Under the Whispering Door
A NEW YORK TIMES, USA TODAY, AND INDIE BESTSELLER
One of Buzzfeed's "Best Books of 2022"!
An Indie Next Pick!
A Locus Awards Top Ten Finalist for Fantasy Novel
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.
Other TPG Books by TJ Klune
The Cerulean Chronicles
The House in the Cerulean Sea
Somewhere Beyond the Sea
The Green Creek Series
Wolfsong
Ravensong
Heartsong
Brothersong
Standalones
The Bones Beneath My Skin
Under the Whispering Door
In the Lives of Puppets
We Burned So Bright
Murmuration
Into This River I Drown
How to Be a Normal Person
BOOKS FOR YOUNG ADULTS
The Extraordinaries Series
The Extraordinaries
Flash Fire
Heat Wave
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Community Reviews
What Bookclubbers are saying about this book
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Readers say *Under the Whispering Door* by T.J. Klune is a heartfelt, well-written exploration of death, mourning, and the afterlife, featuring lovabl...
Under the Whisper Door, by TJ Klune is probably my favorite book of 2023.
Hold on to your pants, we’re going to spiral here. I read this book cover to cover in one day. I could NOT set it down. I loved every bit of this book, the characters, the representations: generational, familial, friendship, orientation, race, even a dog!
I will forever grieve the loss of my mother, who by coincidence to this freelance role, is the one that ignited my passion for reading in the early parts of my childhood. She left my world too early and unexpectedly. So reading a book with the perspective of what happens after you die, was so emotionally haunting. My own father (still alive) resembles Wallace Price, who passed away unexpectedly at the beginning of this story. He is this grumpy business-focused, no time for anyone, only “my life and my needs” are important personality was just SO poignant to me. I was so grateful to read that in his afterlife he could be redeemed. The palpable grief of Nancy, the mother that lost her daughter too soon, was so relatable. Note: I go visit places where I feel my mom. The “husk” Cameron, LOST in the afterlife, afraid he’ll never see his beloved again. I wept several times while reading. I was mad at the characters. I rejoiced at the end.
It helped me (and now I’m crying here) believe that when I go, no matter what our afterlives are like to each of us, we have the possibility of finding peace. Which is something I have struggled with my whole life.
Hold on to your pants, we’re going to spiral here. I read this book cover to cover in one day. I could NOT set it down. I loved every bit of this book, the characters, the representations: generational, familial, friendship, orientation, race, even a dog!
I will forever grieve the loss of my mother, who by coincidence to this freelance role, is the one that ignited my passion for reading in the early parts of my childhood. She left my world too early and unexpectedly. So reading a book with the perspective of what happens after you die, was so emotionally haunting. My own father (still alive) resembles Wallace Price, who passed away unexpectedly at the beginning of this story. He is this grumpy business-focused, no time for anyone, only “my life and my needs” are important personality was just SO poignant to me. I was so grateful to read that in his afterlife he could be redeemed. The palpable grief of Nancy, the mother that lost her daughter too soon, was so relatable. Note: I go visit places where I feel my mom. The “husk” Cameron, LOST in the afterlife, afraid he’ll never see his beloved again. I wept several times while reading. I was mad at the characters. I rejoiced at the end.
It helped me (and now I’m crying here) believe that when I go, no matter what our afterlives are like to each of us, we have the possibility of finding peace. Which is something I have struggled with my whole life.
While Klune's tale of life and death was unique in various ways it was moderately lack luster in many others. The characters for the most part were pretty likeable and entertaining though somewhat cliche. The book had a plethora of different diversity in race, sex, age and sexual orientations but not in a sense that it seemed to matter. Everyone treated everyone as perfectly normal which is the ideal world to live in. The unique concepts of reapers and shepherding the dead spirits to the beyond could have been expounded on a bit more. The idea was a good one and kept things interesting though left the reader wanting more of an explanation. The overall message about living life to the fullest and opening yourself up to the world via relationships was well received and left the reader with a warm and fuzzy feeling inside by the end. This adventure is worth the read just to appease the curiosities of how everyone faces the reality of death, grief and loss.
I really really wanted to love this book but unfortunately I just didn’t. There were definitely some sweet and heartfelt moments and I do appreciate the topic but overall it just fell really flat for me. It was repetitive and drawn out and felt like it was trying to be profound but missed the mark on that for me personally.
Also like shitty white man who’s shitty his whole life is now the hero ?? What ???
Also like shitty white man who’s shitty his whole life is now the hero ?? What ???