rachaeldubay's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
misses_london's review against another edition
3.0
Kate Morton is one of my fav authors at the moment. Having just read the Secret Keeper and one other, The Forgotten Garden is definitely the weakest of the bunch and a little disappointing. I’ve noticed that I didn’t like most of the characters in this book. I loved Eliza very much, and it grieves me that she was used and discarded by most everyone in the story. Unfortunately I didn’t really relate to the two other protagonists Cassandra and Nell. In fact, I sort of just tolerated the Cassandra sections just to get back to at least Nell, preferably Eliza. The characters of Rose and her mother were just a little unbelievable. I mean, they weren’t meant to be very sympathetic, but they were just overly villainous to the point that you had to suspend belief. I wish we could have gotten more Georgiana. The book could have been shorter, perhaps leaving out Cassandra altogether. But Morton had me spellbound with the descriptions of the forgotten garden, the cottage, and the cove. It makes me want to revisit Cornwall. Overall, I enjoyed the book, just much less than the spectacular Secret Keeper. I’d recommend reading this book, but, if your looking for your first Kate Morton novel, I’d recommend starting with a different one.
morepagesplease's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this book to the last page. The author threw plenty of twists in at the last to keep me from pegging down all the twists and turns. I think what really kept this from becoming a favorite was my frustration with some of the characters. So many of the tragedies could have been avoided if people had been honest with each other and stopped letting people treat them like door mats!
books_and_tea_with_me's review against another edition
3.0
Loved this book, very interesting to find out all the twists and turns.
melted_books's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
As much as I wanted to become fully immersed in this story from the beginning, the slow pacing made the story feel muddled to me for the first 50-60% of the book. I didn’t feel a connection to the characters or story until about 60-70% of the way through, but once I did, the story kept me very interested. I enjoyed the allusions to fairy tales, which gave the story a magical feel, and I was touched by the heartfelt epilogue.
thain's review against another edition
5.0
Kate Morton’s multi-layered sagas use past and present narratives to reveal hidden family secrets. In this one, a little girl arrives alone on a ship to Australia with only a book of fairy tales as a clue to her identity.
dl2000's review against another edition
4.0
Although I had a rather difficult time keeping track of the 3 different timelines I did enjoy the way the mystery unfolded. Many things which would ordinarily have been hard to believe and would've dampened my enthusiasm didn't with this book because it was presented almost like a fairy tale itself so it flowed naturally for me. I felt some aspects of the story should've been more explored - like Nell's relationship with her daughter, but overall an interesting read.
halfcentreader's review against another edition
4.0
I really liked the use of Eliza's fairy tales to accentuate the story both during the past and in the present. The skipping back and forth in tie is tricky to read but there was little confusion. I look forward to her latest novel.
megnolia13's review against another edition
3.0
This book was good, but it would've been better if it was 1/2 or 1/3 as long. And not because it was a big book, but because the plot "twist" is obvious from very early on. Everything could've been accomplished much quicker. If you're going to make a book this long, things should be revealed slowly, not made plain from the start and then you have to wait hundreds of pages to actually get to the fact of it.