Under the Whispering Door seems to have everything going for it, with an intriguing premise, quirky characters, and T.J. Klune's trademark humor. But in the end, it never quite materialized into the profound story it should've been.
Uptight corporate soldier Wallace Price thinks he has it all: money, career, and success. So when he keels over one day and just dies, he's shocked and angry. Something like that can't possibly happen to him! But then he meets his reaper and ferryman, and he's in for the surprise of his life. They slowly get under his skin and show him that there is more to life than he ever realized.
At its heart, this is a book that contemplates what it means to be alive and how to come to terms with death. Those are worthwhile topics, no doubt about that. But when it's all said and done, does this book add anything new or interesting to the discussion? It pains me to say that my answer is no.
The story is very drawn out for what it contains. We are essentially following Wallace as he learns to be a better person and accept his fate. But there isn't much in that tale and we never go past skin-deep, so a lot of the passages and conversations feel repetitive and cliché. Hardly anything happens from the beginning of this story to the end. As I'm reading it, I kept having this feeling of deja vu, like I've already read the same exact thing before.
The humor that you'd expect from T.J. Klune is still here. The beginning is my favorite, with no one having quite the eye for making fun of corporate drones the way Klune does. As the story progresses, there were a smattering of passages that made me chuckle, including one that was uproariously funny. But because of how drawn out the overall story is, the humor quickly becomes repetitive. It's like being hit over the head repeatedly with the same jokes, and it starts to feel forced and overdone.
The love story in here also feels a bit incongruous. It's unclear to me exactly how it happened. One moment, they weren't getting along. Then the next moment, they were in love. But I didn't see any transition from one to the other. It feels like this was shoehorned in in order to satisfy the criteria of this being a love story.
I don't want to give the impression that I didn't enjoy this story at all because I did. But it was so long and drawn out, filled with platitudes about making the most of your life and being a better person, that it was hard to sustain my interest throughout. What could have been insightful and funny on the first go-around starts to feel less and less so with each subsequent outing, especially when they don't dig very deep past the surface. Still, I think fans of the author will enjoy this story for what it is, a universal homage to loss and a life well-lived.
Readaroo Rating: 3 stars
My heartfelt thanks for the advance copy that was provided for my honest and unbiased review.
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