A review by ppixxie
Under the Whispering Door, by TJ Klune
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I sort of picked this up on a whim, knowing that it was about a man who had passed and living out a kind of gay Christmas Carol situation; I figured that I would give TJ Klune another shot. I had read the Green Creek series (which I sort of hate read/sort of liked despite... You know. The really weird grooming adjacent stuff.) and House in the Cerulean Sea (which read completely different than the Green Creek series. Very much trying to emulate Terry Pratchett but not as charming?). So, to set the scene here is me, recently losing someone very important in my life and picking this book up. I expected to feel at least something that wasn't on a spectrum of boredom to annoyance.
And yet.
This book has everything that I disliked about House in the Cerulean Sea but turned up to eleven. The unearned character growth that Wallace goes through that seemingly comes from nowhere in Chapter 2 (I wanted to see him be shitty! I wanted to see him EARN his redemption and feel his horror at how bad of a boss he used to be.), how the nonwhite characters seem to only exist to further the white main character's emotional journey, and he never seems to build on the interesting concepts he introduces? He resolves them very quickly. I loved the idea of Cameron and I would've loved to see him more as some type of looming element throughout the book <spoilers>instead of coming in at the middle of the book, then getting his big resolution at the end. I'm also not a huge fan of how TJ Klune writes romances in general, he uses many of the same tropes for a lot of his couples so it ends up feeling more like a Hallmark movie rather than two individual characters falling in love.
I won't comment on how the book deals with grieving, the conversation about death, and how the narration deals with it. After I finished the book I read the acknowledgments where the author says that he used this book to channel his experiences. Everyone's journey with the death and grief of losing a loved one is different. However, why does it feel like the narrative punishes people who aren't immediately okay with their death? Or if they react in a way that is... not convenient to the characters at Charon's Crossing? it would've been cool to see how Hugo changed tactics to accommodate the different reactions that people had, but he kind of just sits with them and says "I can't even begin to imagine what you're going through" and sort of leaves it at that. (Which all the other characters repeat as well)
The part in this book that I truly, absolutely loved that hit me as incredibly real and grounded and sort of endeared me to Wallace and Hugo's relationship was at the end It almost makes up for how one note all the characters are.
Spoilers for the ending
I honestly think this is the longest review I've ever written for anything. Wow.
And yet.
This book has everything that I disliked about House in the Cerulean Sea but turned up to eleven. The unearned character growth that Wallace goes through that seemingly comes from nowhere in Chapter 2 (I wanted to see him be shitty! I wanted to see him EARN his redemption and feel his horror at how bad of a boss he used to be.), how the nonwhite characters seem to only exist to further the white main character's emotional journey, and he never seems to build on the interesting concepts he introduces? He resolves them very quickly. I loved the idea of Cameron and I would've loved to see him more as some type of looming element throughout the book <spoilers>instead of coming in at the middle of the book, then getting his big resolution at the end. I'm also not a huge fan of how TJ Klune writes romances in general, he uses many of the same tropes for a lot of his couples so it ends up feeling more like a Hallmark movie rather than two individual characters falling in love.
I won't comment on how the book deals with grieving, the conversation about death, and how the narration deals with it. After I finished the book I read the acknowledgments where the author says that he used this book to channel his experiences. Everyone's journey with the death and grief of losing a loved one is different. However, why does it feel like the narrative punishes people who aren't immediately okay with their death? Or if they react in a way that is... not convenient to the characters at Charon's Crossing? it would've been cool to see how Hugo changed tactics to accommodate the different reactions that people had, but he kind of just sits with them and says "I can't even begin to imagine what you're going through" and sort of leaves it at that. (Which all the other characters repeat as well)
The part in this book that I truly, absolutely loved that hit me as incredibly real and grounded and sort of endeared me to Wallace and Hugo's relationship was at the end
Spoiler
where it's one of the last nights before the Manager has to take Wallace into the door. Wallace and Hugo are in bed, and they're talking. They're having a conversation about how they would've met if Wallace were still alive, it's so bittersweet and tender.Spoilers for the ending
Spoiler
But, if he was going to bring Wallace back in the end I think it would have been stronger thematically - especially with the depiction of the manager being this antagonistic bureaucrat - with Wallace choosing to live out of spite, saying that yes; my death was unfair. I have so much else I want to do, it's unfair that I am only now living my life happily now that I am dead. So I will fight the world, I will claw my way to the man I love, to the family I love - and live? The entire book is about the finality of death, the process of grief, and how inescapable it is. The ending felt like the antithesis of the core themes, which I understand that TJ Klune is a writer that exclusively writes happy endings! That's fine! But this ending seems so disingenuous to the heart of the book.I honestly think this is the longest review I've ever written for anything. Wow.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Murder, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Cancer, Child death, Medical content, Animal death, Car accident, Cursing, Death of parent, and Racism