Thank you to Netgalley and Europe Coics for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I love it when some classic novels are made into graphic novels, the story is the same but the art always differs from one artist to another and each time it is like you're reading the story for the first time.

This one is my favovorite graphic novel version of "The Secret Garden". Maud Begon created something so beautiful and enjoyable to read and it was such a pleasure to look at all her illustrations in each page, it even made me take my pensil and draw. I loved it so so much and this is only the first part, so I will be waiting for the next book.

Thank you so much for this agreeable reading moment.

I really enjoyed this adaptation of the classic The Secret Garden. It was very true to the source material and I especially liked that the dialect of Dickon and Martha came through in the wording used. I am looking forward to reading Part II.

A delightful retelling of The Secret Garden, full of clear and sweet illustrations. It is easy to access, the picture as and text clear and easy to read. Mary is truly brought to life and the transformation of herself and the garden she cares for is magical. Her boisterous nature has been perfectly captured and I am eager for part 2.

The graphic novel is beautiful! Every page is designed so beautiful and appealing. I loved looking at it. Unfortunately, the story could not completely convince me. I don't know the original, the children's classic, but somehow it was boring in places. I would have liked more depth and variation. In summary, it's a beautiful adaptation that I loved to read, but it didn't whet my appetite for the original story.

The Secret Garden is one of my favorite pieces of children's literature. I adored it as a kid and watch my students enjoy it too. This graphic novel is such a fun and refreshing revamp to a classic story. The illustrations are beautiful and the art style really suits the story. I love how the illustrations (like the robin) leap out of the comic box and fly across the page. This book is a fantastic rendition of a classic that will sure to captivate a new generation of readers. I have already added this to my wishlist for our class library!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an eARC of this title in exchange for my honest review.

I would like to preface by saying that I haven’t read the original, but I did attempt to start it and then quickly stopped reading (and listening) because of the racism in the first chapter or so. (I do plan on returning to it at some point.) I appreciate that the graphic novel omits most of this, because I don’t think the racism would be appropriate for anyone but especially for children. However, on the other hand, I feel like in the erasure of the racism it erases how bad it truly is, which is a valuable lesson to begin learning at a young age.

I think that the differences in Mary’s behavior we see in the graphic novel in comparison to the original was a very smart move. Children will become uninterested in a book if they don’t find any joy from it. Which will definitely happen when the main character is a horrible person and is constantly unhappy. This version of the story treats Mary like the child (in a good way) that she actually is. She is able to find and make friends just about everywhere by finding a common interest.

I really liked the art style and I think it complements the story well. There is also a nice balance between the amount of words on each page and the complexity of the art.

When I started this, I didn’t realize it was Vol.1. Now I have to wait forever for the next volume. I will be purchasing a copy for myself.

I would like to thank the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this eBook.

This is the second graphic adaptation of The Secret Garden that I have read and I loved it! The colors, the characters, the overall aesthetic... everything was beautiful. I cannot wait to read the second volume.

The art is so cute. I particularly love how expressive the characters are.

This is the first part of the original story by Frances Hodgson Burnett. The script and art are made by Maud Begon and it was published on October 20th, 2021.

I haven't read The Secret Garden, so I can't tell how much the text sticks to the original story, though I'm familiar with the story, and I remember watching a movie when I was a little child. I know France's Hodgson Burnett's story is considered racist and I've read several reviews and opinions that clearly confirm it. I can see that those racist comments were omitted in this graphic novel, and even though we see that Mary is quite rude, because on the one hand she's a neglected child who is now an orphan living in another country with her gloomy uncle and on the other hand, she was raised only by servants at home and she did what she wanted, therefore she was tyrannic, spoiled, and selfish. We can see more of those last characteristics in this graphic novel adaptation. And we can also see that it centers more on the garden and its "magic".

Thanks to EuropeComics and NetGalley for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

As a child, The Secret Garden was a book I read over and over and over. I have even returned to it once or twice as an adult. I have seen a movie adaptation and an animated film based upon it. As an adult, I'm a reader of graphic lit, and have worked with children in educational settings, so this felt like a natural fit to review.

The art in this book was really lovely-- especially the use of color to indicate a change in seasons/change in mood, and showing the garden itself, which is of course one of the things I was excited for--very wintry and neglected and yet wondrous and grand. I was glad to see the characters fit their basic physical descriptions. The page with a flower border showing Mary meeting Dickon was beautifully done.

I think the author struck a good balance in keeping the feel of the Yorkshire dialect while making it accessible to younger readers. I did not like so much the use of modernized language like 'crap'. Part of the enchantment of this book for me as a child was that, so many years after it was written, it's basically a period piece, and there's some romance and escapism in that.

Speaking of romance, it was the emotional part of the narrative that was a disappointment for me as someone with a strong sense of connection to to the original book.. The original book is really so much about Mary (and Colin, and Ben Weatherstaff) being crabby and withdrawn and sullen and lonely, and slowly-- *slowly* coming to health and life and connection with other people. But she goes from her crabby and ill face to a smile quickly and stays smiling through a very large chunk where she should still be lonely and cross and unsure of herself. The contrast of the dreary house and moor with spring coming to the garden was, again, done beautifully in the color palette and the settings, but I wish I had seen a greater variety and subtlety in facial expressions on the characters. I did not like that Mary got big heart eyes for Dickon-- to me, her delight in him and fascination with him is not anything resembling a romantic crush as much as it is coming to a new way of relating to the world, and making a friend her own age for the first time in her life.

I also feel that a lot of the painful and sad parts of the book were rushed over-- and I think in adapting stories for young readers, it is easy to underestimate their tolerance for reading stories about loneliness, grief, feeling unwanted, etc., when children certainly feel these things and stories actually help them understand and process those feelings. And I also think that simply including thought bubbles along with speech bubbles would have gone a long way towards conveying the emotional reality of the book better-- Mary keeps her thoughts to herself a lot, and for her to exclaim them out loud here really changes her personality. Telling Colin about the garden really existing rather than describing it to him as a 'what if' story and then telling him after they've built up more trust took something out of it for me as well.

If I were looking to share this story I love with a middle-grade reader (like my nephew), unfortunately, I think I would resort to reading the original out loud or seeking an adaptation that captures the story as I felt it and remember it-- the story of a very cross, contrary, distrusting kid, day-by-day, getting healthier and happier and finding a place for herself in the world. I understand restrictions on length as well as readability for a young audience may have been a factor, and it is clear the author also has their own love for and emotional connection to this story-- giving it one or two more volumes to unfold in may have given the ups and downs of the original story more room for expression.

Such a beautiful adaptation of the children's classic! I can't wait to read the second instalment for it. Loved the art and the script adaptation.

Synopsis: Based on the book by classic British children’s novelist Francis Hodgson Burnett (which I have not read), The Secret Garden follows 10-year-old Mary who moves to her uncle’s English mansion from India after her parents’ death. There, she finds a door leading to the titular enchanted garden where whimsy adventures ensue.

My Thoughts: Plot (5/5) – As a child, I’ve always had idyllic flight of fancies concerning nature and the seemingly magical beauty it beholds which I dreamed of indulging in as a respite from harsh, unforgiving urban life. While my view on the likes of naturalism has shifted towards a more jaded angle since then, the premise combined with the cozy-feeling art appealed to my nostalgic sensibilities, so I had to jump onto this title.

Characters (5/5) – I loved Mary’s evolution throughout. She starts as a pretty spoiled and bitter child who carries on an irate demeanor towards her new environment before gradually displaying more compassion and an uptick in mood as she is surrounded by more positive figures in her life. One of the most admirable characters in that respect is the house servant Martha who is one of the few adults who is patient to Mary and sympathetic of her plight even showing an affinity for child-like activities such as jumping rope. The children Mary interacts with later in the story including Martha’s little brother Dickon and Colin, Mary’s incapacitated cousin, are also some lovable personalities I wish I could give a hug.

Dialogue (5/5) – The usage of various English dialects by the lower-class denizens made the setting more convincing and added an element of linguistic diversity to the exchanges without ever being too difficult to understand.

Art and Composition (5/5) – The lineart applied smooth strokes and thin lines which, along with the soft pastel watercolors, complemented the whimsical atmosphere of the book seamlessly. The same can be said for the composition which utilized scenic features to construct the frames during some of the garden scenes, melding it into a symbiotic entity in relation to the action. Meanwhile, the dialogue within the speech bubbles feels appropriately spaced never taking up too much space in a single panel.

Final Thoughts: This was a wondrous adaptation I would recommend to both children and adults looking for a beautiful, whimsical read. I’m definitively looking forward to part 2’s release.


Thanks to Europe Comics and NetGalley for providing me with my first advance ebook copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is a great way to encourage people to read the classic story of “The Secret Garden” I have been encouraged to read the classic but have never had the interest in doing it. This made me really want to read the original and I can’t wait to find our what happens to Mary at the end of the first book.

This was a sweet graphic novel - I couldn't remember a lot of the original book but I feel like this one did it justice! Very lovely illustrations too.

The Secret Garden is my favorite book of all time. I have such fond memories of this story and so many emotions attached to it. This graphic novel did not disappoint. It follows the story exactly. The illustrations show Mary’s growth as a character and the garden is as beautiful as I have always imagined. This was wonderfully done.

I absolutely loved this adaptation of The Secret Garden. The illustrations were beautiful and captured the spirit of the book. The story was more detailed than other visual adaptations I’ve seen. I feel like nothing of the story was left out. I am excited to read part two.

3.5*
It's been so long since I've read or watched the Secret Garden that I actually couldn't remember much of the story going into it, but a graphic novel seemed like a new way to consume the story and it was great! I wish I'd been able to read the second part straight after because I still can't remember what happens and I want to know.
It took me a little while to get into the art style, but I appreciated that this adaption seemed to remove (at least so far) the racism that I do remember from the original. Mary even grew likable pretty quickly, so I don't know if the author is removing parts of the original and speeding it up, or if I just held more of a grudge against Mary as a child.
I do think that this graphic novel would have benefited from telling the whole Secret Garden story in one part, but perhaps the choice was made to make it more digestible for it's core audience. Either way, I enjoyed reading the story in this format and it was far quicker and more pleasant than pushing myself through the original.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

The first part of this classic turned grafic novel os perfect, especially if you skipped reading the original.

The graphics are gorgeous and the story flows easily.

I was excited to read this book at first because I enjoyed the original Secret Garden. Unfortunately, this book wasn’t really for me. It just didn’t give off the same vibes as the original story. The graphic novel adaptation was just… weird.

The illustrations weren’t great and since when does Mary say “crap?”

I always loved The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett and was delighted to come across this graphic novel edition and couldn’t help but read it. The illustrations are beautiful and the change of Mary Lennox’s behaviour is perfectly captured in the gradual change of her appearance throughout the story. I will not only have to find my own print edition but also highly recommend this as present for any fans of FHB’s work and Classic Fiction in general. If bought for a child, parents will be happily read it together with them. Beautiful! The only thing I would change is in making this an edition of the complete story and not publishing it in parts. Thank you for the opportunity to enjoy this free digital edition.

Orphaned Mary is sent from her home in India to live with her reclusive uncle on the moors in England. As Mary adjust to her new life in England she learns about a secret garden on the grounds, she meets Dickon, the maid’s young brother and finally she discovers that the crying she hears at night comes from her guardian’s ill son who is hidden away from sight.

The Secret Garden has been one of my favorite books since childhood. I collect illustrated versions of this classic tale. Maud Begon has captured both the essence of the characters and provides beautiful illustrations to bring this classic to life. Highly recommended.