A review by ribbonquest
Into the Bright Open: A Secret Garden Remix by Cherie Dimaline

emotional tense
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

I'm left feeling like the author really doesn't like The Secret Garden and took the fewest elements possible to still count as a "remixed classic." The cousin's ailment is changed to a vague "nerve" problem and she's confined to her room by the new wicked stepmother character. The genre has shifted to one with a true antagonist.

Mary is still an unpleasant girl, but aged up from 10 to 15 so she can have a crush on Sophie, the free-spirited local girl. The setting is now Ontario and the locals are all of indigenous blood (the world "half-breed" is used a lot.) 
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