While there are aspects of The Secret Garden that haven’t aged well over the years, it still holds so much nostalgia for me and I consider it a favorite from my childhood. When I heard about this particular retelling, I was so excited- which is why it pains me that I can’t give it a higher rating. The first third of the story was so strong and had so much potential that felt a little wasted by the end. Overall, I feel confused by some of the storytelling decisions the author made- like the addition of the cartoon villain evil stepmother, which just felt out of place with quiet atmosphere of the original book and this retelling. I also wish we could have stayed longer in the garden scenes as they started to feel glossed over. It’s not that I disliked all the changes of course, but for at least some of them we needed a longer book to make it flow more naturally.