Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune

51 reviews

maryclaire92's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

Heartfelt and smart, which I have grown to expect from TJ Klune books. Loved the cast of characters and was very invested in Wallace’s journey, though it took awhile to hook me (double entendres intended) (spoiler alert).

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

thebankofbooks's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

gphemsley's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

vvabecca's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

_nutella52's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

marsonmars's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

If you ever wanna read a book, were you have to stop once every chapter because you are crying so hard you can't see the page anymore, this bad boy is for you.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

tiernanhunter's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful relaxing sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

erebus53's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I read this book as the book of the month April 2023 for the Lighthouse Library Fiction Book Club.

What happens when an utter jerk falls down dead and nobody cares? It sounds like the setup for an off-colour joke but that is the basic premise of this book. This is a redemption story that I haven't seen the like of since, The Good Place. It's not quite as funny, but definitely moving in places.

This story had me in tears from about chapter 17. In some ways I felt a bit like I was being played. There were corny asides and comedic beats (because who doesn't love an irreverent ghost dog that ghost-pees on oblivious mean people)
interwoven with the hard sob-stories, passionate regrets, rage, and loss, and failure, and grief. It felt like these hard emotions were all pulled out into the light like boxes of old photos long hidden under the bed. *cough*crying? not me.. NO... just allergic to uhm, dust *sniffle*

The characters in the story are of diverse ethnicity, and that's a Thing.. it does affect their lives, but is not the hook of who they are, so I think that was quite considerately managed. They are also of diverse ages, and that makes things a little more interesting. There is a definite LGBT thing that, from looking at comments from other readers, is not picked up by many readers until later in the plot. Although it's cute (and Narrator,  Kirt Graves, makes the tea-shop owner, Hugo sound like a Black Keanu Reeves) it feels like some of the character development and friendship-building is a little hurried along. I felt like the man we meet at the start of the book is unredeemable, and yet Klune metaphorically scales a seemingly insurmountable wall, attempting to do just that. This is a story that tells of a world where God, as humans conceive of it, is not an accurate depiction of how the universe runs, but there are "powers that be".

This story has an author's content warning on the start of the book. It does deal with death, and suicide, and a bunch of really hard topics. That makes it feel like a bit of a therapy piece (the line "you're not my Therapist!" comes up a few times). It's a fun book if you feel like you can wade into some really emotional topics, and have a spare box of tissues handy.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

angelfireeast24's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

liamourie's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings