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Shelfbrooke Academy #4
The Garden
Sophia Brass has it all—money, freedom, and a total life of luxury. When Sophia’s parents go abroad, she’s sent to the prestigious boarding school of Shelfbrooke Academy. Here she shares a dorm with her estranged cousin, Belle, whose extreme social anxiety hasn’t let her leave the room in three years. Thanks to her reputation as a stuck-up brat, Sophia isn’t really friends with anyone. Especially not Declan Moss, the popular senior who is too smart, too cute, and too annoying for his own good.
The boarding school’s gardens become her refuge where she can do her school work in solace, away from the mocking and unfriendly students. One day she finds a hidden door in the gardens that she’s positive leads somewhere special. Somewhere she could truly hide out from everything. Maybe it could even get her cousin to finally leave her room.
This hidden garden could fix everything. Only the door is locked.
And she’s pretty sure the key belongs to Declan.
The Garden is a modern retelling of the classic novel The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. It’s a part of the Shelfbrooke Academy series, a collection of retellings that promise to be a lot more fun than the originals!
The boarding school’s gardens become her refuge where she can do her school work in solace, away from the mocking and unfriendly students. One day she finds a hidden door in the gardens that she’s positive leads somewhere special. Somewhere she could truly hide out from everything. Maybe it could even get her cousin to finally leave her room.
This hidden garden could fix everything. Only the door is locked.
And she’s pretty sure the key belongs to Declan.
The Garden is a modern retelling of the classic novel The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. It’s a part of the Shelfbrooke Academy series, a collection of retellings that promise to be a lot more fun than the originals!
- GenresYoung Adult
242 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 29, 2019
18 people are currently reading
47 people want to read
About the author
Amy Sparling
101 books806 followersAmy Sparling is the USA Today Bestselling author of books with swoony first loves and heartwarming endings. She lives on the coast of Texas with her family, her spoiled rotten pets, and a huge pile of books.
By day, she works as a librarian, and by night you can find her curled up with a book–either one she’s reading or one she’s writing.
Amy Sparling is the pen name of author Cheyanne Young, but she’ll answer to either name!
By day, she works as a librarian, and by night you can find her curled up with a book–either one she’s reading or one she’s writing.
Amy Sparling is the pen name of author Cheyanne Young, but she’ll answer to either name!
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
June 3, 2020
Growing up, did you enjoy the children's classic novel - The Secret Garden? I just adored the whole idea of finding a magical garden tucked away that could become not only a safe haven but a spot of healing and joy. Our book starts with the introduction of Sophia Brass who lives in California and rubs shoulders with celebrities. She has never needed for anything as she lives in a world of luxury. Her life has been a series of private tutors and homeschooling, however, her grades are starting to slip due to her extra-curricular of partying and drinking, etc. Her parents decide to enroll her in Shelfbrooke Academy till graduation. Sophia's cousin Belle attends Shelfbrooke Academy and Sophia has managed to board with her. Turns out though that Sophia who thought she could just slip into the popular crowd finds it a challenge as she ends up being blacklisted and ignored. It doesn't help that Sophia's cousin Belle can't join her in the classes as she suffers from panic attacks and has agoraphobia due to her severe social anxiety. Her only friend later comes in the form of Declan Moss - a student and a gardener. His family has looked after the gardens of Shelfbrooke Academy for generations. During a particularly bad day, Sophia finds herself wandering the gardens and finds a hidden locked door. Wondering what's behind it, she searches for the key which leads her back to Declan, and to their amazement, they find a secret garden. This garden will become a safe haven and refuge for Sophia and will also be the beginning of something powerful as it manages to get Belle slowly emerging into the real world. If you love classic renditions and YA romance/friendship and boarding school novels, then check out the Shelfbrooke Academy series today.
July 31, 2019
Very sweet, cute story.
December 2, 2020
2.5 stars
I think out of the books I read in the series maybe this one was the best of them
The Story is about Sophie, who is a "spoiled brat" who lives like a princess waiting for the time she is an adult to have her trust fund and live her life.. until the day her mother tells her she will be shipped to a boarding school until she graduates from highschool.. so she goes their and be roommates with her cousin Belle who has a major panic attack when she see's people so she stays in her room all the time, and she meets a cute guy who is the gardner Duclan .. and most of all she discovers a secret garden no one knew about for many years
the story is a retelling of " The Secret Garden " which I really loved so this one was fine as far as this series is concerned
I think out of the books I read in the series maybe this one was the best of them
The Story is about Sophie, who is a "spoiled brat" who lives like a princess waiting for the time she is an adult to have her trust fund and live her life.. until the day her mother tells her she will be shipped to a boarding school until she graduates from highschool.. so she goes their and be roommates with her cousin Belle who has a major panic attack when she see's people so she stays in her room all the time, and she meets a cute guy who is the gardner Duclan .. and most of all she discovers a secret garden no one knew about for many years
the story is a retelling of " The Secret Garden " which I really loved so this one was fine as far as this series is concerned
August 20, 2019
The gardens • 🌿🌼🍁🍂
https://ladiikeiii.wordpress.com/2019...
****Throwing spoilers throughout this review ****
This book was really good. It took me maybe three days; maybe two to finish it... it’s like the book twelfth Knight (meaning; I finish it really fast) but anyways. I was glad that Declan came to his senses and realized that he shouldn’t hide from Sophia, knowing that he actually liked her. Also; with her speaking up for herself when it came to her parents was also good. Being a trust fund kid; can have its perks and also be hard, especially if your parents are controlling your every move.
But with Sophia moving to New England; and going to boarding school actually helped her to become a better person. Not only that she realize those friends of hers in Malibu wasn’t really a real friend as Declan and Belle were to her. Because clearly everybody didn’t reach out to her once she left... Plus; those students in her school was wack though since neither of them wanted to get to know her; because of a creep like Chad who in the end ended up getting into trouble with selling pills...
Not only that she also helped her cousin with her anxiety if it wasn’t for Sophia, but I also don’t think Belle would’ve left her room the way she did when Sophia mentions the gardens. The gardens actually helped both Sophia and her cousin Bella and also good that she thought college was an option for her, especially since she didn’t care for it when she was in Malibu.
I did like how Sophia got Declan family their garden back by talking to her parents, and using her trust fund is a good way to help her boyfriend. But at least her mom said she’ll get it back eventually. But I doubt Sophia cared lol.
https://ladiikeiii.wordpress.com/2019...
****Throwing spoilers throughout this review ****
This book was really good. It took me maybe three days; maybe two to finish it... it’s like the book twelfth Knight (meaning; I finish it really fast) but anyways. I was glad that Declan came to his senses and realized that he shouldn’t hide from Sophia, knowing that he actually liked her. Also; with her speaking up for herself when it came to her parents was also good. Being a trust fund kid; can have its perks and also be hard, especially if your parents are controlling your every move.
But with Sophia moving to New England; and going to boarding school actually helped her to become a better person. Not only that she realize those friends of hers in Malibu wasn’t really a real friend as Declan and Belle were to her. Because clearly everybody didn’t reach out to her once she left... Plus; those students in her school was wack though since neither of them wanted to get to know her; because of a creep like Chad who in the end ended up getting into trouble with selling pills...
Not only that she also helped her cousin with her anxiety if it wasn’t for Sophia, but I also don’t think Belle would’ve left her room the way she did when Sophia mentions the gardens. The gardens actually helped both Sophia and her cousin Bella and also good that she thought college was an option for her, especially since she didn’t care for it when she was in Malibu.
I did like how Sophia got Declan family their garden back by talking to her parents, and using her trust fund is a good way to help her boyfriend. But at least her mom said she’ll get it back eventually. But I doubt Sophia cared lol.
December 31, 2019
The Garden was a cute, quick read!
Sophia is the quintessential rich spoiled brat from California. Her world falls out from under her when her parents make her attend boarding school in New England for the remainder of her senior year.
Being by the whole student body makes for a sad senior year until Sophia secretly befriends the cute student gardener, Declan, and becomes bffs with her roomie cousin. Sophia might just learn that money and popularity aren’t everything.
The Garden was fun, like the rest of the Shelfbrooke Academy series so far! The timeline felt a little too rushed for me and it could’ve used more detail messing up to graduation, but overall, another book I enjoyed.
Sophia is the quintessential rich spoiled brat from California. Her world falls out from under her when her parents make her attend boarding school in New England for the remainder of her senior year.
Being by the whole student body makes for a sad senior year until Sophia secretly befriends the cute student gardener, Declan, and becomes bffs with her roomie cousin. Sophia might just learn that money and popularity aren’t everything.
The Garden was fun, like the rest of the Shelfbrooke Academy series so far! The timeline felt a little too rushed for me and it could’ve used more detail messing up to graduation, but overall, another book I enjoyed.
August 5, 2019
I was really disappointed by this book.
As a child (I honestly can’t remember the story wasn’t part of my life) The Secret Garden was one of my favourite books, there was just something specials about the magic woven into the story, and as an adult it still holds a special place in my heart.
However the book just felt forced, there were some parts that were too dragged out and others that didn’t have enough build up around them.
Bits that were essential to the storyline felt poorly written and unnecessary parts were totally overwritten and I really struggled though this. Basically, the magic wasn’t there.
The only good part was the depiction of social anxiety but even then it felt stilted, instead of an enchanting journey.
Wont stop me from reading Amy Sparling but it has made me avoid obvious retelling of the classics. Some do it cleverly, this just didn’t feel right for me.
As a child (I honestly can’t remember the story wasn’t part of my life) The Secret Garden was one of my favourite books, there was just something specials about the magic woven into the story, and as an adult it still holds a special place in my heart.
However the book just felt forced, there were some parts that were too dragged out and others that didn’t have enough build up around them.
Bits that were essential to the storyline felt poorly written and unnecessary parts were totally overwritten and I really struggled though this. Basically, the magic wasn’t there.
The only good part was the depiction of social anxiety but even then it felt stilted, instead of an enchanting journey.
Wont stop me from reading Amy Sparling but it has made me avoid obvious retelling of the classics. Some do it cleverly, this just didn’t feel right for me.
August 20, 2019
Fab read I love Amy's books
Fab read I love Amy's books. I found it hard to put my book down it drew me in and I fell in love with the book and the character's. I hope there'll be a sequel for after graduation
Fab read I love Amy's books. I found it hard to put my book down it drew me in and I fell in love with the book and the character's. I hope there'll be a sequel for after graduation
July 17, 2019
Note: The reason behind me reading this book two weeks before it's set to release is because I got the amazing opportunity to read it ARC and help proofread the book!
August 13, 2019
Loved the book
Another great book I only wish it was longer to find out more about the secret garden and what happens to the 3 of them once graduated
Another great book I only wish it was longer to find out more about the secret garden and what happens to the 3 of them once graduated
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews