Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune

It took a while but I finally got to read my first book in 2023: Under The Whispering Door by TJ Klune.

I saw it on display in Fully Booked and the cover art (or I guess particularly the bright colors) caught my eye. I then checked the blurb at the back and this is what it said:

"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."

It sounded really interesting so I kept it in my radar. Then last Christmas, when my friends and I organized our annual Kris Kringle activity, I included this book in my wishlist and my Secret Santa got it for me. Cool!

Under the Whispering Door is a beautiful story about redemption and love amidst despair and death. I will say that for me, it came with quite a few pleasant surprises that made my reading experience even better. 

SPOILER ALERT: skip the next paragraph if you want to read the book and still want to be surprised. 

First, its a love story. I didn't pick up on that from the blurb. I don't really remember when the last time was that I read a novel that was primarily a love story - I think it must have been when I was still in high school - but I do know it's been a while. Also, it's also an LGBTQIA+ story; in fact, it's my very first LGBTQIA++ book. Once again, I couldn't really tell that from the blurb. As a result, once I started to realize that this was an LGBTQIA++ love story, it was like a plot twist I wasn't expecting and it made the storytelling even more engaging and compelling than it already was.

***** END OF SPOILERS *****

I really enjoyed Under the Whispering Door and I'm happy that it is my first LGBTQIA+ book and my first love story in decades. Author TJ Klune has another book, House in the Cerulean Sea, that also has a very interesting, fantastical premise as well. I'm now thinking of getting that book too.