A review by anothernicole
A Tangled Web by L.M. Montgomery

4.0

I think I first read this book when I was 14 or 15, and--oh! how I loved it. I still remember how hard I laughed, that first time, at Aunt Becky's levee. And I was so charmed by all the intertwining stories of love and loss and pride and hope and agony and such. Montgomery's Anne books will always be my favorite of hers, of course, but this became a very close second almost immediately. That was more than twenty years ago. And I've re-read it a few times since then, with (iirc) the same delight. But this time when I read it, I felt...older or something. Impatient. The melodramatic, overly-sentimental, sweeping language began to grate on me a tiny bit. I wanted to hurry everyone into their little conclusions, not wanting to watch the sunsets or hear the wind moan this time. Maybe it's just my mood lately. Maybe it's my age now. In a way, this will always be a favorite; I can never not love Roger...Joselyn...Drowned John...Margaret...Ambrosine and that ridiculous ring...Brian...but the flowery language and High Romanticism did wear on me a little this time around. I've had this ranked 5 stars ever since I added it to Goodreads, but I've put it to 4 stars today.