UNDER THE WHISPERING DOOR, by TJ Klune - Book Review (Fantasy)

⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Goodreads: 4.15)

GENRE: Drama

PART OF A SERIES? No

WORTH READING? Yes

SUMMARY:

Under the Whispering Door is a contemporary fantasy novel about Wallace Price, a cantankerous corporate lawyer who dies suddenly and finds himself at his own sparsely attended funeral. A reaper named Mei collects him, but instead of taking him straight to the afterlife, she takes him to a secluded tea shop called Charon's Crossing, nestled in the mountains outside a small village.

The shop is run by Hugo, a ferryman who helps souls transition to whatever comes next. Wallace, however, isn't ready to move on from the life he barely lived. With Hugo's patient guidance, Wallace begins to understand what it means to truly live — something he failed to do during his years spent obsessing over work and treating people poorly.

When a powerful being called ‘the Manager’ arrives and gives Wallace just one week before he must cross over, Wallace is forced to experience a lifetime's worth of growth, connection, and love in seven days. The novel explores grief, redemption, and the beauty of life's small joys, all told with Klune's characteristic warmth, humour and quirky charm.

Opening lines: “Patricia was crying. Wallace Price hated it when people cried.”

When we meet Wallace, he makes quite a negative impression. He seems to lack empathy, tolerance and kindness. It’s only after his death that we begin to see a different side of him.

As with all his books, TJ Klune gives readers of Under the Whispering Door vivid and nuanced descriptions of characters and their environs. His characters are always flawed (as are we all) and are frequently loveable (and occasionally detestable).

Under the Whispering Door is very poignant and heart-wrenching in parts. Klune has filled it with his classic witty repartee, too.

My biggest bugbear — and it’s a small one, considering this was still a 4-star read for me — concerns the main character, Wallace. His character arc went ‘from 0 to 100’ within the first quarter or so of the book… and after that, there isn’t much further development. A more gradual evolution would have worked better for me — for although this book is not steeped in reality, I’d have preferred the growth in Wallace’s character to have been more believable.

My other minor gripe is that, while the finest details of Under the Whispering Door were not predictable, one major element was. Guessing this early took a little of the shine off the overall experience for me.

At its core, Under the Whispering Door anchors itself in one brutal line from the novel: “From the moment you’re born, you’re dying.”

Give Under the Whispering Door a go. I don’t think you’ll be sorry (unless fantasy isn’t your thing). It's a story about found family, second chances and how sometimes we don't truly learn how to live until we face death.

Click here to purchase Under the Whispering Door from Amazon 

Click here if you would like to try my personal favourite of T.J. Klune’s —The House in the Cerulean Sea 

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