Hey everyone! I hope you all are doing well. It's so unbelievable that are already in the first week of August and I have such an amazing read to share with you all.
Today I'll be doing a book review for the upcoming book, Under the Whispering Door by T J Klune, the New York Times bestselling author of The House on the Cerulean Sea (which I wanna point out, I also really, really enjoyed). I was overjoyed when I got approved for an advanced e-copy for this book.
All opinions in thus review are honest and my own. Thank you so much to NetGalley and Macmillan Publishers for giving me this opportunity.
MY RATING- 🌟🌟🌟🌟 (4)
SYNOPSIS
When a reaper comes to collect Wallace Price from his own funeral, Wallace suspects he really might be dead. Instead of leading him directly to the afterlife, the reaper takes him to a small village. On the outskirts, off the path through the woods, tucked between mountains, is a particular tea shop, run by a man named Hugo. Hugo is the tea shop's owner to locals and the ferryman to souls who need to cross over. But Wallace isn't ready to abandon the life he barely lived. With Hugo's help he finally starts to learn about all the things he missed in life. When the Manager, a curious and powerful being, arrives at the tea shop and gives Wallace one week to cross over, Wallace sets about living a lifetime in seven days. By turns heartwarming and heartbreaking, this absorbing tale of grief and hope is told with TJ Klune's signature warmth, humor, and extraordinary empathy.
My Review
CHARACTERS- The author has some exceptional character work and all of them are so wholesome, so realistic and so, so precious. The story is told in third person + present tense.
The beginning was one of my favourite parts, filled with Klune's signature quirk and charm. It was a little funny seeing a kind of guy like Wallace who thinks he has everything just have to come to terms with suddenly being just dead, and coming to this strange tea shop where this person is supposed to hel him move on, essentially and he can't quite believe it. He just wants to get his life back. The only complaints that I do have is that it felt quite drawn out at times. The middle bit is very slow. That was a point where the author could potentially lose a lot of readers. Unless you're starting to get attached to the characters, you might not even want to stretch it towards the second half of the book. Nobody writes corporate humor quite like Klune does. The way he writes satire on the the desk jobs and the monotonous life is amazing. But at one point, it started feeling repetitive.
If you're the kind of person who loves a slow-burn romance, there's something for you here as well. Although it felt quite incongruous to me, I know objectively that it's very sweet and I didn't really mind that little additional angst and cuteness.
WRITING- If you have read the Cerulean Sea, then UtWD is going to hit a lot of the same spots emotionally. They don't have any similar themes at all, but the sort of calm and soft writing style that has been consistently maintained by the author. The writing style is so approachable and beautiful. It kinda gives you the feeling of sitting alone in the solitude of a beach and looking at the waves.
THEMES- This books has themes like death, grief, moving on, coming to terms with any kind of loss, and I think these are such relevant topics.
It talks about acceptance, belief in afterlife and freedom of choice as more of its secondary themes. The author weaves these so gracefully into the narrative, that is warm and heart-wrenching feeling all at the same time.
Overall, Under The Whispering Door was a beautiful reading experience and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a slow, comfortable read.
Let's Chat!
I hope you enjoyed this post. Thank you so much for reading.
Until then,
Bye