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michig's review
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
bookeliina's review against another edition
5.0
My favourite book
No matter how many times I read it, it's still my favourite L.M. Montgomery book. Everyone has their own "blue castle" that keeps us company until our dreams come true.
No matter how many times I read it, it's still my favourite L.M. Montgomery book. Everyone has their own "blue castle" that keeps us company until our dreams come true.
elms2000's review
emotional
funny
inspiring
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? Yes
4.5
musti18's review against another edition
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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
celeste57's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
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? Yes
5.0
Valancy leads a pitiful life. Utterly cowed by her mother and cousin, she has no outward personality of her own. Even her room is doggedly ugly. Not that she’s allowed to spend any time there, outside of sleeping and dressing. Every aspect of her day is planned for her; she has not an ounce of autonomy. In her timidity and plainness in comparison to the rest of the handsome family, she is the butt of every joke. Worst of all, she’s reached the age of twenty-nine without even a glimmer of a relationship, much less any marriage prospects. And as marriage is the only means of escape from her overbearing family, Valancy despairs.
But she does have one refuge that no one in her family would ever suspect: the Blue Castle. It is the beautiful, joyous home of her imagination, and it’s where her mind spends most of its time, while her body obediently goes through the motions dictated by her mother. When Valancy learns that she could die within the year, she realizes that she’s never truly lived. She’s determined to remedy that before her year is up, no matter how it might offend her stuffy, uptight family. This decision leads her to find her courage, and through it she finds freedom and friendship, romance and heartbreak. But when that year comes to a close, Valancy will know that she lived life to the fullest.
I have a deep and abiding affection for L.M. Montgomery. I didn’t make her acquaintance—or that of her most famous heroine, Anne Shirley—until I was grown and married. But I fell immediately in love with the elfin redhead, and knew instantly that we would be kindred spirits, if only she could spring from the pages. I can’t help but feel the same kind of kinship for the woman who crafted her. When I first read The Blue Castle over a decade ago, I found myself unable to form the same connection to Valancy, though I still appreciated her story. Rereading this was a revelation, akin to that which I experienced upon rereading Jane Austen’s Persuasion earlier this year. Both Valancy Stirling and Anne Elliot have grown on me tremendously. While their stories are quieter, they have their own power. By the time I read the final pages of The Blue Castle a second time, I found myself loving Valancy almost as much as I do Anne Shirley.
Montgomery’s nature writing is beautiful. It’s the kind of portrayal that impacts the way your own eyes view the natural world around you. I felt this in the Anne of Green Gables series, but I felt it even more strongly in The Blue Castle. That natural world and the recording of it are of deep importance to the story being told here, and that was an element that I adored. She also handles romance and drama beautifully.
The Blue Castle has been around for over 100 years now, so I don’t feel that it’s too soon to claim that it is and will continue to be a tried and true classic. It’s a story that will never stop having something to say, and that will never say it without elegance and charm. Valancy’s story is lovely, and feels in no way dated. If you push through the gloom of her life in the first few chapters, you’ll never stop rooting for her as she boldly seeks out her own happiness.
But she does have one refuge that no one in her family would ever suspect: the Blue Castle. It is the beautiful, joyous home of her imagination, and it’s where her mind spends most of its time, while her body obediently goes through the motions dictated by her mother. When Valancy learns that she could die within the year, she realizes that she’s never truly lived. She’s determined to remedy that before her year is up, no matter how it might offend her stuffy, uptight family. This decision leads her to find her courage, and through it she finds freedom and friendship, romance and heartbreak. But when that year comes to a close, Valancy will know that she lived life to the fullest.
I have a deep and abiding affection for L.M. Montgomery. I didn’t make her acquaintance—or that of her most famous heroine, Anne Shirley—until I was grown and married. But I fell immediately in love with the elfin redhead, and knew instantly that we would be kindred spirits, if only she could spring from the pages. I can’t help but feel the same kind of kinship for the woman who crafted her. When I first read The Blue Castle over a decade ago, I found myself unable to form the same connection to Valancy, though I still appreciated her story. Rereading this was a revelation, akin to that which I experienced upon rereading Jane Austen’s Persuasion earlier this year. Both Valancy Stirling and Anne Elliot have grown on me tremendously. While their stories are quieter, they have their own power. By the time I read the final pages of The Blue Castle a second time, I found myself loving Valancy almost as much as I do Anne Shirley.
Montgomery’s nature writing is beautiful. It’s the kind of portrayal that impacts the way your own eyes view the natural world around you. I felt this in the Anne of Green Gables series, but I felt it even more strongly in The Blue Castle. That natural world and the recording of it are of deep importance to the story being told here, and that was an element that I adored. She also handles romance and drama beautifully.
The Blue Castle has been around for over 100 years now, so I don’t feel that it’s too soon to claim that it is and will continue to be a tried and true classic. It’s a story that will never stop having something to say, and that will never say it without elegance and charm. Valancy’s story is lovely, and feels in no way dated. If you push through the gloom of her life in the first few chapters, you’ll never stop rooting for her as she boldly seeks out her own happiness.
anna_karenina5's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-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? Yes
3.75
badger505's review
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
trippalli's review
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
A feminist empowering book about women in the past and a particular woman who overcame her Family and societies expectations which were very low and after getting a fatal heart condition diagnosis decides to live her life to the fullest. Do everything she loves. Be who she loves. Spend time with people she loves and that act of rebellion and the feminist way really drives this story forward and is very inspiring. Overall, it's a classic love story, but it's a structure of social rebellion and it has a lot of depth and meaning to it because of the way this person overcame thier situation