A review by amberlen
Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune
emotional
hopeful
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
2.5
Popsugar 2023 reading challenge #46: a book with a pet character
This story was sorta mediocre. I kept expecting to finally get into it, to fully root for these characters like I did with Cerulean Sea but it never happened. That's not to say that I actively disliked the characters, setting, plot etc. but it was all just okay. Did I cry? Duh, it's a book about death. But even so, I find very literal depictions of the afterlife not that interesting. The author said that they were processing their own feelings of grief while writing the book, and that's fair, but it didn't really work for me.
This story was sorta mediocre. I kept expecting to finally get into it, to fully root for these characters like I did with Cerulean Sea but it never happened. That's not to say that I actively disliked the characters, setting, plot etc. but it was all just okay. Did I cry? Duh, it's a book about death. But even so, I find very literal depictions of the afterlife not that interesting
Spoiler
, and the happy ending, Wallace basically eluding death, felt a little like a cop out (and also predictable)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Suicide, Death of parent, Child death, and Animal death
Minor: Sexual harassment