Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

7 reviews

hedyharper's review against another edition

emotional hopeful lighthearted sad medium-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Colonisation, Death, Racism, Confinement, Grief, Mental illness, Classism, Death of parent, Abandonment, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Medical content, Medical trauma, Pandemic/Epidemic, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Chronic illness, and Child abuse

takarakei's review against another edition

funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

2.5

So I read this for a book club thing (long story) cause otherwise I likely wouldn't have. It's a funny, cute story for the most part. I do like that the children learn some self-awareness and recognize their spoiled attitudes. There is a mystical quality used to describe nature and it's importance.

Definitely have to take into consideration when it was written because there are some racist stereotypes particularly of Indians (the MC comes from living in British colonized India and moves back to England). I then found out that the author

was part of the Christian Science movement, which holds the belief that you can heal yourself with just your mind

and that definitely changed my perspective on the book a lot. If you didn't grow up reading this story I'm not sure I can necessarily recommend it...

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Chronic illness, and Racism

Moderate: Colonisation, Death of parent, and Racial slurs

Minor: Confinement and Animal death

yrlaevelyn's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Ableism, Colonisation, and Racism

Moderate: Chronic illness, Abandonment, Body shaming, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, and Terminal illness

Minor: Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Mental illness, Slavery, Body shaming, and Confinement

dark_marble_eyes's review against another edition

challenging hopeful reflective slow-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

3.5

This has been on my to-read list for ages, as I loved the 1993 movie as a child. The magic of a child exploring and discovering new things was certainly there, but I knocked it down a bit because it didn't quite grab me as I hoped it would. I was prepared for the ableism, as I knew it was a key point in the story, but it's still a negative. It also lost points with me because the racism in it tarnished the entire story. The characters' ignorant comments, while certainly "of their time," made them significantly less lovable, even at the end.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Grief, Death of parent, Ableism, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death

quinn24's review against another edition

emotional relaxing medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Animal death, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Ableism, Chronic illness, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Body shaming and Misogyny

hannahelizza556's review against another edition

adventurous funny 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

3.75

This was a lovely book. The author describes the secret garden in great detail. Th characters also become more likeable as the story progressed. The size of the writing in this book is quite hard to read and I struggled with some of the Yorkshire accent in this but otherwise it was a lovely book. I really liked the characters by the end, even Mary who is a self centred girl in the opening. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Body shaming, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Grief, Medical content, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

curatoriallyyours's review against another edition

hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

It's a classic for a reason! This book was an utter delight to read. I felt that the author got the level of tension just right - you never thought the protagonist might fail but the tension arose from the progression of her character and the way that others changed around her. It was hopeful and a joy to the end, although the events of the first few chapters before Mary comes to the manor in England are quite full on - this is a kid who has experienced some serious trauma! You also get the impression that she's younger than she is and it isn't until maybe two thirds of the way through the book that you discover she's ten. I'm so glad to have read this book and the 2011 edition I read is a truly beautiful paperback from the 'Penguin Threads' series, featuring exquisite textured cover artwork by Jillian Tamaki. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Mental illness, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Racism

Minor: Animal death, Chronic illness, Misogyny, and Toxic relationship

This book was first published in 1911 during the time of the British occupation of India. As such, the book talks about India as being exotic and Mary begins her life with Indian servants who she speaks quite rudely to and of. While the author doesn't outright challenge these social norms she does seem to be sympathetic and attempts to humanise the Indian servants in her own way rather than treating them as other, like Mary does. She is also critical of classism as it existed at the time and speaks very positively about the serving class in England, also gently rebuking the poor manners and lack of common sense of the rich.