Under the Whispering Door

This is a difficult book to review because it's obvious that the subject matter is very personal to Klune (his husband died in 2016 after a horrible illness). I would have to be made of ice not to be affected by the passages in which characters remember their loved ones or decide it's time to move beyond the tea shop/way station and face the great unknown. Unfortunately, other than those emotionally powerful scenes, much of the book consists of hokey clichés about life and death, with Klune's trademark slapstick humor awkwardly shoehorned into the mix. I liked the secondary characters, but found Wallace's redemption arc to be unconvincing and Hugo's personality to be blandly perfect. While I could feel the pain they experienced at the star-crossed nature of their relationship, I never quite understood why Wallace was “it” for Hugo. But then again, love doesn't always make sense. I've never been a huge Klune fan, although I was surprisingly moved by [b:The House in the Cerulean Sea 45047384 The House in the Cerulean Sea T.J. Klune https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1569514209l/45047384.SY75.jpg 62945242]. This book firmly returns him to the category of “authors others love, but you don't get.”