A review by webtheweeb
Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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

3.0

The first half of this book was a 1-2 star and the second half was a 4-5 star, so let’s meet in the middle(ish). There’s an attempt here at a kind of Rick Riordan-esque familiarization of forces beyond human understanding, and for most of the book, it just doesn’t work. The characterization often doesn’t fit (a 40 year old lawyer making Comic Sans jokes and saying “I hate everything” constantly brings to mind something a tumblr user might have written in 2014. And the tumblr user would do it better.) and the same talking points are returned to again and again, the same language re-parsed and re-used. Metaphors are mixed in a way that doesn’t seem intentional. The only thing that saved this book for me was its plot and its subject matter - how could that ending NOT make you cry? Still, this is much weaker than Klune’s first book. The final half makes it worth the read.