Last year, I’ve read The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune. I have to admit I didn’t really like the book at the time, in my opinion back then it was okay. However, it was stuck on my mind and therefore I wanted to read his newest novel Under the Whispering Door.

Title: Under the Whispering Door
Author: T.J. Klune
Publication date: September 21, 2021
Publisher: Tor Books
ISBN: 9781250217349
Genre: Fantasy

A Man Called Ove meets The Good Place in Under the Whispering Door, a delightful queer love story from TJ Klune, author of the New York Times and USA Today bestseller The House in the Cerulean Sea.
Welcome to Charon’s Crossing.
The tea is hot, the scones are fresh, and the dead are just passing through.
When a reaper comes to collect Wallace from his own funeral, Wallace begins to suspect he might be dead.
And when Hugo, the owner of a peculiar tea shop, promises to help him cross over, Wallace decides he’s definitely dead.
But even in death he’s not ready to abandon the life he barely lived, so when Wallace is given one week to cross over, he sets about living a lifetime in seven days.
Hilarious, haunting, and kind, Under the Whispering Door is an uplifting story about a life spent at the office and a death spent building a home.

I don’t know how Klune does it, but all the main characters are incredibly boring yet interesting. This was my observation with Linus in The House in the Cerulean Sea and now with Wallace. Wallace is a workaholic who doesn’t hold back to fire his employees for the littlest of mistakes. Also, he abandons his loved ones to the point he has no one left. He only cares about his job and therefore forgets to live. Then, he dies and due to his lifestyle, only a few people attend his funeral. Moreover, they don’t even have something nice to say about him. When a reaper comes to collect Wallace, he just doesn’t want to tag along. However, he is forced too. Slowly, Wallace learns what he has missed out on while alive. Therefore, his character turns around completely. At the start of the story he is really stiff, but he learns how to let go and live in the moment. He also learns that life is so much more than work. When the time comes he just doesn’t want to let go. Because, he found everything he was lacking before. All other characters are interesting as well, one more than the other.

The general atmosphere of Under the Whispering Door is both creepy and uplifting. Charon’s Crossing with all the dead passing through is kind of creepy. Also, for me it was not clear for a long time whether some characters were alive or dead and how their magic works. That part regarding the magic is still quite unclear for me though. However, the banter between the characters and the things they learn from eachother is uplifting which makes the story less creepy. Just like in Klune’s previous book, there is a mysterious Manager who sees and hears everything. We get to meet him towards the end of the book. This contributes to the creepy but also mysterious atmosphere. This atmosphere, along with the characters contributes to the intrigue of this book. I wanted to know what would happen to Wallace, but I also wanted to know who this mysterious Manager was.

Under the Whispering Door is much more of a character driven book than a plot driven book. The characters carry the plot which has been excecuted well. Like in The House in the Cerulean Sea, the writing is accessible. Because of this, this novel is suitable for many different people. However, the themes in this story might not be for everyone, as well as the said atmosphere. I listened to the audio at first, but couldn’t really get into it. It worked much better for me when picking up the ebook. Therefore, Under the Whispering Door was a pleasant reading experience in the end.