I don't know what the original A Secret Garden was about so I can't compare the two. I will say I think the author did a good job with writing the characters how they would've acted accordingly with the era. Doesn't mean I didn't want to punch the characters with their blatant racism towards Indigenous mixed characters. It triggered me because I know how it feels to be looked down upon for ones heritage.
My heart broke for Mary and Olive Craven. Cousins who were abandoned emotionally and alone even living with family. I understand that all too well.
It was a quick read but still impactful.

i really enjoy the whole series of classics being remixed and becoming diverse but this one wasn’t one of my favorites

thank you netgalley for the e-arc!

I’ve become a big fan of these new twists of canonical western literature. Cherie Dimaline’s Into the Bright Open is no exception. She has taken one of my beloved childhood books, The Secret Garden, and brought it back to life and made it relevant again. I do recommend that readers read the original to appreciate Dimaline’s new world even more. Some of the main characters have changed in gender, ethnicity, and sexual orientation, but these changes work very well.

My most beloved childhood favorite classic was The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. I had an audiobook on CD of it, and I would listen to it over and over again on my discman player, until I had the book almost memorized. All this is to say that when I saw @cherie.dimaline had written an indigenous and sapphic reimagining of The Secret Garden for the Remixed Classics series from @mackidsbooks, I jumped at the chance to read a copy! Lucky for me, I was chosen for @turnthepagetours’ bookstagram tour for Into the Bright Open (the aforementioned Secret Garden remix). Today is my stop on the tour, so keep reading for details on how to enter to win your own copy of Into the Bright Open!
Giveaway Details:
Head over to the rafflecopter link in my bio to enter to win one of three copies of Into the Bright Open, being gifted by the publisher! Right now there are only a few entries, which means your odds of winning are better than ever!
Here’s a Synopsis of Into the Bright Open:
This queer YA reimagining of The Secret Garden subverts the cishet and white status quo of the original in a tale of family secrets wonderful and horrifying.

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—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…

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.

If you love The Secret Garden then you will love this REMIX. This remix deals with the racism that was rampant in the original, but delves more into the familial aspects of the story. Its about family, found family and the difference between the two. The character of Mary is so well-developed and we really see how she questions her life and the status quo. She is intelligent and curious and uses these skills to save her cousin and uncle from the brink of disaster. There are some cruel scenes with the stepmother, but they are offset by the love that develops between Mary and her cousin and the household staff. The garden still plays an important role in the development of ALL the characters, but is a little less fantastical than the original. Definitely worth the read!

This is so well done. I was particularly impressed with how well the author built up the tension towards the end. It's a remix so many readers like myself already know "the ending" but the combination of the new elements and skillful writing created an urgency that made the book hard to put down. The pacing of the story overall was also very well done and I loved the setting. Once again the mix of familiar elements added to the new setting was really well done. Throughout the book the influences of the original are clear while still having so much that is fresh and new. The romance in the story is so perfect in the way it develops for both the age of the girls and the time period and it just feels so natural and beautiful. In a book full of so many wonderful elements, the romance was still my favorite. I did start off this book excited but also feeling a little critical because the original was one of my first book obsessions, and I am so absolutely thrilled with this remix.

This is my second remixed classic, and while I don't love it as much as the first one I read, this one definitely feels more related to the source material I loved the Secret Garden movie as a child and you can definitely see the framework of the original story in this one. This is a pretty clean YA too so it feels like it would be great to use along with the original text in a classroom.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

I love these REMIXED classics! They are so lovely and beautiful and always make a clever and timely statement in their adaptation. this one is no different and I am so looking forward to seeing more from this series!

Thank you, NetGalley and MacMillan Children's Publishing group!
I am a huge head of the remix classic series and I am so glad to have another addition to this amazing series of books. Every book in the series puts a fantastic spin on classic works and I am so glad to see the Secret Garden added to the list. I always love the story of the secret garden and adding in queer relationships as well as more diverse characters makes the story much better. The other stayed pretty true to the original character personalities and Jenna replied but I did in their own spin. I would say that aging up the characters didn't work as well in this case.

I am a huge fan of the Macmillan remix series but this one may favorite. The secret garden was one of my favorite books growing up and the spin that Dimaline put on it is breathtaking.

- thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an arc to review!

- a solid contribution to the remixed collection that has been coming out for a while. though it isn't my favorite contribution to the overarching series, since this one falls flat for me in certain aspects, such as the writing style and the way the characters think (when their point of view is present). it draws me out of the story, and makes me feel less connected to the characters.

Loved this book so much! This author is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. Characters were like able and complex, good twists and turns, really engaging and interesting story.

Thanks to Macmillan and NetGalley for the free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Into the Bright Open by Cherie Dimaline, as the subtitle suggests, is a remix of The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. While I vaguely remember reading the original story sometime when I was a kid, I've really enjoyed the Remix series, so was excited to get my hands on another one.

I really liked Dimaline's approach, in focusing the story on a queer relationship and including Indigenous characters. That's where the book really shined, to the point that leaving the attic or the garden to go face-off with the step-mom was such a bummer. Something about this did feel a bit surface level though. Like, something was missing--nothing major, just something small enough to be noticed. I can't put my finger on what, but it wasn't quite as successful of a remix as some of the others I've read. Very excited to read more of Dimaline's work though!

Book Report for Into the Bright Open by Cherie Dimaline

Cover Story: Creepy Flowers
BFF Charm: Nay
Talky Talk: Record Scratch Remix
Bonus Factors: Indigenous Culture
Anti-Bonus Factors: Dan Scott Award for Awful Parenting
Relationship Status: Sticking To The Original

Cover Story: Creepy Flowers
In the book, Bay Bloom roses symbolize the strength of a young woman learning where she belongs, but the model’s glare and the blood-red flowers make this garden seem neither bright nor open.

The Deal:
As the title says, this book is a reimagining of the 1911 novel The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett, which translates the story from the Yorkshire moors to a Métis community in Ontario, Canada. When Mary Lennox’s rich, neglectful parents die, she goes to live in her uncle’s manor house expecting to be as lonely as she’s been all her life. The kindness of the household staff comforts her and challenges her to question the bigotry she’s been taught, but her new home is full of disturbing secrets. Why does she hear someone crying in the middle of the night? Why has one of the manor’s gardens been locked up for over a decade? And why won’t her uncle come home?

BFF Charm: Nay
Mary gets aged up in this version in order to add romance. This doesn’t do her any favors. It’s annoying enough for a nine-year-old to stamp her foot, demand help getting dressed and hurl racist/classist insults at people trying to be nice to her, but for a fifteen-year-old, it’s even worse. To be fair, she’s only following the example of her parents, and she does outgrow this behavior eventually, but even then, I couldn’t really warm up to her. (See the Talky Talk entry below.)

Swoonworthy Scale: 5
Sophie Beausoleil, this story’s version of Dickon Sowerby, becomes Mary’s friend and later her love interest. She wears trousers, knows how to hunt and fish, speaks her mind and is proud of her Métis heritage. The two girls get into at least one fierce debate about English literature. After reading the ending of Romeo and Juliet, Sophie calls Shakespeare a “piss-poor storyteller” compared to her people, because “death is the last thing love wants.” Aside from this one memorable scene, though, I didn’t get a clear sense of Sophie as a character apart from how a love-struck Mary sees her. Like Dickon, she’s almost too good to be true.

Talky Talk: Record Scratch Remix
I didn’t care for the writing style of this book. Over-the-top phrases like “my parents’ dramatic oceanic demise” and anachronisms like “stressed out” make it obvious that this is a modern imitation of the 1900’s style, rather than the clear and simple way Burnett actually wrote. They also make Mary appear insincere during what should be a real crisis. The Beausoleils with their warm, casual dialect sound by far the most natural. This may have been the author’s intention, but it still threw me off.

Bonus Factor: Métis Culture
Dimaline draws on her own background as a member of the Georgian Bay Métis Nation, whose culture blends Indigenous and European traditions. The Beausoleil family speaks their own form of French that Mary asks to learn, similar to how she studies Yorkshire English in the original. The scenes in which Sophie, Flora and the others use their humor and resilience to endure their white housemates were some of the best in the book.

Anti-Bonus Factor: Dan Scott Award For Awful Parenting
Mary’s parents ignored her for most of her life, except when her mother had something to criticize. Mr. Craven isn’t even in the same country for most of the story, making him even more negligent than the original, who at least asks Mary if she needs anything. His second wife Rebecca (who doesn’t appear in the original) is a classic evil stepmother who bullies the Beausoleils, tries to set Mary up with an arranged marriage, and may or may not be poisoning Olive (the counterpart of Colin). The only parents in this book who aren’t awful are either off the page or dead.

Relationship Status: Sticking To The Original
I have to admit, I liked the concept of this book better than the reality. I might just be the wrong kind of reader, but I’d rather stick with Burnett, thanks all the same.

DNF @50%

I don't think there's a problem with this as a remix, it's just that I should have realized the fact that I found the original text material boring might also extend to a different version of it. It took me forever to get halfway through and I'm just not super interested in the premise. I think the writing itself is pretty good and I like the idea of bringing indigenous and queer characters into the story, it's a case of it just not being for me. If you loved The Secret Garden you will probably get on better with this than I did. I received a copy of this book for review via NetGalley, all opinions are my own.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars.

When I heard about a sapphic Secret Garden retelling by an indigenous author, I was SO excited. I have read from Cherie Dimaline before and enjoyed it, so I am happy to have enjoyed this book, too. I loved the characters, but there could have been more development from the side characters. Mary, the main character, got a lot of good development, but Olive, Flora, and Sophie seemed one-dimensional in comparison. The "evil step-aunt" Rebecca was also pretty one-dimensional. The book was short and advertised for a YA audience, but it read almost middle grade. It was definitely for the younger end of the YA audience. Mary was about 15 but read as a 12 year old. Despite this, the story was enjoyable and cute.

Now don't judge me too harshly, but I have no memory of reading The Secret Garden. I own a copy that I've held onto since childhood, so I must have read it at some point, I just don't remember it.

So I have nothing to base this "remixed" version on - I don't know how well it hits the major beats of the story, or any of that. What I can tell you is that I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Mary Craven's parents have died and she is sent to live with her uncle. She's been neglected her whole life and is therefore a bit unlikeable at the start of the story. She's essentially your typical spoiled rich girl who is forced to move to the country. However, even when she was supposed to be unlikeable you can't help feel a bit sorry for Mary - the author does a great job of making her a sympathetic character.

When she arrives at her new home, the master is away, and she discovers a girl who is locked up in the attic, her cousin who is too sickly to leave her rooms. Then her evil step-aunt Rebecca shows up and the story unfolds. I love having a really terrible villain for our main character to deal with and Rebecca is deliciously awful. I loved the found family aspect of this story too - Mary befriends the Metis "help" that work at the manor and there is even a budding romance between Mary and Sophie that was very sweet.

I will say, I think this could have been a bit more atmospheric and I struggled to figure out a time period - there is very little to go on to place things. But overall, I really enjoyed this story. It's a perfect bridge book for a young teen who isn't quite ready for YA yet but feels to old for most middle-grade! I recommend this one for ages 12+

This is my first Secret Garden retelling. I really enjoyed it. I loved the story and the queer remix! At first Mary is such a brat but as she gets to know the people around her she grows and matures. Rebecca was terrible and I couldn't stand her. I loved the side characters. Flora and Olive were just so awesome. I cannot wait to read more by this author. Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for the arc in exchange for my honest review.