Like in the firing scene, if he's this mean boss, why is his employee constantly cutting him off and talking about her private life? If he was this guy that no one liked I just feel like that scene would've gone very differently. I don't mean to be nit-picky, but I'm just using that to illustrate how I felt while reading the book. I think there's definitely people out there who present themselves as mean but are secretly very sensitive, and I think that's what the author was going for, I just didn't find it executed very well.

And the ending. Sorry, but I hated it. It felt like a cop out. I hate when stories deal with things like death and don't commit to it. I just really didn't like it.

I just couldn't get into this one, sorry. I tried to push through but it didn't keep my attention and the story felt forced. Decent writing for the several chapters I read.

First of all, thank you so much for allowing me to have an ARC to rate/review. Ever since reading The House in the Cerulean Sea I knew TJ Klune would be a forever favorite author of mine. When I heard that a new book, Under The Whispering Door, would be hitting shelves I immediately pre-ordered it.

Wallace Price is an awful lawyer who has no compassion or care in the world about people other than himself. And then he dies. He is met in death by a reaper, Mei. She leads him to a tea shop where he meets Hugo, his guide to crossing through the whispering door. The story is about Wallace’s journey in life, death, and love, the impact we can have on others, and living life (even the afterlife) to the fullest.

The end of the book had me crying true heartfelt tears for the characters’ journeys. Overall I rate the book 5/5 because I just love the take of this books stance on life after death and the continuum of consciousness. I appreciate the deeper meaning of the characters and always enjoy Klune’s touches of humor throughout. Some of the conversations Hugo and Wallace had in the middle of the book felt repetitive and it was a slow burn, but in true life grappling with death is similar and it was worth the slow build in the end.

ARC copy provided in exchange for an honest review. This in no way changes my rating or review.

5 GORGEOUS STARS

Just reach into my chest and tear out my heart, why don’t you, TJ? It would feel the same as reading this book and then coming to terms with the fact that these delightful and absolutely beautiful characters aren’t real, and I will never be able to walk into Hugo’s tea shop.

“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.”
(This quote may not be in the published version of this novel, it was copied from the advanced reader’s copy.)

This book was ripe with TJ’s signature quirk, gay-ness and humour, and I loved it. So much. The writing was phenomenal as always, the romance was adorable and the humour was subtle but brilliant – but most of all, the character development from our main character, and the themes woven into the novel – those were what really made Under the Whispering Door stand out to me.

Live-Wallace was a dickhead, and this was clear from the start. He made me laugh, but it was more laughing-through-the-pain as I imagined having to deal with him on a daily basis than truly laughing, because damn, this man did not give a crap about people in his daily life. But dead-Wallace… well, I’m not going to lie to you and say that dead-Wallace immediately realised all his mistakes in life and vowed to be a nice person forevermore – certainly not – but dead-Wallace went through some of the most realistic and heartrending character development that I’ve seen portrayed in a book for a long time. Or possibly ever. Wallace was a masterfully written character, and he has a way of sneaking into your heart when you let your guard down – because of course you could never grow to like this man, what an asshole – and then shooting out spikes to latch himself in there so that you can never remove him. And Hugo… well, Hugo was just an absolute cutie, and I loved the way his mental-health problems were portrayed, because more mental-health awareness is always a pro. I hope I find a relationship like the one between Wallace and Hugo one-day, because I’ll only accept two things in life for me to be happy with the world – a relationship like the one these two have, or being turned into Mei, because she was an absolute icon. And the latter is less likely, unfortunately.

I also really loved the themes that TJ threaded through this novel; the messages about death and life and grief and love and everything in between. Death was a vital aspect of this story, and TJ wrote about it brilliantly, managing to not make anything too harsh nor too delicate, instead simply portraying death as something inevitable but not necessarily final.

“Death has a beauty to it. We don’t see it because we don’t want to.”
(This quote may not be in the published version of this novel, it was copied from the advanced reader’s copy.)

Overall, this novel was absolutely amazing, and everything – from the queer rep to the subtle racism aspects to the humour to the cute doggo – was so captivating and fascinating to read about, I couldn’t put this down. Protect Mei… and Hugo and Nelson and Apollo and Wallace and all of them, because they’re all such cuties, and definitely characters who I’ll read about over and over as I reread this book more times than I can count! I’m in love, and if TJ appeared outside my house right now and asked for help hiding a body, I would say yes if only he’d give me ARCs to the rest of his books forever.

Read this book! Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC copy provided in exchange for an honest review❤.

Personally, this book was very timely since I recently lost my grandfather. This is not a spoiler but once you read the book you'll understand the weight of that similarity. What struck me the most are the themes of a subjective afterlife and the importance of the grieving processes, especially on the part of the dead--which is not always the case, obviously. Wallace Price was a flawed character and the only problem I saw about him (and sometimes of the others especially Mei) was the absurdity of their responses, some childish or incredulous. Then again, this was an incredulous book, wonderfully so. It felt like a Rick Riordan PJO for adults and young adults. 4/5 to 8.9/10 all the way.

3.5 stars
Though the story is different, the essence of this story is very similar to The House in the Cerulean Sea (Klune's previous novel). Harsh, grumpy, disconnected man goes to quaint, isolated house where he meets wholesome sunshine man and a cast of other loveable quirky characters. He begins to thaw out, eventually becoming a champion or advocate for his found family against the bureaucracy that threatens them. This isn't a criticism, it's a formula that works to creatively touching and heartwarming stories with loveable characters. Rather than feeling like a repeat of his previous work, this just feels very 'on brand'.

This book looks at death and grief, free will and choice. I'm not really 100% on what it was trying to say, but I think the message is that someone still exists, even after they pass on - death isn't the be all and end all. This wasn't quite as enjoyable as Cerulean Sea for me, as the humour felt a bit overdone - where Cerulean was a bit more fantastical and could use those elements to its advantage, in this one some of the comedy relief characters just felt a bit ridiculous and unrealistic.

All in all though, I liked this, I cried, it was good!

Ok, TJ Klune writes incredibly descriptive and thoughtful books and Under the Whispering Door is more of that same amazing writing style and characters that you love. This book was so fantastic!

What a premise, after Wallace Price dies, a reaper comes to take him from his own funeral to a waystation of sorts. A simple tea house and an incredibly introspective owner, Hugo, awaits Wallace’s arrival. Hugo’s job is to help Wallace pass over into his final resting place, but he becomes so much more than that for Wallace.

What a beautiful story of learning, growing, loving, and living.
5 stars! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.

Under the Whispering Door
TJ Klune

This is the first book I’ve read by TJ Klune and now I understand why his last novel was hyped so hard. Under the Whispering Door was beautiful, touching, and at times utterly heartbreaking.

The story was well written, deftly executed, and made it easy to connect with the characters. Before the first chapter is even reached a content warning is provided. Looking back, this told me everything I needed to know about the novel…a difficult topic will be discussed, but it will be done with care. If you are in a place to take in the contents, I’d highly recommend this novel.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an advanced e-arc in exchange for an honest review. I’ve already pre-ordered a final copy that I’m excited to add to my personal library.