A review by rebecca__m
The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery

  • Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.5

 I remember enjoying the Anne of Green Gables series when I was younger, and this book was something I’d wanted to read for a while. It was an easy-to-read classic, which is something that I appreciate when it comes to classics. I also liked that it was actually written in the 1920s, allowing me to assume that the portrayal of women was likely more accurate. They were expected to be married by 20, they weren’t advised to read, etc. I feel like a lot of the historical fiction I read today has a lot of empowered women who seem like they are super groundbreaking, but in reality, they are just like every other FMC in the same type of story, which is completely fine, but not something that is necessarily accurate of the time period. One of the only complaints that I have is that I didn’t really connect to any of the characters, including the main character. However, I do wonder if that is because I am outside of the targeted age range for this book since I know that Anne of Green Gables was intended for a bit of a younger audience. For example, when the main character was complaining about breakfast in Chapter 3, she mentioned how she “hated marmalade” or how she didn’t like the nickname Doss. I feel like this is something that might better relate to a younger audience, but it is not an accurate portrayal of a 29-year-old woman. It reminds me of how TV shows that take place in high school were more appealing to me when I wasn’t actually in high school. However, having her be more relatable to a child even though she is a 29-year-old woman would make her a more relatable character for the younger audience, which is who the book was presumably intended for. My other complaint is that the book was very slow to start. However, the last ~20% was phenomenal, convincing me to recommend the book and bump my rating up another half-star. 
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