Book Review: Under The Whispering Door by TJ Klune

5/5 ⭐️

“How do we even begin to understand that there’s more than what we see?”

Wallace Price is/was a terrible man. After dying unexpectedly in his office, a reaper named Mei, comes to pick him up and brings him over to Charon’s Crossing - a tea shop - owned by a man named Hugo, who helps the dead “cross over” to a “better place”. But to be able to cross, Wallace must be ready. Until one day, another force from the Universe interferes and gives Wallace only a week to cross.

I didn’t expect to love this book at all. Let alone bawl out crying in the end. The entire story revolves around death. If you’ve experienced some loss in your life, I hope that this book will give you the comfort that you need, because it sure did give me mine.

However, it’s also about life and how you choose to live it. In this day and age, a lot of people, including me I suppose, are obsessed about how they can make a huge impact to the world. But really, you don’t need to make an impact to the world. Sometimes, all you need is to be able to help one person and that’s enough. Acts of service, that is the ultimate goal. And hopefully, that will get passed on to the next, and the next.

This book was extremely heartwarming. I loved the character development of Wallace, he arrived at Charon’s Crossing a different man. I praise Hugo for his patience. Mei for her standing up for herself. Nelson and Apollo for their sacrifice. This entire story, despite it being about death, is brimming with life. Definitely something I’d read all over again.

Get the book (affiliate): Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune

Favorite Quotes

Focus. Focus on the here. Focus on the now. One thing at a time.

If we worry about the little things all the time, we run the risk of missing the bigger things.

"It's okay not to know,' Hugo Said. We don't know most things, and we never will.

"Hindsight is a powerful thing, Wallace. We don't always see what's right in front of us, much less appreciate it. It's not until we look back that we find what we should have known all along."

We have to offer kindness, because there is never a time in life or death when someone is more vulnerable.

Sometimes the best way to help someone is not to say anything at all.