Not really what I expected. The story was slow and didn’t really capture my attention. I listened to the audiobook version and found myself tuning it out most of the time. Sadly this was a miss for me.

Of gardens, roses, security, power, lineage, money and a dilly-dallying hope of a young woman trying to survive in a man's world.

The garden outside Harriet's house has always had a special connection to her. But she has always been told how strange & unacceptable she is to society's standards. Her father's disappearance has only triggered an array of questions she cannot answer. Now she can only hope to find him, to let herself live in the shadow of a man she might despise.

The pre victorian timelines created the perfect bondage situation the author referred to in the story. The magical garden is another element that added a whimsical touch to the story that made it just my kinda story. Harriet's character is mostly fierce and it is her unyielding nature that makes it interesting to the readers.

Towards the end, there are surely unexpected revelations that will shock you & keep you turning page after page. Overall, it was great for my mood read and people who associate with these vibes will get a thrill out of this story.

I was excited to listen to this ALC, as the premise really intrigued me, and I was ready for a cool Victorian-era magical mystery adventure! (I recently read The Spellshop by Sara Beth Durst, and thought it might be a similar vibe)

What I got instead was a depressing, emotional story of family abandonment and betrayal. Harriet is drifting along, afraid to take control of her life or draw any kind of attention to herself - or her unusual connection to her garden plants - owing to her (now missing) father's abusive parenting.
I didn't find the mystery to be very enthralling, as I guessed the whereabouts of her father (although ultimately prematurely) within the first few chapters, and although Christian's plans were harder to guess, I could tell he had some ulterior motive early on.

The story kept me engaged until about 80% through, when I found myself starting to lose interest.
Overall, Easy to follow, mainly historical fiction, with some low fantasy elements and a not-quite-sweet-enough just des(s)erts.

Narrator was great, well-spoken, clear, although occasionally hard to distinguish between characters.

Thank you NetGalley for this advanced copy

I am absolutely in love with this book. The story is just so important and taught me a lot about life and growing. This book has everything: Love, loss, friendship and so much more. For me this is more than just a book. It tells the story of an incredible woman who is such a strong character just in the wrong environment. She needed to find her place in this world and I am so happy to follow her journey. Sometimes it is hard to get out your comfort zone and it might hurt at first when you do it. But in the end everything can be good and have to take a couple of steps back you will always take a step forward.
I can only ask you to give this book a chance to win your heart because it definitely won mine.
One of my favorite quotes from this book is definitely something that sadly still applies to our modern day society: „Men took and took and took and didn’t even care.“
Thank you to NetGalley for giving me an AudioARC of this masterpiece.

This was a rather interesting take on female empowerment, although it did take a meandering path to get there. There was a beautiful push and pull relationship between Harriet and her garden, with elements of love, fear, guilt and control.

The garden itself has a lush, yet ominous feel to it. The kind where you can't quite decide if it will end up being more villainous than the men in Harriet's life.

The audiobook narration is also pretty well done and it is easy to just get lost in the story, which didn't really follow the plot turns that I was expecting.

A gothic tale of madness and magical realism, this story follows Harriet, who lives alone after her father’s disappearance, finding solace in her wild, overgrown garden. When suspicion falls on her, she agrees to a marriage meant to protect her—but things take a darker turn.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

The story takes place in the last 1800s in London. We meet a incredibly niave young woman who is a cross between “Carrie”, “Poison Ivy” and “flowers in the attic”. It would seem that plants respond to her emotions, and she has some really big feelings- she feels responsible for her mother’s death, and her he “ weird way with plants “ has resulted in her father locking her in her room, and refusing to acknowledge that he even has a daughter to the outside world.
As the story opens her father had left several months ago, and never returned. She has been selling household goods to live on, but her situation is getting dire, as the bill collectors are hounding her, and a particularly nosy police officer has been by to question her. To make matters worse, her only friend- her cousin, is moving a long distance away. She can’t leave as she feels she must protect her garden.

We learn about her trauma as a child and how incredibly sheltered she had been. This might help explain why she decides to marry the literally first man she meets, after only talking to him twice. She doesn’t think though anything practical- like that he will move in with her and the magical garden might be discovered. She hems and haws forever, goes in a couple of poorly thought out investigations. She ends up befriending the daughter of her housekeeper, but proves to be a poor friend.
Honestly, Though It found to be enjoyable, this story became tedious and I really wanted to give her a good shake.
I was hoping for empowerment and more character growth but in the end she gets a happy ending handed to her.
I listed to an audio version and the voice acting was excellent.

Interesting storyline and great narration. However, it's generous use of domestic violence might be a bit triggering for some. This story isn't my cup of tea.

I got this as an audio arc on Netgalley and it has since come out. A very beautiful book, very beautifully narrated, about familial and domestic violence. It gets very intense and it builds up into a beautiful crescendo. I did struggle to follow along sometimes.

Harriet Hunt has been alone at Sunnyside, the Victorian English estate where she’s lived all her life, ever since her father disappeared months ago. Always cast on the fringes of society due to her reputation of being crazy, she hasn’t really minded. Until an Inspector pays her a visit, looking for her father and looking to make sure she doesn’t cause any trouble. Around the same time, a man named Christian enters her life and asks her to marry him. Though shocked at the speedy courtship, she says yes - it will be nice to be protected by someone other than her garden, which she felt sometimes caused more trouble. But things with Christian are far from what they seem, and her garden may be the one thing to keep her alive.

I really enjoyed this audiobook. The narrators voice was so pleasant to listen to. A lot of times with English accents I need to slow the speed on my audiobooks, but I didn’t here. It was so easy to listen to, and kept my attention as well. The story was a great one too - I went into this blind other than what’s given away in the title, and I was met with a story of strength from a woman who has been cast away by every man in her path. I loved seeing her make her own happiness at the end.

Beautiful story and beautiful writing but it moved along pretty slowly and the ending was a bit flat for me. 3.5 stars, rounded up.

I enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would. I liked the main characters, and I liked the overall message of empowerment. It was an interesting story, and I liked the magical realism element to it.

Great quality audiobook and narration! However the story is disturbing. Story would have been great without all the unnecessary and violent DV. The garden “protects” her yet keeps letting it happen. 😒

Thank you RBmedia for granting me an ALC!

Thank you to NetGalley and RBmedia for the chance to listen to this audiobook!

This was such a unique story, and the audiobook brought it to life. Anna Burnett’s narration added so much depth and emotion to Harriet’s journey, making it easy to get lost in the 19th-century London setting and the mysterious magic of her garden.

The story is captivating, blending historical drama, mystery, and a touch of fantasy. Harriet’s character is strong and determined, and her connection to the garden feels vivid and a little haunting. While the plot had a few predictable moments, the magical elements kept me engaged from start to finish.

This is a great listen if you’re into stories about resilience, mystery, and a touch of magic. Highly recommend the audiobook for the immersive experience!

Loved this whimsical, fantastical book! I loved the setting and the plant aspect of it and thought the narrator did a great job with this audiobook.

Yoooooo I was not expecting to like this so much!!

I received this ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book starts slow and gloomy, with a broody main character who constantly has to keep her emotions under wraps. We as readers understand from fairly early that her emotions are tied to her garden, but we don’t have much other information. Harriet obviously has had a troubled childhood and not a single good man exists in her life. The first half of this book had me raging. Red flags as far as the eye could see, but then I’m pretty skilled at picking up on those subtle cues. I know Harriet is a very naive youth without much social interaction, so she takes every breadcrumb of kindness offered to her, even when there are signs early on everything isn’t what it seems. Christian seems perfect and sweet, but she has no idea.

Female rage. The second half of this is female rage and I am SO here for it. From Harriet, to Amelia’s mother, to Eunice. I loved this ending and I love Harriet coming into herself. I love the final chapter. 👌🏻

This is what I wished Mexican Gothic was. Subtle things to make the whole story seem very realistic, but written in such a way that is pleasing and flows.

Excellent. Only not a 5⭐️ read because the first half of the book kept me irrationally angry and worried for Harriet. Definitely intentional, though.

I did listen to the audiobook of this one, so if names are misspelled, forgive me. The narrator was fantastic!

A wonder world of fantasy! I could have listened to the descriptions of the gardens forever, it made me want to lie down in the moss and curl up in tree leaves. Beautiful imagery!
Poor Harriet discovered early on that people suck and then gets conned into a marriage that is worse than any life she could have imagined. The destruction and devastation of her garden that were laid, and just to hurt her. Well, I guess I approve of the garden's repercussions.
Highly recommended for those who enjoy magical realism and karma.
Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and Recorded Books for my advance copy of this audiobook

I want to start this by saying that Anna Burnett did a great job with her narration. I went into this thinking it would be more along the lines of a fun cozy fantasy, with a little bit of mystery and a sentient garden (man is wish i had a garden that reacted to my emotions, wants and needs), but it was not. I have a hard time enjoying book where the FMC is preyed upon and abused by the men in her life. Though Harriet does find her freedom in the end, it was too little to late for me as a reader for her to grow into a strong woman to stand up for herself.

This does need a trigger warning for readers who do not want to read anything with trama from childhood abuse, domestic abuse, and sexual assault.

The Peculiar Garden Of Harriet Hunt, by Chelsea Iverson, after a lifetime of abuse by her father he disappears in Harriet is free to do what she wants. The only problem is habits die hard and she isn’t comfortable, leaving her house, but especially her special magical garden. it doesn’t help that local villagers look at her as a crazy lady. With the help of her cousin and her maid. she’s going to need their support because there is a lot that happens. She marries a man, but he’s just like her father, the police come around looking for her father and she feels as if they think she’s done something to him also there’s a strange man name, Mr. Davies, who keeps trying to contact her. I just want to say I read the beginning of this book before a hospital. Stay and read the rest when I got out and so a lot of details of fuzzy what I do know is, I loved the ending of this book. I love found family stories those who get their come upins in this book has all of that. They have so many great characters from Harriet to Greenwood to her cousin and her “made“ Amelia I loved the narrator Anita Burnett. there’s so many great scenes in this book but there’s also some sad and heartbreaking ones as well but it all makes for one heartwarming ending that I totally loved.#NetGalley, #ArcMedia, #ChelseaIverson, #ThePeculiarGardenOfHarrietHunt,

DNFd at 40%. I was extremely bored and could not get into this book. I tried so hard because I really wanted to love it but I honestly just wasn’t enjoying myself.