Into the Bright Open: A Secret Garden Remix

Remixed Classics #8

by Cherie Dimaline

From award-winning and acclaimed author of The Marrow Thieves, Cherie Dimaline, comes an enchanting story of family, healing, and girls reclaiming control of their own lives, part of the Remixed Classics series.

Mary Lennox didn’t think about death until the day it knocked politely on her bedroom door and invited itself in. When a terrible accident leaves her orphaned at fifteen, she is sent to the wilderness of the Georgian Bay to live with an uncle she's never met.

At first the impassive, calculating girl believes this new manor will be just like the one she left in Toronto: cold, isolating, and anything but cheerful, where staff is treated as staff and never like family. But as she slowly allows her heart to open like the first blooms of spring, Mary comes to find that this strange place and its strange people—most of whom are Indigenous self-named "halfbreeds"—may be what she can finally call home.

Then one night Mary discovers Olive, her cousin who has been hidden away in an attic room for years due to a "nervous condition." The girls become fast friends, and Mary wonders why this big-hearted girl is being kept out of sight and fed medicine that only makes her feel sicker. When Olive's domineering stepmother returns to the manor, it soon becomes clear that something sinister is going on.

With the help of a charming, intoxicatingly vivacious Metis girl named Sophie, Mary begins digging further into family secrets both wonderful and horrifying to figure out how to free Olive. And some of the answers may lie within the walls of a hidden, overgrown and long-forgotten garden the girls stumble upon while wandering the wilds...

The Remixed Classics Series
A Clash of Steel: A Treasure Island Remix by C.B. Lee
So Many Beginnings: A Little Women Remix by Bethany C. Morrow
Travelers Along the Way: A Robin Hood Remix by Aminah Mae Safi
What Souls Are Made Of: A Wuthering Heights Remix by Tasha Suri
Self-Made Boys: A Great Gatsby Remix by Anna-Marie McLemore
My Dear Henry: A Jekyll & Hyde Remix by Kalynn Bayron
Teach the Torches to Burn: A Romeo & Juliet Remix by Caleb Roehrig
Into the Bright Open: A Secret Garden Remix by Cherie Dimaline
Most Ardently: A Pride & Prejudice Remix by Gabe Cole Novoa

Genres: Young Adult, Historical Fiction, Retellings, LGBT, Historical, Fiction, Queer

281 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 5, 2023

About the author

Cherie Dimaline wins her first Governor General's Literary Award in 2017 with The Marrow Thieves. She is an author and editor from the Georgian Bay Métis community whose award-winning fiction has been published and anthologized internationally. In 2014, she was named the Emerging Artist of the Year at the Ontario Premier's Award for Excellence in the Arts, and became the first Aboriginal Writer in Residence for the Toronto Public Library. Cherie Dimaline currently lives in Toronto where she coordinates the annual Indigenous Writers' Gathering.

Reviews

[Katie Hanna]

these people are like "gay Secret Garden," which is great and I am here for it, but I would still like to ask what gave them the impression The Secret Garden was straight

[X]

DNF @ 15%. An interesting concept but… YA written as though teens need the material dumbed down, especially ironic here since it’s adapted from a literal children’s book.

Mary Craven’s most fun characteristic is her bad attitude! So why here is she just… shy? Every time this Mary says something rude or offensive, Dimaline gives her an instant out - rude to a servant? She’s just trying to imitate what her dead mother would do! Describe someone as “civilized”? The word choice comes out of nowhere and she instantly realizes she messed up. Asks the servant to help her get dressed to go outside? Mary might have stomped her foot and said “Argh!” but it’s only after the formerly welcoming servant gets a temporary personality transplant and mocks Mary’s lack of coat knowledge in front of an audience. (Don’t worry, a few pages later the servant’s back to brushing Mary’s hair for her and helping her when she cries.)

It’s like the author knew once Mary had been aged up to 15 for the obligatory YA romance plotline, tantrums wouldn’t have the same look… but she was afraid to make Mary really unlikable so she just hedged every single one of her characterization bets.

And where is the tone? Where is the atmosphere? Admittedly my knowledge of The Secret Garden comes exclusively from the 1993 movie so I was mostly hoping for some really lush beautiful interesting settings. So far, Mary’s parents’ home in Toronto and her uncle’s home are identical(ly under-described), and the first memorable reference to nature includes descriptions like the ground being “carpeted” with flowers. The flowers were like… a carpet? The indoor kind? I mean, that’s it?

Idk, barring any twists about parentage I haven’t gotten to yet, it turns out swapping Mary Craven’s travel direction (Toronto to the “wild” Georgian Bay rather than India to England) means that this looks like it’s going to be a book about a spoiled rich white girl learning to be a better person through proximity to Indians (badum ching) and the natural world… I really don’t understand why Dimaline wrote it this way. Am I missing something? Does Mary stop being the heroine at some point? And please tell me what role “half-breed” servant Flora is supposed to play in the narrative - because so far she’s a prop for Mary to react to, not an actual character. Basically the “remixed” concept frankly reads like it was pitched and then never actually thought through. Are all of these “remixed classics” like this? In other words, are they edited at all?

[el ✯ ࣪ ˖]

will die for sapphic secret garden

[Anniek · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have to admit I've never actually read The Secret Garden, so I can't judge this as a reimagining, but I can't imagine it topping this book. I read this in one sitting and I felt so immersed in the setting of this story. It's a very atmospheric, well-written story, with a main character who starts out unlikeable but who you also sympathize with. It's on the younger side of YA, which was really nice to see for a change, and I think this would be great to read in schools! This was my first time reading from this author, but it certainly won't be my last!

[Cami · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to be careful while reviewing this book, because I want to make sure to acknowledge the adaptation for what it is, rather than what I was hoping it would be. After reading "The Secret Garden," there were two main issues that I wanted to see resolved in Cherie Dimanline's adaptation: 1) I didn't want to see uncriticized racism anymore, and 2) I wanted a more satisfying and less ableist storyline for Colin.

Dimaline knocked this first point out of the park, in my opinion. I love her decision to alter the setting from England to Canada, as well as to move Mary's home from India to Toronto. In Dimaline's version, Mary is no longer enticing people with her connection to an exotic country that is often portrayed as less civilized than England. Instead, her character deals with the clash between urban and rural areas within the same general region, which maintains many of the themes of "cultured/civilized" versus "uncultured/uncivilized," without veering into the original novel's Orientalism.

Racism remains a key feature of the story, but it is critically addressed, rather than used as an unexamined embellishment. There is a divide between the white property owners and the Indigenous workers, and characters such as Rebecca who do not treat people of color with respect are villainized for it. Our protagonist Mary is a much better role model and learns to value Sophie, Flora, Jean, and Philomene for who they are, rather than simply the physical labor they can provide. She forms meaningful connections with the Indigenous characters and uses her privilege to stand up for them when she can.

The second point that I was hoping to see addressed—the ableism in the original novel—is a little more complicated. Dimaline changes Colin into Olive and leans heavily into the idea that he/she is not really disabled—at least, not physically. Dimaline implies that Olive has a genuine anxiety disorder, but she introduces a new character—the evil stepmother Rebecca—to poison Olive and cause her lack of physical wellness.

This is certainly one way to adapt "The Secret Garden," and while I think the story stands well on its own (without thinking of it as a remix or an adaptation), I do find it a little disappointing that an entirely new character is added to make sense of the original plot. I was hoping for more exploration of and depth to the preexisting characters rather than sweeping adjustments that change so much.

I do appreciate the characterization that Dimaline adds for recurring characters, such as Mary, Flora/Martha, Colin/Olive, and Dickon/Sophie. I also love how she makes the main trio into three girls, rather than one girl and two boys, and how she doesn't alter their personalities much to do so. Sophie is just as outdoorsy and whimsical as her counterpart Dickon, for instance, and Dimaline explores the ramifications this has for her, in terms of being gender non-conforming in the year 1901.

I do feel the loss of the characters' brattiness, however. In "The Secret Garden," Mary and Colin are both around 10 years old, and I enjoyed their characterization as spoiled and condescending kids, gradually morphing into kinder and more understanding individuals. Perhaps because Dimaline ages up the main cast to be 15 years old, I found them to be more conventionally likeable—and thus a little more bland.

Even when Mary is "mean" at the beginning and shows her temper, I didn't think of her as a brat. (It's hard to think of a 15 year old as a brat, I suppose.) Even her inner monologue shows that she isn't dedicated to her meanness, and her neighbors dislike her largely because of her parents. In other words, Dimaline's version of Mary is harder to find fault with. She doesn't seem to be malicious, even for a split-second, and while this certainly makes her a kinder person, it makes her less interesting to me.

I also have complicated feelings about aging up the main characters, because it paves the way for romance in Dimaline's adaptation. Don't get me wrong, I think that the romance between Mary and Sophie is cute, and I support them. But part of what I enjoyed about the original novel is that there was no romance to speak of—which is fairly common in stories with younger protagonists.

As I said before, "Into the Bright Open" stands very well as a story in its own right, and it's refreshing to see sapphic characters, especially when they're the protagonists in a reimagined classic. But aging up the main trio leads to new plot points that distract from "fixing" what I disliked about the original novel. (Mary has a suitor subplot and discovers her romantic feelings for Sophie, while also setting up Flora with her love interest.) I recognize that it isn't Dimaline's job to "fix" the novel according to my specifications, and I appreciate the story that she put together. But I can't get 100% on board with some of her additions because of how I felt reading the "The Secret Garden." This is my problem, not hers.

Still, I appreciate that Mary's relationship with Olive is given the same amount of importance as her relationship with Sophie. Although "Into the Bright Open" features more romance than "The Secret Garden," it isn't as amatonormative as it could be, and for that, I'm immensely grateful. Yet I feel as though something familial was lost from one book to another, and I think it centers around Mr. Craven, whom I liked much better in "The Secret Garden" than in "Into the Bright Open."

For one thing, we get to see more of Mr. Craven in the original book, and although his interactions with Mary are minimal, they are impactful and endear him to the audience. Dimaline does away with the subplot that Mr. Craven has a slightly hunched back, which I do not miss. (Due in part to my lack of knowledge about kyphosis, I felt wary of how the original novel might have misrepresented and dramatized the condition.)

When Mr. Craven returns at the end of "Into the Bright Open," it didn't have the same emotional impact that the same scene in "The Secret Garden" did. I really enjoyed that sequence in the original novel, switching to Mr. Craven's perspective and tracing his return home. He was a much less influential character in "Into the Bright Open," and I started to think that Dimaline was making a statement about the female characters needing to save themselves, which I appreciated. But in the end, Mr. Craven does return home and resolve most things, which felt anticlimactic and a little rushed.

What's more, I understand Mr. Craven less in "Into the Bright Open" than I do in "The Secret Garden." I never approve of his decision to neglect Colin/Olive and barely spend any time at home, but it makes more sense to me in the original novel, where his wife's death connects directly with Colin's birth. If I'm reading between the lines correctly, in "The Secret Garden," Mrs. Craven falls out of a tree while heavily pregnant, which induces labor, and she dies sometime after or during childbirth. This allows me to sympathize with Mr. Craven, because it must be hard to embrace a child that seems to "replace" their mother, in a sense. (Yes, I am thinking of Crookedstar, Willowbreeze, and Silverstream when I say this.)

Mr. Craven's situation is different in "Into the Bright Open" and involves remarrying (introducing an evil stepmother into the mix), which I don't quite understand. Was it just that we needed someone with motive to poison Olive? We already had the doctor from the original novel as a suitable suitable (who is, aptly, Rebecca's brother in this version of events). I can't imagine the relationship between Mr. Craven and his new wife, and I wish that Dimaline had explored it a little further, so I could. Maybe Rebecca wants to poison Olive to force Mr. Craven to return home more often, so Rebecca can endear herself to him? Maybe she resents Olive for being another woman's child and wants to replace her with a daughter of her own? Maybe there's more than a little racism at play here?

All in all, "Into the Bright Open" is a good story, and I think it "improves" on "The Secret Garden" in many ways. It's just not my cup of tea, and my hangups about the changes that were made are stronger because of how fresh the original novel is in my mind. (I read both "The Secret Garden" and "Into the Bright Open" in the span of two weeks.) Regardless, I appreciate that this remix exists, even though nothing in it was so spectacular that it blew me away. I would recommend this book to those with complicated feelings about "The Secret Garden," as well as those who have no idea what the original novel is about. "Into the Bright Open" stands well on its own and is a fairly solid YA novel.

[Renata · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked a lot of the plot dressing here--the Canadian Metis community, the Munchausen's by proxy--but aging Mary up into a teenager really...doesn't hit the same. And there was just like.........way less time spent in the Secret Garden and more time in the woods. IDK I love the Remixed Classics series but most of them have been more about aging characters down from adult into teen and I think trying to YA-ify a children's book...well at least in this instance I didn't love it as much as I wanted to.

[The Garden of Eden✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ Cute but underwhelming.

I really love these Remixed Classics! “Self-Made Boys” is the only Gatsby version I’ll entertain on my shelf now, F. Scott Fitzgerald can ch0ke.

As for “Into the Bright Open,” I think I’ll just let it be as it is. I love “The Secret Garden” and it’s already a novel that has a very sapphic energy. Bright Open was explicitly sapphic and I love that, but the execution of the story and characters just didn’t pay off.

I think Cherie Dimaline just isn’t for me. She writes beautifully, but the novels of hers that I’ve read so far drag on more than they should and always fall flat within the last 70 pages or so.

I could get into the racism and yt savior-complex of it all, but it’s nothing that hasn’t been said and done before, so I’m not going to rehash it for this one.

Long story short, I enjoyed the read, but I was ultimately disappointed with it by the time I finished.

[Kasey Giard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading a fresh take on a classic always feels like a bit of a gamble to me. This is especially true of books I read as a child, like THE SECRET GARDEN. I read THE MARROW THIEVES by Cherie Dimaline, though. I loved the writing and the way the author puts characters on her pages. I’ve been following the series of remixed classics a little bit (So far, I’ve only read MY DEAR HENRY, but I loved that one, too.), but when I saw that it was Cherie Dimaline who was retelling THE SECRET GARDEN, I could not wait to check it out.

Just like MY DEAR HENRY, the tone and style of the writing made this book feel like a classic. It’s been a while since I read THE SECRET GARDEN, but especially the scenes in which Mary is outside, working in the garden, felt like a perfect homage to the original story. Those scenes were some of my favorites.

Though the original story is set in England, this one is set in Canada, and that worked perfectly. Instead of Martha and Dickon, we have Flora and Sophie, biracial (Indigenous and white) young women who challenge Mary’s snobberies and help her see her world and her new home in a new way.

I loved the way this story centered so much on the relationships between the female characters. Flora and Sophie are mentors and friends. Mary and her cousin Olive form a strong bond as well. There’s also Aunt Rebecca, Mary’s step-aunt, who runs the household with an iron fist. She is also, perhaps, a representation of who Mary could have become if she’d never embraced changes or personal growth.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions my own.

[Kye Campbell-fox · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not a particularly big fan of the Secret Garden, but I remembered liking it fine as a child, so I thought I'd try this reimagining of it. I'm glad I did! I really enjoyed the seamless way new elements were incorporated into the classic novel and I loved the characters and the new plot twists that kept it interesting and engaging.

[Karen Chovance · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful retelling of a childhood classic. It does not just copy the classic but instead creates a whole new story with faint whisps of the original. I loved the imagery of the Metis community and the reality of that era. It approaches all topics with an attention to detail.Well done.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up.

I enjoyed this creative, queer remix of The secret garden that's set in Georgian Bay, Canada and sees an orphaned Mary trying to help her mistreated cousin and falling in love with a local Metis girl. Feminist with great Indigenous characters, this coming of age romance was a great addition to the Remixed classics series and good on audio narrated by Brefny Caribou. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital and audio copy in exchange for my honest review!

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fairly simple and obvious where it was heading (given that it’s a remix of The Secret Garden), but enjoyable. I really like the concept of classic stories being redone by authors from marginalized backgrounds to offer a new perspective on an old story. Will likely check out some other Remixed Classics when I need a palate cleanser.

[Kailyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a sweet, Sapphic retelling of The Secret Garden with indigenous rep. It was written for a YA audience that's younger than I usually read, but I loved all the changes.

[Jadslo · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5-4
Young adult.
I think this was a cool concept and there are many books within this reworked genre. Some parts I would have enjoyed further development but it is a YR book so that makes sense.

[ronnie♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

hi, my name is president of the Rebecca hate club! Nice to meet you!😄

[Karyl · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Secret Garden was one of my favorite books when I was a child. I had a somewhat fancy copy of it, complete with illustrations on shiny card stock, and while I was a child of the 1980s, I was captivated by the idea of a lonely little girl whom no one really likes finding a magical secret garden and beginning to blossom herself. I’d already read Self-Made Boys: A Great Gatsby Remix, which is part of this series and a remix of The Great Gatsby, so I was excited to delve into a remix of a book I was quite familiar with.

I really enjoyed this book. It’s definitely not perfect; aging Mary Lennox (in this book Mary Craven, as her father and her uncle were brothers, whereas in the original Mary’s mother and her uncle were siblings) up to 15 years wasn’t necessary at all. I didn’t feel like the arranged courtship between Mary and Thomas March made any kind of sense. While the young folk in the community (aka, the Métis) married very young, Mary’s aunt was a white Canadian and therefore wouldn’t expect a 15-year-old to be thinking of marriage. I suppose it’s more to make the romance plot line a little more realistic.

In the original, Mary is a rather unlikeable girl, having been simultaneously ignored by her parents and spoiled by her ayah, so when she arrives in England after her parents’ death, she is demanding and prone to tantrums. Dimaline holds true to this portrayal of Mary, though her Mary becomes aware that she isn’t the center of the universe a little more quickly. I enjoyed the gender bending of the character of Dickon, who is Sophie in this novel. I just wish Sophie had a little more of Dickon’s magic with animals.

I did appreciate Dimaline’s choice to create a wife for Uncle Craven as a way to explain why Olive (Colin in the original) remained so ill, though reading about it made me so angry as to how someone could do that to a child. I would have preferred more about the secret garden as the story developed, considering that is the central setting to the original book.

I’m so glad these books exist. It’s important to have more diverse voices in literature, and I’m quite enjoying how these authors are telling these classics using their own voices.

[Shilo Quetchenbach · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story is very similar to what I remember of the original, but I like the relocation to Canada with the mostly indigenous cast. And the burgeoning sapphic relationship.

I am really enjoying Mary's transformation and blossoming and the easy flow of the story, as well as how it hits all the nostalgia points from my childhood love of the original. It is written on the younger side of YA, almost middle-grade, which I actually like, since it was originally a children’s book. Even though Mary is aged-up, it’s done in a subtle way that doesn’t impact the story too much, besides making room for the gentle love story.

I love Flora, she's such a sweet and cheerful soul, and she guides Mary to a much happier place.

There is perhaps less time spent in the actual secret garden, and I think that could have been expanded, but in a way time with Sophie comes to stand in for time in the garden.

The entire story feels a bit rushed and I would have liked Cherie Dimaline to slow down and really take her time bringing us into Mary's world. Her transformation would feel more believable if it had been drawn out more as well. As it is, it's rushed so much that nothing really has much impact. Even Rebecca's treachery at the end is quickly resolved by Mary's Uncle Crane returning and setting things right in a few sentences.

The audiobook is well done and the narrator does a great job giving voice to the characters. I love Flora's cheerfulness and the way Mary's spoiled petulance gives way to thoughtfulness. It really shows in her voice.

I have loved every entry in the remixed classics series thus far, and I hope they continue it for a good long time because revisiting childhood favorites that are updated to include more diversity is one of my new favorite things and I am so glad that these timeless stories are being rediscovered by a new generation this way. This one fits nicely in with the others.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Feiwel & Friends for providing an early copy for review.

[Jenna · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dear review readers Anna and Joella,

tbh idk why i even started this book- i didn’t like the secret garden as a kid, i’m sick of ya, and the concept didn’t even sound good. but i’m so bored so i listened to the whole seven hours unfortunately.

first off, why was mary 15? she reads like a 10 year old. oh it’s bc of the ya romance to “remake” it gay. not everything queer has to just include girls kissing. queerness is so much more and i don’t think the author understood that.

mary also reads this immature and annoying the whole time. it’s one thing for her to grow out of it, but when she’s just as stupid and whiny and bad at communication at the end too, what even is the point? and these traits of hers almost ruin the plot except for the fact that the uncle returns and automatically believes her, which we don’t even see- it’s just one second he comes home, next second the stepmom is being sent away. what???

and going back to the “love” story, sure yes mary has a crush on sophie, because she’s written like any other boringly gay girl character: wEaRs pAnTs oOoO, knows the woods, blah blah blah, but why would sophie have a crush on her? she’s so boring.

and finally, don’t even get me started on the race stuff and “half breed” thing which started, i assumed, in like quotation marks or something, but by the end was still just going on like that even when everything was supposed to be fine and dandy. whole book reads like an annoying white girl turned kind and wonderful by being around POC. ugh.

[KMart Vet · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an inclusive reimagining of The Secret Garden. I LOVE these remixed classics (I'm working my way slowly through them all), but I am not super familiar with The Secret Garden. I might have seen a movie once, but I do not recall the major beats of the story - which means that while I did enjoy the diversity and the writing, I do not have the nostalgia associated with the story that others might. And while I do like the author, they are of course confined to another's material.

Despite that, Dimaline brings her own voice and perspective to this tale. I enjoyed the themes of cultural identity and queerness that have been added. The story has a distinctly Canadian feel that I also love.

Mary is prickly and accustomed to rigid social hierarchies after mostly being ignored by her parents. She is lost and floundering in a world that is suddenly missing her parents. And she's got some complex feelings since they never really did anything for her anyway. Her transformation feels well-earned, but I was more interested in the other characters.

That said, I adored the young, blooming sapphic romance between Mary and Sophie. Their connection feels tender and genuine, and it pairs beautifully with the story’s broader themes. I also enjoyed the friendship Mary forms with her cousin Olive, hidden away in the attic room, which adds more mystery to the story.

That said, the novel is constrained somewhat by its source material. While Dimaline does an admirable job subverting and expanding the classic, there’s a sense of limitation that comes from retelling another’s story. Readers deeply familiar with The Secret Garden may appreciate its clever deviations more than I did, as I came in with only a vague sense of the original beats.

Overall, this is an imaginative retelling that updates a beloved classic for modern readers. For someone not interested in diving into those usually problematic sources, this is a welcome addition to the classic literature space.

[Janalyn, the blind reviewer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mary is a very selfish but lonely little girl so when her parents death and she is being sent to live with her uncle George she is taken aback upon her arrival at how familiar the servant flora is, but she also kind of likes it. Flora even invites 15-year-old Mary to meet her sister Sophie who is around the same age. For the most part however little Mary is alone at night and when she hears noises instead of being frightened she decides to go and check them out this is how she find out about her cousin in the attic. (Instead of Colin the cousin is a girl) she is sick and cannot leave the attic but Mary is just happy to have a friend her cousin will not be her only friend because eventually she does meet Sophie Sophie will be the one who makes a profound difference in Little Mary’s life for the most part this book is only similar to the secret garden but still I found it to be a great book they don’t spend lots of time in the seventh and secret garden in be worn does also child abused in this version as well I have yet to find a remix that is identical to the original only having Those from minority groups as characters are either way I really did thoroughly enjoyed this book. I thought the author did a great job because even if I didn’t know it was a remix I would’ve definitely seen the similarities Nexus Romeo and Juliet but I’m sure not in that order lol! A definite five story. I want to thank McMillan children’s publishing group Ann that galley for my free Ark copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

*Into the Bright Open* by Cherie Dimaline
A *Secret Garden* Remix

Pros:
- lesbeanssss!! Baby lesbeanssss!!!
- racism is addressed and condemned (the original could never)
- Mary needs a hug (and gets it)
- I loved kind of the challenging of the "greats" being great just because everyone says they are, and discussing the difference between western storytelling and indigenous American storytelling
- in the same vein, really did love the thread of "to love is to want to keep living" and it's so nice to see that instead of the "I'd die for you" narrative so saturated into YA broadly
- Flora is a delight

Cons:
- I'm not entirely sure why Olive was switched to be a girl, I don't think it particularly added anything. I think it was the author's way of giving a shortcut to Mary and Olive becoming close so quickly, but it felt ehhh and kind of feeds into the "boys and girls can't be close friends" narrative that our world loves to hammer into everyone
- same vein with Olive, we get shockingly little of her
- apart from Mary, the other characters do feel a little flat
- there was a little less emphasis on the garden than in the original which was :/
- the characters are aged up to include a romance in there, and the indigenous themes took a slight backseat to the romance. I wish we got more of a focus about how those indigenous characters wove into the original story, maybe even exploring indigenous relationship with the land since the original was so focused on the garden itself and restoring it

Overall:
This was fun to read and very sweet. I think it could've been longer to explore more of the themes and the additions/changes to the story and why the author made them, since it felt more like a nod to the original than a remix in the way some of the others have been. On its own I think it'd be a 4, but since it's a remix it's docked slightly down to

3.5/5

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was very excited about this book. This is a reimagining of The Secret Garden by wonderful Indigenous writer Cherie Dimaline. I love her work and in speaking with her at an Ottawa writer’s event she told me she had wanted to write it to ‘rescue’ this classic story. The original book is very racist, as were the times it was written in. I cringe when I hear my Indian students tell me they are reading it, given the terrible attitudes and language used to describe the Indian servants in the book. I loved the idea of Dimaline reimagining it through an Indigenous lens.

I had trouble getting into the book as I kept comparing it to the original. Once I was able to abandon my expectations, I was able to enjoy it more. The setting on Georgian Bay was lovely and the characters were interesting. The book held true to many of the themes of the original while adding some personality of its own. I found Dimaline drew the Mary and maid characters well but the Dicken and Colin characters (in this case Sophie and Olive) pale in comparison to the originals. The garden itself didn’t fully come alive either.

On its own the book merits four stars, if you are comparing it to the original, it is more like three. I think If I hadn’t reread the original in preparation for reading this, I might have enjoyed it more. I also really disliked the cover and think it will not make my students want to pick up this book… which is a shame.

[Morgan Upchurch · Rating 3 out of 5]

Into the Bright Open is a fresh and necessary remix that brings queer and indigenous representation. I loved the movie of this classic tale and was excited to read this book. After Mary's parents die, she moves into her uncle Mr. Cravens' house in Canada. She quickly realizes her actions and attitude won't get her anywhere upon meeting the staff, Flora, and Philomene, as they expect maturity and manners from her. It doesn't take long for her to become more comfortable with her new life, as she is now receiving attention and forming new relationships for the first time. She discovers Olive, her cousin, hidden and locked away in the attic by her evil stepmother, Rebecca, because she is "sick" and needs to rest and take her daily meds. The girls form a strong bond, but they must keep their interactions secret. The girls, as well as Flora and her sister Sophie, come up with a plan to save themselves in different ways for each of them in this charming story.

I enjoyed this story, which takes place in Canada and features the Métis community and characters. Mary's growth and transformation are notable because it is easy to see that without the changes she made, she would have ended up like the villain in the story, Rebecca. I think students will appreciate the relevant sapphic characters as well as strong female leads. The story reads like historical fiction and can be enjoyed without prior knowledge of the original events. Mary is fifteen in the story, but I think middle-grade readers would favor this.

[Kay Claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think the fact that I haven't read the original Secret Garden book is probably a detriment to this book - I can't tell which parts of this I found boring or long-winded because it was homage to the original book, or because that was the writer's decision. I found the first 40% of this book pretty boring - Mary only finds the secret garden, and the love interest is only introduced, 40% into the book. And the garden wasn't actually a big part of the plot at all.

I also think Mary being 15 just does not work. The other books in this remix series (the Great Gatsby one, and the Jekyll and Hyde one) I've complained should have been about people in their early 20s instead of late teens, but this book I have the opposite problem with. Mary should have been 10-12 years old. Her character reads like a younger character, and I kept having to remind myself she was 15.

That all said, I did like the audiobook narrator, and the Canadian setting - I don't think I've ever read a queer historical story set in Canada. I also liked Flora a lot, she was probably my favourite character and the highlight of the book.

[Omi Wilde · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm rounding up from a 4-4.5ish feeling because I think none of the things that bring it down slightly for me personally are related to the craft - Dimaline's writing is impeccable as always - or really, the execution of this really fascinating concept. I just have some very weird niche areas of over-investment that makes me poke at and/or wish for slightly different narrative choices in a few areas (particularly in terms of the journey and relationship to disability of Olive, the Colin-character). The things I loved about this book include: absolutely gorgeous writing, a more clearly neurodivergent-coded Mary character (which feels sO right), an incredible and incisive job of tearing apart the colonialism and racism that was baked into the original while also maintaining and building upon the things that have had such appeal to so many, a super hot (in a PG-13 kinda way) lovely sapphic romance. Charming and smart and delightful in many ways. Also the audiobook narrator does such a good job. Oh, and if you're a lit nerd there's a few little easter egg references that are really cute (eg Mary reading Jane Eyre - Burnett described The Secret Garden as being Jane Eyre for children).

[Jos · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun take on The Secret Garden based in a Metis community in Canada with a sapphic lead.

I do not recall the original story very well, but I liked that the story kept a few of the notes and updated some of the observations. There were sweet and heart-wrenching moments.

My biggest complaint is how the last 15% of the book played out. I felt like the big issue was dealt with a little too quickly and could have had some time to come down.

I have quite enjoyed these remixed classics. If you are flexible with reading a remake of your favorite classics, I highly reccomend to get some different perspectives!

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an advance copy from the publisher and Netgalley.

The Secret Garden was one of my favorite books as a child, but I haven't read it in at least 25 years. Cherie Dimaline's take on it was a breath of fresh air, while staying true to the story. Mary Craven's parents are power players in Toronto politics, but when they're lost at sea, she's sent to her uncle's house near Georgian Bay, to the north. When she arrives, her uncle is gone, and Mary's only companions are the house servants, including the forthright Metis girl Flora. When Mary tentatively pitches a fit, Flora lets her do it until she burns herself out, and through patience, boundaries, and good humor, Mary comes out of her shell and begins a friendship with Flora, as well as Flora's intriguing sister, Sophie. As in the original book, there is a sick child, but this time, Olive is held in the attic, dosed by her stepmother with "medicine" that seems to help more than it hurts. While the stepmother/aunt gets her justice in the end, the last few pages of this book wrapped up awfully quickly, to the point it felt rushed. That being said, it was still a deeply enjoyable read (finished it within 24 hours), and now I'd like to read other books in the remixed classics collection.

[Marti (Letstalkaboutbooksbaybee) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Only three stars BUT I didn’t really like the Secret Garden much either so a retelling of that was never destined to be my new favorite anyway

Also this one didn’t feel too much different from the source material to me anyway, and they didn’t actually spend a lot of time in the garden either which I thought was like supposed to be the main event

Also does the cover model look like Kate Middleton to anyone else or is that just me

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a sucker for gothic fiction containing old houses, orphans, gardens/plants, etc etc.

I somehow ended up listening to another Secret Garden remake with diverse characters twice within a few weeks. I enjoyed this one for the sweet queer romance, the evil stepmother and her ridiculous portrait, the gender switching to female with Sophie and Olive, and the Indigenous cast of characters in a Canadian setting.

The ending wrapped up way too neatly once Uncle Craven comes in like a king to save the day, and everything is right in the world. I think I needed just a little bit of confrontation between the step-aunt and uncle to feel closure 😂

[Elizabeth Mellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Children’s for the ARC of this sapphic Secret Garden retelling!

I’ll admit I’ve never read the original - I really tend to like retellings but not classics. This was exciting and well paced, and I liked the romance a lot!