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dbelkins's review against another edition
4.0
A great YA fantasy read that bridges the real world with the fantastic. I would have like to spend more time in the other worlds with the characters but I suppose that is what the sequels are for! Reminiscent of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.
octygon's review against another edition
4.0
My son persuaded me to read this. He loved it ... and I have to admit it was very, very good. It was exciting, and scary, and creepy, and very well-written. The concept was great: the idea is that there are 98 cupboard doors that lead to different worlds. Henry is a likeable character, and the peeks into the life he has led with his parents are well done. Uncle Frank is a bit of a puzzle. The cousins are annoying, sad to say.
This was a quick read. There are some wonderful Juvenile Fiction books out there. Now where's that sequel...?
This was a quick read. There are some wonderful Juvenile Fiction books out there. Now where's that sequel...?
mckenzierichardson's review against another edition
5.0
For more reviews, check out my blog: Craft-CycleI absolutely loved this book. It has been sitting on my shelf for a while now, because I have been caught up reading library books days before they are due. I finally got around to reading it and I loved every page. The story sucked me in right away. I honestly woke up early every day so I would have time to read a few chapters before going to work.I knew nothing about the series going into it, but was quickly hooked on the premise. Very interesting story. I loved the idea of all of the cupboards. Really intriguing. I also enjoyed the characters. The children's dialogue was hilarious and pretty much anything Frank said was entertaining. This book is just the right amount of creepy. It's not gory or startling, but it definitely gives you that uneasy feeling. Not overly scary, just creepy enough to make you hesitate before opening the closet door in the dark. I am already on the hunt for the next two books and the sequel. Such an amazing series.
thoughtfullyhaunted's review against another edition
4.0
My students loved this book. Brilliant and Engaging, lots of fun activities to pull from it! Also made me laugh a few times!
yakihammer's review against another edition
4.0
A different kind of story. Fun to read with the family.
amynbell's review against another edition
5.0
This book definitely should be made into a movie. What a pleasurable read. I enjoyed every minute of it and didn't want it to end. The author left it open for a sequel, so I hope he makes one.
A boy finds a wall of cupboards plastered up in his attic bedroom. The all seem to open up to other worlds, but they're too small to crawl through. Eventually, he's able to find a way to go to the other worlds some other way than through his dreams. Quite an adventure unfolds as he learns of his family's past and why the cupboards were plastered over in the first place.
A boy finds a wall of cupboards plastered up in his attic bedroom. The all seem to open up to other worlds, but they're too small to crawl through. Eventually, he's able to find a way to go to the other worlds some other way than through his dreams. Quite an adventure unfolds as he learns of his family's past and why the cupboards were plastered over in the first place.
trixie_reads's review against another edition
3.0
Creepy. I liked it, but it didn't really live up to its potential.
nannahnannah's review against another edition
1.0
First off: ages 9-12? The writing is way to complicated and the book is too gory for this age group . . .
I'm usually a sucker for beautiful, lyrical writing. But sometimes, I feel like authors try too hard to attain this. N.D. Wilson writes as though he's trying to make every sentence a masterpiece and, although I can understand why he'd attempt for it, it doesn't end well (at least in my opinion). His sentences are clunky and really take away from any immediacy in the story.
And for the story itself, I felt the idea BEHIND the story was more interesting than the book's execution of it. Henry York goes to Henry, Kansas to stay after his parents were kidnapped. In Henry, Henry finds 100 cupboards in his house that lead to different worlds.
However, the book took maybe 100 pages to get to any point of action (the opening of the cupboards). And after that, everything seemed suddenly rushed and without point. Henrietta (Henry's cousin) gets lost in a cupboard suddenly because she's curious and he has to find her. Suddenly he finds a random boy that follows him back for no reason. Suddenly a villain is introduced: a witch with no real backstory, no motives, and no personality traits other than PURE EVILNESS. She's one of the most cliched evil characters I've ever read about, complete with a cat to stroke and all.
Worse than this, is the characters. They don't really have personalities. Dialogue seems to bounce off of them with no real thought behind it. Henry, for example, was a character I could not identify with at all, and it's beyond me how any young adult could identify with him. The apathy he has for his parents' plight is almost inhuman. At one point he says himself how he wished he'd be more worried about them, but really doesn't care. When he finds out secrets about his parents or even himself, he brushes them off. There's no shock or anything!
"Oh, your parents weren't actually your parents."
Henry: "Oh, okay." And that's that. The matter ends.
I'm being really mean and sharp-tongued; I apologize, but this book just didn't do it for me. It's a series and I can find it in almost every book store, so I guess it's doing well. I guess it does have a good audience somewhere, which is good for N.D. Wilson . . .
I'm usually a sucker for beautiful, lyrical writing. But sometimes, I feel like authors try too hard to attain this. N.D. Wilson writes as though he's trying to make every sentence a masterpiece and, although I can understand why he'd attempt for it, it doesn't end well (at least in my opinion). His sentences are clunky and really take away from any immediacy in the story.
And for the story itself, I felt the idea BEHIND the story was more interesting than the book's execution of it. Henry York goes to Henry, Kansas to stay after his parents were kidnapped. In Henry, Henry finds 100 cupboards in his house that lead to different worlds.
However, the book took maybe 100 pages to get to any point of action (the opening of the cupboards). And after that, everything seemed suddenly rushed and without point. Henrietta (Henry's cousin) gets lost in a cupboard suddenly because she's curious and he has to find her. Suddenly he finds a random boy that follows him back for no reason. Suddenly a villain is introduced: a witch with no real backstory, no motives, and no personality traits other than PURE EVILNESS. She's one of the most cliched evil characters I've ever read about, complete with a cat to stroke and all.
Worse than this, is the characters. They don't really have personalities. Dialogue seems to bounce off of them with no real thought behind it. Henry, for example, was a character I could not identify with at all, and it's beyond me how any young adult could identify with him. The apathy he has for his parents' plight is almost inhuman. At one point he says himself how he wished he'd be more worried about them, but really doesn't care. When he finds out secrets about his parents or even himself, he brushes them off. There's no shock or anything!
"Oh, your parents weren't actually your parents."
Henry: "Oh, okay." And that's that. The matter ends.
I'm being really mean and sharp-tongued; I apologize, but this book just didn't do it for me. It's a series and I can find it in almost every book store, so I guess it's doing well. I guess it does have a good audience somewhere, which is good for N.D. Wilson . . .