Reviews with content warning for Racial slurs - Secret Garden

You’d have to pay me to listen to this audiobook again. I couldn’t stand the accents and the pitch the narrator used to voice the children. It made them that much more unlikable. Narration aside, this is not a story I would let any child of mine read. It had racist and negative views throughout. I feel like the author would have to hate children to write them in such a nastily light. In addition to multiple racist instances, it was also ableist. The physically disabled main character felt like a disappointment to his parents solely because he was disabled and only until he overcame his disability would his father approve of him.

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kriyon's review against another edition

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hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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allisonleora's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This was really a surprising and lovely little read. I wasn’t intending this to be my first book of 2024, but it so Magically happened, and I think I needed it.

I remember owning this book when I was a child, but never got around to reading it. I think I would have loved it, but would have found the Broad Yorkshire challenging. Two decades later and I had trouble even now.

But it was really a beautiful story and one full of hope, which is something I needed at the beginning of the year. I found myself wanting to go back into the story to see how the garden was progressing.

Some of the language did make me uncomfortable, and I think I would need to have a long discussion with my son about the racism and colonialism featured in this novel before he sets out to read it himself. I would for sure recommend it to him when he gets older, though.

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repunzee's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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whimsical_adelaide's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging reflective relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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vagorsol's review against another edition

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3.0

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passionatereader78's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Cute Emotional read! I enjoyed this story. I love the characters! Mary, Colin, and Dickon were so much fun to read about. When Mary loses her parents in India she is sent to live with her uncle in England. When she arrives she is spoiled and rude. She finds a secret garden and meets Dickon the animal whisper. He teaches her about plants and help her with the garden. One night she is woken up by screaming and meets her cousin Colin who is a feeble child. They become fast friends. As their friendship grows, Colin reveals his biggest fears. Mary helps him and tells him about the secret garden. Soon Dickon, Mary, and Colin along with a couple of adults create their own world in the secret garden.

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lawbooks600's review against another edition

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relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Trigger warnings: Deaths of characters in the past, racism, racist slurs
Score: Seven points out of ten.

I wanted to read this book for a while, and not long after, I got my hands on this story from one of the two libraries I go to. Again, I didn't know what I would get as I went in, except that the book is a classic. The beginning is not the best, but the rest of the novel is outstanding due to its age; the library I got this from might remove this book. It starts with the main character, Mary Lennox, or Mary for short, and at the beginning of the book, Mary moves to an entirely different house and country; some people say that Mary has behavioural issues, which I could see within the first few chapters. That only improved from there. Mary gets herself used to this new house, Misselthwaite Manor, and I saw her meeting new characters, being unique and having distinct voices. Only a few pages in, Mary meets this other critical character, bedridden Colin, and agitated that he might have a hunchback and die. Also, I noticed that, in India, Mary is used to people doing jobs for her, but now, in England, she must do everything herself. One aspect that makes this book stand out is its character development, which affects Colin and Mary, and that's not an aspect I see in many books. I'm glad I got that when I read this story. But wait! I haven't discussed the most significant section of the book, which is when Mary discovers a garden that the house owner has locked off for ten years after someone died there and when Mary opened it, it was all dead. But somehow, toward the end, the garden, let's say, restored itself, then Colin realised there is no hunchback to worry about then it cuts to the house owner now living in a different location. That ends the book.

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