From the Bookshelf of The Perks Of Being A Book Addict…

Under the Whispering Door

T.J. Klune

Start date: October 1, 2021

Finish date: October 31, 2021

Discussion: Group Books of the Month (BotM)

Why we're reading this: Chosen as our group BotM for October 2021.
[close] Chosen as our group BotM for October 2021.

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What Members Thought

Oct 06, 2021 Esther rated it it was ok

Shelves: __net-galley, e-book, usa, zz-2021, author-male, fantasy, 21st-century

Oh dear. I hate to be the party pooper but that just wasn’t my cup of tea.
I can see it would be perfectly suitable to be made into the type of movie I would never watch.

I had hoped it would be a quirky but profound story about someone coming to terms with their life and death, peppered with a few heart-breaking observations
Instead there is a too cute tea-shop stuffed to bursting with clichés and platitudes.

It started reasonably well with the portrayal of the horrible Wallace Price doing his wo Oh dear. I hate to be the party pooper but that just wasn’t my cup of tea.
I can see it would be perfectly suitable to be made into the type of movie I would never watch.

I had hoped it would be a quirky but profound story about someone coming to terms with their life and death, peppered with a few heart-breaking observations
Instead there is a too cute tea-shop stuffed to bursting with clichés and platitudes.

It started reasonably well with the portrayal of the horrible Wallace Price doing his worst, getting his come-uppance and then the ‘comedy’ funeral with Mei the, chipper but sensitive, Reaper dragging him off to his future existence while Wallace’s infuriated ex-wife tells the whole world just how awful he has been.

Except, that is a large part of the problem – we are told Wallace is an awful human being but we aren’t shown much convincing evidence.
True he is harsh and unfeeling to a pretty irritating employee but on his arrival at the tea shop he is upset and confused - not a totally unexpected reaction considering the circumstances.
During his sojourn at tea-shop he, and therefore we, spend a lot of time thinking about his childhood and the first years of his marriage when he really did care.
There is little development of why that deteriorated and how. It is simply assumed we will accept that constant work and fine suits are proof enough that Wallace was a terrible person.

In general, there is rather too much telling. The dialogue both inner and outer goes on and on, explaining every sentiment, rehashing feelings already expressed with little nuance or subtlety. The reader isn’t allowed any space for their own thoughts as every single emotional response is splurged out on to the page.

At about 60% in there was a splash of darkness, a redeeming stain of reality and the appearance of The Manager. However, that was soon smoothed over with more trite platitudes.

And then the ending… Well, it perfectly fits the tone of the book so unsurprisingly I didn’t like it and, of course, it was dragged out for far too long.

I received this book from Net Galley, in exchange for an honest review. ...more

35 likes · Like · see review

Dec 12, 2021 Karen D rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, romance, totally-predictable, lgbt, eccentric-characters, ghosts

I saw such rave reviews about this, I was really excited to finally get it from the library!
*
Synopsis: Wallace Price, who's basically Scrooge in real life, dies of a heart attack, and ends up stopping at a waypoint before moving on to what comes next. He's there with a Reaper Mei, the ferryman Hugo, and two other ghosts--Hugo's granddad Nelson and dog Apollo. As Wallace prepares for what comes after death, he starts to realize what matters in life
*
This was definitely really cheesy and predicta ...more

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