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4.06 AVERAGE
4.06 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
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
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
hopeful
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
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I’d say… watch the movie from the 90’s. Save yourself reading this book. Especially don’t read it to kids. There’s a LOT of racism in there, and really backward view on India. The beginning of the novel, Mary is alone in a house filled with dead people because of cholera (the earthquake in the movie is much better)
Then there are a lot of other things that made the book boring. Whatever wrongs there are in this book, or bad plot holes etc. the movie fixes.
There’s a whole part of a chapter dedicated to church (Christianity) stuff and it’s just … no. It has no place in the story. It almost feels as though the author put it there to avoid criticism over the children’s belief in the magic of the garden. It definitely soured things and didn’t help the story in any shape or form, completely irrelevant to the plot.
And then, the moment Colin enters the story the book is no longer about Mary. It just shifts to be all about Colin and then even the ending is about Colin and his dad and Mary is not even an after thought.
It’s strangely written and I had to force myself to finish it. I didn’t enjoy it at all which was a shock to me because it was one of my favourite childhood movies (the 1993 film). It feels as though whoever made the movie had read the book and decided to fix it for the better.
Then there are a lot of other things that made the book boring. Whatever wrongs there are in this book, or bad plot holes etc. the movie fixes.
There’s a whole part of a chapter dedicated to church (Christianity) stuff and it’s just … no. It has no place in the story. It almost feels as though the author put it there to avoid criticism over the children’s belief in the magic of the garden. It definitely soured things and didn’t help the story in any shape or form, completely irrelevant to the plot.
And then, the moment Colin enters the story the book is no longer about Mary. It just shifts to be all about Colin and then even the ending is about Colin and his dad and Mary is not even an after thought.
It’s strangely written and I had to force myself to finish it. I didn’t enjoy it at all which was a shock to me because it was one of my favourite childhood movies (the 1993 film). It feels as though whoever made the movie had read the book and decided to fix it for the better.
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A splendid children’s book full of whimsy. I’m endeared to the language and the delightful characters who exhibit so much growth from beginning to end.
It's a lovely classic with some sad implications, but the most hopeful developments throughout. Although the story is somewhat simplistic to the modern understanding, I expect it was both progressive and complex for the time, and presented quite novel ideas about medicine, and unconventional attitudes to sickness, disability and mental health.