layawaydragon
Written on Sep 8, 2022
Witty, haunting and kind, Under the Whispering Door is a gift for troubled times. TJ Klune brings us a warm hug of a story about a man who spent his life at the office – and his afterlife building a home.
From the author of joyous New York Times bestseller The House in the Cerulean Sea.
Welcome to Charon’s Crossing. The tea is hot, the scones are fresh and the dead are just passing through.
When a reaper comes to collect Wallace from his own sparsely-attended funeral, Wallace is outraged. But he begins to suspect she’s right, and he is in fact dead. Then when Hugo, owner of a most peculiar tea shop, promises to help him cross over, Wallace reluctantly accepts the truth.
Yet even in death, he refuses to abandon his life – even though Wallace spent all of it working, correcting colleagues and hectoring employees. He’d had no time for frivolities like fun and friends. But as Wallace drinks tea with Hugo and talks to his customers, he wonders if he was missing something.
The feeling grows as he shares jokes with the resident ghost, manifests embarrassing footwear and notices the stars. So when he’s given one week to pass through the door to the other side, Wallace sets about living a lifetime in just seven days.
Fans of A Man Called Ove and The Good Place will fall for this queer love story by TJ Klune.
Praise for TJ Klune:
'I loved it. It is like being wrapped up in a big gay blanket. Simply perfect' – V. E. Schwab, author of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
'A modern fairy tale about learning your true nature and what you love and will protect. It's a beautiful book' – Charlaine Harris, author of the Sookie Stackhouse series
'A whimsical, warm-hearted fantasy' – Guardian
'Fans of queer fantasy won't want to miss this' – Publishers Weekly
- ISBN10 1529088003
- ISBN13 9781529088007
- Publish Date 21 September 2021
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher Pan Macmillan
- Imprint Tor
- Format eBook (EPUB)
- Pages 384
- Language English
Reviews
Terri M. LeBlanc
Written on Jan 16, 2022
Well, this was certainly the hot title for fall. It took forever to get my hands on a copy of the book and one came in JUST in time for Christmas.
I don't know how Klune does it, but they are able to find the right balance between the dark and light. Death and grief can be difficult topics to tackle, but there is just the right amount of gravitas and lessons to learn in Under the Whispering Door as there are laugh out loud moments. This was JUST the book I needed to read over the Christmas holidays. The message is beautiful and as someone who has alway though every person and animal that is dear to me watches over me until it it my time to pass, Klune's world is definitely one I could get immersed in.
Quirky Cat
Written on Dec 31, 2021
Brilliant author T.J. Klune is back with another emotional read. He's the author that brought us The House in the Cerulean Sea and The Extraordinaries. Now, we get to read Under the Whispering Door.
Wallace Price was admittedly not the best of people in life. You'd think that would make the afterlife less shocking for him – but you'd be wrong. He was pretty surprised the day he dropped dead; that much is certain.
Wallace's journey on this earth isn't quite over, as he needs to come to terms with his death. This involves spending time at a tea shop run by a man named Hugo. It's Huge's job to help those that have passed make peace with their new status and cross through the whispering door.
“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.”
Having read the rest of T.J. Klune's backlog, it is safe to say that I had reasonably high expectations for Under the Whispering Door (along with probably every other reader on the planet). And wow! My already high expectations were blown away!
To be clear, before sitting down to read Under the Whispering Door, I would strongly recommend you get yourself a cozy blanket, your cuddliest pet (if you have one), and a box of tissues because this book is going to give you all of the feels. Seriously. You've been warned.
Wallace should win an award for the most character development I've ever seen within a single book. He went from a character I really didn't like all that much (putting it kindly) to a character I wanted to hug and protect with all of my being.
“Death isn’t a final ending, Wallace. It is an ending, sure, but only to prepare you for a new beginning.”
He isn't the only character I fell in love with through the course of Under the Whispering Door. Klune is a genius when it comes to creating lovable characters, and I, for one, cannot wait to see what character he's going to create next that will utterly destroy my heart.
Words cannot express how much I loved this novel or how deeply it hit me. I would recommend this novel to anyone willing to listen, especially those looking for a fantasy novel that will touch the heart.
Thanks to Tor Books and #NetGalley for making this book available for review. All opinions expressed are my own.
Read more reviews over at Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks
alindstadtcorbeax
Written on Sep 22, 2021
MORE AMAZING TJ KLUNE TO LOOK FORWARD TO ! YAAASSSSSS!!!! The Universe sometimes is just, in some ways.
So excited about this.
annieb123
Written on Sep 10, 2021
Under the Whispering Door is a wide ranging character driven creative fantasy by TJ Klune. Due out 21st Sept 2021 from Macmillan on their Tor Forge imprint, it's 390 pages and will be available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.
This is an odd and interesting book. The plot is entirely character driven and set almost completely in one single place - an odd interworld teashop between life and the afterlife. Characters come and go as they move on to whatever comes next. The characters are both living, dead, in between, and otherworldly/demigod/angel-ish, and they vary in age from very young to very old and of several genders and ethnicities. There was so much crammed into the book that some of it fell inevitably by the wayside. In addition to being a fantasy, philosophical examination of death and what comes after, it's also about using the time we have wisely, found family, loyalty, love, consent, oh, and a queer/bi love story as well. The drama, starcrossed lovers, and longing would have been more suited to a YA/NA novel, but the subject matter and some of the scenes are too heavy to comfortably fit into that genre.
In addition to all the other stuff going on, there's a lot of slapstick involved which felt oddly tacked on; people getting stuck in inappropriate clothing and "psychics" being chased around by poltergeist(ish) flying inanimate objects. The subject matter in general is very heavy and quite dark and it felt like the author was trying very hard to lighten the mood. The love story and denouement were satisfying but also felt a bit contrived. The language is R rated and there are frank discussions of death including suicide, murder, and death of a child. There is some light consensual sexual content.
The audiobook version has a run time of 14 hours and 55 minutes and is expertly narrated by Kirt Graves. He manages characters of both sexes and a range of ages and manages to keep them distinct from one another and easy to understand. The sound and production quality are high throughout.
It's an interesting and valiant attempt, but in my opinion doesn't quite fulfill its early promise. The author is undeniably gifted and adept, but I never felt like it quite lived up to the attempt. Three and a half stars, rounded up (the writing is strong).
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
brdsk
Written on May 23, 2021
This book opened with a very unpleasant character that I couldn't help but wish terrible things for. Wallace was a mix of truly nasty stereotypes of heartless business before anything else. When he died only a few pages in I felt mean satisfaction and glee. Normally such a boringly bad person with no empathy or concern for others would make me uninterested in the read or simply annoy me. This book managed to keep me hooked instead. As I got to know the lead and witness his journey I had to face my negative feelings towards him and my quick judgment in a way that I found interesting, and at times really touching.
Of course, ghosts alone were already a huge selling point for me, especially when presented as a diverse cast of characters that weren't identical copies of each other. At times whimsical and at times serious other characters (alive and dead) had nice backstories and some individual development to go through. I did enjoy most of them and was engaged, but ultimately I felt that many of them were too simple. Yes, each had strengths and flaws and a story to tell, but at times they still felt as if written for a pre-teen audience and almost too purposeful and structured... Perhaps that's not actually a bad thing though. I suppose I simply like characters with more chaotic and unexpected moments to them . Especially when reading a story that focuses on the exploration of the human nature.
This story deals with many serious subjects such as death (duh), mental health, trauma, suicide, murder, grief, divorce, acceptance, sexual orientation, and more. Many existential questions are explored, such as general morality, the purpose of life, redemption, the ideas of God and after life. Some of these subjects were heavy enough that the trigger warning at the beginning of the book felt absolutely justified. A few parts were hard enough to read that I needed my own calming tea breaks. However upon pushing through those I came out to the ultimately uplifting place that felt real but still full of hope. There were moments where the book veered into a slightly moralistic lane, but these platitudes worthy of Dumbledore did not sound empty to me as they were backed by the stories of the individual characters and their experiences, helping them gain depth. In addition, the skepticism and stubborn nature of the main character made such elements easier to process as he reflected my own desire to dismiss them until we both were ready to hear more.
The queer representation is something the author does in a really terrific way. Some characters were gay, some were bisexual, some addressed their experiences, some did not. Never did sexual orientation become their only identity. This was refreshing and is guaranteed to keep me reading more work by TJ Klune. A couple moments were mildly saucy, but never crude or explicit. Love is love, this book said. And I loved it for that as much as I loved it for the ghosts. (I have clear priorities, reader.)
I enjoyed the sweet and sarcastic humorous parts of the book, although by the end many such element have been repeated multiple times, making them less funny and less charming. It did not spoil the book, and I understand that it was helping balance out the serious themes, but it did feel less masterful than other parts of the book. The multiple references to the The House in the Cerulean Sea did make me smile each time as a lovely private nod to another book by TJ that I really loved.
The pacing of the book felt somewhat drawn out. I think it would have been a more powerful and purposeful novel at a somewhat shorter length. (Just like this review should have been.) In contrast to that, I felt really sad that a really cool and imaginative character I finally met close to the end got very little page time and was not explored in more depth.
Last but not least, I absolutely loved the scenery of the book. It was beautifully described and added a lot of atmosphere to the story. The stunning cover by Red Nose Studio is a true gem, and if I had any wall space left, I'd be getting a print of it.
VERDICT TIME.
Is this book worth attention? Yes. Are there flaws? Yes, especially some character depth and some pacing.
Should you read it? Consider how you handle triggering subjects mentioned above. If you are looking for a lighter read, try other books by this lovely author for now. Overall it manages these topics in a very tasteful manner and left me feeling good about life, but it was not always an easy path.
SECONDARY VERDICT.
As I write my reviews primarily for myself, I really should try to make them better organised and shorter. But I will not. At least not always. So there. >:)