It takes a tender hand to make humor of grief, love, and faith. TJ Klune is proving himself to become one of my favorites. The story is poignant and bittersweet, especially knowing that Klune wrote it to process his own grief. I only hope the next step on life’s journey is actually as beautiful as the world created in Under the Whispering Door.

This book is beautiful but HEAVY. It’ll break you down piece by piece and then put you back together again. Have your tissues ready at all times.
Under the Whispering Door follows Wallace Price, an unlikeable lawyer without a single redeeming quality. He’s impossible to please and entirely lacks empathy. And then he dies suddenly. He’s approached by a reaper at his own funeral who brings him to a mysterious tea shop. Here he meets the ferryman, Hugo, who is tasked with guiding Wallace in his journey to accept his death and eventually cross over in a peaceful manner.
I cannot even do this book justice through my review. It had the greatest mix of humor and raw emotion. Klune takes a deep look at living life and making the most of it. I was so captivated by all the discussions about time and the different ways to interpret it, as well as the connections between time and life.
I loved Wallace’s character arc so much. He went from being selfish and arrogant to caring and vulnerable over the course of the book. This was definitely a character-driven story and Wallace is someone I found myself rooting for despite having such a strong negative opinion of him at the beginning. The rest of the characters are each amazing in their own way and I loved the little family that was formed. There was also a super cute ghost dog named Apollo who was prominent in the story so bonus points for that!
It was a bit emotionally draining to get through, you definitely need to be in the right headspace for it but it was such a rewarding read. I don’t cry very often when it comes to books but I cried a total of FOUR DIFFERENT TIMES while reading this one. There were so many potent and bittersweet moments that collected into such a resonant story.
I think literally everyone can connect with this book in one way or another. Anyone who has lost a love one may find some comfort in this. Even though it’s a work of fiction, it brings with it a sense of hope and peace into reality.
Thank you so much to Tor Books, the author and NetGalley for the eARC!

Under the Whispering Door is outrageously good. It is excellent and rich and wonderful. In a year that seems to be headed down the drain, TJ Klune's book is a much needed dose of love. Holy crap this book is good.

Wallace is a bastard. He is a lawyer who only sees the bottom line of his partnership and not the people around him. He is divorced because he chose to work over his wife. He blames others for any mistakes because it cannot possibly be his fault. And then Wallace is dead.

Death is not quite what Wallace thought it would be. Honestly he probably never thought about it. He finds himself in the care of Mei, a Reaper. She takes him to meet Hugo, the ferryman who lives under the whispering door. So begins a journey that explores grief, life, and why we live. I cannot do this book justice because I do not possess the vocabulary necessary. All the characters in this book are well written.

I have added it to my best books of 2021 list.

I received this title from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

After reading the House Cerulean Sea last year - and it becoming my favorite book ever! - Klune’s next novel, Under the Whispering Door, had a lot to live up to.


Klune again stuns me with the use of found family, the fact “our people” can be found in the most unlikely place and time. The cast of characters in this book are funny, heartwarming, quirky, and kind. Just like Cerulean Sea, it took me a while to get into, but once I was in, I was hooked. I also got the same warm feeling while reading UTWD, when our MC finds themselves unloveable until they finally find their place.

Now this book will not be for everyone. It is highly focused on dying, death, and grieving. It’s not a light read. There were lots of tears shed while reading this one - both happy and sad.


Thanks to NetGalley, Tor Books, and Macmilliam Audio for both the ARC and ALC of this book. Under the Whispering Door is 9/21.

Thank you Tor Books and Netgalley for the ARC of Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune I’m exchange for my honest opinion.

I enjoyed this book so much. It was a spectacular read. I laughed. I cried. I got goose bumps.

One of the biggest questions is “is there life after death?” What happens? This book puts a spin on the after life. Wallace is a lawyer who is just not a good person. He has no heart and nobody likes him. When a heart attack takes him, he is picked up by a Reaper. The Reaper takes him to a Ferryman who will then help him into the afterlife. Wallace realizes that there is so much more to life that he missed out on.

This was my first TJ Klune book. Definitely will not be my last.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book! Admittedly, it took me awhile to get through this one, but that was on me, not this book (I have been struggling with fantasy in general lately, which has made it harder for me to pick up, but when I actually read, I really enjoyed it!).

This was one of my most anticipated books of the year, especially after reading The House in the Cerulean Sea last year, and I really love Klune's writing. He does such a good job of really allowing the reader to picture the scenes while reading, and he creates such amazing characters. I loved every character in this book, and I loved how complex they all were, and how real they felt.

This book is really heavy at times - it really talks a lot about death and wondering what comes after, and I definitely think anyone who wants to read this should keep that in mind and make sure you are in a good place before starting, just to be safe - but there are also so many moments of levity, where I found myself literally laughing out loud.

I do think the ending is a little anti-climatic, but I also understand why it was done the way it was done. And I also think the plot was a little slower than I usually prefer, but overall I really did enjoy this book and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys contemporary fantasy.

TJ Klune's latest book is simply stunning. Weaving together Greek mythology (Charon, the ferryman who transports the dead across the River Styx), Celtic legend (the stag that represents the other world and spiritual enlightenment) as well as the Chinese red string of fate, he creates a world of death, growth, forgiveness and incredible perception.

Wallace Price is a piece of work - a hard-ass lawyer who drops dead of a heart attack in his office - on a Sunday - and is unwillingly transported by Mei, a human Reaper, to a little tea house in the forest, where he will eventually ascend through a door into the afterlife. The tea house is a place to come to terms with death, to understand that "grief is a catalyst, a transformation."

"The first time you share tea, you are a stranger. The second time you take tea, you are an honored guest. The third time you share a cup of tea, you become family."

Let's just say that Wallace does not go gentle into that good night. He rails against Hugo, the ferryman and teahouse proprietor, as well as Nelson, Hugo's dead grandfather who is hanging around the teahouse as a ghost, along with Apollo, Hugo's ghost dog. It's a merry mix of the living and the dead, with wry humor and witty asides, all geared to help Wallace resolve his feelings and eventually accept the afterlife.

At close to 400 pages, at times the story moves a bit slowly, but we need that pace in order to steep ourselves in the universe Klune crafts. The unlikely attraction between Hugo and Wallace comes out of nowhere and while it's all kinds of lovely it felt a bit incomplete and unfleshed out. But overall, I found this story deeply moving, and especially in the world in which we are now all living, deeply comforting.

"Death has a beauty to it. We don't see it because we don't want do. And that makes sense. Why would we want to focus on something that takes us away from everything we know? How do we even begin to understand that there's more than what we see?"

5+ stars for Under the Whispering Door and a Recommended Read.

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy of UNDER THE WHISPERING DOOR by TJ Klune. I really enjoyed THE HOUSE ON THE CERULEAN SEA, so I was excited to read this one, but unfortunately this one didn't pull me in in quite the same way. The characters were sweet and cute the way TJ Klune's characters are, I honestly just didn't feel like the plot really started until about three-fourths of the way through the book. Thus, it took me a really long time to get to that point. I just couldn't tell what this book was supposed to be about except for a dead guy hanging around staring heart eyes at a living guy. I'm sure a lot of other people will love it, but for me there wasn't a lot to pull me through until the very end when some tension finally came into the story. I think THOTCS had more of that tension throughout than this book did. There were some really beautifully written sections and some lovely themes, just not enough story for me.

Right from the very beginning, I knew that this book was going to break my heart. You can't write a story about a ghost and a ferryman falling in love and not anticipate some tears. Wallace Price is a jerk, and it was hard to like him at all. But the more he grows as a person, the more likable he becomes. Hugo was perfection, and I loved him from the start. This book is full of amazing characters, but I will let you discover the rest on your own.

I don't know how Klune does it, but he always manages to make me fall more in love with his stories. These stories are always about a difficult subject, but with Klunes writing and humor, you can see a glimpse of light in the dark. I took away valuable lessons, and this one might be the most important of them all. This book left me with so much hope, and I hope it makes you feel the same.

As soon as this book was announced I knew I just have to get my hands on it. Even though it breaks my heart every time I love books about grief and loss. And as a huge TJ Klune fan as well this just sounded perfect. And let me just say: It did deliver.

Under the Whispering Door is a magical and somehow soft, slow journey about grief and love and living life to the fullest. It will make you laugh, cry and very thoughtful. It’s absolutely beautiful and honest and full of hope and promise.

I loved the characters a lot even though they all had their flaws. This just made them more real and likeable in my opinion. Their dynamics are wonderful and the character development is so good. Especially Wallace will make you change your first impression of him in the end for sure. I am so very fond of that little found family. They make my heart very full.

Under the Whispering Door is that heartwarming book you’ll never forget. It crawls its way deep into your heart. I will definitely recommend this book to everyone who looks for an emotional packed, wholesome story.

It took you dying to find your humanity. It’s hysterical if you think about it.

Wallace Price was not, in his mind, a bad man. He liked nice suits. He was dedicated to his work. So what if his employees were scared shitless of his overbearing ways? He was meticulous and demanding and he expected them to be the same. So when he finds himself at his own (very sparsely attended) funeral, he’s beginning to think it might be a joke.

Until a reaper comes to take him to the afterlife. But there’s a snag—he’s delivered to a tea house in the middle of the woods, operated by a ferryman and a handful of ghosts and the reaper, and…death just isn’t what Wallace expected. How unfortunate that he found himself just before he had to move on.

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 face toward the sky.

Whew that was a lot of tears. What the hell is it with me and crying books recently?

To be utterly honest, I hated Wallace Price at the beginning. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to continue, particularly since the tonal vibes of The House in the Cerulean Sea were hitting me in ways I wasn’t particularly fond of: emotionally closed off man goes to house in the middle of nowhere and meets incredibly empathetic and kind man dedicated to helping others, and finds himself healed in the process and falls in love.

That’s it.

That’s the gist of the book.

Wallace sighed. “One of those things where you say one thing but mean something else.”

Except in this case the kind and empathetic man is Black and doing a lot of emotional labor to heal the angry, asshole white dude (that’s why this isn’t five-stars—I don’t think Klune was able to get past the “Magical Negro” trope, either for Hugo or Nelson), and there’s a lot of empathetic people going “oh, I see” but not explaining themselves to the emotionally closed off person.

However.

Those’re the down points.

The plusses almost overcome all of that (again, 4 not 5).

“Tea is serious business, Wallace. You don’t heat water for tea in the freaking microwave. Have a little class, man.”

This is like a wonderful cross of The House in the Cerulean Sea (yes, I’m going to keep using this comp title because it fits) meets “Whenever You’re Ready” from The Good Place.

Which seems like a serious spoiler, but it’s not. Not really. There are things that I knew were going to happen and did, and things that I hoped would happen and knew would not (and was mildly disappointed by but the ending is still solid).

These are just my initial thoughts after finishing. Although they seem rather harsh, but seriously, this book is solid. Lots of grief, lots of emotion, lots of love and moving on and acceptance, and so much death. But in a good way?

All I can really say without too many spoilers is that if you liked the two comps I mentioned, you will enjoy this one.

By enjoy, I mean you’ll end the book like someone shoved a hook on a line through your chest and pulled your heart out.

Oops. I’ve said too much.

“Why are you lying on the floor?” Mei asked.

“Why do we do anything that we do?” Wallace said dully. “There’s no point.”

“Oh man,” Mei said. “It’s far too early for your existential angst. At least me wake up before having to deal with such a bummer.”

I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Under the Whispering Door releases September 21, 2021, from Tor

I really struggled with this one. It took me weeks to get through, even though it wasn't a difficult read. It was beautiful and thought provoking, but I didn't get into it until maybe 77% in.

This book FELT like the literary equivalent of tea, and there is going to be loads of people who can appreciate the journey this book takes. Wallace was just so repellent to me from first introduction that I just didn't care about his arc at all.

The best analogy I can think of, is that I would strongly recommend this book for people who drink tea. Tea requires patience. You have to let it steep. You sip and wait for flavor notes.
Unfortunately I like coffee- quick and dirty and on the go. This felt at least 50 pages too long.

I LOVED Cerulean Sea, so I still plan on giving The Extraordonaries a try!

⭐️I don’t think I have the proper words to describe how beautiful Under The Whispering Door really is.

🚪 TJ Klune is a word smith, a master at his craft and if you havent ever read one of his novels, this book is a wonderful place to begin.

💙 This book is profound and moving.
Thought provoking and sweet.
Funny and heart breaking

🚪 Hugo was gentle and gracious and patient. Wallace has one of the most beautiful stories of growth I have read in a long time. Mei, Nelson and Apollo had me laughing out loud. The entire cast of this story was so perfect and each character was soulful and important.

💙 This found family novel was soulful and just made me FEEL.
💙 Under The Whispering door is a touching story about second chances, love, accepting what you can and cannot change. It will make you think about life before death and after death and then what might come after.

🚪 Klune wrote a wonderful book. One that makes you FEEL. A story that settles in your heart and stays there like a hook in your chest

It felt like an honor to have read it.

💙 TJ has solidified himself as possibly
My favorite author, ever.
Please go read this charming and beautiful book.

This will be a short review because sometimes you just need to express your feelings and not go into excess details.
I have never read anything by this author before but kept seeing their work mentioned . This isn’t perhaps what I would normally choose to read and escape reality from but boy did it make me feel . An unusual, quirky view of death and grief . Both funny and poignant with characters on their own journey. Yes at times the pace was too slow for me but emotionally it wrecked me so how could I give less than five heart felt star’s ?
This voluntary take is of a copy I requested and my thoughts and comments are honest and I believe fair

Thanks Tor Books and Netgalley for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

First of all, I'm disappointed that the author still hasn't responded to the stirring controversy about his last book The House in The Cerulean Sea, glamourising a cultural genocide. I requested the arc of this book before the matter came into my attention, while I feel like I have the responsibility to fairly review this book as a reviewer of Netgalley, I will not be reading future work by this author (until he properly addresses the accusations/apologizes).

Under The Whispering Door was simple and sweet. Definitely had studio ghibli vibes as marketed. However, I had contradicting thoughts; on one hand I felt like the first ~50% was slow and repetitive, on the other hand I wished Wallace's character, more specifically his transition was more developed. However, idk what the turning point was but I started really enjoying the story after passing the halfway point. It was smart for the author to take a comical tone, because otherwise the only comment I could've given would be superficial. Though it could also be argued that it was me who went into it looking for the wrong things (since I've never read anything by Klune before). I expected a book about death, regrets, what it means to live, etc. would inspire deeper reflections, but it was quite shallow and lacked finer nuances. But oh well, no need to take every book that seriously, it did make me laughed out loooouuud a hand full of times, and the found family aspect warmed my heart. The ending was as predicted, I had hoped for a more bittersweet ending but that's just my personal preference. The core of this book was hope, kindness and love, so the ending was fitting for what the story tried to convey.

I’ve never officially cried at a book til this one. Even my stone cold heart couldn’t take it. This book was so beautiful (I highlighted 32 passages) and I really don’t know if I’ll ever stop thinking about it. It’s about life and death and teaches us that death is scary but it’s also only the beginning. If you really want to muse about life and sob at the same time I highly recommend.

Will I ever recover? Probably not, but it wrecked me in the best possible way. I’ll leave you with my favorite quotes, “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.” And “what will you do with the time you have left?”

Thank you to Netgalley, TJ Klune and Tor Books for the gifted ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Another beautiful story about discovering the significant meaning of life. TJ Klune writes a lovely story about transforming a cruel character and somehow finding his humanity through the process of death. This story tackles challenging topics in a whimsical and easy to process way and never accepts one answer to many of life's difficult concepts and questions.

My favorite aspect of this story was seeing how Wallace was able to grow, learn and rediscover his humanity, which was so obviously absent from his life while he was alive. While remaining at the Tea Shop he discovers and realizes what true friendship and love actually are and the ending left me entirely speechless.

TJ Klune weaves together a beautiful story that from any other author I would remain skeptical, but knowing how he can craft a story of complex characters and make you root and understand even the most unlikeable characters makes for a magical journey. The loved the atmosphere and world-building of this story and cannot recommend it highly enough.

Much like the Klune's first, Under the Whispering door was absolutely enjoyable. It was funny, quirky, had loveable characters, and an intriguing plot. While the novel explored the complexity of death, it did so in such a profound, yet light way. ABSOLUTELY recommend:)

Thank you so so much to the publisher and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Under The Whispering Door weaves a tale of ghosts, reapers, ferryman, grief, and acceptance. When Wallace Price dies suddenly, he is taken by a reaper to meet with his ferryman, Hugo, in order to move on. How will this journey unfold and will we ever be truly ready to move on?

Usually I give a much bigger summary into a plot, but to do so with this book would do a disservice to the reader. The beginning of this novel feels very much like Wallace was taylored after Ebonezir Scrooge. He is completely heartless and has no compassion. Upon his death, Wallace feels he can strongarm the universe to bring him back to life. It's interesting to see how the stages of grief make their way into the very being of this tale. Mei and Hugo make a great dynamic duo into the afterlife; and Nelson and Apollo make the best spirit teachers. This book is everything. It has wit, humor, harsh realities; it explores death through many avenues and even has some love peppered in. The author is an absolute artist with the world they created and the supporting cast they weave. I love this world, even with all the pain and heartache. This is unlike anything I have read before and will probably ever find again. I have zero complaints, and for a good reason. The writing is second to none, there are no questions unanswered, and everything fits together in one cohesive storyline.

Five bright and beaming stars for what is by far my favorite read of the year. I recommend this for anyone 14+ as the subject matter is heavy and can influence mood. Don't let this one pass you by, you'll be talking about it for years to come. I know I will.

** Thank you to NetGalley and Tor for giving me an EArc in exchange for an honest review**

I was very excited to pick up Klune's newest release, unfortunately it wasn't a new favorite but I still enjoyed my reading experience.

I really enjoy Klune's writing and the whimsical nature of it. This book has a similar feeling to The House in the Cerulean Sea but a little less lighthearted and soulful. I enjoyed the themes that were explored throughout being death and grief. I thought those topics were handled really well. I liked our characters of Mei, Hugo, Nelson and especially Apollo.

Where my enjoyment goes down is the overall story and our MC Wallace. I found it very very hard to root for Wallace, before he dies (not a spoiler) he is a terrible, awful person. I realize that this is a Mr. Scrooge like story where he has a change of character and heart but it was really hard to get behind that change or fell he deserved it. For that reason the second chance romance that is explored became unconvincing and I didn't feel much for it. There is also a use of a trope that I really do not like. It makes sense for the story and I understand it but that also dropped my enjoyment.

Unfortunately I didn't love this book. There were somethings that I liked but also some things I didn't care for. I'd still recommend this for a lighthearted read, a fan of TJ Klune, an exploration of death and grief and anyone else who wants to read a Mr. Scrooge like story.