Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune

24 reviews

k8lynn's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Suicide, Torture, Blood, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Dysphoria

daniofthewood's review against another edition

dark hopeful lighthearted 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Abandonment

Moderate: Cancer, Chronic illness, Violence, and Car accident

Minor: Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship

rebeccakoury's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad tense medium-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

4.0

I overall really enjoyed this book despite some critiques. I loved the characters and ugly cried a lot. I do feel some level of disappointment about the ending and at times the storyline seemed all over the place but I loved the characters so much that it ended up evening out.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Child death, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Abandonment

eddieboy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Death, and Death of parent

Minor: Car accident and Abandonment

kananineko's review against another edition

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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Animal death, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Abandonment

Minor: Sexual content

lizzyelrick's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, and Abandonment

kathleenivy's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad medium-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Car accident, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

erebus53's review against another edition

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Moderate: Confinement and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Infidelity, Sexual content, and Cannibalism

carolined314's review against another edition

emotional funny inspiring slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Animal death, Mental illness, Violence, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Minor: Suicide

augustar14's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

You have to read more than the first chapter or two of this book to say you really gave it a try. Wallace, simply put, was a horrible person. He wasn't nice to anyone, nor did he care about those around him, yet he's surprised and angry when no one shows up to his funeral. He has unfinished business; he can't be dead. But, he is, and now he's off to the ferryman's place, where he must stay until he's ready to pass over. But he won't be happy about it, nor will he let the ferryman in, no matter how nice the guy might be, or attractive, or how wonderful his tea is...
A beautifully written story about life, but particularly what comes after. How we cope with the impact our lives had on others, and how grief impacts each person differently. About letting go, holding on, and the steps in between. You won't love Wallace at first, but by the end I think you might feel differently. I certainly did. And it's probably worth keeping a tissue box nearby.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and Grief

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Murder, and Abandonment

Minor: Animal death, Sexual content, and War