The Edge of In Between is a spooky, magical retelling of The Secret Garden. Although fans of Frances Hodgson Burnett's novel will be entranced with the sprinkling of details from the original, one needn't be familiar with The Secret Garden to enjoy this retelling, because this gorgeous, lyrical middle grade novel possesses a magic all its own. When young Lottie is faced with crippling grief, all the color drains from her—literally—and she becomes one of the Living Grey. Sent to the land of In-Between to live with her uncle, Lottie's one hope is to find her loved ones and bring them back to the land of the living. This is a story of learning to live with the pain of loss while still finding joy and beauty in the world.

Fans of The Secret Garden and Tahereh Mafi's Furthermore are going to love this whimsical, cottage-core vibes story. I loved this one so much!

__
Thank you to NetGalley for an e-arc of this title. This review contains my honest thoughts.

This book was so whimsical and fun. I'm not familiar with The Secret Garden, but the lyrical prose hooked me!

As a young adult who enjoys reading middle grade books, I sometimes find myself reading a novel that feels a bit too young or even a bit too old, but I think that this novel is a great example of how middle grade books can be enjoyed by everyone while staying true to the age group. This book is filled to the brim with love and magic. I think as a young reader, I myself would have loved this just as much if not more than I love it now. I was also quite a huge fan of the secret garden growing up, and I think this reinvention of that classic story is extremely clever. It holds true to the magic and beauty of the original, while also being entirely unique and carrying the reader through many twists and turns. If you are ever looking for a book to slip into that will feel comforting and cottagecore-y, along with being fantasy then I would highly recommend this book to kids and adults alike!

There are a lot of similarities between The Secret Garden and The Edge of In Between. In fact, the core story — death of parents, reclusive uncle, secret cousin, locked garden — follow nearly identical paths.

It’s the stuff in the middle — the details — that sets the two apart.

The main difference comes in the form of magical realism. In Savaryn’s world magic not only exists, but it’s at the core of everything. That magic is manifested through color. Savaryn cleverly equates color to emotion, thereby producing a tale that is rich in feeling and imagery.

While some of Savaryn’s characters remain true to the source material, the author diverges with others, delving deep into their emotional baggage. It adds to the variety and lends a nice weight to the overall story.

The Edge of In Between is a tale of love, loss, family and hope. Through every bit of darkness, there is a spark of light that guides readers through. It captures the spirit of The Secret Garden while staying true to itself. It would be an interesting study to read the two novels one right after the other.

I thought this book was written, richly imagined with magic in a creepy house, stunning portrait of love and loss, magic and hope; a true celebration of the strength we all possess to transcend tragedy and the gifts that make life worth living!! People say this is a retelling of Secret Garden, but I haven’t read the original to confirm. Readers of all ages will enjoy this book!

Thank you Viking books / Penguin Young Readers for the readers copy!

✨ The Title/Cover Draw:
I had been following the author on Tiktok and since I have a love for The Secret garden, I had to read this. Thank you to Turn the Page Tours and Lorelei for allowing me to read this ahead of publication to share with you all!

💜 What I liked:
While this is a Secret Garden retelling, there are some definite differences. This is a magical and real perspective on death and sorrow. The book is intended for middle grade readers as well, but doesn’t skimp on the allegorical references to deeper subjects. Everytime I look at this cover, I just want to hug this book to me because it’s just so beautiful.

😱 What I didn’t like:
For me, the book went almost too fast, but that’s to be expected in a middle grade. I guess it just goes to show that I really wanted more of this story the characters.

🚦 My face at the end: 🥰🦄

💭 Reasons to Read:
1. Secret Garden re-telling
2. Colorful magic
3. Creepy house
4. Commentary on sorrow



🕧 Mini-Summary:
Lottie lives in a magical land of color, until one day her parents die and turns gray. Her uncle invites her to his spooky mansion, but will she find her family and magic again?

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Received from Netgalley.

💯 For more details on the books we read, be sure to follow me on TikTok (@zaineylaney) or check out our Podcast - Elated Geek!

This was a beautiful and magical retelling of, "The Secret Garden".

Lottie is a brave and courageous girl who sees the world in absolutely brilliant colors. Her life is surrounded by love and magic that radiates throughout the words of the story. One of my favorite passages from this story is, "She felt more than she thought, leaned into her heart more than her mind." In that one moment, I connected with Lottie. She loved fiercely.

One day, Lottie experiences a tragic loss and suddenly her world lost color. All she sees and feels is gray. Shortly after, she moves into the home of her eccentric uncle. In this new world, Lottie discovers a different type of magic - hope and goes on a journey of healing.

This is a wonderful story for families and children.

*I received an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

After reading The Circus of Stolen Dreams last year and absolutely loving it, I jumped at the chance to be on the street team for Lorelei Savaryn's newest book, The Edge of In Between. As soon as I hit the button to request the book, I was filled with a feeling of dread. What if I hate this one? Thankfully, my worries were all for nothing. THIS BOOK IS BEAUTIFUL! Within minutes of finishing it, I went online to preorder my classroom copy.

Lorelei Savaryn creates a world of beauty and light. It explores grief and heartache with care and authenticity. The characters are relatable, and the nods and hints of The Secret Garden bring a nostalgic touch to this magical world.

Lottie and this cast of characters will have you spellbound from beginning to end. Thank you to Netgalley for the review copy of this book.

I absolutely loved the author’s debut book, THE CIRCUS ON STOLEN DREAMS, so I was very excited to get an eARC of this book to read. Her debut had such an emotional impact on me that I put off reading THE EDGE OF IN BETWEEN for a long time because I felt I needed to be in the right headspace to enjoy it. I’m also not a fan of The Secret Garden, so I was afraid that would affect my enjoyment of this retelling. There was no reason to worry as this beautifully written story takes the reader on its own journey while tugging at the heartstrings with its themes of love, loss, grief, and hope.

Lottie lives a happy and colourful life with a passion for art until the death of her parents. As colour leaches from her world, Lottie has a choice to live with an uncle she didn’t know existed, but she must be willing to leave the human world to reside in the Forsaken, a land between the living and the dead. Lottie desperately hopes her uncle can help her reunite with the ghosts of her parents. But discovering an enchanted garden and other secrets hidden in the manor helps Lottie find the hope she was missing for a future where the colour returns even if her parents don’t.

The descriptive and vibrant writing brought the setting to life for me, and it has a spooky element without being scary. It reminded me a little bit of WHICHWOOD by Tahereh Mafi, where the supernatural cross paths with the living before they are ready to move forward to the afterlife. I had a strong attachment to Lottie, who is swallowed by grief and yet puts herself at risk to hold on to hope that there is happiness after a huge loss.

I would recommend this story for Gr. 5-7.

Grief and hope and all the emotions in between, that is what this book is all about.A beautifully written tale with the same feeling of a loving embrace given by the works of Jess Redman and the addictive writing style of V. E. Schwab. It is rare when a book physically makes me cry even just a tear, but this one truly enveloped my heart and helped me let out any emotions I needed to. Although this is labelled as a middle grade book I highly recommend it for all ages, as not only is it a beautiful tale, by reading it and in the way that the author has written it helps the reader work through any emotional grief they have locked inside them. The way the author has worded every detail is exquisite and although this book is currently not at the top of peoples reading lists it really should be, and I can see it getting there very quickly after people start discovering how beautiful this story is and how amazingly this author writes.
I’ll be keeping this book on my shelf permanently for when ever I need to re-read it, and recommending it to anyone that comes my way I needs hope within their grief in their life.

A massive thank you to Lorelei Savaryn for sending me and early copy so that I can read this amazing story And share my absolute love for it.

This book is magical and spellbinding. It has a great message of hope for kids and adults alike. I can envision this as a movie. The writing is beautiful and the plot is intriguing.

The Edge of In Between is not at all what I thought it was going to be. It was a solid read that dealt heavily with grief and the effects of losing someone you love but it was quite slow. I had a hard time staying focused while reading. If the entire book could have had the same excitement as it did at the end I would have loved it.

If you've ever wanted a more magical Secret Garden, then this book is for you! The same themes of healing and personal growth as the original Secret Garden but with 100% more magic, ghosts, and a haunted mansion. Such a powerful book, and one that will help kids and adults cope with the loss of loved ones.

5 stars. A beautifully told allegory on grief and the afterlife for middle-grade readers. Young readers need tools for processing difficult realities, and story can help provide them. Lorelei Savaryn’s tale explores the impact of grief on a preteen who feels helpless to do anything but follow the lead of the only adults around to care for her after the sudden death of her parents. The deeply intuitive Lottie recognizes that something is wrong when she’s asked to accept a life in In Between, the stage of the afterlife that precedes Ever After (heaven)—because as a living being, she does not belong there. But all she wants is to be reunited with her deceased parents. She discovers others in the same position, and ultimately is called upon to stand against what she knows is wrong and make a life-giving choice, even when that means she will have to defer her own desires.
While the author notes that the book is a nod to The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett, I also saw some elements that reminded me of Oscar Wilde’s “The Selfish Giant.” Coming April 19. (Netgalley)

This book caused a myriad of emotions to storm through me. It took me through a very feeling pathway of grief. It was a perfect mix of reality and fantasy. The main character “Lottie” was easy to identify with even as an adult. I would highly recommend middle grade through adults for this wonderful journey of heartbreak and mending.

A beautifully written piece that gave as much attention to prose as it did to story. I highly recommend for fan of the Secret Garden and anyone who loves a story with heart.

Full disclosure, I didn't finish this. It would have been better for me if it wasn't marketed as a version of "The Secret Garden," something that is a personally beloved childhood classic. I don't mind changes in an adaptation as long as it feels like it still suits the heart, but Lottie is immediately a completely different personality as compared to Mary Lennox. Not due to the magical aspect, but her family and outlook on life. Someone who hasn't read "The Secret Garden" who knows how many times might enjoy it very much, but to me it immediately felt like a betrayal of the story and I just couldn't keep going for very long. It also gave me the feeling of the Living Gray being those who've lost faith in "the Great Magician" and the whole set up in general was giving me some pretty heavy religious undertones.

How lucky we are to have the gift of a new story from Lorelie Savaryn! While The Edge of In Between is both inspired by, and a very clever reimagining of, The Secret Garden, it's a wholly new, lushly imagined, and exciting world.
Lottie has suffered a devastating loss and it bleeds all the color from her world. Yet, even as she's consumed by grief she never loses her spark, a hint of the magic that once warmed her from the inside out. Resourceful, curious, kind, and yes, ever hopeful, she, along with her cousin and another child fight to restore the magic they all once knew.
The Edge of In Between is infused with a beautiful and deeply spiritual kind of magic, powerful enough to heal all who enter this lush and loving world

Somewhere between the Land of the Living and Ever After lies a place where souls wander, processing their realities before arriving at where they need to be. Twelve-year-old Lottie loves her life; filled with the magic everyone is born with, she channels her feelings into beautiful works of art that are as colorful as she is. But when her loving parents fail to return home as promised one night, Lottie watches as the future she had envisioned for herself crumbles before her eyes. A long-lost uncle claims her in her darkest moments, and she makes a choice that takes her far from home and everything that once brought her joy. And as each day passes, Lottie discovers that there is more to life than she ever realized.

Beautifully crafted, this story is one that is filled with magic, heartbreak, love, and healing. Anyone who has ever suffered great loss will recognize the metaphor of losing one’s color when life becomes challenging, and Lottie’s emotional journey will resonate with readers of all ages. Elegant descriptions bring Lottie’s world to life, both when it appears in vivid color and when shades of gray dominate the landscape. Readers are held captive by the poignant storytelling, especially as homages to other literary works are embedded within the narrative. Fans of The Secret Garden and Beauty and the Beast will appreciate how these stories intertwine within a new and unique context.

Though this story is initially intended for a middle grade audience, it is one that will speak to readers of all ages. Friendship and emotional healing lie at the heart of this tale, but an element of light horror will catch readers by surprise, increasing the stakes as the mystery in which Lottie has found herself begins to unravel. As often happens when grief overtakes one’s heart, the truth in the world becomes more difficult to recognize and, while the supernatural elements of Lottie’s story may be more fantasy than reality, they represent the very honest feelings of people who are suffering emotionally. This is a fantastic, stand-alone adventure that will keep readers pinned to their seats as they anxiously await a resolution for Lottie and her companions. Perfect for libraries serving middle grade readers, this is a tale that will speak to readers in profound ways, especially to those who are struggling to regain their own color and happiness.