Book Review: The Forgotten Garden

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"Cassandra is lost, alone and grieving. Her much loved grandmother, Nell, has just died and Cassandra, her life already shaken by a tragic accident ten years ago, feels like she has lost everything dear to her. But an unexpected and mysterious bequest from Nell turns Cassandra's life upside down and ends up challenging everything she thought she knew about herself and her family.

Inheriting a book of dark and intriguing fairytales written by Eliza Makepeace - the Victorian authoress who disappeared mysteriously in the early twentieth century - Cassandra takes her courage in both hands to follow in the footsteps of Nell on a quest to find out the truth about their history, their family and their past; little knowing that in the process, she will also discover a new life for herself."

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I am a girl who loves a good mystery. That is what this book is, a great mystery! Cassandra is sent on this journey to discover her grandmother, Nell's, past. Nell grew up thinking that she was the daughter of one couple, finding out that she was abandoned as a small child and then died never knowing who her real parents were or where she came from. Nell literally handed her granddaughter, Cassandra, the key to unlocking the mystery of her past. So Cassandra decided to finish the research that her grandma started 30 years earlier.

Parts of this book were a little bit confusing to me. One thing that confused me about the book was the style in which it was written. It followed two, eventually three, story lines. It followed Cassandra on her quest, it followed Nell's discoveries and eventually followed Eliza's story line as well. Once you make a conscious effort to notice the year at the beginning of each chapter you are good to go and it gets less confusing.

There was one other key point that confused me and that was figuring out who was related to who and how this person or that person fit into the story. There was one point while I was reading that I literally had to stop, get out a piece of paper and work backwards from Cassandra so I could see how everyone fit into the puzzle. Once I saw it on paper it made a little more sense and I was able to continue reading.

Other than those two minor frustrations it was a great book. I'm not if it's just me or if everyone had a hard time getting into the book, but there comes a point in the book when you just can't put it down. As Cassandra gets closer and closer to solving this mystery, you think that you're on the brink of discovering something big and then the chapter ends and flips back to the year 1900!!! Seriously, really hard to put or down after that point.

One thing that I really liked was the fact that they incorporated some of Eliza's fairy tales into the book. Reading some of her fairy tales made me wish that I had a copy of her book to read. I think the author should make a book with all of Eliza's fairy tales. I would read that one over and over.

If you decide to read this book and can't get into it, don't give up on it!! It is a fantastic book and I'm so glad that my book club is expanding my horizons when it comes to book genres. It's been great to read some books that I probably never would've read otherwise. :)

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Your Book Reviewer,
Jessy <3