Reviews - Anne's House of Dreams Illustrated

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1.86k reviews for:

Anne's House of Dreams Illustrated

L.M. Montgomery

4.11 AVERAGE

grandcapitalr's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional reflective sad medium-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

ligya's review against another edition

5.0

This is the best of them all.

annelihghh's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing sad medium-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

Content Warnings

janellecook's review against another edition

4.0

Tied for my favorite Anne book! I enjoyed Anne's new friends and her home, Although I was hopeful she would use her schooling for something, maybe in a future book!

katie_chandler's review against another edition

3.0

Anne and Gilbert are married at the beginning of this book. I remember picking the book up once before this recent reading, because I was so excited to visualize their wedding. However, this is little build up to the event and the most romantic part of that day is the description of Gilbert's face and thoughts as Anne descended from her room as a bride at Green Gables. I wondered this time, as a read on, if Montgomery wrote the romance out of this event on purpose, because she later eludes that it isn't the wedding so much that causes the happily ever after, but rather the marriage relationship where you work towards happy.

I think the first time I picked up this book I probably didn't read far past the wedding day and immediate move 60 miles away from Avonlea. I'm glad I reread the entire book now, when I'm married and have some life experiences, because I understood, and didn't naively gloss over, certain events in the book.

Anne befriends a neighbor near her house of dreams who was married young to an unloving husband. At one point I was very angry with Anne, because she couldn't see how her life of bliss was painful for her friend (I'm sure I've been equally oblivious, so I really shouldn't judge). Anne becomes pregnant with her first child. Like her marriage, there is little to no description of her pregnancy, until a very difficult delivery when the baby passes away shortly after. Tears streamed down my face as I read about Anne and Joyce. Anne's conversations following that loss struck a chord with me, more than they would have five years ago.

Though, according to the book, her smile and laugh are never the same, Anne is an eternal optimist it seems and continues to find pleasant friends and adventures. Life resolves for all characters in the end with happy discoveries, loss, and a move to house of dreams 2.0.

soniapage's review against another edition

3.0

It appeared that Anne was going to live a charmed life with her worst problem being seven freckles on her nose and red hair. There is a more "normal" balance between happiness and sadness in this book.

bluestjuice's review against another edition

4.0

So far this has been the pinnacle of Anne-dom for me, barring perhaps the classic that is the original book. #2 seemed like a detour, #3 was fascinating, #4 was vignettes with no real direction but to kill time, but #5 seems to get straight to the heart of Anne's character and her life's trajectory as it sees her married to Gilbert and settled in their first home. The Anne portrayed here is a more mature version of herself, but the things she's doing seem to have purpose in a way that the things she did in Anne of Windy Poplars did not. Foremost here is her relationship with the tragic Leslie. I've long since given up on anything resembling a proper look at Anne's relationship with Gilbert, and that proves true here as well - he's such a cardboard cutout of a man, with almost nothing to say, although mercifully he isn't excised quite as thoroughly as in Windy Poplars. Anne's relationship with her friends and community are at the heart of these stories, though, and her own romance is something of an afterthought. There is plenty of romance between other characters, however. I also appreciated

Spoiler

Anne joining the ranks of my cherished literary heroines who lost babies - together with Laura Ingalls Wilder, and others. It makes some of the things mentioned in Anne of Avonlea regarding Mrs. Allen all the more poignant, and I find it very comforting that infant death is a thing that was written about more in the past - though also sad, because it must have been more a part of other women's lives.

There is drama a-plenty in this tale, and pathos and excitement, and whirlwind romances, but the fact that it took place on a slightly smaller stage worked well for me. I'll miss the house of dreams if (when?) I move on to the next installment.