A review by cluckieduck
Under the Whispering Door, by TJ Klune
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Death isn't a final ending...it is an ending, sure, but only to prepare you for a new beginning.
I love me some TJ - while this is my least favourite behind the Green Creek series and The House in the Cerulean Sea, it was still an enjoyable read, and touched on the finer elements of death & grief that I found missing from The Midnight Library.
Our narrator, Wallace, has died. He is brought to a tea shop where he meets Hugo, the ferryman tasked with assisting Wallace's transition from living to dead, ultimately to assist him with crossing over to the otherside. With the help of Hugo & a supporting cast of characters in the tea shop (including the most wonderful dog), Wallace comes to realize that he may not have been the very best person while living. While death is eternal, his time at the tea shop is finite and he must decide how he can rectify who he was in life to who he is in death.
Bravery meant the possibility of death. And wasn't that funny? Because it took being dead for Wallace to finally be brave.
I think I would have given 5* had the ending gone the other direction - I was waiting for the full-blown emotional gut-punch that TJ is wont to provide. All in all, it's a lovely found-family story.
I love me some TJ - while this is my least favourite behind the Green Creek series and The House in the Cerulean Sea, it was still an enjoyable read, and touched on the finer elements of death & grief that I found missing from The Midnight Library.
Our narrator, Wallace, has died. He is brought to a tea shop where he meets Hugo, the ferryman tasked with assisting Wallace's transition from living to dead, ultimately to assist him with crossing over to the otherside. With the help of Hugo & a supporting cast of characters in the tea shop (including the most wonderful dog), Wallace comes to realize that he may not have been the very best person while living. While death is eternal, his time at the tea shop is finite and he must decide how he can rectify who he was in life to who he is in death.
Bravery meant the possibility of death. And wasn't that funny? Because it took being dead for Wallace to finally be brave.
I think I would have given 5* had the ending gone the other direction - I was waiting for the full-blown emotional gut-punch that TJ is wont to provide. All in all, it's a lovely found-family story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, and Child death
Moderate: Injury/injury detail and Gun violence