Like The House in the Cerulean Sea before it finding the words to describe my adoration for Under the Whispering Door is beyond difficult. T.J. Klune's work hits me on a visceral, personal level and describing the warmth and comfort his writing brings me in words is inadequate. But for the sake of peddling this book to as many people as possible, I will attempt it.

In Under the Whispering Door, after passing souls find their way to a teashop between life and death. This teashop is run by the ferryman Hugo who guides people to whatever lies beyond. While most spend a day or so in the teashop our protagonist Wallace adamantly refuses to accept his fate. His moving on becomes protracted, as Hugo and all the residents of the teashop work to help him move on before the ominous Manager forces Wallace over one way or another.

Under the Whispering Door may be a harder sell than Klune's earlier work. One of the biggest potential hurdles is its protagonist Wallace. He's a scrooge type and honestly deeply, unlikeable at the start of the story. His cartoonish slavish devotion to work, cruel treatment of his employees and general outlook on life made the first ~20% of this book much more of a struggle than anticipated. However, the genuinely moving growth demonstrated by Wallace as the book progressed was phenomenal. His authentic development as a person felt completely earned and was incredibly emotionally satisfying to watch unfold. But if I were to criticize any element of this story it would be that Wallace's personality at the start of the story was a tad too mustache-twirling to take seriously.

Another potential hurdle for readers is the book's subject matter. As someone with death anxiety, my mortality isn't a subject I like to dwell on. Under the Whispering Door discusses grief, child death, and suicide in-depth, though outright depictions of the latter two are sidestepped. If you find these subjects or dwelling on your mortality in general uncomfortable this may not be the book for you.

Funnily enough, my death anxiety made this book all the more meaningful to me. Under the Whispering Door confronts the reality of death head-on. The way Klune explored grief and processing death while occasionally hard to read gave me a framework for conceptualizing dying that, for once, didn't lead me down an existential panic spiral. As someone who has frequently lost sleep over the idea of ceasing to exist, I can't undersell how helpful having this space to think about death has been. The space Hugo, in particular, as a ferryman gave Wallace and other spirits to process their deaths especially moved me.

This book was also so comforting because of the amazing found family at the centre of the story Found families are one of my favourite tropes in speculative fiction ad T.J. Klune is a master at crafting them. The supporting cast of Under the Whispering Door was absolutely stunning. Mei the spitfire reaper and Hugo's grandfather Nelson were wonderful additions to the story. These side characters were endlessly charming and added levity to a story that frequently delved into the sombre. Despite being side-characters these two seemed to have full lives outside of our protagonists and felt like fully realized elements of this world.

The story's delightful slow-burn romance also added a charm to the narrative. While it takes time for Hugo and Wallace to get together their romance is worth the wait. The genuine chemistry and quiet connection between these two made my heart swell. Klune perfectly illustrated why these two fit together so well and the romance was especially satisfying because of the growth Wallace went through across the novel.

I adored Under the Whispering Door. T.J. Klune is a masterful storyteller and writes stories that I can't help but fall in love with.