Scary. Spooky. Great story. However, problematic.

Loved this story, but unfortunately I found a few problematic issues in the book. Not a book I’d recommend reading unfortunately, but overall a great story.

Execution was just as expected. Love how Mary Downing Hahn tells stories, but I just couldn’t get past the one problematic sentence and the numerous unlikeable characters.

This would’ve been a 5 star if told without the racist line, and if the characters weren’t so toxic. I have no problem with reading about toxic characters, but I felt no resolution for their behavior at the end.

I can't quite put my thoughts into words at the moment, but I'll try my best.

Let me start by saying: I have NEVER rated a book 1 star. This was my first. So... my feelings about the book are pretty clear.

This could have been a cute children's book, but it was anything but. The fact that teachers assign this to CHILDREN worries me. The fact that it's considered a classic that "everyone should read," also worries me.

Let's start with the most common issue I saw. The amount of racism in this book is completely unnecessary. Some books are realistic to their time, which I understand, but this was not it. Mary, along with multiple other characters, are shown to be racist. No one combats the behavior or corrects the views. In my opinion, it endorses the view.

Then we had the victim blaming. I'm not going to even start on that.

Once again, this is a children's book. I would NEVER allow a child to read this. They might not understand everything at the moment, but exposing children to this material without addressing the problematic behavior of the characters could be catastrophic.

'It's easy in our happiness, to forget those who are not so well off.'
─ Heidi, Johanna Spyri

Alright. I feel the need to put a little disclaimer before I write this review. I know that this book is a favourite. Unfortunately, it wasn’t for me.

Heidi is a beautiful book. There’s mountains, friendships, meadows covered in flowers, fresh food, good people. A girl with a disability who is cured by said fresh food, willpower, and mountain air. I guess that’s why I did not love this book. As far as I know, disabilities do not work that way. It’s a harmful idea to put into children’s brains that disable people have any control over how they are.

Coming back to the line I quoted in the beginning, it is one of the best lines I have ever read. I hope that I can always be empathetic to the ones that fail, that don't make it──including myself.