Review | The Secret Garden

Author: Frances Hodgson Burnett
Published: 1911
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap, New York
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 375
Genres: Classic, Historical Fiction
Rating: ★★★★☆

(finished April 6th)
With this, I have finally transferred all my reviews over. Yay!

This story demonstrates how the love of a family, the power one has over their mind, and the environment one lives in affects the behavior and health of a person. How people view others affects how we view ourselves which in turn affects how we act and behave.

At the beginning of the story, both children were neglected by their parents, given everything they want so they did not value anything, and were forced to live shut up in a distant part of the house. Neither children had any friends nor understood basic human emotions. They were expected to stay out of the way until such a time that their parents would require them like a thing or a toy.

The sudden death of Mary's parents and her subsequent move from India to England changed everything--Mary was required to gain some independence, having nothing to do forced her outside, and her wandering lead her to family. The combination of everything changed both Mary and her cousin Collin for the better so that they could both learn and understand what it's really like to be children and have fun.

A very cute story and one that needs to be presented to modern children watching TV and playing video games more often.

Charmed Life (Chrestomanci #1/#3)

Find Charmed Life on Goodreads
Genre/Themes: Fantasy
My Rating:  ★★★☆☆

Not quite as good as The Lives of Christopher Chant and Conrad's Fate. It was really hard to connect the Christophers of those books with this older Christopher until the very end. It was like he'd lost his free spirit. Cat also frustrated me. I don't see why he couldn't have told Chrestonmanci what was going on. It seemed like the only reason he hadn't was to further the story of the book. Because of that, I found it really hard to read and put down the book a number of times. The ending was very enjoyable though. Although I wish they had stuck it to Gwen. She really deserved it

Conrad's Fate (Chrestomanci #5/#2)

Find Conrad's Fate on Goodreads
Genre/Themes: Adventure, Fantasy
My Rating: ★★★★☆

To clarify, this is book 5 in the series/published and book 2 in chronological time order.

I'm glad I decided to read this series in chronological order rather than published order. I think there were some things that just made more sense doing it that way. The end was definitely a twist. I didn't expect it. And to some point the twist was almost too much. The end also finished rather suddenly. Everything was solved in the last 15 pages and then a short summation about the future events of the characters. With the rest of the book being so drawn out, it was like the author was given a set amount of pages and then realized she needed to finish the book quickly. If it wasn't for that, I'd have given 5 stars.

The Capture (Guardians of Ga'Hoole #1)

Find The Capture on Goodreads
Genres/Themes: Adventure, Fantasy
My Rating: ★★☆☆☆

The movie was so much better.  There are a lot of potentially exciting events in this story, but the writing style is so amateur and flat that I was practically bored to tears reading this. There are also a lot of weird things about St. Aggies and the songs were...interesting. It was like she was trying to make a complex novel like Game of Thrones or something but over simplified it or didn't know how to correctly go about it.

I understand that this is supposed to be a children's novel, but I've read many children's novels that just completely drew me into the story. You know that point that you just stop noticing the words and the story is just running through your head? I didn't get that here. The Borrowers did a great job of that for example.

Game of Thrones meets The Little Engine That Could

Peter Pan

Find Peter Pan on Goodreads
Get if for free from BooksShouldBeFree!
Genres/Themes: Adventure, Classics, Fantasy
My Rating: ★★★★★

I'm glad I finally read this book. I didn't think it would be as good as it was. I was surprised at how much adult content was in the book. Fairy orgy!? I was sad about the ending, but I already new how the story ended. I think the way the book was written though made it sadder.

The Lives of Christopher Chant (Chrestomanci #4/#1)

Find The Lives of Christopher Chant on Goodreads
Genres/Themes: Adventure, Fantasy
My Rating: ★★★★☆

I wanted to read this again since the last time I read it was in junior high. I decided that I would read this series in chronological order rather than published order, hence the funny numbering in the title. It was as good as I remembered it. I love her books. They're so creative!

Christopher lives in a world where magic is possible. Unknowingly to him, he has the potential to be the strongest magician in all the worlds. Without realizing it, he taps into that magic and is able to travel to other worlds while he sleeps. 

Jones' worlds are wonderfully creative, full of dragons, mermaids, and other creatures. You are pulled right into the story, and when you're done, you're left with the feeling of wishing you could be magical and visit the worlds she's created.

The Borrowers (Borrowers #1)

Find The Borrowers on Goodreads
Genres/Themes:  Adventure, Classics, Fantasy
My Rating: ★★★★☆

I was in the mood to read a book from my childhood and chose this one. I read it when I was in second grade. It was pretty good, but not as good as I remembered it to be. I think it was because it was such a quick read (which for a child, is sometimes better I know). I think another reason I didn't find it as good as I remembered is because of the recent release of the movie Arietty, which was absolutely amazing.

When My Name Was Keoko & Young Deputy Smith

Find When My Name Was Keoko on Goodreads 
Genres/Themes: Historical Fiction, World War II
My Rating: ★★★★★

I read this a couple of years ago and really loved it. I often heard about Japan's occupation of Korea, but never really heard too many stories about it. This is one of the best books that I've ever read.

During Japan's occupation, Korean's were forced to learn Japanese. This had to discard their heritage and customs. All Rose of Sharrons (Korea's national flower) were removed and replaced by Japanese cherry trees. To survive, Koreans had to follow the Japanese as Keoko and her family did, but in following the Japanese, they were shunned by their own people and treated as traitors of Korea.

I highly recommend this book to people interested in history, especially pertaining to East Asia and World War II. If you're interested in this theme, check out the kdrama Bridal Mask (Gaksital) on viki.

**********

Find Young Deputy Smith on Goodreads
Genres/Themes: Adventure, Western
My Rating: ★★★★★

This has been one of my favorite books since I was in junior high. Although it seems unrealistic now, it was fun to read about the young boy who ran way from home and made it big.

I would recommend this book to people interested in Western Fiction, especially if you like Wyatt Earp. If you like John Wayne movies, you'll probably enjoy this book.