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!! Disclaimer: this review will contain spoilers !!

Under the Whispering door follows Wallace, who has passed away from a heart attack, and his journey through excepting his death, his regrets, his mistakes in life and growing into a better person. After dying, Wallace finds himself at his funeral where Mei, a reaper, brings him to Charon’s Crossing. There he meets Hugo, a ferryman, who helps him grieve his life and in turn they help each other, and grow closer because of it.

“Death is only their beginning.” --Cover

Under the Whispering Door was a really great read, it had all that whimsical-ness that I love about Klune’s other works (Cerulean Sea being my fav!!) and I think it was a really good book about grief and passing on, I really loved it in that regard. Though, I found that the ending kind of nulled that message. It’s still there in the book, and it shines, but man the ending! Wallace grieved (again) that he had to leave what he had created and finally found at Charon’s Crossing, but he arrived at acceptance. He had found peace and was ready to go through the door, but then the manager switched it up out of the blue! I know it’s nice to have a happy ending, and maybe I’ve just been reading more books that don’t have that happy-feel ending, but the book ending on Wallace’s acceptance and peace would have stuck with me stronger.

From the moment we are born, we will die. That’s a message that this book drives home, and it made me reflect on my own mortality, grief and struggles I’ve personally had. TJ Klune shares in an afterword that this was a very personal story to him, that he used to explore his own grief, so I can’t be too mad at the ending. Still, a very lovely book full of beautiful (and funny) moments. I will always love Klune for creating the books that he does, thank you.