Reviews with content warning for Misogyny - Anne of Green Gables

I read this a couple times years and years ago and found it more like a 3.5-4 star (I grew up with the Megan Follows film and the book didn't feel the same when I was younger) but this read hit the exact right spot at just the right time and I adored every bit of it. Anne and Marilla and Matthew feel like old friends and being back with them was exactly what I needed. The nature writing in this is also way more lush than I remembered and I loved it. There were so many points where I was laughing aloud and of course

Matthew dying had me literally in tears. When Marilla tells Anne "you mustn't think I don't love you just as much as he did"??? The 1985 film scene has been tattooed into my brain since childhood but it fucking wrecked me reading it this time.

I found myself really absorbed by Marilla this time around; it's practically as much about her as it is about Anne. They're both such rich characters and I'm so full of affection for them.

The 1985 version is on DVD at my local library so I will definitely be picking that up and I am definitely going to actually continue the series! Somehow I never felt the motivation to do so before but right now all I want is to stay with Anne.

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imrereads's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted medium-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

4.5

What a joy to read about Anne and the people in her life. I didn't expect to love this as much as I did, even shedding tears at a point.

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maystorms's review against another edition

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4.0

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lucyselim's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

Anne of Green Gables is about a young girl named Anne (spelled with an E), who is selected from an orphan asylum to live with Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert at Green Gables. However, once she arrives, it seems that the Cuthbert's had wished for a boy to help with their farm, and not a small little girl after all. This book follows the next few years of Anne's life as she slowly falls into place in Avonlea and within the hearts of Matthew and Marilla.

I have read this book once before, but could not remember any of it, and so had the wonderful experience of feeling like I was reading it for the first time. These characters and this small corner of the world have wrapped me up in a big autumn-like hug. There are none of the characters that I felt I disliked (except perhaps that male teacher), and I felt truly sorry for Anne as she learnt some painful mistakes while growing up. LMM's writing style is incredible. I know there are many other authors who can make you feel 'as if you were there' but she truly makes me feel that I am living it. That I can reach out and touch the Lake of Shining Waters and even Green Gables itself.

At the end, when Matthew dies, I felt Anne's hollow grief with her. No one could argue that he was the kindest and truest of those in Avonlea, and LMM is really toying with us for killing him off in only the first book of the series!

This book reminds us that we could all stand to stop, look at nature, and imagine up something wonderful from time to time, while the busy world moves all around us.

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