For thoughts on this being "inspired by The Secret Garden" see my review of [b:The Secret Garden|2998|The Secret Garden|Frances Hodgson Burnett|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1327873635s/2998.jpg|3186437].

Things I will remember about this book: the ship flying through the trees, violent waves crashing together to make a calm surface, putting your ear to ground to listen for life, the way Ellen Potter's narrator talks to the reader at the very beginning and end of the story. ( )

I forgot until about halfway through this book that it was a retelling of The Secret Garden, which I adored, and re-read a million times as a kid. By the time I got to that halfway point, I was already really enjoying this book. The telling of it is quiet, spare, and beautiful, but the characters and the scenes don't feel sketched in at all - the story is living and breathing. I think the way Roo's story met up with this other, more familiar story was really well done. Maybe I was just disappointed that the story had to end at all, but the only negative thing I can say is that it did end a bit too abruptly. Once the secret garden story was fully realized, it seemed like a crutch for any resolution that needed to happen in Roo's story, and the characters got short-changed in a very hasty, feel-good conclusion.

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[b:The Secret Garden|2998|The Secret Garden|Frances Hodgson Burnett|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1327873635s/2998.jpg|3186437] was one of my very favorite books growing up, so I had high hopes for this book. It's well written, and I can definitely see recommending it to kids/teens. But for me, the parts of The Secret Garden that I loved didn't quite translate here. Good book for book recs, just not my taste. ( )