cassroberts89 's review for:

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

4.25

emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective sad slow-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

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Reread in August 2025 for book club. I enjoyed this so much more than I remember as a kid/younger person/whenever I last read it. There were things that stood out to me this time that I don’t remember noticing, like poor Mary’s one major outburst related to her being left all alone in India (when she first tells Dickon about the garden and is scared someone will come take it away from her and that must not care  anyway because they left it all alone to die 🥺). There’s a whole lot more I could say, and we did say when we met for our book club discussion, but I’m tired. Maybe later.