Under The Whispering Door – TJ Klune

@tjklunebooks is a writer that knows how to gradually make a readers heart (both adult and teen) utterly invested in his characters. His previous book, The House in the Cerulean Sea, was massively popular, defying categorisation both of genres and people that loved it. Under the Whispering Door was released in hardback a few months ago and when I received a copy of from @torbooks publishers I was almost trepidatious to start. It began to call my name from my deluged shelves this afternoon and I thought I may as well read a few chapters in bed. 

Well I am writing this at 1:47am so I can confidently say I adored and loved this. There is such a warmth that exudes from this book which though it absolutely is an easy, light and accessible read it’s simultaneously deeply profound and thought provoking.

“A ghost that refuses to cross over and the ferryman he falls in love with” is a great way of distilling the plot into a singular sentence. Depicting grief in a myriad of forms, LGTB representation, kindness and humanity, this is a bittersweet yet uplifting tale suffused with love but also tinged with sadness.

Our protagonist Wallace was an uncaring, selfish workaholic who in death has to face the reality of his life. What appealed to me about this book, beyond the deft prose and quick pace, was the ability of @tjklune to weave into a beautiful story fundamental philosophical questions about humanity, life and death. There are moments characters give a voice to anyone that has lost a loved one that were so emotive I had to stop to catch my breath. One paragraph that shot an arrow through my aortic valve: 

“We live and we breathe. We die, and we still feel like breathing. It’s not always the big deaths either. There are little deaths, because that’s what grief is.”

When I posted about The House in the Cerulean Sea we had messages from people that had never read fantasy who fell head over heels for @tjklunebooks ‘s style of writing. This will not disappoint. I *may* even prefer it due to the depths he reaches. There is a soul in these pages and it’s radiance shines.

– Chaya

Thank you so much @torbooks for sending me a copy {Ad:PR Copy}