Anne of Green Gables (Arcturus Essential Anne of Green Gables)

by L. M. Montgomery

[readingwithwrin]

4.5 stars

Thank you to Misty for reading this book with me as a buddy read.

Anne of Green Gables is one of those books I always hear about but keep putting off reading because of how many people love it. I did watch the Netflix series Anne with an e before reading this book, but I can assure you that it didn't take away from my reading experience as they are different in several ways and enjoyable on there own and together.

Anne is an orphan who has been adopted by the Cuthberts who are needing someone to help out on the farm. The problem is though that they were expecting a boy, so getting a girl instead was a bit of a shock and took some discussing on there part on what to do. While they do end up keeping her mostly because of Matthew having found her quite entertaining due to how she never stopped talking and the way she saw the world with such hope. Marilla, on the other hand, did take some getting used to when it came to their relationship for several different reasons, but we see them all grow as a family and how they all end up helping each other throughout the book.

We also get to see Anne make friends and even have a rivalry with a fellow classmate. These were extremely entertaining to see happen at times because of all the trouble they got into, while also being fun and showing a real childhood. None of the characters were acting older than they really were and it was nice to see them actually getting to be their age for a change. I know that isn't something I talk about it books, but it is something I've been noticing more and more recently in some new young adult/middle-grade books.

Overall I loved this book. Anne is one of those characters that you want to protect but also find yourself getting annoyed with at times because of the trouble she can get into. The friendships and family dynamic we get to see in this book were so nice to see and I loved how we see Anne and her friends grow up throughout the book. While a lot of Anne's life is packed into this one book, it never felt rushed or like anything was being left out.
The only reason I didn't give this book 5 stars is because of what happened at the end to one of the characters. I was not expecting that at all and I wish we had gotten more time with them.
I can't wait to see what happens in the next book and what happens in the next stage of Anne's life.