An excellent sequel and I continue to love. love, love the idea of house dragons. Kids will love this book as much as the first!

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for giving me access to the advanced copy of this book to read.

I devoured this in one day, just couldn’t stop reading. So adventurous, heartwarming, and remarkable.

It is a layered story, still dealing with social justice, but it is also a mystery that has to be solved. Once I was in the mystery, I couldn't put it down. Izzie, Emma and Tom have grown through the experience of the first book, but now there is Maeve, the sister who had been taken away, and she adds a whole new dimension to the story. Magical New York is as vivid as always. I loved every page.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy in return for an honest review.

The Tarnished Garden by Alyssa Colman is a middle grade historical fantasy that just released last week. I received an early copy of the story and fell in love immediately, especially as I really enjoyed the first in the duology, The Gilded Girl. This one follows Maeve O'Donnell, the younger sister of Izzy, a main character from the first story. Maeve is learning to use her magic, but when it goes rogue and threatens to ruin her schooling, she finds solace in a hidden garden similar to Mary Lennox's emotional journey in The Secret Garden. If you're a fan of the classic, I highly recommend this story!

I LOVED this author's previous book but I couldn't get into this one. The temperament of the main character Maeve was very unlikable. I know this is a loose retelling of The Secret Garden and in that book the main character Mary is unlikable at the start, so I understand the similarity. However this book lacked the magic and connection with nature that The Secret Garden had.

The chapters that focused on Izzy were much better. I'm very sad to say that I didn't enjoy this book and ended up DNF"ing it

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy in return for an honest review.

4.5 stars for the follow up to The Gilded Girl. I'm always a little bit worried when I start a sequel that I won't like it as much as the first book, but I was not disappointed. I loved traveling back to the magic filled Gilded Age in New York City. A story of family, loyalty, and learning to find and use your voice, The Tarnished Garden would be an excellent classroom or family read aloud.

THE TARNISHED GARDEN
by Alyssa Colman
Macmillan Children’s Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Pub Date: Apr 5

This delightful sequel to The Gilded Girl brings more joy to MG readers who love imaginative tales. It's the Gilded Age when sisters Maeve and Izzy O'Donnell attend the Manhattan School for Magic. Izzy is one of its founders, and when Maeve's magic skills go awry, it hurts both sisters and the school.

Maeve seeks a way to redeem them and finds a hidden garden in the poor neighborhood, Tarnish, where she can successfully use her gifts. Here, she finds talking kittens who want her help to find their mother. But someone else wants these kittens and the chance to stamp out magic before it spreads.

Highly recommended for Middle Graders AND adults who love fantastical stories. May this series continue!

Thanks to the author, Macmillan Children’s Farrar, Straus and Giroux, and NetGalley for the e-ARC. Opinions are mine.

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More magic, not just one house dragon, but also three dragon kits, another mystery and so much sisterly love- this companion novel is a delightful tale.
The story was told from Izzy and Maeve’s alternating perspectives. I enjoyed getting to hear more from Izzy’s story, but also learning more about her younger sister, Maeve. Maeve, Avi and the kits were my absolute favorite!

Like it’s predecessor, The Gilded Girl, Alyssa Colman’s The Tarnished Garden is an absolute delight. In this second book in what I hope will be an on-going series, we return to a magically inspired gilded age NY and meet up once again with Izzy, Emma, and Figgy, the house dragon who stole my heart in the first book. We now meet, and get to know, Izzy’s younger sister, Maeve, an 11 yo who is convinced her magic is dangerous.
Themes of social equity, found family, and finding your inner strength are all explored with care, tenderness, and love.
This is a wonderful story for MG readers, and would make a great read aloud for librarians, teachers, and families alike.
Thank you to FSG and the author for the opportunity to read an e-arc.

I was fortunate to read an e-ARC of this absolute gem of a book. Colman has crafted a wholesome, cozy story that is the perfect family or classroom read aloud for a wide range of ages. She combines serious questions about status, elitism, and social class with a familiar-but-magical historical setting in New York City, and a wonderful tale of sisterly love and loyalty through hard times. The main characters are endearing and good, yet also complex and appealingly imperfect—you will worry for them while rooting for their success. And the catlike house dragons are fantastic! Figgy Pudding (“Mr. Pudding”) is perhaps my favorite character of all. Do not miss this old fashioned-feeling classic in the making, or its wonderful companion novel The Gilded Girl. Highly recommended!

Oh wow, I just finished reading and my enthusiasm for this story can perhaps be summed up by three words: HOUSE DRAGON KITS! House dragons, of course, are magical dragons that appear to humans as talking cats that protect schools of magic in early 20th century New York. But there have not been new ones born for some time, and here we get three adorable new additions. Everything I loved about Colman's first book in this series THE GILDED GIRL -- the heart, the plotting, the mystery, and the inventiveness of her magical world (e.g. "relevators" that are elevators that take the rider not just up and down but wherever they want to go) -- is back in this second book and then some! Kids are going to love this story of magical tweens trying to solve the mystery of why buildings all over New York are being extinguished of their magic.

NetGalley is asking me to review my own book. This is slightly awkward. I guess I'll say that I like this story so much that I wrote it!

I hope you all enjoy The Tarnished Garden and that it takes you on you a fun adventure during these stay-at-home times.

A sweet and heartwarming follow up to THE GUILDED GIRL, focusing this time on Izzy and her sister Maeve!

Izzy's kindling has caused ripple effects throughout the city, including more opportunities for young people to kindle. But a series of misfortunes, including missing house dragons and magical building extinguishing under mysterious circumstances, lead Izzy and her friends to realize that not everyone is happy about magic being in the hands of more people.

A sweet tale of friendship and the meaning of family, this book is perfect for those who love new stories with a classic feel, and who believe in the power of people to rise up and change the world around them for the better.

I loved this follow up to The Gilded Girl, and would love to read even more books set in this world!

Alyssa Colman's follow-up to The Gilded Girl brings back beloved characters and introduces us to an equally-charming new cast. The Gilded Girl's protagonist, Izzy, is now joined by her sister, Maeve, whose untamed magic threatens the school Izzy helped build and so much more. As Maeve navigates learning to control her powers, we see that bravery and fear can go hand-in-hand, and that challenges are to be embraced not hidden. The Tarnished Garden builds on the same original magic and warmth that made the first book such a treat and weaves in a nuanced mystery that grows the story to a wonderful new level.

Thank you to FSG and the author for an advanced copy.

Oh my, this book! I adored THE GILDED GIRL with my whole heart, and I am delighted to report that THE TARNISHED GARDEN is everything a person could want in a follow-up to a beloved story. The magic is just so very magical that you’ll never want to leave Maeve and Izzy’s world. The garden itself is utterly charming, and the return of the house dragon, Figgy Pudding (“Mr. Pudding,” if you want to be formal about it), could not be more delightful. The story absolutely inspires, with beautiful messages about friendship, family, bravery, and the importance of finding your voice and ‘shining brighter’ when things are at their worst. Most importantly, THE TARNISHED GARDEN wants us to know that we are all worthy of magic. This is a book to save forever and read to your kids and grandkids. A million thanks to Alyssa Colman, FSG, and NetGalley for the advanced copy.

The Tarnished Garden is easily one of my favorite books of the year! A heartwarming delight of a tale, with a very satisfying mystery and a brilliant sister-story at its heart. I adored Alyssa Colman’s The Little Princess-inspired debut, The Gilded Girl, and this sequel based on The Secret Garden does not disappoint! I’m especially happy to report that the house dragons make a bigger appearance in this book, and they are as delightful and precious as ever. I hope the world gets more of Alyssa’s books in the future, and would love to read more of her stories set in this magical world.

This is the second novel set in Colman's fantasy series set in a magic-infused early 1900s New York City. Like the first book in the series, the Gilded Girl, this story borrows heavily from other real world children's literature (in this case, The Secret Garden). Fans of the first book should enjoy this story as well, but it might be hard for new readers to join in at Book 2 as very little explanation of the world or the plot of Book 1 is recapped. Colman has a gift for creating charming child characters and interesting magical worlds. This book also benefits by an expanded cast of house dragons, fierce magical protective dragons who choose to appear to humans in the form of talking house cats.

Thanks to Macmillan for the ARC! If THE GILDED GIRL was a Cinderella/A Little Princess retelling, THE TARNISHED GARDEN was, obviously, The Secret Garden. While some parts of the book were admittedly a little confusing to me, I definitely didn't see the ending coming. I loved the immigrant representation, and of course the kits (who absolutely reminded me of the Aristocats)!