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abbiechron's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I thought I had the ending worked out about halfway through the book. I was incredibly wrong, and completely shocked. I read this after The House in the Cerulean Sea, which I HAD guessed the ending correctly, but not with this one.
Klune makes you think. I didn't know what to expect of this book. There were tears, conversations that followed with loved ones, and a tangible hook stinging my heart.
I was somewhat disappointed with the character development. It seemed to happen all at once in the first half of the book, and then the rest was moreso based upon building up to the ending with more of an emphasis on the character interactions and relationships.By relationships, I mostly meant between Hugo and Wallace. I adored the change in Wallace's heart, but it was almost too predictable in terms of the narrative of horrible-person-turned-lovable and felt very Christmas Carol-esque.
I loved what Nelson and Apollo and Mei added. They were the rainbow to the already warm and welcoming sun shining through the decay and rot of death.I WAS for sure expecting Nelson to cross by the end (knowing Hugo was in good hands with Wallace; and I honestly thought Nelson was going to take Wallace's place in regards to the "forced" cross that The Manager was planning on enforcing a week after his initial visit), but did not expect Apollo to go with him, that broke my heart...
Was in a way, grateful for the ambiguity of The Manager.
Highly recommend for those ready to involve themselves in this darker read.
Klune makes you think. I didn't know what to expect of this book. There were tears, conversations that followed with loved ones, and a tangible hook stinging my heart.
I was somewhat disappointed with the character development. It seemed to happen all at once in the first half of the book, and then the rest was moreso based upon building up to the ending with more of an emphasis on the character interactions and relationships.
I loved what Nelson and Apollo and Mei added. They were the rainbow to the already warm and welcoming sun shining through the decay and rot of death.
Was in a way, grateful for the ambiguity of The Manager.
Highly recommend for those ready to involve themselves in this darker read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Murder, Grief, and Mental illness
Moderate: Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, and Terminal illness
Minor: Animal death and Blood
linnybear's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
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
3.75
3.75 (but I feel bad about it)
Honestly, I didn’t expect this book to fill my heart with such warmth, and I definitely didn’t expect it to be this lighthearted dealing with such heavy topics as death and grief. Throughout this book I couldn’t help but feel that it’s not only about how Wallace faces his own death (and with that monsters and regrets of his past life) but more about how to live your life to the fullest.
Of course, I loved the characters. Warm and thoughtful Hugo (couldn’t help to imagine him all beefy and handsome), quirky Mei, eccentric but oh so funny grandpa Nelson and of course the purest boy Apollo. Even Wallace, after few first pages I expected him to annoy the heck out of me making me pully my hair out of my head but surprisingly he didn’t. I have to say I didn’t quite understand Wallace’s development as a person though. It felt like after about 40 years of his life spent on frightening everyone working for him in the office, blaming every mistake on everyone but him and just in general being a selfish man, in just two weeks he transformed into an empathetic and thoughtful person (and considering what happened in the last chapter, he turned into the most selfless person ever). Was it due to this found family or the realization of his own death and all the regrets he had after that? I am not quite sure but it felt drastic and too sudden. I am not mad about it though.
The romance felt… underwhelming. I was looking forward to that part but when it happened, I thought I enjoy the idea of them as a couple in my head way more than their relationship described on these pages. Not that these moments they shared weren’t good, they were more intimate and heartwarming than others in many books I’ve read before but It wasn’t clear to me how it happened, what really brought them together past the friendship and the initial attraction.
The whole story (although I knew it was middle paced and character driven) felt too long, it was almost dragging at times, and I kept feeling like I’m reading the same things over and over again just in different words. When I reached about half of the book, I was asking myself where it is going, when I finally see the romance or any major event. I also take half of a star out because even though it was a great read, I was feeling I’d be more of a help for me 5 or even 10 years ago when I was still just a confused teenager. I’d actually recommend this book to someone around that age because of the light writing and, what I feel like, so much thought behind a process of writing about that heavy topic yet in a way that doesn’t make you feel all depressed. I know 15 years old me would also appreciate all the thoughts and conversations the characters shared with Wallace as they tried to make his grief and acceptance process easier (some of the things said were a bit cliché for me as 24 years old but I know I’d love them back in time).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Mental illness, Violence, Death, Blood, Animal death, Child death, Death of parent, Suicide, Panic attacks/disorders, and Murder
Moderate: Toxic relationship
hannahrogers's review
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Suicide, Grief, Animal death, Child death, Death of parent, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence
Moderate: Blood, Car accident, and Murder
Minor: Alcohol, Infidelity, and Medical content
aliciawhatsthestory's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
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
4.0
There are a couple of things that I want to address before I give my rating on this book.
First, PLEASE be cautious of content warnings before reading. This book contains mentions of de@th, including by sui©ide and murd3r, tense parental relationships, de@th of parents, children, pets and spouses, dealing with grief, terminal illness, and more. Read with care.
Second, I avoided reading this eARC for a long time after I saw TJ Klune’s comments about his previous novel, The House in the Cerulean Sea. These comments trivialized the experience of real Native American families and especially children in forcible removed and placed in boarding schools to just a plot device, which he exploited in that novel. As far as i know, Klune has not apologized for his actions or made any moves to directly support Indigenous communities, despite there having been an uptick in awareness of the atrocities committed at these schools. I likely would not have read this book if hadn’t received it for free and if I was not trying to clear my NetGalley shelf, due to the author’s behavior. I already owned the other book even before I was given access to this one, but it will likely be quite a while before I read it, if I do.
That said, I did really enjoy this book. It got off to a slow start for me, but by the end I was close to tears. The characters are likable and the story is both deep and whimsical, despite dealing with very heavy topics. In the end, it’s very hopeful and an uplifting read. It is also sweet LGBTQIA+ representation.
Based on the book alone, I would give it ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. I could see this book having a lot to offer for people who are dealing with grief. Still, I will always encourage reading critically and with as much information as possible, including considering when authors have been harmful in some way.
Thank you to #netgalley and #torbooks for the eARC of this book.
First, PLEASE be cautious of content warnings before reading. This book contains mentions of de@th, including by sui©ide and murd3r, tense parental relationships, de@th of parents, children, pets and spouses, dealing with grief, terminal illness, and more. Read with care.
Second, I avoided reading this eARC for a long time after I saw TJ Klune’s comments about his previous novel, The House in the Cerulean Sea. These comments trivialized the experience of real Native American families and especially children in forcible removed and placed in boarding schools to just a plot device, which he exploited in that novel. As far as i know, Klune has not apologized for his actions or made any moves to directly support Indigenous communities, despite there having been an uptick in awareness of the atrocities committed at these schools. I likely would not have read this book if hadn’t received it for free and if I was not trying to clear my NetGalley shelf, due to the author’s behavior. I already owned the other book even before I was given access to this one, but it will likely be quite a while before I read it, if I do.
That said, I did really enjoy this book. It got off to a slow start for me, but by the end I was close to tears. The characters are likable and the story is both deep and whimsical, despite dealing with very heavy topics. In the end, it’s very hopeful and an uplifting read. It is also sweet LGBTQIA+ representation.
Based on the book alone, I would give it ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. I could see this book having a lot to offer for people who are dealing with grief. Still, I will always encourage reading critically and with as much information as possible, including considering when authors have been harmful in some way.
Thank you to #netgalley and #torbooks for the eARC of this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Death of parent, Death, Child death, Animal death, Suicide, Murder, and Terminal illness
Minor: Cancer, Car accident, Mental illness, and Blood
julesadventurezone's review
challenging
emotional
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Suicide, Confinement, Violence, Death of parent, Grief, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child death, and Death
annielikesnature's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
This book is honestly beautiful! Great story and even greater characters! I didn't like the main character at first but that changed over the course of the story.
Sometimes it felt a bit too dragged, but I think that wasn't often, just here and there.
A great book that I'll recommend to everyone!
But check Content Warnings, before reading.
Sometimes it felt a bit too dragged, but I think that wasn't often, just here and there.
A great book that I'll recommend to everyone!
But check Content Warnings, before reading.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Grief
Minor: Blood, Child death, Death of parent, Mental illness, and Suicide
starsnstitchin's review
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
slow-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Cancer, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Bullying, Car accident, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Gore, Stalking, Suicide, Animal death, Child death, and Death
megplant's review
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Death, Death of parent, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Blood, Cancer, Animal death, Suicide, Car accident, and Child death
ridesthesun's review
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-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
Dear God in heaven, this book 😭😭😭😭
What a deeply beautiful story. This is an exploration of grief that is so completely hopeful and genuine, I don't have words. The relationships, the found family, the growth. It's just great stuff.
Hilarious and sweet and tragic aka IT'S MY SHIT PLEASE READ THIS BOOK
(do mind the trigger warnings though, this one deals with some heavy topics)
What a deeply beautiful story. This is an exploration of grief that is so completely hopeful and genuine, I don't have words. The relationships, the found family, the growth. It's just great stuff.
Hilarious and sweet and tragic aka IT'S MY SHIT PLEASE READ THIS BOOK
(do mind the trigger warnings though, this one deals with some heavy topics)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Grief
Moderate: Death, Grief, Violence, Blood, Child death, Murder, Suicide, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Confinement and Animal death
micheala's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This was a weird book for me. It's really close to reading as a contemporary rather than speculative book, despite the premise being that our main character is a ghost.
The main character, Wallace, is profoundly unlikable at the beginning. This is primarily a character study of watching Wallace learn how to be a decent person (and learn to acknowledge how terrible of a person he was when he was alive).
I ended up listening to this on audiobook, which really helped get me to the point in the story that Wallace begins to change. I did like the plot that was happening with the other ghosts we get introduced to, even though that was clearly not the point. The point of this story is exploring the relationship each individual has with death, from both sides of the grave.
I do wish we got to find out more about the ghost world outside of the tea shop.
The main character, Wallace, is profoundly unlikable at the beginning. This is primarily a character study of watching Wallace learn how to be a decent person (and learn to acknowledge how terrible of a person he was when he was alive).
I ended up listening to this on audiobook, which really helped get me to the point in the story that Wallace begins to change. I did like the plot that was happening with the other ghosts we get introduced to, even though that was clearly not the point. The point of this story is exploring the relationship each individual has with death, from both sides of the grave.
I do wish we got to find out more about the ghost world outside of the tea shop.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Murder, and Suicide
One of the ghosts was stabbed to death, one of the ghosts committed suicide and we talk about a past ghost who was a little girl who died after a fight with an illness (hospitalization)