To start, I'm a sucker for stories where the hook is one thing out of place that you could easily overlook - in this case the teenagers wet and sandy in bathing suits miles from the ocean. It's something that you could overlook, if you weren't paying attention to it. It gives me the feeling that I could run across something magical, if I just thought about it right and realize it.
That being said, I wasn't super-excited by the early promise of the story. A secret... beach? There's real, actual beaches here in our own world... what's so amazing about that?
But I should have trusted Mr. Pratt - When it came to the part about the magical quest and the items coming one by one, I was hooked.
I was a bit... surprised by the protagonist's action at the end, but when it came right down to it, well, I found that I understood it.
Reading fantasy and science fiction has always been somewhat akin to being the protagonist in this story, I think. You get to hear about all the exciting things that have happened and anticipate what is going to happen. You never get to participate. You never get to affect the world.
So if given the chance to lock the Pevensies out of the room and go through the wardrobe myself, give Bilbo a scone and tell him to wait in the pantry while I claimed to be a burglar, or to steal Harry's Hogwarts letter right out of his hand... would I? Could I go as far as this man?
It's a scary thing to say... "I don't know..."