Reviews with content warning for Child death - Anne's House of Dreams

I was disappointed with the wedding. After 4 other books leading up...it seemed short and wirhout too much detail or substance. I wasn't too impressed with the plot of this one... it definitely seems a different direction on overall storytelling.

I took a peek at the remaining books and they seem to focus on their children. I'm not too excited about that but I suppose it's the natural order of things given how the story has progressed so far. I expect I'll loop them into my reading rotation here in there to have them read.

[Anne's band of pearls on "red" crocheted blanket]

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reynoldsreads's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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katiewhocanread's review against another edition

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emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

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reclusivebookslug's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful 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

3.5

Anne books are always charming, similarly chronicling the little dramas of Anne's friends and neighbors while we see Anne progressing through life with these experiences. I admire Montgomery for her ability to write so many books about the same girl, following roughly the same tone and style, without it seeming repetitive.

I once again wish that Gilbert was a more intimately developed character. In this one, I also felt more keenly the comparative close-mindedness of the time this book was written and set in.

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_teoeo's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful fast-paced

Diverse cast of characters? No

2.0

The ableism against Dick Moore is really shocking. Calling him a big baby, always mentioning "how terrible it is for Leslie that she has to nurse this big useless baby" and all this is really problematic, but for the book was published in 1922 I thought "well, that's how it was back then" and was willing to give 3 stars. But after the chapter "Gilbert and Anne disagree" I was mad, I tell you that!! But again, I know that's how it was back then, still that doesn't mean I have to enjoy it.

Also,

it was so confusing that Anne was pregnant and we only know that because of three vague sentences and then she gets the baby, it dies and Anne griefs only two pages long before it is rarely mentioned again

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laura007's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

It was amazing getting back to the world of Anne of Green Gables and I loved grown-up Anne as much as I loved her character as a ten year old girl.

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genny's review against another edition

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emotional 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? No

4.0

This book is supposedly centered on Anne and Gilbert's married life, but we barely get to see them navigate this new chapter in their relationship. The few interactions between them contained little banter, and so Gilbert just felt like a generic husband character. Anne, too, feels like she lost a touch of what made her unique and engaging as a protagonist. She's become very dedicated to being a proper wife - which isn't a bad thing, but it didn't feel right to me that she barely cared about anything else, even her writing. I do understand that people's priorities change as they grow up...maybe it was only jarring because we spend less and less time being privy to Anne's thoughts.

Fortunately, I liked the new additions to Anne's ever-growing circle, and they offered plenty of heart and humor (Miss Cornelia cracked me up). There's a surprisingly solid narrative arc in comparison to the previous books, which were more like collections of Anne's random adventures. Darker, more somber themes are explored, which makes sense at this point. I'm unsure about my rating, because I really did enjoy this one, I just missed Anne!

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hgracieeees's review against another edition

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hopeful lighthearted relaxing 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? No

5.0

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