Cover Image: The Secret Garden

The Secret Garden

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Member Reviews

I requested this book because the illustrations are absolutely stunning; I think they capture perfectly the essence and the atmosphere of The Secret Garden, which is one of my favorite children's classics.
The adaptation is really well-done; I think it includes all the important details and the flow of the narrative makes this book a pleasure to read. I really enjoyed it and I highly recommend it!

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3.5 rounded up! Like it’s predecessor, Anne of Green Gables, it covers only the essential parts of the story and serves as a good introduction to the popular children’s classic. I like how they elected to omit Mary’s life before Misselthwaite Manor, as the original novel did not accurately and delicately consider this backstory (and the oppression of India and Pakistan by British colonists). I think some people will love this rendition and others won’t — I’m sitting somewhere in the middle because the art didn’t quite live up to the expectations I set after the absolutely enchanting and beautiful Anne of Green Gables graphic novel. I understand the necessity of the gloomier theme, but it didn’t spark the joy that the original novel did.

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Growing up, The Secret Garden was one of my favorite movies. I only recently discovered that I was based on a book! I bought it but haven't read it yet. So when I saw a graphic novel based on this, I knew I had to read it!

I loved the graphic twist to this classic. Reading books at school is one of my worst school memory. I read a lot as a kid, and the more books we had to read for school, less I read for fun. It almost made me give up reading. So having a graphic twist to a classic can pick up interest for the younger generation and I'm all of it!

Many many thanks to Andrew McNeel Publishing for the complimentary e-copy of this book through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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This graphic retelling of the classic story has beautiful, eye catching art work. The author made a great choice editing out the problematic aspects of the original tale, but keeping the charm of the story. A fine book that will appeal to fans of the book and new readers alike.

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The art style in this was mazing and brought the atmosphere to this classic around amazingly I was completely in love from the get go. Mariah and Hanna did an amazing job at making this new format of this classic their own!

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A watered-down, graphic novel version of <i>The Secret Garden</i>. Both the art and story make it pretty clear this is intended for younger audiences. The art has a picture book quality to it. The story glosses over a lot of how unbearable the children are to begin with. It also skips over the reason for Mary's awful behaviour, her time in India during the British oppression of colonial India where she was kept isolated in a camp before her family died of cholera. The creators stated they opted don't do justice to the British oppression in India. Anyway, the story feels a bit washed over to make it palatable for kids (and their parents).

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The artstyle is very cute. This is my first time reading secret garden and i enjoyed it, but i got a little bit bored on the early pages

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received for free from netgalley for honest review* read at least one? Illustrated edition of secret garden and this one was very cute! Would be good for children, awesome art work!

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I haven't read the original book of 'The Secret Garden', so I can't compare them. However, I enjoyed the graphic novel overall. The story is rather straightforward, but positive. The illustrations are interesting, and there were many left blank so you could savour them at your own pace. I was interested to read in the notes at the back that some aspects of Mary's background were changed to make it more 'politically correct'. I can understand why they did this. Though on the other hand, a nod to the original would also provide a learning point of how history has changed since then. Overall, a good addition to the growing graphic novel adaptations of children's classics.

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Green-growing secrets and powerful magic await you at Misselthwaite Manor, now reimagined in this bewitching graphic novel adaptation of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s beloved tale. From Mariah Marsden, author of the critically acclaimed Anne of Green Gables: A Graphic Novel, comes the second installment in this series of retold children's classics.

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Thanks to Netgalley for the copy!
What a stunning graphic novel! I enjoy this just fine and I'm happy that I picked this book!

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This is a graphic novel version of the classic story 'The Secret Garden'. I loved this story as a kid, but must admit I don't remember too much of it. This version is nice, but I felt like there was something missing.

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As a long-time fan of Frances Hodgson Burnett, I was looking forward to this graphic novel a lot, but I found myself underwhelmed. The art was fine, but didn't stir emotions in me. I think that the garden has to really look like it's almost magical in a visual representation, and it missed the mark. In short, it was a fine adaptation, but brought nothing new or exciting to the book as a whole.

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3.5

I was so excited to read this graphic novel as I really enjoyed Marsden's Anne of Green Gables graphic novel and I wasn't disappointed. I hadn't read the Secret Garden for quite some time so I made sure to read it again before reading which really helped me see how the novel was converted into the graphic novel. While of course it was condensed to fit this form, it did keep a large part of the story. While I did feel like some important parts were kind of glossed over or forgotten about, it didn't ruin the book for me but was recognizably missing. I felt like some things were also slightly moved to fit the author's story a bit more than the original but again, nothing terrible.

The true highlight of this book was the illustrations. I really loved how the illustrator took on the job and I could feel the forest coming alive through the ongoing pages. They drew the characters just as I thought they would be.

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5 stars

This is a beautiful illustrated graphic novel!
Ten-year-old Mary Lennox arrives at a secluded estate on the Yorkshire moors with a scowl and a chip on her shoulder.
Highly recommend this!

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I had previously read The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett, so I was already familiar with the story of this graphic novel. Though I have to say that it’s been years and I don’t remember all the details about it. This graphic novel felt very nostalgic to me, due to it being a familial story. I had fun reading this story again, in a new format.

I feet like the message of the original novel was brought through in this, despite it’s short format. Though I also have to say that some of the story felt a bit abrupt. Some of the original story was left out as well, though that is understandable due to the format limitations. I did find the story a bit lacking, I just expected more from it. (I really can’t explain why without getting into spoilers.) Some of the characters were kinda annoying, but I remember thinking that of the original novel as well so this isn’t a fault of the graphic novel. I just felt like mentioning it as well, since it did impact my reading enjoyment.

The art wasn’t my favourite. Don’t get me wrong it’s pretty and enjoyable, but I would have preferred brighter colours. Especially once the garden is discovered. I guess I expected it to have a more magical feeling than it did and that might be my fault. Anyway, the art was good but not what I expected it to be.

The Secret Garden: A Graphic Novel was a fun and enjoyable read. It’s very accessible for younger readers who want to get into this story and might be intimidated by the novel. I would recommend checking this one out, if it sounds interesting to you.

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A lovely adaptation of the original tale. Still incredibly white, but the back matter explains in more detail about the context of the original work and why the adaptor chose to leave out some of the more...racist parts. The art is lovely and all libraries should have a copy on their shelves.

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Seeing as I have never read the original Secret Garden, I went into this book blindly I really enjoyed this graphic novel. The artwork was absolutely gorgeous in it and the story kept my attention the entire time. The inspiration that Mary our main character who is an orphan gave her newfound friend was absolutely breathtaking. If someone wants to get into classics but are unsure how I definitely recommend starting out with the graphic novel versions.

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An absolutely adorable and wonderful remake of a classic story into graphic novel format. 5 Stars! I received a free copy of this book through NetGalley.

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This is an absolutely stunning graphic novel of a favorite story of mine! I can't wait to see a physical printed copy as I think the art will be even more incredible than on the screen. My favorite aspect of this adaptation (beyond the art style) was the exclusion of the colonial setting in the story. Reframing the story did not take away from the nostalgia or storyline, but modernized it for the next generation of children to grow up reading this beautiful story.

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Particularmente quiero resaltar el maravilloso arte que acompaña la historia. Un dibujo precioso acompañado de un color espectacular. Por lo general me gusta destacar ese tipo de elementos ya que se trata de una obra enfocada al público infantil que, quieras o no, se deja guiar significativamente por el apartado visual.

Sobre la novela grafica como adaptación, aunque es muy fácil de leer y contiene los fundamentos principales de la obra, hay elementos que no están bien explorados o desarrollados. Estos detalles son evidentes al finalizar y comenzar un nuevo capítulo. Las transiciones no se sienten naturales y deja un sentimiento de ausencia de paginas o paneles en la narración. Lamentablemente es un detalle que se repite durante toda la progresión del libro, el cual puede dificultar la compresión del lector.

De ahí en más, es un libro que recomendaría para lectores que busquen un primer contacto con la obra de Frances Hodgson Burnett, sin el atavío que implica leer la novela completa.

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