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bibliobrandie's review against another edition
4.0
I loved the original books so it's hard to compete with my feelings about that series. This was a fine redux but you know what's funny? Reading the original Anne, I never questioned two siblings living together and taking in a foster child. In a modern setting, it just seems so weird. And Anne constantly pleading got on my nerves.
hollyxbear's review against another edition
5.0
I loved every second of this book. Retellings are always my favorite, especially when it comes to the 21st century. This was both entertaining and just plain fun. I can't wait for this author to come out with more books.
tatyanavogt's review against another edition
5.0
I fully enjoyed this! Beautiful illustrations, touching story, I teared up just a tad bit and had a great time!
plaidpladd's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
This was great! I was surprised how well it was able to capture the vibes of the OG in a modern setting. I loved it, and I loved the art style too.
bilingual_introvert's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
This is a great modern retelling. It's very fast paced. Even faster than the Anne of Green Gables graphic novel by Mariah Marsden.
Obviously there are many differences due to this being a modern retelling in a different era than the original text. They still kept a lot of the elements like the broach scene but they also changed some things. For example, unlike the original text in this retellingthe adoptive father survives his heart attack. Also she and Gilbert become friends fairly quickly (within the same year), and of course she couldn't miss a ton of school unlike the original text. . Due to a lot of little changes it seemed to have changed her character slightly. She seems to bounce back much faster and has difficulty being sincere with her emotions initially.
Obviously there are many differences due to this being a modern retelling in a different era than the original text. They still kept a lot of the elements like the broach scene but they also changed some things. For example, unlike the original text in this retelling
thetomatowriter's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-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
I'm giving this a 5 star not based on my personal experience (although I did enjoy it) but based on the experience I think I would have had if I was the intended age range for this graphic novel. Occasionally the dialogue felt a little stiff and preachy, but to be fair so did the original. And it was the sort of thing where I think, as a kid, I wouldn't have noticed or cared. I might have even been excited about being introduced to experiences and concepts I hadn't considered before!
If you want an Anne of Green Gables retelling that does everything exactly the same as the story set in Victorian Canada did, this isn't the one for you. Anne isn't necessarily a writer, Matthew isn't a farmer, and certain relationships and plot points go differently than they would have been able to at the time the original books came out. But if you want a retelling that follows the spirit of Anne of Green Gables and truly takes into account how that might resonate in a modern setting for a modern audience, I'd highly recommend Anne of West Philly. If you have kids that you want to love Anne as much as you did growing up, I'd recommend this graphic novel.
Everything that was changed made sense to me, while still holding true to the things I loved about the characters and the original story. And the art was just beautiful throughout. I've seen a few different modern attempts at Anne of Green Gables (especially back in the "classics as vlogs" days) and this one is definitely my favorite.
If you want an Anne of Green Gables retelling that does everything exactly the same as the story set in Victorian Canada did, this isn't the one for you. Anne isn't necessarily a writer, Matthew isn't a farmer, and certain relationships and plot points go differently than they would have been able to at the time the original books came out. But if you want a retelling that follows the spirit of Anne of Green Gables and truly takes into account how that might resonate in a modern setting for a modern audience, I'd highly recommend Anne of West Philly. If you have kids that you want to love Anne as much as you did growing up, I'd recommend this graphic novel.
Everything that was changed made sense to me, while still holding true to the things I loved about the characters and the original story. And the art was just beautiful throughout. I've seen a few different modern attempts at Anne of Green Gables (especially back in the "classics as vlogs" days) and this one is definitely my favorite.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content
kberry513's review against another edition
3.0
I'm struggling with how to rate this one...as a standalone story, setting aside the source material, it's probably a 4. It's a cute story of a foster kid who finds her place.
As a retelling, it's maybe a 2. Retellings don't need to be entirely faithful to the source, especially when updating for a modern audience, but I do feel like they have to hit the same emotional notes and that the characters should remain true to their roots. From the beginning, I felt like this missed the boat. For example, Marilla already knows they are adopting a girl - the first time we meet Anne in the original, it's supposed to be a big misunderstanding. They got semi sort of close with the idea that Matthew and Marilla had only ever fostered boys and Anne was a little dramatic for them, but Anne is also supposed to be their first experience with a child at all. Anne's big personality and whimsy were apparent in the beginning, but that drifted away. Matthew is supposed to be so painfully shy that bonding with Anne opens him up, whereas here he's just a kindred spirit from the get go.
Minnie May is supposed to have a brush with death that is averted only due to Anne's experience with children...she has a lightly sprained ankle. If they really wanted to modernize, it could have been an anaphylactic reaction and Anne knows how to use an EpiPen or something. The stakes were just not there.
I've been totally here for the diversity in this and the others in this graphic novel classic retelling series, but they never address Anne's hair color which is super important to her character in the books because she longs for it to be anything but red before she later embraces it to an extent. They could have done something similar by her having an issue with her hair type or something else, like braces or a big nose, anything. Her dying her hair green in the original is to fix what she perceives as a flaw not just to look nice for something, and in this instead of having to learn to deal with the consequences of her impulsivity with an unfortunate haircut, she immediately looks super cool at school.
The second thing was the Anne/Diana dynamic that never gets fully addressed or settled. I know from the source material, many have speculated about her close relationship with Diana and have felt that had they been born/written in a different time, they would have been together and not just friends. And I think this maybe could have gotten there, but didn't. I also don't love that interpretation partly because I think close friendship is equally as important and in the originals I really enjoy the enemies to grudging friends to lovers journey with Anne and Gilbert. Honestly I think it would have been way better to have Gilbert be female or non binary and have it play out the same way to include some LGBTQ+ representation. Again, that's because I love the friendship Anne and Diana have and feel like it has its own place. I think if the reason Diana's parents forbid her to see Anne is because of their romantic relationship and that gets resolved when she actually saves Minnie May's life, that would have been a way to update this to an Anne/Diana story I would have enjoyed. There just wasn't any resolution here; Anne hasn't even told Diana about her feelings by the end.
Speaking of the end... Matthew doesn't die. I love him and so on the one hand,it's nice he survived. But I also don't love when kids adaptations change that type of thing; it made me so mad as a kid. And his death brings Anne and Marilla together, which I guess could happen even if he doesn't die. This is the complaint I would have been willing to completely let slide even if it wasn't my preference, but added together with the rest just left me disappointed.
I didn't mind the update if Anne's interest in literature to an interest and aptitude in coding - that felt like a natural modernization since in the original her aptitude is what earned her scholarships and praise and today an aptitude for STEM is what earns you that.
As a retelling, it's maybe a 2. Retellings don't need to be entirely faithful to the source, especially when updating for a modern audience, but I do feel like they have to hit the same emotional notes and that the characters should remain true to their roots. From the beginning, I felt like this missed the boat. For example, Marilla already knows they are adopting a girl - the first time we meet Anne in the original, it's supposed to be a big misunderstanding. They got semi sort of close with the idea that Matthew and Marilla had only ever fostered boys and Anne was a little dramatic for them, but Anne is also supposed to be their first experience with a child at all. Anne's big personality and whimsy were apparent in the beginning, but that drifted away. Matthew is supposed to be so painfully shy that bonding with Anne opens him up, whereas here he's just a kindred spirit from the get go.
Minnie May is supposed to have a brush with death that is averted only due to Anne's experience with children...she has a lightly sprained ankle. If they really wanted to modernize, it could have been an anaphylactic reaction and Anne knows how to use an EpiPen or something. The stakes were just not there.
I've been totally here for the diversity in this and the others in this graphic novel classic retelling series, but they never address Anne's hair color which is super important to her character in the books because she longs for it to be anything but red before she later embraces it to an extent. They could have done something similar by her having an issue with her hair type or something else, like braces or a big nose, anything. Her dying her hair green in the original is to fix what she perceives as a flaw not just to look nice for something, and in this instead of having to learn to deal with the consequences of her impulsivity with an unfortunate haircut, she immediately looks super cool at school.
The second thing was the Anne/Diana dynamic that never gets fully addressed or settled. I know from the source material, many have speculated about her close relationship with Diana and have felt that had they been born/written in a different time, they would have been together and not just friends. And I think this maybe could have gotten there, but didn't. I also don't love that interpretation partly because I think close friendship is equally as important and in the originals I really enjoy the enemies to grudging friends to lovers journey with Anne and Gilbert. Honestly I think it would have been way better to have Gilbert be female or non binary and have it play out the same way to include some LGBTQ+ representation. Again, that's because I love the friendship Anne and Diana have and feel like it has its own place. I think if the reason Diana's parents forbid her to see Anne is because of their romantic relationship and that gets resolved when she actually saves Minnie May's life, that would have been a way to update this to an Anne/Diana story I would have enjoyed. There just wasn't any resolution here; Anne hasn't even told Diana about her feelings by the end.
Speaking of the end... Matthew doesn't die. I love him and so on the one hand,it's nice he survived. But I also don't love when kids adaptations change that type of thing; it made me so mad as a kid. And his death brings Anne and Marilla together, which I guess could happen even if he doesn't die. This is the complaint I would have been willing to completely let slide even if it wasn't my preference, but added together with the rest just left me disappointed.
I didn't mind the update if Anne's interest in literature to an interest and aptitude in coding - that felt like a natural modernization since in the original her aptitude is what earned her scholarships and praise and today an aptitude for STEM is what earns you that.
nanoauthor's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
avonleagal's review against another edition
5.0
THE TEA-
(disclaimer-I’m a long time AOGG fan and pretty picky with retellings)
it wasn’t perfect. ok, I’ll say it. I didn’t like that Anne didn’t like Gilbert. To me it messes up the extreme enemies to lovers aspect and pure best friendship of Anne and Diana in the book. But I appreciate creative liberties and this one was beautiful. After all, you can’t expect a modern graphic novel to turn out the same as a 20th century classic. It’s better not to compare them and view them separately, but not all together. The joy and resilience of Anne is perfectly captured, the pictures were gorgeous, everything was amazing. It was so good how Anne found beauty in an alleyway.
I am so impressed with Ivy and Myisha’s work. LOVE ❤️
(disclaimer-I’m a long time AOGG fan and pretty picky with retellings)
it wasn’t perfect. ok, I’ll say it. I didn’t like that Anne didn’t like Gilbert. To me it messes up the extreme enemies to lovers aspect and pure best friendship of Anne and Diana in the book. But I appreciate creative liberties and this one was beautiful. After all, you can’t expect a modern graphic novel to turn out the same as a 20th century classic. It’s better not to compare them and view them separately, but not all together. The joy and resilience of Anne is perfectly captured, the pictures were gorgeous, everything was amazing. It was so good how Anne found beauty in an alleyway.
I am so impressed with Ivy and Myisha’s work. LOVE ❤️