TJ Klune’s The House in the Cerulean Sea was the second book I read in 2021, and honestly everything else after it kind of paled in comparison. So you may be wondering why I decided that two months into 2022 was the perfect time to read his latest adult novel Under the Whispering Door? I could tell you it was because I’m a bit of a masochist and knew that Klunes’ book would more than likely leave me in tears, or that I was sick of avoiding book spoilers on the internet. But the truth is much simpler-I’ve been in a bit of bookish turmoil! I’ve been plowing through books, many of which are HIGHLY regarded in the literary community and they are just not landing for me. So I turned to an author that never lets me down and set out on the journey that is reading Under the Whispering Door.
In the book, Wallace Price is not what we would call a “good person”. In life, he was a lawyer whose only goal was to win cases and maintain order in his life. When he suddenly wakes up attending his own funeral, everything he thought he knew about himself, his existence, and the world gets completely shaken up. Mei is Wallace’s Reaper, meaning she is charged with getting Wallace from his funeral to Charon’s Crossing, a tea shop in the woods owned my the enigmatic and oh-so-charming Ferryman, Hugo. By day, Hugo runs Charon’s Crossing with Mei, providing tea and treats to travelers and regulars alike. But his real job as a Ferryman means he helps people cross over from this life into the next. And Wallace may just be his hardest case yet.
I adored this book, much like I’ve adored everything else by TJ Klune I’ve read. He has a way of speaking directly to my soul and telling it that everything is going to be okay! Also, it doesn’t hurt that all of his books are brimming with Queer identities and situations. Gotta love it!
This book is beautiful. From the cover design, to the delicately crafted sentences, to the equally parts heart-warming and heart-wrenching final pages. Packed with wonderfully real and emotionally complex characters as well as supernatural musings and mystical elements, this is not a book that you will soon forget about. Find Under the Whispering Door on Uni High’s shelves today! You won’t regret it!
CW: This book contains depictions and discussions of death, including death by suicide.
Posted by Gellman Tori at 9:04 pm