A key to a secret door. How much more clichéd can you get? Combine it with time travel and there is no way at all to avoid walking in a dangerous area. These were the thoughts which arose in my mind when I first picked up The Door That Led to Where by Sally Gardner. Fortunately, the book itself proved me completely wrong.
Yes, I cannot deny that secret doors and time travel were the two main features of this book, however there was so much else involved to differentiate it from the crowd. The characters, for example, were in my opinion the strongest aspect of the story. The protagonist is AJ Flynn, sixteen-year-old school failure, and source of all misery in his mother's life. Although AJ's childhood in a dodgy apartment building surrounded by mainly odd characters may (or may not) have influenced his disappointing GCSE results, I was pleasantly surprised by Gardner's ability to create an accessible yet intelligent and troubled main character.
In fact, the whole text itself seemed to be a similar combination of wit and trouble, like AJ's skater-boy friend's issues with his drug addicted mother. I really felt that this made the read engaging and entertaining whilst meanwhile being memorable and sometimes even devastating.
The plot really intrigued me, since I've always loved historical fiction, and was interested to see how this genre-defying book would appeal to me. Admittedly, the reactions of some of the characters to their sudden surroundings was disappointingly unrealistic, and the book failed to satisfy me with a more in-depth exploration of 1830s London, however I did feel that the time-travel aspect of it added a little more adventure and the time period was cleverly chosen.
Overall, despite its few flaws, I really did enjoy The Door That Led to Where, and would recommend it to any Sally Gardner fans. Although it is not the most technically challenging or resounding book I've ever read, it was entertaining and had me gripped for a day or two.
• Buy this book at the Guardian Bookshop.
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