Under the Whispering Door
Ratings405
Average rating4.1
I really really liked this book. The chemistry was peak, but it wasn't as much found family as the House in the Cerulean Sea which was what I was craving. I really really liked it though :))
A very touching story about grief and love.
Grief and death is rarely approached like this in books, I loved it.
I love the characters, it was a delight to read.
I will definitely read another book from the same author!
I love Klune’s ability to show the beauty of humanity in the worlds he builds. It’s magical and beautiful, but so so real. This made me laugh and cry in a journey through death based in the value of humanity not morals and performance.
Just like The House in the Cerulean Sea, it was cosy it was beautiful. It made me weep. It was a great read and I love the ending. It's a very heartwarming story again as with the other book where a man finds himself becoming kinder and better.
What I liked more about The House in the Cerulean Sea that I missed a bit here, is that they didn't have all the control. Most of the tension there came from Linus deciding what to do, and less about some outside force punching them, like the manager did here. Less kind or less about the person than it was.
Torn between a 4 and a 5. There were some parts of this that I found very boring and found myself tuning out. That said, the majority of it was beautiful. I loved it so much. Such a unique premise for a book, so many unique perspectives about how we view life and death and our purpose. A beautiful portrayal of love. Some parts had me truly weeping, others were so funny I couldn't help but grin.
Nelson stole the show! Nelson and Appolo.
I enjoyed this book for the most part. It has to be my least favourite of Klunes books and I wouldn't recommend this if you're new to his works because without the trust I have in him as an writer I wouldn't have believed he cloud have closed this story off that was satisfying with a sucker punch to the heart.
Characters. Nelson is amazing and I liked the manager. But Wallace's arc from asshole to okay guy seemed a bit rushed. The book would have felt deeper if Hugo and Wallace or the whole gang worked out Wallace's issues with being as asshole to then form friendships and relationships.
Overall a good read. As always T J Klune makes me Cry.
4.5
Terminé este libro ayer y me dejó con muchas emociones que no pude procesar bien en la tarde. No creo que termine de comprender la maravilla que leí pronto.
Es una historia muy bella y devastadora que cuenta las cosas de una forma diferente.
El final fue una montaña rusa de emociones, mi corazón lloraba a cada rato, porque estaba en público, no fue lo que esperaba y aunque mi corazón fangirl estuvo contento, no sé si fue lo adecuado. En cierto modo lo es y al mismo tiempo no. Supongo que depende de la perspectiva.
Me encantó su forma de ver la vida y a las personas, hay varias frases que se quedarán a mi lado mucho tiempo.
En realidad es un excelente libro, si tienes la mente abierta para darle una oportunidad
y en otras palabras
TQM WALLACE QUISE DARTE UN ABRAZO INCONTABLES VECES
I liked it though not as much as Cerulean Sea.
T.J.Klune can really write love. If you have problems with GLBTQ love scenes in books, you are missing a lot. I'm straight, but the feeling is the same.
You really need to have tissues at hand. :-D I cried a lot. :-)
I loved it. It's got queer representation so that's always a big plus for me. And I think it's a gentle and beautiful story about death, grieving, and doing the most with our lives while we have the chance.
If you're ever feeling down, like you don't belong, like you're doing something wrong and you've lost all purpose, please, read any T J Klune book. He's wonderful.
I always include major spoilers (hidden), to help with my memory issues. Read them at your peril!
Man with many failings is collected by a reaper after his death, and taken to a café in some woods, where souls go to pass on when they are ready. The living humans visiting the café are not aware of the souls or of the café's real purpose. He meets the owner His eventual love interest and the owner's dad who it turns out has not passed on because his son is not ready to cope without him. Souls are not allowed to leave the café except by the trap door in the roof, which is the door to the afterlife . One previous soul has run away and is deteriorating. The hero helps to bring him back into the fold . At the end the hero is restored to life and will remain to love and assist the café manager (I think forever)
DNF. Part of the reason I loved the House in The Cerulean Sea was the character development as he interacted with the kids, the love story was my least favorite part because it felt unrealistic and haphazardly written. Under the whispering door is almost like reading just the love story from THITCS and once again it feels unrealistic and boring. Are we really supposed to believe that this man who was absolutely hated his entire life will suddenly become a better guy just because he has a crush on the ferryman? It would be okay if the plot was interesting enough to carry it, but really nothing happens. I got about halfway through before realizing this book is just not for me.
This is a book about death, acceptance, life/living, feelings, but it's written with such camp and the characters are so unlike actual people that it just lost me. No one talks like a webtoon character or like a MTV sitcom/drama show character as these people do. No one develops from a POS lawyer to saint, no matter the situation. This book is so unserious while trying discuss serious things like that I just plain can't enjoy it for either things it brings to the table, musings on death and campy fun goofy times.
It was okay.
Because I adored [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], I went into this with high expectations. I started it a while back and it didn't keep my interest, but the same thing happened to me with The House in the Cerulean Sea, so I didn't write it off. But now having finished Under the Whispering Door, I am mad.
When we are introduced to Wallace Price, the protagonist, he is immature, selfish, and cruel. He prioritizes money and winning over compassion. He feels no remorse for the harm he causes others. When he dies, few come to his funeral, and everyone in attendance spends the whole time talking about how he was the worst.
For Wallace, death represents an opportunity to reconsider the way he lived. I have no problem with that, in and of itself. I'm not opposed to redemption arcs or stories about how people can change. I love a zany The Good Place or Miracle Workers setting. I just don't think this was executed well. It was kind of a combination of “the love of a good woman softens man so he stops being horrible to everyone” and the Magical Negro trope.
Wallace's disposition changes rapidly. Who he was before is framed as “not who he really is,” and sometimes played for laughs. The actions he takes to show he's changed address individual fringe characters who were not present for the last several years of his life. He is made the exception to many rules: Allen is not given the same chance for redemption as he was, for example.Wallace is brought back to life in some weird Abraham/Isaac test, when he didn't even want to be. I think the story would have been more compelling if Wallace HAD gone through the door and Hugo stayed back. A more open-ended conclusion would reinforce the argument that there are many stages to existence, all of them brimming with capacity for change and growth, but involving a certain amount of loss as people move to different stages at different points. (Unnecessary, if you ask me) amends are made with Wallace's ex-wife months before Wallace addresses someone he unceremoniously fired whose husband was recently laid off and whose daughter was relying on a college scholarship provided by Wallace's law firm .
Other various complaints: the book is dialogue-heavy and slow-moving. Hugo is a static and boring character who will not stop saying that he never claims to be perfect and he's made mistakes. The dismissive attitude towards Christian understandings of the afterlife while in essence setting up the same outcomes with different names is strange. The setup is too similar to Cerulean Sea, and the word cerulean is used obtrusively. Klune's work is generally sentimental, but sometimes it goes from comforting to saccharine. I listened to the audiobook, and I wish it had been full cast, or at least used different voices.
Despite all this, because I loved The House in the Cerulean Sea so much, I'll probably still give [b:In the Lives of Puppets|60784549|In the Lives of Puppets|T.J. Klune|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1653059893l/60784549.SY75.jpg|74580318] a go.
I loved this book until the final chapter. I would give this 3.5 stars but the app won't let me and it's not worthy of 4.
The whole story is learning to accept death and move on into the next phase of existence. Then the Manager comes in and resurrects the main character at the last second for no reason. It's cheap and it ruins the whole point of the story.
I feel books lately are trying to get cheap points for revealing that their character is actually gay. It's 2022 people who read books don't care about that. Just make your character gay no reason to have this whole slowly coming out thing.
I really am annoyed with the ending because this really was enjoyable until then. The writing is clean and concise.
Mei is a great character and an interesting way to approach grim reapers.
I picked this up immediately after [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] and it did not disappoint! A unique way to cover the five stages of grief, and the things we realize after rather than what's in front of us at in the present. The character development of Wallace was great and how he changed with the time spent with the people of Charon. Loved the little Reaper Manual for Mei as well!
Thank you to Jonny for buddy reading this with me.
This is the second book by this author that I have read, and I am starting to think that Klune has the potential to become a favorite author, but I want to read another book or 2 before I actually decide.
The first book that I read was The House in the Cerulean Sea. When I first started reading that book, I thought it was really cute and I was enjoying it, but I also felt like it was overhyped. By the time I finished it though I was hooked. With this book I was hooked from the very beginning, and it held me to the very last page.
This book is about the death of Wallace and what happens after. I wasn't expecting to read a book about death when I started this, but I loved the authors take on this. In the beginning Wallace isn't a very nice guy so it was hard to like him at first however, after he dies things start to change and he grows so much as a character. I would say out of all of the characters he had the most character growth. By the end of the book, I was rooting for him.
The other main characters are Mei who is a reaper, Hugo who is the ferryman, Nelson who is Hugo's grandpa and is also dead and Appolo who is a dog that has also died. All of the characters are amazing. Hugo is the more contemplative one and the other 3 bring the humor to the story. You would think a book about death wouldn't be funny but at times there was some humor. I was laughing so hard I had tears in my eyes a few times and my husband was looking at me like I had lost my mind.
This book is definitely character driven and it moves at a slower pace. While I am typically drawn more to a faster plot driven book the characters in this book made the slower pace worthwhile. Also, this book will have you feeling all of the emotions. I felt so much for these characters that by the end I was in tears. You do have to suspend disbelief a little in the end, but I loved the story so much that I didn't care.
Everyone I've talked to said that while they loved this book it was missing something for them that kept them from loving it as much as The House in the Cerulean Sea. For me it's the opposite. I loved this so much and I think that while I loved The House in the Cerulean Sea, I loved this one just a little bit more.
If you aren't triggered by death and grief, I highly recommend reading this book. I can't wait to pick up another book by this author.
I loved The House in the Cerulean Sea! It's one of my all time favorite books. I recommend it to literally everyone. Because of this, I had extremely high expectations going into this one and most of them were met. Under the Whispering Door is a great book. There are, however, many similarities between the two books. The main character is a jerk who values professionalism over kindness and humanity. He gets sent to a place where an attractive and extremely humble man is in charge and takes care of an eclectic group of individuals whom the main character falls for. The side characters include a mute animal creature that is adorable, a seemingly prickly character that is on the MC's side from the get, a strong and gruff female character also in a leadership position, even a diabolical and sociopathic child that you are warned about, but can't help but to love. The MC changes and becomes self sacrificing and deferential. And then the big scene at the end makes you cry. It's a great template, but I wanted something wholly new. Of course I loved this book and I'm sure I will be on the waiting list as soon as his next book is announced.
I loved reading this book a lot more than my expectations for it had been. There were some things I hadn't really accounted for (I should read book blurbs better), but all in all, I found it to be a lovely comfort read, a feel-good novel. Klune explores the concept of grief and death in quite an interesting and positive light throughout the book with lovable, fluffball characters. It felt almost like those fairytales from my childhood and a mix of A Man Called Ove and The Midnight Library. It also relays messages that grownups need reminders of.
I wouldn't be recommending this book to all, just to some that I personally know.
I know TJ Klune is imaginative and can write simultaneously hilarious and heart-rending books based on the outstanding “The House in the Cerulean Sea.”
Yet, “Under the Whispering Door” did neither of those things for me and I ended up skimming the last 150 pages.
Both books seem to be written with a similar plot structure: lonely/miserable/middle-aged bureaucratic drone, this time with more power over others, is placed in a fish-out-of-water situation with delightfully quirky oddballs and learns to enjoy and value life and others. Great! I'm a middle-aged accountant with cats, so right up my alley.
3.75*
We don't interfere with death. ... Because it's always there. No matter what you do, no matter what kind of life you live, good or bad or somewhere in between, it's always going to be waiting for you. From the moment you're born, you're dying.
This quote was so damn beautiful.