Reviews - The Peculiar Garden of Harriet Hunt

288 reviews for:

The Peculiar Garden of Harriet Hunt

Chelsea Iversen

3.51 AVERAGE

abbyhess's review

5.0

mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

lashakas7's review

4.5

challenging emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

mnauky's review

4.0

adventurous challenging mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

faithlav's review

3.5

This book was simultaneously gripping and also exhausting. Our main character Harriet was trying to solve one, then two mysteries, but it takes so long for us to get clues about them! I was so curious to know more about what was going on but we were only given crumbs for the majority of the novel! After all that wondering, the ending was a bit of a let down. I was expecting the answers to the mysteries to be more clever, but they were a little bit disappointing.

Harriet had an extremely difficult and sheltered life, which gave her an interesting perspective and made it feasible for her to have made the decisions she did throughout the novel. She was a very sympathetic character. I just wish she wasn't so passive for the entire book. I would have loved to see more growth from her earlier on, but she got there in the end. Harriet's friends were also very likeable and I loved watching those relationships bloom. Because we don't know the motivations behind the antagonists (at least for most of the novel), they seem almost like evil caricatures of patriarchy and suppression.

The historical setting wasn’t featured very heavily, it was mostly for the vibes and was used to make Harriet seem suspicious or hysterical for being a single woman. We were told that this was set in 1866, but within the context of the story it was very vague as to when it took place.

The fantasy aspect was also faint because it was just Harriet’s connection to her garden, which remained largely unexplained and unexplored. It got to the point where the ivy tapping on the window was annoying me because it felt like that was the only thing the garden could do. The garden served as a very important symbol of Harriet's suppression throughout her life, but aside from that it might have been my least favorite part of this novel.

The writing felt really jarring in some places. During a lot of scenes I had trouble envisioning how things were happening. I think that was supposed to be an attempt at making those scenes fast-paced, but instead they felt choppy. I found myself having to go back and reread a lot of passages to make sense of what was going on.

After completely dragging it like that, I still really enjoyed this book. It reminded me of Jane Eyre in many ways, especially because it was very gothic and dark and both protagonists faced much suffering. I loved the themes of breaking free, female empowerment, and healing from trauma.

mreach's review

5.0

adventurous emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

b_ash3s's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious sad medium-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

reader_rida's review

3.0

Harriet is a survivor of DV but she is victimised again by her husband who knows that she is already very vulnerable. Harriet exists largely within the confines of her own mind - struggling with anxiety. The author masterfully described her inner world, capturing the suffocating, disorienting nature of anxiety with remarkable precision. Harriet battles not only her external solitude but the chaos inside her head. The only solace Harriet knows is in her garden which grows beautifully under her because she has the magic touch (think green witch). She can talk to her plants and they come to her aid when they notice her distress.

So why the 3 stars?
Harriet’s struggle with anxiety becomes clear early on, but as the story unfolds, the author’s effort to convey Harriet's inner turmoil starts to feel a bit overdone. While the intent to showcase her constant battle is understandable, the frequent emphasis on her anxiety begins to overshadow the other dimensions of her character - there's literally no mention of how she got her magic touch and how it works, it's almost as if the magic is a side plot (a bit strange for a fantasy book!). Her journey feel more like a cycle of frustration than a meaningful exploration of her struggle until the last few chapters.

The men in this story. They are almost universally villainous and one-dimensional. Each male character seems to embody harmful attitudes and behaviour. In contrast, the few men (Lewis, Greenwood and Nigel Davies) who show genuine care and respect for the women in their lives are relegated to the background, with no personalities. This imbalance not only detracts from the richness of the narrative but also diminishes the potential for a more complex exploration of gender dynamics, leaving the good characters to fade into the shadows.

The book has an incredible premise, but it gets let down by these two issues. I am so glad I kept reading it though, because the last few chapters are really good writing.