Review | Under the Whispering Door by T.J. Klune - Review

Source: personal purchase. This is a review of my reading experience.

Under the Whispering Door is a fantasy novel by T.J. Klune.

Welcome to Charon's Crossing.
The tea is hot, the scones are fresh, and the dead are just passing through.

When a reaper comes to collect Wallace from his own funeral, Wallace begins to suspect he might be dead.

And when Hugo, the owner of a peculiar tea shop, promises to help him cross over, Wallace decides he’s definitely dead.

But even in death he’s not ready to abandon the life he barely lived, so when Wallace is given one week to cross over, he sets about living a lifetime in seven days.

Hilarious, haunting, and kind, Under the Whispering Door is an uplifting story about a life spent at the office and a death spent building a home.

I've had T.J. Klune's books on my wish list for a while now. Thankfully, Under the Whispering Door was my local book club's pick for October. I went into Under the Whispering Door expecting a much lighter and more heartwarming (throughout) read. I wound up really enjoying Under the Whispering Door, but it was more focused on death and grief than I was expecting.

I enjoyed Under the Whispering Door a lot more than the other members of my book club. I feel like I need to point out the fact that there is no explanation for the way the magic works in Under the Whispering Door. This did not bother me in the slightest. I don't need rules for my fantasy, and I don't need explanations of how the magic works. No one understands how the afterlife works, right? But if you are the type of reader who needs rules for your fantasies and you want to know why things are the way they are and how things work the way they work, Under the Whispering Door might not work as well for you as it did for me.

In the end, Under the Whispering Door turned out to be as much of a romance as it is a fantasy. I think I really needed this type of read right now.

As I mentioned, there is a lot of death and grief and mentions of suicide in Under the Whispering Door so be prepared for that, but everything in Under the Whispering Door is handled with care. This is the first book I have read by T.J. Klune, and I would really love to go back and read The House in the Cerulean Sea.

One thing I have noticed in feel-good fantasies is there is a lot of tea, and I am here for that. I want feel-good fantasies, warm tea, found friends, love, kindness, and happy endings please. (These are all things you will find in Under the Whispering Door.)

If you are a fan of Becky Chambers or Travis Baldree, you might want to check out T.J. Klune's books as well.

 

4/5 stars

⭐⭐⭐⭐★

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Jen 📚 Reads Books (@bookdenjen)

Recent Updates and Currently Reading | October 23

I have been in the worst reading slump. I've been blaming it on anxiety (I'm coming to terms with the fact that my job will only continue to get worse and not better). I've been stuck in this slump for so long now that I'm just not sure.

My slump has been affecting everything so thank you so much for still being here! At some point I'll snap out of it, and I'll be around more. I have such a huge TBR pile that I'm dying to read - I'm just not doing it.

It's been helping to listen to audio while working on this puzzle. This puzzle has turned out to be really hard so I'll be working on this one for a while.

Posted Last Week

Book Review | What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Finished Reading

The Doll in the Garden by Mary Downing Hahn ⭐⭐⭐⭐★ - I loved this more than I expected to! Full review soon.

Currently Reading

Under the Whispering Door by T.J. Klune - This was the October pick for my local book club. I attended book club even though I hadn't finished it and got spoiled to everything, but I'm enjoying this one (much more than my book club enjoyed it! lol).

Babel by R.F. Kuang and Fairy Tale by Stephen King are on hold until I finish Under the Whispering Door. I really, really hope I finish both of these by the end of October so I can refresh and start anew in November. (I promise I'm enjoying both of these - especially Fairy Tale.)

Added to the TBR

Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke and Other Misfortunes by Eric LaRocca - I actually said yes to a review copy. This is a rare occurrence for me, but I've been interested in Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke. This edition bundles it with two other novellas.

The Jumbies by Tracey Baptiste - The Jumbies has been on my wishlist forever, and I found a copy on clearance at a used bookstore recently. WIN!

Currently Watching

I had to get a TV subscription in order to watch post-season baseball so I'm catching up on Shark Tank and watching shows like Master Chef. I miss having cable! We pay for a month here and there for sports when we have to, but it rarely feels worth it to pay for it year round.

Halloween Ends - I hate to complain too much because any Halloween is better than no Halloween, but this isn't one that I will want to watch again.

Noel Next Door - Countdown to Christmas has begun on Hallmark. Do you guys watch the Hallmark Christmas movies?

---

This post is being shared as part of The Sunday Salon at Readerbuzz, Book Date It's Monday! What Are You Reading? and Caffeinated Book Reviewer's The Sunday Post.

Review | What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher

Source: personal purchase. This is a review of my reading experience.

What Moves the Dead is a horror novella by T. Kingfisher.

What Moves the Dead is Kingfisher's retelling of Edgar Allan Poe's classic "The Fall of the House of Usher.”

When Alex Easton, a retired soldier, receives word that their childhood friend Madeline Usher is dying, they race to the ancestral home of the Ushers in the remote countryside of Ruritania.

What they find there is a nightmare of fungal growths and possessed wildlife, surrounding a dark, pulsing lake. Madeline sleepwalks and speaks in strange voices at night, and her brother Roderick is consumed with a mysterious malady of the nerves.

Aided by a redoubtable British mycologist and a baffled American doctor, Alex must unravel the secret of the House of Usher before it consumes them all.

I bought What Moves the Dead because I wanted to read more of T. Kingfisher's work. I loved The Hollow Places, and I keep hearing such good things about everything she has written. Thankfully, What Moves the Dead was voted the September readalong selection by the Horror Spotlight discord group. it gave me the perfect excuse to pull it off the shelf and read it.

What Moves the Dead is a retelling of Edgar Allen Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher. It had been a while since I first read The Fall of the House of Usher so I decided to read it again before reading What Moves the Dead. I'm so glad that I did! What Moves the Dead expanded on The Fall of the House of Usher in such a wonderful way. This was one of my favorite reading experiences of the year.

Edgar Allen Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher is very short and, in my opinion, not very memorable. But What Moves the Dead does an amazing job of keeping the tone of Edgar Allan Poe – the wonderfully creepy Gothic fungus covered tone – and expands it into a terrifying and memorable and even somehow lovable story.

I loved the characters and the writing and everything about What Moves the Dead.

T. Kingfisher does a really great job at creepy imagery in What Moves the Dead. There are several moments that are quite chilling, and I had so much fun with the suspense of it all. I think reading The Fall of the House of Usher as well really enhanced my experience with reading What Moves the Dead.

If you haven't read T. Kingfisher before, I highly recommend both The Hollow Places and What Moves the Dead. I would really love to read everything she has written. I think next up for me will be Nettle and Bone. That sounds like a perfect read for me.

 

5/5 stars
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Jen 📚 Reads Books (@bookdenjen)

Recent Updates and Currently Reading | September 25

I've been on a mission over the last few months to fall in love with reading again. I have never fallen out of love with it - but I've had so many obligations to the reading community for so many years now that I'm striving to get back to the purest form of reading what I want. I took the last couple of weeks off from the book community - social media, blogging, etc. - to be alone with what I was reading. It was a nice break! The only thing I missed was the blogging community.I'm glad to be back, but also glad to be in a better head space.

Question! Do any of you keep a physical journal such as a bullet or reading journal? If you have any blog posts showing off your journal, I'd love for you to leave me a link so I can see it/them!

Finished Reading

The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson ⭐⭐⭐⭐★ - I finished my reread of The Way of Kings! I may do a reread review - we'll see, but I'm glad I read it again.

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin ⭐⭐⭐⭐★ - This was a recent Book of the Month pick, but my book club also picked it for our September read.

Paper Girls, Volume 4 by Brian K. Vaughan ⭐⭐⭐★★ and Paper Girls, Volume 5 by Brian K. Vaughan ⭐⭐⭐★★ - I'm still enjoying these, but these last two weren't as great as the first three.

Currently Reading

Babel by R.F. Kuang - I'm slowly making my way through Babel. I'm enjoying it - especially the language/translation stuff, but I'm hoping the story picks up more than it has so far.

Fairy Tale by Stephen King - I'm also slowly making my way through Fairy Tale. I've been in a bad head space so I've been proceeding with caution through this one. So far it has my whole heart. No matter what story Stephen King writes, I will always, always enjoy his writing.

Currently Watching

I'll probably miss a few things here since I've been on a little hiatus, but I've been watching some great things. Let me know if you're watching any of these!

---

This post is being shared as part of The Sunday Salon at Readerbuzz, Book Date It's Monday! What Are You Reading? and Caffeinated Book Reviewer's The Sunday Post.

Recent Updates and Currently Reading | September 4

Happy September! I'm in a great reading mood today. I had such a great reading day yesterday, I want to chunk all of my Sunday responsibilities out the window today. We'll see! 

I am ready for all things fall. Part of what I'm planning to do today (hopefully with an audiobook going) is start decorating for fall. I do have a question for you guys - do you have a favorite pumpkin spice tea? My go to caffeine/decaf teas are:

I try to only drink caffeine before lunch since my anxiety makes me a terrible sleeper.

Posted Last Week

Book Review | The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson ⭐⭐⭐⭐★

Finished Reading

One Piece, Volume 5: For Whom the Bell Tolls by Eiichiro Oda ⭐⭐⭐⭐★ - This volume was a bit mixed for me. I loved the ending of the Usopp storyline, but I didn't care so much for the beginning of the next arc. I got emotional over Usopp's story, though, so it still got 4 stars from me.

Paper Girls, Volume 3 by Brian K. Vaughan ⭐⭐⭐⭐★ - This is still really fun. I had to renew the next few volumes at the library because I just haven't had the time (or mental capacity) to read much lately.

What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Aaah! My reading soul was RENEWED yesterday. After a long, hot day I plopped down and read all of this magnificent book. Last week I mentioned rereading The Fall of the House of Usher in preparation of reading What Moves the Dead. I'm sooo glad I did. I highly recommend it since What Moves the Dead is a re-imagining of The Fall of the House of Usher. What Moves the Dead is so good! I'll have a review out soon.

Currently Reading

Babel by R.F. Kuang - I'm slowly making my way through Babel. I'm 90 pages in, and things are starting to get dark and strange. I'm enjoying it, and I will continue to take my time with it.

The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson - My reread is still going well with The Way of Kings! I'm about 700 pages in now out of 1007.

Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston - I started reading Amari and the Night Brothers. So far it reminds me of Brandon Sanderson's Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians. It's quirky, and I like it.

Added to the TBR

Under the Whispering Door by T.J. Klune - Under the Whispering Door is my book club's pick for October. Excited to finally read T.J. Klune soon.

Unmasked (Fright Watch #3) by Lorien Lawrence - The new Fright Watch book is out! I loved the first two books. They are middle grade horror books about kids that are basically the supernatural neighborhood watch. So fun!

Amari and the Great Game by B.B. Alston - The next Amari book was also released this past week. Hopefully I can get to it soon after finishing the first one.

---

This post is being shared as part of The Sunday Salon at Readerbuzz, Book Date It's Monday! What Are You Reading? and Caffeinated Book Reviewer's The Sunday Post.