Reviews

3.5*

Lovely, cute and fun... that's the best way to describe this. It was just... nice.

The rating is lowered for lack of realism (I understand that it is the nature of when it was written but even then the things that happened towards the end surely did not happen in real life) and my personal feelings towards the overtly religious messages throughout.

I still enjoyed it. It was a cute, easy read that was quite heart-warming and showed kindness.

tamerendil's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

vstewart76's review against another edition

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hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

zoemaja's review against another edition

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5.0

This was an impulse buy at Eight Cousins when we were in Falmouth a few weeks ago - and a lesson to publishers why a snazzy new cover on a classic is always a good idea.
Such a great story, Aoife was hooked from the first chapter.

dajna's review against another edition

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2.0

I never like the cartoon and I never really liked the story, even when I was a kid. But I like to read the original versions of all these well-known tales (e.g. Peter Pan, Pinocchio...).
The book is even more terrible, from my grown-up point of view. Heidi is an illiterate orphan dropped by his grandfather, then picked up again to be delivered to some strangers, till she developed depression and she's allowed to go back to her home.
I keep thinking about the Noble Savage concept: the girl is pure and spread joy around. She's empathic noble, ready to sacrifice herself in order to make other happy. She has no religious education whatsoever, but as soon as she's exposed to the concept of god she become a devoted person.
This tale is just too happy, there's too much serendipity.

lizardgoats's review against another edition

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3.0

LibriVox Audiobook.

I found a copy on YouTune, but the quality is poor at best. Many of the chapters end abruptly and the ending is also cut off.

I found a lot of connections between "Heidi" and "The Secret Garden" that I found intriguing. I plan to do a bit of research and combine my review of both into one blog post.

http://lizardgoats.blogspot.com/2013/02/convalenscence-in-victorian-childrens.html

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