Wallace Price is a pretty nasty piece of work. He’s a workaholic lawyer who has no problem with making his staff cry. His work is his life. He has no concept of the meaning of empathy. And then he dies. And a reaper collects him from his own funeral (where no-one is mourning his demise) and takes him to Charon’s Crossing Tea and Treats tearoom to meet the ferryman, Hugo Freeman, who will ‘explain everything before you cross, any of those pesky, lingering questions’.

Under the Whispering Door follows one man’s journey to discover what living a good life is really all about. It’s whimsical and funny and sweet. Wallace needs to learn to be honest with himself about the life he has lived and honesty can be a weapon. ‘It could be used to stab and tear and spill blood upon the earth. Wallace knew that; he had his fair share of blood on his hands. But it was different now. He was using it upon himself, and he was flayed open because of it.’

The novel doesn’t say anything particularly new - if you’ve read any [a:Mitch Albom|2331|Mitch Albom|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1368640552p2/2331.jpg] or [b:The Midnight Library|52578297|The Midnight Library|Matt Haig|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1602190253l/52578297.SY75.jpg|74043794] you’ve heard it all before. However, TJ Klune has a special touch and his exploration of grief and all its permutations is honest and raw. As he says in his Author’s Note: ‘This story explores life and love as well as loss and grief. There are discussions of death in different forms - quiet, unexpected, and death by suicide. Please read with care.’

I didn’t love this book as much as I did [b:The House in the Cerulean Sea|45047384|The House in the Cerulean Sea|T.J. Klune|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1569514209l/45047384.SY75.jpg|62945242] which I just adored. But I still loved it!

We get trapped in our own little bubbles, and even though the world is a wide and mysterious place, our bubbles keep us safe from that. To our detriment.

This book took my breath away!

In a world shared by magical and non-magical folk, Linus Baker works for the Department in Charge of Magical Youth as a caseworker. He is sent to orphanages for magical children to assess if they are being cared for properly. Linus’ world revolves around his work, his tiny home, his records and his cranky cat, Calliope. He’s forty, and alone.

Linus is sent on a top secret assignment to investigate and report on an orphanage on an island where six magical children, who are described as ‘special’, live with their enigmatic carer, Arthur Parnassus.

As Linus begins to understand the children, and grows closer to Arthur, he also begins to question the rules and regulations that he has allowed to dictate how he lives. He witnesses the cruelty of people towards these unusual children and learns that people ‘fear what they don’t understand. And that fear turns to hate for reasons I’m sure even they can’t begin to comprehend. And since they don’t understand the children, since they fear them, they hate them.’

Klune has created wonderful characters - these children who are all so different, are three dimensional: full of mischief and naughtiness but all seeking love and family and a safe home: ‘a home isn’t always the house we live in. It’s also the people we choose to surround ourselves with.’

Watching Linus’ true character emerge into the daylight is a total joy. Everything about this book is a total joy! I didn’t want it to end, and when it did, I felt bereft. The House in the Cerulean Sea is about self discovery: about uncovering hidden strengths and embracing life in all its complexity.

The narrator of this book is a forty year old gay man. As the author is himself queer, this story shows a refreshingly positive queer representation. There is nothing to offend any reader here. Although the cover suggests this book is for younger readers, I feel it would better suit readers 12 years and older.

Highly recommended to everyone!