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katebirdie's review against another edition
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
mariahistryingtoread's review against another edition
3.0
I skimmed the plot descriptions when I first decided to read this entire series and I was unsurprised to see there seemed to be a bit of a drop off in quality for later books. I expected there would be as it’s very rare, in my experience, for an author to maintain a high standard of writing across more than two or three books.
Despite being book 6, I’d say this is one of the stronger entries in the canon.
Anne is no longer the driving force behind the series from this point forward. While other characters have certainly factored into previous novels, this is the turning point as Anne takes a backseat the majority of the time, instead focusing on her six children: Jem, Walter, Shirley, Nan, Diana, and Rilla. The kids get up to all sorts of troublemaking rivaling that of Anne as a girl. Anne is the ever dutiful, doting mother who stars in some way in most of their scrapes as all of her children trust her implicitly and tell her pretty much everything at some point or another.
Like all of the Anne books, this one is sorted like a collection of short stories. The difference is that the short stories this time mostly revolve around some adventure involving one of the kids or some general neighborhood shenanigans. Anne gets a chapter or two about her trying her hand at matchmaking once again - note this is only once again if you aren’t reading in publishing order and have read Windy Poplars already. The back half of Windy Poplars is mostly matchmaking. And she also has a chapter or so later on featuring some marital strife. But, overall this isn’t much about her.
I loved seeing Anne all grown up with her little family. I loved that she and Gilbert had cultivated a household full to the brim with love, understanding and trust. The fact that her children could disclose anything to Anne and she wouldn’t laugh or judge them was such a refreshing way of parenting for this series where so many parents are often straddling the line between, what we would consider today, active neglect if not outright emotional abuse and the bare minimum. All those declarations she made in previous books about how she’d parent her children differently than those around her once she had them wasn’t just talk; she truly put her money where her mouth was.
It gave me the same feeling I had reading the first book; where did all the time go? Here Anne was, my sweet, loquacious little orphan girl, now a mature, confident woman of 34 years running a bustling, thriving household. It happened before I’d even realized. I imagine this is kind of what it’s like to be a parent.
The period-typical sexism woven into this series was minimal. I don’t even recall anything particularly heinous which is really saying something. Or I’ve finally become desensitized and no longer perceive it. Either way I was content.
There is a significant chunk at the beginning involving a horrible great aunt of Gilbert’s coming to visit that is insufferable. This woman makes everybody in the household miserable. She treats the kids so poorly it’s to the point that most are afraid to speak in front of her, advocates for slapping them (she actually does slap one which does at least spark some action against her), criticizes every aspect of Anne’s mothering as well as execution of her household duties, and just generally is an altogether cantankerous, nasty old crone. Yet, they can’t get rid of her because of antiquated rules for societal conduct that require her to be appeased at all times since it would be rude to ask her to leave despite her overstaying the two weeks she was expected to be a guest by a mile.
It was infuriating reading about Anne being browbeaten by this ghastly woman while Gilbert ignored how it was truly affecting her and Anne forcing herself to have compassion because ‘after all Aunt Mary Maria Blythe is just misunderstood’ or some such other nonsense. I also ended up annoyed with Anne for allowing her children to be mistreated for months on end all in order to avoid offending her. This drags the beginning down immensely though thankfully it does manage to crawl its way out after she finally is pushed out.
Anyways, this was a good one. Anne’s children were funny and each had their own little quirk that made them stand out. Her household was warm. Her supporting cast was as functional as ever. I feel like Lucy Maud Montgomery’s writing style shines the best in this book. The ensemble cast does her every favor. I’d actually highly recommend reading this one if you enjoyed the first book as I’d say this is the one that has captured that original charm the most - at least so far.
Despite being book 6, I’d say this is one of the stronger entries in the canon.
Anne is no longer the driving force behind the series from this point forward. While other characters have certainly factored into previous novels, this is the turning point as Anne takes a backseat the majority of the time, instead focusing on her six children: Jem, Walter, Shirley, Nan, Diana, and Rilla. The kids get up to all sorts of troublemaking rivaling that of Anne as a girl. Anne is the ever dutiful, doting mother who stars in some way in most of their scrapes as all of her children trust her implicitly and tell her pretty much everything at some point or another.
Like all of the Anne books, this one is sorted like a collection of short stories. The difference is that the short stories this time mostly revolve around some adventure involving one of the kids or some general neighborhood shenanigans. Anne gets a chapter or two about her trying her hand at matchmaking once again - note this is only once again if you aren’t reading in publishing order and have read Windy Poplars already. The back half of Windy Poplars is mostly matchmaking. And she also has a chapter or so later on featuring some marital strife. But, overall this isn’t much about her.
I loved seeing Anne all grown up with her little family. I loved that she and Gilbert had cultivated a household full to the brim with love, understanding and trust. The fact that her children could disclose anything to Anne and she wouldn’t laugh or judge them was such a refreshing way of parenting for this series where so many parents are often straddling the line between, what we would consider today, active neglect if not outright emotional abuse and the bare minimum. All those declarations she made in previous books about how she’d parent her children differently than those around her once she had them wasn’t just talk; she truly put her money where her mouth was.
It gave me the same feeling I had reading the first book; where did all the time go? Here Anne was, my sweet, loquacious little orphan girl, now a mature, confident woman of 34 years running a bustling, thriving household. It happened before I’d even realized. I imagine this is kind of what it’s like to be a parent.
The period-typical sexism woven into this series was minimal. I don’t even recall anything particularly heinous which is really saying something. Or I’ve finally become desensitized and no longer perceive it. Either way I was content.
There is a significant chunk at the beginning involving a horrible great aunt of Gilbert’s coming to visit that is insufferable. This woman makes everybody in the household miserable. She treats the kids so poorly it’s to the point that most are afraid to speak in front of her, advocates for slapping them (she actually does slap one which does at least spark some action against her), criticizes every aspect of Anne’s mothering as well as execution of her household duties, and just generally is an altogether cantankerous, nasty old crone. Yet, they can’t get rid of her because of antiquated rules for societal conduct that require her to be appeased at all times since it would be rude to ask her to leave despite her overstaying the two weeks she was expected to be a guest by a mile.
It was infuriating reading about Anne being browbeaten by this ghastly woman while Gilbert ignored how it was truly affecting her and Anne forcing herself to have compassion because ‘after all Aunt Mary Maria Blythe is just misunderstood’ or some such other nonsense. I also ended up annoyed with Anne for allowing her children to be mistreated for months on end all in order to avoid offending her. This drags the beginning down immensely though thankfully it does manage to crawl its way out after she finally is pushed out.
Anyways, this was a good one. Anne’s children were funny and each had their own little quirk that made them stand out. Her household was warm. Her supporting cast was as functional as ever. I feel like Lucy Maud Montgomery’s writing style shines the best in this book. The ensemble cast does her every favor. I’d actually highly recommend reading this one if you enjoyed the first book as I’d say this is the one that has captured that original charm the most - at least so far.
jessicastephenson's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
So I knew that the later Anne books were less focused on her and shifted to focusing on her kids, but I thought since this book was called Anne of Ingleside, we'd still get more of a focus on Anne. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Most of this book was about her children and the adventures/troubles they got up to and the lessons they learned which is.... nice, I guess? Learning that her kids have e the same whimsy and imagination Anne possessed as a child was lovely. But overall I wasn't particularly interested in the goings on of children's lives. I also find it weird that the description of the book mentioned Anne was worried Gilbert didn't love her after so many years and I thought this would be a romance focused book however that plot point was discussed literally in the second to last chapter and was entirely not even a real concern?
appaloosa05's review against another edition
4.0
I don't like this one as well as some of the other Anne books, but still an enjoyable revisit.
scottyreadsstuff's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Such a fun time!! 💛
eggjen's review against another edition
4.0
It's always nice catching up with Anne and Gilbert and though I think I preferred Anne's House of Dreams to this book, I still enjoyed reading about Anne as a mother. I think the big reason I preferred the last book is because it was more of one tangible story where Anne of Ingleside reads more like a series of short stories about each of Anne's children. It's enjoyable but the loss of Anne as a constant character was disappointing as fun as each of her kids are. I did enjoy reading about all of their antics and being able to relate to Anne as a mother and wife.
myreadingjourney_0119's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
sophiaofbroadmoor's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
tink_'s review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.25