Even when it mercilessly twists your heart, the execution always comes off as being authentic rather than a stab at saccharine manipulation.īolstering the story is the engaging and vividly drawn supporting cast, which consists of not only Hugo and Mei, but also Nelson, Hugo’s mischievous grandfather, and Apollo, Hugo’s adorable dog who was too easily distracted to pass his service dog training-the last two of whom hang around the tea shop as ghosts.
His gradual transformation into someone who thinks of others before himself and approaches life-or in Wallace’s case, his spiritual microcosm within the tea shop-with empathy and generosity is a classic tale that we’ve all seen before in one form or another, but Klune skillfully prevents it from feeling derivative. This has been promoted as a cross between A Man Called Ove and The Good Place-an apt label for a book that treks through matters of literal life and death from the viewpoint of an odious Scrooge of a human being. While they’re both queer contemporary fantasies built on a foundation of sincere kindness, Under the Whispering Door tackles weighty material revolving around death, and readers need to make sure they’re ready for that before diving into it. Now, don’t mistake them for being entirely similar books. And hooboy, my expectations were satisfied indeed. Having heaped enough praise on The House in the Cerulean Sea on my podcast, my expectations were set for Under the Whispering Door to be as endearing, contemplative, and emotionally devastating as its predecessor. TW: Suicide, murder, plenty of grief and existential angst Overseeing the place is Hugo Freeman, a ferryman who assists souls in transitioning to the hereafter-and who, with the help of a few companions, might be able to turn around Wallace’s outlook on life before he officially leaves our earthly plane for good. Instead, he finds himself at his own funeral, where a strong-willed Reaper named Mei picks him up and escorts him to Charon’s Crossing, a quirky tea shop that looks like it could tumble over at any second. Then he shuffles off this mortal coil due to a heart attack in his office, but his passage to the afterlife isn’t as simple as you might think. It tells the story of Wallace Price, an incredibly callous and self-absorbed lawyer who makes no effort to gain sympathy from the reader as he pitilessly lays off a paralegal in the opening chapter. What’s new, everyone? TJ Klune ( The Extraordinaries, The House in the Cerulean Sea) has just published his newest book, Under the Whispering Door.
0 kommentar(er)
