Book Review – 100 Cupboards by N.D. Wilson - Cave To The Cross Apologetics

100 Cupboards

Synopsis:

Twelve-year-old Henry York is going to sleep one night when he hears a bump on the attic wall above his head. It’s an unfamiliar house—Henry is staying with his aunt, uncle, and three cousins—so he tries to ignore it. But the next night he wakes up with bits of plaster in his hair. Two knobs have broken through the wall, and one of them is slowly turning…

Henry scrapes the plaster off the wall and discovers doors—ninety-nine cupboards of all different sizes and shapes. Through one he can hear the sound of falling rain. Through another he sees a glowing room—with a man strolling back and forth! Henry and his cousin Henrietta soon understand that these are not just cupboards. They are, in fact, portals to other worlds. (Taken from GoodReads page)

Review

Wow, this was a fun read. There are many things to like about “100 Cupboards”. First, the premises is any boy of any age’s dream – there are some magic drawers hidden away in a secluded part of the house and magic comes from them – some good and some not so much. You stick any guy in that main character spot and you better believe you’d get a similar story like this. Mystery, magic, secret codes, uncovering family secrets, a nothing town holding this big adventure – how can you not have a story worth reading from that?

Yes, an easy comparison to make would be to say it’s like Narnia in that there are portals to another world with fantasy elements but you could do the same with the book “Contact“. This was more in line with a grounded “The Phantom Tollbooth“. Grounded in the sense that the characters feel real and the family elements are familiar. The boys act like boys and the sisters act like sisters and the awkward kid is enough to want to have him protected and be ok with a small fall down the stairs. I read half a chapter to my wife at the quarter mark and she wanted me to finish the book so I could tell her what it was about. From a podcast with the author, he had a similar story when he pitched the story to his wife.

I will say there are, at times, moments when a discovery is made or a character is found or an action is taking place where the story gets a little confusing over what exactly happened. Someone is found but I wasn’t quite sure how or a fight happens and people wind up hurt but I didn’t quite get how. But the flow of the story is really good. There is no scene where the character thinks really hard or someone says something out there and the mystery unravels and everything is wrapped up. This is a book series so there is more to look forward to for an explanation. However, if you were one to be ok with an open ending and this was the only book, just the story embedded was fun enough. There are story elements that just come and go and you have to go back and read again because there is no “ah-ha!” or “WAIT WHAT?!” moment from the characters. You are confused when the characters are confused and you figure things out when the characters do. There is no “knowing who the murderer is 10 pages in” so to speak.

I’m not one who really likes platitudes. However, reading things like “The Phantom Tollbooth” or “The Three Musketeers” does make me feel like a kid again and has some nostalgic memories. This book had that same feel. The fantasy mixed with the reality of the family and characters that explored and exposed themselves to danger without being morons really gave a structure I found made for a really great story.

Final Grade

A+