Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

25 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

akane_readsyt's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful sad fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Ableism, Abandonment, Classism, Confinement, Death, Grief, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pandemic/Epidemic, Racism, Sexism, and Terminal illness

thatchickengirl23's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing sad 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Pandemic/Epidemic, Death, Chronic illness, Grief, and Death of parent

melodyramirez's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious 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

4.25

The book starts with awful characters but then it is beautifully hopeful. Theres a religious motif that I didn’t hate because it felt like more of  hopeful than religious 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Xenophobia, Racism, Death, Classism, Colonisation, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, and Child death

wormariwood's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Gaslighting, Ableism, and Racism

Moderate: Colonisation, Chronic illness, and Medical trauma

Minor: Physical abuse, Grief, Forced institutionalization, Cultural appropriation, and Death

Abundant racism throughout the book, and a child is presumed to be disabled and spoken of in a manner as if he's less than human because of this assumption. Also, adults in the household actively work to convince this child that he's severely sick and is going to die young, which caused him to develop some mental issues around believing he's going to die and becomes a hypochondriac. Parental death is mentioned throughout but in no great detail.

a_bloom's review against another edition

adventurous 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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This is a reread from my Childhood and it made me realize why I loved this book so much. While the beginning has some questionable language about class and race (as to be expected of an older book) it's message is beautiful. Reading at different ages and phases in life reveals extra messages and the beautiful complexity of these characters stuck in a partially unknown time of our modern day... Yet the events and lessons and feelings and conversations doesn't feel that outdated besides the language shift.
I adore the characters and the magic they bring to the story. I adore the descriptions of nature and growing friendship. I adore the hope in the impossible and the magical. I adore a feel good story in the midst of everyday tragedy. No wonder I would read this year after year growing up... It was beautiful and gave me hope. Very few books actually make me emotional to the point of crying, but if I'd taken the time to read it straight in one sitting I probably would have. 
If you don't know if you'd like classics or think they're too hard or boring then I BEG YOU TO READ THE SECRET GARDEN. Because at first it is a cruel indifference that quickly turns to kindness. God I love this book and hope that everyone gets the chance to read it. Devour it. And let it sit within your soul as you grow. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Ableism, Body shaming, Grief, Terminal illness, Abandonment, and Mental illness

Minor: Slavery, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Sexism, and Toxic relationship

tea_at_mole_end's review against another edition

lighthearted reflective slow-paced

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness and Ableism

Moderate: Racism

Minor: Classism, Confinement, Terminal illness, Grief, and Death of parent

bringmybooks's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective 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

5.0

If I've said it once, I've said it a million times (&if I've never said it before, I'll say it now): listening to audiobooks of classic children's literature is SUCH a good way to revisit these stories as adults!

✨ 𝗕𝗥𝗜𝗡𝗚 ✨ B̷O̷R̷R̷O̷W̷ B̷Y̷P̷A̷S̷S̷

[First things first - this book was written in 1910 and there are some parts of it that really did not age well (specifically around the language used to describe both India and Indian people). It's not throughout the entire book, more so in the beginning as Mary Lennox is learning not to parrot insensitive & incorrect information that she's been told, but it's still not great.]

I know that I have read The Secret Garden as a kid, but I also know that it's been at least 25 years since then and it was WILD how much I had forgotten about so much of this book. I think the 90s adaptation did a really good job keeping the spirit of the story and characters (other than Ms. Medlock, who is way more severe in the adaptation). There was a lot more character arc and growth in the book, and more exploration of other characters aside from Mary & Colin, which I really appreciated.

This was one of the last Audible credits I used before switching to libro.fm, and the narrator [Carrie Hope Fletcher] did an AMAZING job with the story! I can't speak to any other audio narrators, but if you use Audible this was well worth the credit 🥰 Overall this was one I was glad I got a chance to go back and revisit!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Grief, Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Death of parent, and Racism

jespinosam's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Grief, and Abandonment

orchidlilly's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Xenophobia, Chronic illness, Medical content, Racial slurs, Abandonment, Death of parent, Grief, Ableism, and Body shaming

Moderate: Mental illness, Medical trauma, Medical content, Terminal illness, and Confinement

Minor: Colonisation