Reviews with content warning for Medical content - Under the Whispering Door

In the middle of the woods, you’ll find a very special tea shop, watched over by Hugo, a ferryman for the dead. Hugo welcomes the recently deceased over a warm cup of tea and helps them to find their way to whatever awaits them on the other side of the whispering door. The book follows Wallace, a former lawyer who feels like he never did enough with his life, as he gets to know Hugo and his eccentric companions at Charon’s Crossing Tea & Treats.

I’ve seen so many reviews saying this book broke their heart and mended it again in one fell swoop. Not to be cliche, but I’d have to agree. This book was both heartwarming and heartbreaking. The characters were all loveable, the setting felt incredibly peaceful, and the story explored death and grief in a gentle yet effective way.

Before I go further, I will say that this book contains a lot of heavy material. Although the main character’s death at the beginning of the book is not too graphic, there are other characters who we see flashbacks of involving terminal cancer, suicide, and murder. I, admittedly, was not prepared for the in-depth flashback showing one character’s intensive grief and eventual suicide.
My one criticism of this book is that although it’s written to feel warm and hopeful, there’s a certain amount of dread surrounding it that can’t quite be extinguished. I guess you could say this is to be expected from a book about death, but I personally found that it pulled the story down for me a bit. It just wasn’t as much of a feel-good story as I was expecting.
That said, we all have different experiences, and I’m 100% sure that many people would find this book to be just what they need.

This book does a wonderful job with representation in my opinion. Three out of five main characters are POC, with an interracial queer romance at the centre of the story. It puts a lot of emphasis on how different people have wildly different experiences with mental health, families, love, and grief. Empathy and acceptance are central themes.

My final verdict? This is a wonderfully written book, and the tea shop setting alone makes it worth the read. I would just advise anyone who’s considering starting it to make sure you know what to expect in terms of content.

Content Warnings

davidrb's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

A nuanced look at grief and how you can grieve for your own life and what could have happened bogged down by some wild tone shifting at key moments and awkwardly written bits. Overall very good, if flawed. I don't know if I'll ever get used to queer relationships being written with such love and tenderness. I didn't know I was allowed to be this happy.

There's one absolutely devastating scene towards the end that I will think about for ages.

Content Warnings

alldebstinations's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book is perfect! The character growth is so well done, the imagining of all of it is beautiful, and I really want to have tea with Hugo. I wonder what flavor he would choose for me.

Content Warnings

themixedpages's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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