Under the Whispering Door by T.J. Klune

This is another unique, beautiful, sad and heartwarming story by T.J. Klune! I absolutely loved The House in the Cerulean Sea and am so grateful for the opportunity to read the wonderful Under the Whispering Door already as an ARC. (Thank you so much Macmillan-Tor/Forge and NetGalley! All opinions are completely my own though and I am leaving my honest review voluntarily.)

The main character in this contemporary story full of magic and fascinating beings is the mean, selfish and obnoxious workaholic lawyer Wallace Price, who has ruined all relationships he’s ever had and is living solely for his work. Until he suddenly dies of a heart attack and finds himself at his own funeral. From there a wonderful, magical and empowering tale evolves, with Wallace meeting the mysterious Mei, who brings him with her to the tea shop Charon’s Crossing and its owner the ferryman Hugo, and his dead granddad Nelson and dog Apollo. Together they try to help Wallace come to terms with his faith and help him cross over to the afterlife, all the while Wallace also slowly starts to reevaluate his whole life and realize the bad choices he’d made while living.

I have to admit that I struggled a bit with this story compared to The House in the Cerulean Sea, which stole my heart from the very first sentence. Mostly due to the fact that the main character was so dislikeable, bitter and mean for a long time. He does undergo a remarkable character development, and in the end, I absolutely loved him, but it took a bit too long for that to happen. The story also dragged quite a lot in the middle.

But after that, it was all back to the best kind of T.J. Klune magic again! The last part of the book was absolutely amazing! It was just pure perfection and so full of emotions, and I loved the romance so, so much. It must be one of the best endings ever! It both broke my heart and put it back together. Even though it was so sad and gripping it was also so full of love and hope, healings and new beginnings.

“Because life is senseless, and on the off chance we find something that does make sense, we hold onto it as tightly as we can. I found myself because of you.”

​I also loved the whole concept of the story, and all the humor and the characters’ banter that is typical for a T.J. Klune book.

All in all, this was a beautiful, poignant and unique story about finding yourself and your purpose, and a homage to living your life to the fullest and the power of love and found families, no matter if they are alive or dead or somewhere in between.

Rating:
4 stars

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​Author info:
T.J. Klune