Under the Whispering Door by Klune, an after death exploration of what it means to live a good life

Submitted by boxer_dogs_dance t3_10cn5q9 in books

First of all, I enjoyed this book. The writing is clear. The characters are compelling. The plot is interesting and surprising.

Much of the action happens after the death of the main character. One focus of the book is on the main character coming to terms with his character flaws and failings. There is a lot of examination of what it means to lead a good life. In that sense it reminds me of Dickens' a Christmas Carol and CS Lewis the Great Divorce. Like these two books, this one manages to tell a good story. Klune's moral ideals are much more 21st century than the earlier books, which makes sense. But Klune is no moral relativist.

The second half of the book is quite surprising and the book works well as fantasy. The author made one choice at the end that I disagreed with. Overall a solid four out of five for me. If you read Under the Whispering Door, what did you think?

20

Comments

You must log in or register to comment.

Savvybel t1_j4hdb5n wrote

I agree with your rating, I also gave it a 4 out of 5. Some of the plot points did not wrap up as satisfyingly as I would have liked, but TJ Klune has a knack for writing sweet characters and I was really rooting for them. And it was funny, too! The opening with Wallace had me laughing.

I didn't like it as much as The House in the Cerulean Sea, but it was still overall a good book!

5

it_is_the_law t1_j4gvcgi wrote

I read it at the end of last year, and I neither loved nor hated it. My main takeaway is that Klune seems like he's probably a pretty nice guy and therefore has no idea how problematic people think. (More specifically/spoilers) >!Wallace at the beginning of the book felt like he was relying more on lawyer tropes than anything. Statements about how he was great at reading people in the courtroom (and by extension outside of it) felt contrary to how oblivious he was shown to be in the opening scene, etc. More than a reception ark, it seemed to me that once we got far enough in the book the additude was "we're far enough in the book so he is redeemed now!"!< Not ideal, but that said I enjoyed the book way more once we got there because Klune's nice characters ARE really charming and likable.

I agree with you about the ending too. I was actually hoping that >!Hugo would die in a scooter accident, and that is how they could get their "happily" ever after.!<

4

risingsuncoc t1_j4gmjeq wrote

haven’t read this book but looking forward to getting to it

3

inscopia t1_j4ub8l8 wrote

It’s such a shame the audible narration is absolutely terrible! I have heard such good things about this book but I can’t stand the narration.

2

boxer_dogs_dance OP t1_j4uukfc wrote

I believe there is a subreddit dedicated to audio books that can help you find good narrator experiences. From my perspective as a long time reader, the book was good but not over the top great. You are missing out on this one, but the supply of good books is far greater than our capacity. Thank you for warning other audio book listeners.

2

inscopia t1_j4zhyx0 wrote

I’m typically a hard-copy book reader as well, however I do also tend to have a few audiobooks going for when I run out of podcasts and I’m doing tasks such as gardening, cleaning, or going on a long drive. I regrettably purchased this book following a recommendation without sampling the audio.

I’ll try and find the subreddit, thanks.

1

bishrexual t1_j4l0l4n wrote

Personally, I give it a 5/5. I read two of Klune’s books - Whispering Door and Cerulean Sea - back to back in the weeks following the abrupt death of my father, when I was struggling to find comfort in books. Whispering Door had me weeping every night. I was deeply touched by the care and sensitivity with which Klune handles the issues of death and grief in his writing. Likely due to my emotional state when I read these books, that struck a deep chord with me. I have devoured books related to grief in the last few months, and very few books gave me comfort the way Klune’s did.

1

boxer_dogs_dance OP t1_j4l59st wrote

It is amazing and wonderful when a book hits that way. Sometimes it's just the right book at the right time.

1