This was a really unique and special book with a great main character and a really interesting eco meesage.

Fern has lived her life so far exploring the rainforests with her parents but one day that all changes and they decide to continue their explorations without her, sending her to London to live with her eccentric Uncle. This is a London slightly different to the one we know though with giant plants sprouting up everywhere and taking over many of the most famous buildings in the city. Fern is really unhappy there until she rescues a small plant that she finds she can communicate with and when it starts to grow at an alarming rate, she begins to investigate whether it might be in some way connected to the plants appearing in the city.

It was a great exploration of the connection between city and countryside and the impact that we as humans have on the environment. Fern was a brilliant character - independent, confident but also open minded and friendly - and I loved her friendship that she developed with her neighbour.

A lovely story, full of fun and adventure but important messages too.

I usually read YA fiction but tried this children’s book as I was intrigued by the cover and the blurb. It did not disappoint. A really exciting story with a fantastic villain! I will not only be promoting this book to my classes by especially to any children who enjoy science. It is full of the Latin names for plants and exploring different species of plants so great for young scientists!

Fern has grown up surrounded by plants in far flung places around the world as her botanist parents yearn to discover rare plants for research. But when Fern's tree-climbing nature lands her in danger, her parents send her to London to move in with her Uncle Ned, thinking it's safer at school where Fern can learn to become less wild. On on the journey there, lonely and missing the rainforest, Fern takes a plant that falls from another plane passenger's large luggage crate. This isn't an ordinary plant, it's uniquely special, Fern loves and nurtures it.
But in London, strange giant plants keep appearing overnight, big enough to engulf whole buildings and Fern embarks on an action-packed, plant filled adventure as she tries to adapt to life in a city away from the flora rich life she left behind with her parents.

This is a fun read, brimming with crazy baddies that leap off the page that you want to boo loudly. But don't be fooled by the fun. This isn't a flimsy read. It is well written with energy, pace and beautiful prose woven between the apt botanical names and references. Greenery vines through every page. Thankfully, this is not a boarding school book and Fern's parents learn the lessons of not appreciating their resilient and caring child. While Fern discovers new perils in the seemingly safe city and opens herself up to the vulnerability and joy of making new friends in their many different forms.

The Secret Wild is one of the most exciting adventure-mystery books I’ve read in a long time and with sprinklings of eco-themes and a passion for plants this book has wound it’s tendrils into my heart. The main character Fern has lived a rather unconventional childhood and when she’s moved from the rainforest to the big city it’s no wonder she feels uprooted from her life. And yet she isn’t alone - she’s met a new plant-friend (who can understand her every word!).

But life in the city isn’t quite what she’s expecting: giant lily pads cross the Thames, the underground is infested with giant plant roots, monkey vines have taken over the London Eye and there’s a Guerrilla Gardener on the loose.

Needless to say this story has been pruned to perfection and the themes of eco-terrorism, rewilding and nature conservation will no doubt appeal to young readers. The main characters are brilliant - full of nerves and bravery, humour and a little heartache, kindness and for the antagonist and protagonists alike an unwavering sense of justice.

Perfect for fans of Beetle Boy!

Fern Flora Featherstone may just be my new favourite heroine. She is curious, mischievous and intelligent, not to mention positive about being able to communicate with plants!
She has grown up in the wilds with her botanist parents and is always keen to explore new areas, meet new plants and prove herself to her family. After a dangerous encounter on the Amazon river, her parents decide she should live in London with her Uncle Ned.
He is kind and rather forgetful, getting lost in the books he writes and the characters who have taken over his life.
They muddle through with lots of tea and toast.
While travelling to London, Fern finds a plant lost from a crate of rather unusual plants, and meets a woman she calls The Botantist, a firm and demanding sort of woman.
Naming this young plant, Special, Fern senses an understanding between her and this plant.
An adventure ensues where Fern must protect and allow Special to survive but she will need help from the botanist. Finding her secret wild at the magnolia hotel, Fern stumbles into much more than just plans to turn London green…dangerous and deadly plans and plants!

I loved this story and the newness of city living to a young girl who loves nothing more than being at one in nature, with her toes buried in the grass.
Her knowledge of plants is immense and this comes to her rescue more than once. Having grown up completely solitary, Fern has a lot to learn about making friends. Woody, is fearful of many things….plants being top of the list and he finds Fern slightly odd!

A brilliant story about friendship, re-wilding city spaces and finding your feet!

A botanical adventure that's as much homage to the wonder of plants as it is mutant flower invasion thriller.

A young botanist swaps the Amazon rainforest for an urban jungle, only to find even more epic flora in the city.

Infused with a love of London & all that is green🌱❤🌿

What an absolute delight to read! This is such an original and beautiful book. It put me in mind of a true classic children's story but with a more up to date feel, with fabulous storytelling that pulls you in from the opening pages. The characterisation is brilliant, I knew the imagery was going to be fab when we get 'cinnamon-coloured hair from the opening page'. Fern is so engaging, a likeable, strong and relatable character that I found myself really rooting for her throughout. The secondary characters add so much to this story, and are a colourful and fun on so many levels, including an antagonist that I found easy to dislike. The environment is a strong theme throughout, and family and friendship in this beautiful story, I can highly recommend it to lovers of both adventure and plants!

This was such a fun book! The premise was engaging and exciting - imagine suddenly being surrounded by gigantic plants! - but also thought provoking and very timely considering all the climate chatter at the moment. I loved the characters and the world was described beautifully, particularly at the start in the rainforest. I even learned a thing or two about plants and flowers!

The Secret Wild is an exciting, action-paced eco-adventure, rooted in friendship and courage, that completely captivated me as I became enveloped in the wonder and mystery of this enchanting adventure.

10-year-old, plant-loving Fern Featherstone spends her time travelling all over the world with her botanist parents as they hunt for rare plants for medical research. However, when her natural curiosity lands her in danger in the Amazon Rainforest, her parents decide to send her to stay with her uncle as they assume that she will be safer in London than going with them on their next trip … how wrong could they be?

On the flight to London, when a crate opens, a tiny plant rolls towards her. It seems to understand her, so she decides to keep it: surely no-one would miss one little plant? She hides the plant from her eccentric, kind-hearted Uncle Ned, and names it Special. Special isn’t the only unique plant in London, but the others are much larger and are taking over famous London landmarks. Many believe this is the work of the Guerrilla Gardener, but who is the Gardener and what is their goal?

When Special becomes unwell, Fern is determined to seek a cure for her friend, and that involves finding out more about where Special has come from … so begins a brilliantly fast-paced, gripping adventure as Fern and her new friend, Woody, find themselves at the heart of an intriguing mystery … a mystery brimming with danger, tension and unexpected twists and turns. Someone is intent on rewilding London, but will London survive the rewilding?

I really enjoyed the environmental message that was woven throughout the story where we are given a fascinating insight into the awe and wonder of plant life, and the importance of looking after our plants and trees, maintaining balance between humans and nature so that both can thrive.

I really liked both Fern and Woody, who find a bond through their loneliness, despite their very different upbringings and interests. Fern has been uprooted from her life travelling the world with her family, and has to navigate both friendship and settling in to a new life in London. Woody has also had upheaval in his life, and is finding it difficult to deal with these changes. I really enjoyed the tentative and natural building of their friendship which felt really authentic. They both face their fears and find the courage to stand up for what they believe in, and to help each other when desperately needed. I just have to add that I absolutely adored eccentric Uncle Ned – a real knight in shining armour!
This is an exhilarating, heart-warming nature-inspired adventure that is sure to delight children of 9+.

I love a middle-grade with a conscience and an important message for the world. The Secret Wild suggested that it would take me on an eco-conscious journey and I was very ready for it.

Throughout her life, Fern has travelled all over the world with her botanist parents. So when they decide that she’d be better off staying in London with an eccentric uncle that she’s never met, Fern is reluctant to go. But then she meets an unusual plant, who seems to understand everything she says and London appears to have a problem with overgrown plants, the origins of which no one can explain. Can Fern solve the mystery and find out why her new plant friend seems to be looking a bit sad?

I thought it was really clever how the plant illustrations around the chapter beginnings became more elaborate as the book progressed. The plants were getting bigger and so was the artwork. Although these are the only illustrations in the book (and I think I wanted more), they were very effective and tied in nicely with the narrative.

The Featherstone family have an idyllic lifestyle and I would have been devastated to leave that behind for the city of London, which Fern has to. This start to life has equipped Fern with a lot of street smarts and she is a very hardy 10-year-old. I had no doubt that she’d be able to get herself out of the crazy situations she’d find herself in.

I was intrigued as to what was going on in London. It was clearly something very strange and I knew that an evil villain had to be at large. I knew that Fern would be capable of figuring out the truth and I felt sure that I’d learn a lot about plants alongside her. It was a very unique mystery and I knew I’d be in for a ride unlike one I’d been on before.

Of course, Fern takes a bit of time to get used to London life. Her neighbour Woody teaches her a lot about the city and I loved seeing their friendship develop. Fern has the air of a fascinated tourist about her when she arrives in the city and she’s very eager to learn about different ways of life. She was very lucky that a plant-based mystery was unfolding in this new place and she just happened to be in the right place at the right time!

Fern and Woody learn a lot from each other and I think that their friendship is essential to both of them overcoming anxiety and the changes to both of their lives that they have no control over. Toxic masculinity and traditional gender expectations are challenged a few times in the book and I loved seeing that in a middle-grade story.

Evil isn’t always obvious and The Secret Wild touches on that too. I had an uneasy feeling about Oleander from the moment I met her and I was waiting for the penny to drop for Fern too. While the smart scientist has good intentions, she took them too far and had very little consideration for the consequences of what she was doing. It’s important for children to realise that villains don’t have to hold overtly wicked views and values -bad people are everywhere.

The Secret Wild is a unique, fast-paced adventure with a lot of information about plants and how they behave. There are some amazing characters in this book too, including Fern’s Uncle Ned, who made me laugh several times. Combining elements of our world with a madcap, botanical mystery and adventure, this is a book that will delight eco-conscious readers young and old.

not a bad little book. I enjoyed the premise a lot and the story was fun enough, but i wasn't really taken in by the story and found myself overall a bit disappointed by the story. despite that, i do think that younger kids will find this to be a fun, exciting read. I just feel i've read books that i've enjoyed a lot more.

The Secret Wild is a stellar debut novel, sure to enchant younger readers and amuse older readers alike. Fern Featherstone is a plant-lover who has spent a nomadic life in the wild on botanical fieldwork trips with her parents, growing up with no other children of her age, but perfectly happy in the company of plants and trees whom she treats as sentient beings. One day, she comes into possession of a very special plant on her way to London to live with her uncle and start school. Much like another famous Fern in children's literature (Charlotte's Web), our Fern takes the odd little plant as her special companion, finding that it can actually understand and respond to her! But upon arriving in London, she is greeted by strange giant plants popping up overnight round the city -- collapsing Tube tunnels, enveloping the Shard, blocking off the Houses of Parliament -- causing incredible damage and disruptions to people's lives. Could Fern's special plant, which is growing weaker now, have a connection to these strange happenings? With her reluctant new friend Woody, Fern boldly sets out in search of something that will save her plant, but is catapulted into the midst of a nightmare waiting to be unleashed. She soon realises that much more than the life of her special plant is at stake, and time is running out!

The Secret Wild is a treasure trove of delightful elements: a lovable young protagonist strongly reminiscent of Gerald Durrell (but for plants instead of animals), the reveal of a larger-than-life villain (though one with a sympathetic backstory) with a horrific, fast-paced plot that could have come straight out of an Alex Rider book, famous London landmarks cleverly woven into the story, smatterings of Latin and scientific knowledge that will amuse nerdy readers, a perfect dose of humour, and a heart-warming reminder of the power of love -- a power that evil minds inevitably underestimate when carrying out their nefarious schemes. Fans of series like George's Secret Key to the Universe and Alex Rider will be sure to enjoy their adventures with Fern in The Secret Wild!

In a Nutshell: An excellent children’s fiction full of adventure and mystery, and centred on a topic not commonly found in this genre – plants!

Story:
Ten year old Fern Featherstone loves plants, talks to plants and knows a lot about plants, but not in the theoretical way her botanist researcher dad wants her to. Both her parents hunt for rare plants in the Amazonian rainforest, but after a certain misadventure, they decide that Fern will be better off living with her dad’s brother Ned in London. Needless to say, Fern isn’t happy about leaving her beloved rainforest to go stay in a city.
Life in London is totally unlike what she is used too and Fern soon finds herself “uprooted” and homesick. When she meets a little plant that seems to respond to her conversations, she is happy at having a companion.
But there is something strange afoot in London. Giant plants are popping up almost overnight in various public places, surrounding famous structures and destroying monuments. What is happening? How are Fern and her little plant friend connected to this mystery? You’ll need to read the book to know more.
The book is written in the limited third person perspective of Fern.

As a children’s fiction, this book caters to its target reading segment perfectly. There is a steady pace throughout the story. There are lots of interesting and spooky things happening. There are amazing settings – the Amazonian rainforest and London city providing a fabulous and contrasting background for the story. I loved how the landmarks of London were used to enhance the impact of the villain’s wicked pursuits.

The characters are exactly as they should be in this genre. There is an absolutely adorable protagonist who is torn between her feelings. (Plus points for being a girl who isn’t afraid to live life on her own terms.) There is a nerdy uncle who can’t make anything other than toast but loves his little niece in his own way. There is a little boy next door who is caught up in his own problems but is still a friend in need. There is a devious villain who will spook kids out and yet win their sympathy by the backstory. The villain has a sidekick who is equally nefarious and bumbling. Each of the characters is larger than life but also layered well. None of the main characters is a clear black or white, which isn’t common in children’s fiction. I enjoyed how most of the characters’ names had a connection to plants.

For a debut novel, this book manages to do an amazing job and it kept me hooked from start to end. Does it mean that this is a book without flaws? Not really. There are some farfetched events, a few convenient coincidences, and a perfectly-tied ending. But keep in mind that this is children’s fiction and all of these are common features of this genre. So just channel your inner princess Elsa and sing 🎶Let it go, let it go🎶 to these trivial shortcomings.

Heartily recommended to all readers aged tween and above. If you want a fun adventure novel set around plants, this is the book for you.

4.5 stars.

PS: Isn’t that cover art outstanding?


My thanks to Walker Books and NetGalley for the DRC of “The Secret Wild”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

Torn away from the exciting, lush environment that she adores, Fern is determined not to like living in grey London as it’s clearly just going to be a big disappointment. But a strange little plant, who can understand her, piques Fern’s curiosity and starts an adventure of a lifetime that is going to make London a bit wilder.

Fern was just a delightful character, so inquisitive and warm-hearted. Young readers will adore her and her affection for the natural world, I know I did! I liked how the friendship evolved with Fern and Woody. Uncle Ned was a fantastic contrast to Fern’s parents and a complete joy. Fern may have thought him too eccentric but I loved him straight way.

It’s a fun story that will appeal to imaginative children that are enticed by a wild yarn and maybe help save a few plants in the process!

The jacket design by George Ermos was stunning, and the small illustrations throughout added to the charm of the book.

I really enjoyed this book and read it really quickly. It was well written with an engaging storyline that will compell children to keep reading and well developed charcaters that children will love.
I loved the fun imagery and descriptions in the book when plants and fauna started springing up all over London on well known buildings/structures. I really liked this book and would have loved reading this as a child, I will definitely be recommending this book and lookng for more from the author.

Unfortunately this book is not available in Kindle format therefore I am not able to read it and review it properly.
Thank you for the e-arc.