As the books in this series are all remixes and not direct retellings, I set my expectations accordingly. Granted, of the children's classics, The Secret Garden is one of my favorites. That said, I was looking for an insightful take on this story that would show me Canadian history that I have no familiarity with and I did receive it. The one character I found interesting, received little time in the narrative and the protagonist's romance didn't do much for me.

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!

Content warning: possibility of an adult giving medicine to a minor to purposely make them seriously ill (suggestion of Munchausen by proxy), parental death, racism

2.5 stars rounded up to 3

Ok, so my love of THE SECRET GARDEN comes directly from the 1991 musical, though I have read Frances Hodgson Burnett's novel as well. There are parts of this remix that I think are really well done while honoring the original text, but overall, I felt like the magic of Mary Lennox discovering Colin Craven and the secret garden while befriending Dickon were absent and those are some of the best parts of the whole story.

So the good: I really like what Dimaline did with Olive's character so that Mary still discovers a sick cousin she didn't know about that's hidden away, but without the problematic ableism of Colin's disability and miraculous healing in Hodgson Burnett's version. One of the biggest red flags in the original is the blatant racism towards the country of India and its people (yes, I get that in the time it was written it wasn't seen as problematic... but it is racist). So I like that Dimaline took that and remixed it to how white settlers viewed the Indigenous people of the Georgian Bay.

I also enjoyed the character of Sophie, though Dickon Sowerby is my favorite character from THE SECRET GARDEN, so I was disappointed he wasn't there (though I get that Sophie is his replacement).

What didn't work for me: Mary is supposed to be this spoiled brat of a child and while I get that she's aged up in order to make INTO THE BRIGHT OPEN a YA novel instead of a middle grade novel, that petulance is lost because it doesn't entirely work with a 15-year-old. So I felt like her character growth wasn't as great in this as it is in the original text.

The magic of the garden took a backseat and was mostly glossed over in favor of giving Mary a love interest that (thankfully) is not her cousin. But for a story that really hinges on a child stumbling upon a secret garden she chooses to bring back to life and therefore through her learning to care about something other than herself, she brings back happiness and love into a family that has been living under the shadows of illness and grief for too long isn't there. Which makes this one a miss for me, though I think readers who aren't as familiar with the original will enjoy it for what it is.

Brefny Caribou does a good job with the audiobook narration.

Advanced Reader’s Copy provided by NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and Macmillan Young Listeners in exchange for an honest review.