ARC Review – Under the Whispering Door

Under the Whispering Door is the latest adult fantasy by TJ Klune which will be released on September 21st. This is the story of Wallace, a workaholic lawyer who dies from a heart attack. He is taken to a way station to sort out his feelings before he moves on.

I really enjoyed this. As with Klune’s other books, the heart of this book is the characters. They are wonderfully quirky and seem like real people. They are so easy to root for and also feel their pain which makes this a real emotional rollercoaster. I teared up in multiple places and laughed out loud in others. It has a real found family feel with this unique group of living humans and ghosts.

The world in this one is also really interesting. The tea shop is really cute and has a great atmosphere for the rest of the story going on. The magic is explained well to the extent it is known by the characters but still leaves you with a hint of mystery that manages to work without being frustrating.

I went with 4 stars instead of 5 because the beginning (really first half) is pretty slow going. I does start to pick up the arrival of the Manager (which is literally in the blurb) is after the halfway point. The first half of this really needed to be cut down. The end left me with that warm fuzzy feeling I tend to have after every TJ Klune book I read but it was a little predictable and convenient in how they get there. I could see myself picking this one up again though, it’d be a great cozy read in the winter with a cup of tea so let’s call it 4.5 stars.

Overall, I really did enjoy this and would recommend it to anyone who is good with reading a book that is literally all about death.

**I received a free ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**