Six months ago, we had tornados in the area, and we (Michelle, the dog, and me) found ourselves huddled in the closet, waiting out the warning. I may have said something like “I’d be okay dying like this,” which did not elicit rave reactions.

To state the obvious: talking and thinking about death is unpleasant. Normally, I’d avoid a book about death. I love my life, and the thought of it not going on for another 150 years or so makes me sad. But TJ Klune’s Under the Whispering Door manages to make death feel like a warm hug. Not necessarily something to look forward to, but not something to dread, either.

How does he do that? (SPOILERS FOLLOW, you can read a non-spoilery intro to the plot here)

1. He flips the trope of being concerned in a novel about how and if people die, and focuses more on the state of our characters as they approach death and the afterlife.
2. The book is soft fantasy—it’s less concerned with the actual mechanics of death and the afterlife (often dismissing the inevitable questions from characters), and more about how people go through grief and death.
3. The main setting for the novel is a tea shop. Everything about it, from its aesthetics to the proprietor Hugo’s ability to grow and make tea that is perfect for whoever is crossing to the afterlife, is comforting (this is very close to a video game I’m playing right now called Strange Horticulture).
4. Klune performs a sort of writing magic as he shifts our initial perception of the main character, Wallace (horrible hardass lawyer) into something much more human after death. The characters here are allowed to make mistakes, learn from them, and change.
5. The ghost characters (the dog Apollo, Hugo’s granddad Nelson) and the loyal ferocity of Mei are there as a safety net. Like knowing your ancestors are there watching out for you, but, well, you can actually see and talk to them.
6. The love story between Wallace and Hugo is brilliantly innocent and also such a tease—as Wallace is a ghost, he can never touch Hugo. I cried quite a few times in this book, but the one coming to mind now is when Wallace asks Mei to hug Hugo for him, because he can’t do it.

I really liked Under the Whispering Door. I think you’d enjoy this if:

• You don’t mind a little bit of twee in your writing. The book is cute and sweet, but never saccharine.
• You’re in for a good love story.
• You enjoyed the videogame Spiritfarer.
• You can put your cynicism on hold for ~300 pages.