Reviews

Into the Bright Open: A Secret Garden Remix by Cherie Dimaline

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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.

Content Warnings

ecolvig's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective 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? It's complicated

4.0

tiffani_reads's review against another edition

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mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

aielinnae's review against another edition

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4.0

The latest remixed classic is Cherie Dimaline’s Into the Bright Open, a retelling of the Secret Garden in a remote area of Canada.

tallsoyflatwhite's review against another edition

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Boring

morallygreyswiftie's review

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hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

dorywithana's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

As a kid my favorite audio book to play while doing chores was The Secret Garden it was the book that led me to a life long journey of a love for reading. As a queer adult now this books heals my inner child, seeing how my favorite book as a kid has grown like I have. Thank you for bringing this story into my world.