I was late to the TJ Klune party, but hey – better late than never, right? Granted, this is only the second book I’ve read by him, but I love what I’ve read thus far. His books target adults but also have a sort of whimsy that takes me back to my days of reading Roald Dahl when I was a kid.

While The House in the Cerulean Sea dealt with outcasts, this book deals with death and grief, and like the previous book I mentioned, both deal with the idea of chosen family.

In this story, Wallace (our main character) was once a high-powered attorney, a bit of a workaholic and quite the asshole. After suffering a heart attack, Wallace finds himself sitting in a church pew dressed in sweats and a t-shirt – an awful thing for a man who was always dressed to the nines. He soon realizes that he is at his own funeral and the only ones in attendance are his law firm partners, his ex-wife, and a young Asian woman he doesn’t recognize. The young woman turns out to be a reaper and, after the funeral, whisks him away to a peculiar house in a small town that also serves as a tea shop. It’s there that Wallace meets Hugo, the proprietor of the tea shop who also works as a Ferryman – someone who helps the souls of the dead cross over. His job is to help them understand what has happened. Once they’ve made peace with the fact that they’re dead, he will usher them through a door in the ceiling on the top floor of the home that will carry them through to their next life.

Problem is, Wallace isn’t quite ready to go through the door, so he hangs out for a while and meets Hugo’s grandfather Lewis and Hugo’s childhood dog, Apollo, who are also ghosts who have not yet crossed. As days go by, Wallace reconciles with his future and atones for his assholish ways when he was alive. He also finds a loving family and develops a beautiful relationship with Hugo – things he didn’t have in life, and sadly must leave behind when it’s time to cross over.

As is to be expected, the characters are full realized and complex. Wallace shows the most growth across the novel, but all the supporting characters are well rounded as well. We get to know what led Hugo to becoming a Ferryman, and what led Mai to be a reaper. We learn about Nelson’s past and why he hung around with his grandson rather than passing through the door. We also have a few minor players like an alleged medium who holds seances at the tea shop hoping to impress her YouTube followers, and we even meet “The Manager” who is almost like God, though their true identity isn’t 100% divulged which I kind of liked.

What I especially liked about the book is that we all have those moments where we wonder what exactly happens when we die, and depending on your religion (or lack thereof) our thoughts may vary. I really enjoyed the way the author portrayed the afterlife in this book. It’s not tied to a specific religion or belief.

This book really grabbed me and tugged at my heartstrings quite a bit. I finished it a day or two after traveling to Idaho to visit my parents for a few days. It was a lovely visit, and it reminded me I need to spend more time with them because they are both in their 70s now and won’t be here forever. That was still on my mind when I finished this book, so when I read the last few chapters, I was a weepy mess. The thing is, while the book deals with topics of grief and loss and living life to the fullest, it ends in a bittersweet way. You’re sad for the loss, but so happy for the time you got and the beauty and wonder of what lies beyond.

This book was beautifully written and highly imaginative. It sucked me in and left me feeling every emotion. Like life, I didn’t want it to end.