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spacerkip's review against another edition
medium-paced
2.5
It's been a good 16 years since I read the original, so I remember the plot well enough, but the finer details are a bit too fuzzy for me to really critique this as a Secret Garden remix. Even if this retelling didn't grip me the way I hoped it would, I still very much enjoyed it! The new cultural context (and the sapphic romance) breathed fresh life into a story I remember loving as a child.
Some of the reasons this didn't quite click are entirely personal - I found the third act conflict pretty triggering (child abuse involving isolation and subjecting someone to harmful medical treatments), so I skimmed through a lot of the last chapters. I also wish there was more time spent in the titular secret garden. I remember there being a lot of attention drawn to different plants and how to tend a garden in the original, and I would have enjoyed seeing this translated with Ontarian plants and wildlife.
All in all, an enjoyable read! Gonna keep going down the list of these remixes.
Some of the reasons this didn't quite click are entirely personal - I found the third act conflict pretty triggering (child abuse involving isolation and subjecting someone to harmful medical treatments), so I skimmed through a lot of the last chapters. I also wish there was more time spent in the titular secret garden. I remember there being a lot of attention drawn to different plants and how to tend a garden in the original, and I would have enjoyed seeing this translated with Ontarian plants and wildlife.
All in all, an enjoyable read! Gonna keep going down the list of these remixes.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief, Racism, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death of parent, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Classism and Sexism
fanboyriot's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Read For:
Retellings
Hurt/Comfort
Historical Fiction
Angst with a Happy Ending
The Secret Garden but Make it Sapphic
Normally, I’m not a big classic reader and only a handful I’ve managed to like but this was such a lovely rewrite of the classic: The Secret Garden with a queer theme woven into it.
"But there was one person who could speak up, that would make them listen, and it was her." (Page 157, Chapter 18)
There was an overall magical vibe to the settings in general and while there are some depressing and darker moments in this book it really had such a nice charm to it. The writing style was really nice to read, the characters (other than a few) were all quite lovely, and the ending was really satisfying to read. Thank you to NetGalley and the author/publisher for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
(Third Person POV)
Spice: None
Rep: Lesbian MC, BIPOC LI/SCs
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Sexism, Grief, Medical content, Racism, Child abuse, Classism, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse
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