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A review by inkdrinkers
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
slow-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
2.0
It feels unfair for me to rip into this book because it's so beloved by so many people. But I hated it.
The Secret Garden is mildly better than A Little Princess, but I still had such a hard time getting through the writing and the plot. I did enjoy Mary, but the fact she was almost fully abandoned as the main character made me so mad. Martha was abandoned as well. The characters had no consistency in their appearances in the story and it just seemed like halfway through the story changed focus.
The end chapter made me irrationally angry as well. The last page didn't feel satisfying at all, it just felt like the story suddenly ended with no wrap up to anything else.
Overall I didn't like this. It took me an entire month to read and now I think I have a chip on my shoulder. Maybe the movie is better.
One star for the appearance of a baby fox and one star for a pony named Jump.
The Secret Garden is mildly better than A Little Princess, but I still had such a hard time getting through the writing and the plot. I did enjoy Mary, but the fact she was almost fully abandoned as the main character made me so mad. Martha was abandoned as well. The characters had no consistency in their appearances in the story and it just seemed like halfway through the story changed focus.
The end chapter made me irrationally angry as well. The last page didn't feel satisfying at all, it just felt like the story suddenly ended with no wrap up to anything else.
Overall I didn't like this. It took me an entire month to read and now I think I have a chip on my shoulder. Maybe the movie is better.
One star for the appearance of a baby fox and one star for a pony named Jump.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Medical content, and Child abuse
Moderate: Classism, Racism, and Racial slurs
Child abuse is fairly consistent throughout. There's also a startling passage where a character states that a woman caused herself to be beaten by her husband because she said the wrong thing to him. Racism and classicism abound.