Review: Under The Whispering Door - TJ Klune

What Does it Mean to Truly Live

Wallace Price thought he had it all, until he died…

What It's About

Wallace Price is an asshole. He's spent his entire life more concerned about success than anything or anyone else. So when Wallace dies it's no surprise that no one cares. Wallace on the other hand is pissed. He has important work to be doing, and in his opinion, doesn't have time to be dead.

While attending his own funeral Wallace meets his Reaper Mei. Mei explains that she's here to collect Wallace to take him to Charon's Crossing, a cozy teashop that acts as a way station between the world of the living and the world of the dead. It is there, Mei explains, that Wallace will meet his Ferryman Hugo, the one who will be able to answer all of Wallace's questions and assist him in coming to terms with his death, as it is the job of the Ferryman to lead souls into the next stage of their death.

What Wallace soon realizes is that death, just as life, is what you make of it. Throughout the course of the book Wallace reflects on his life, learning what it means to truly live...his life after death.

My Thoughts

I really didn't know what to expect going into this. All I knew was that after reading The House in the Cerulean Sea, I was eager to devour whatever TJ Klune served up next. What I got was a book about death and transitioning into the next stage of life, whatever that may look like. While Under the Whispering Door doesn't draw a ton of comparisons to The House in the Cerulean Sea, what we do get is a lot of the same whimsy, Klune's ability to make fun of corporate drones, and beautiful dialogue.

As we go through the stages of grief with Wallace, reflecting on his life, we watch as Hugo, his extremely empathetic Ferryman, patiently and thoughtfully provides new lenses for Wallace to view his past and consider his future. It's through these conversations I felt their relationship took root. Slowly steeping, between the said and unsaid, bonding them intellectually. It's because of this mental intimacy, I feel, that any of the playful, sexy/sexual comments that came later in the book seemed out of place. Leading me to understand why some may have felt that the relationship came out of left field.

I loved the idea of a functioning teashop as the setting for a way station between the world of the living and the world of the dead. The overall mechanics of how the world worked was detailed, original and explained thoughtfully with each additional character adding more depth to the story.

If I were to point out a few things I wasn't happy about they would be Klune's blunt dismissiveness of Christianity through comments made by the characters in the book. (Note: that while I was slightly annoyed by this, as a Christian, I will say that I can still appreciate an alternative belief to what comes after death). Second, I would want to understand why Mei always thinks they're under attack when something unexpected happens. Did something happen, or can it? Is this why she thinks they could be under attack? I would have liked a story about this, or just a little more detail. With the amount of times she says this, it felt like a missed opportunity. A funny reaction the first time but not as funny after the third or fourth time she says it and we don't get an explanation. I would have also liked to know more about the Manager.

Overall this book is beautiful and heart-warming. It gave me all the feels and had me reflecting on my own life. I laughed and I may have cried on more than one occasion.

I would recommend this to anyone who has read other books by TJ Klune, fans of Studio Ghibli and fans of the Good Place (I've never seen it, but I've heard there's some similarities).

Thank you so much to Macmillan-Tor/Forge, Netgalley and TJ Klune for this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review. Under the Whispering Door comes out on September 21, 2021.

My Rating: 4.5/5 Stars

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