The Secret Garden: A Graphic Novel
by Mariah Marsden (Adapted by), Hanna Luechtefeld (Illustrations)
3 out of 5 stars

This retelling of the Secret Garden in graphic novel form is lovely, but has some issues with story-telling. I liked it, but it also has some flaws.

I liked the beautiful art style! The art is whimsical and sweet with bright colors. However, I didn’t like that there were so many tiny panels on each page. It felt too busy.

There is very little dialogue, which makes it difficult to follow the progression of the story. In the original novel, we get to see the gradual character development of Colin and Mary. But with so little dialogue to give the reader clues about what is happening on that internal journey for the characters, the characters seem to leap ahead with no indication of what made them change.

There were a couple of places where the dialogue didn’t make sense, because the story doesn’t follow the natural progression of the original story. I think some of the scenes might have gotten mixed. In one scene, Mary tells Colin that Dickon is Martha’s brother, and then in the very next scene, she mentions Dickon, and Colin asks, “Who is that?”
Sloppy story-telling.

I wish that they had stuck closer to the original story.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.