margaridabustorff's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
5.0
kateshark's review against another edition
5.0
Everyone seems to know and love the Anne series, but few seem to go deeper than surface level, which has always surprised me. These books are important, not just to Canadian literature, but to the feminism canon -- they are classics in every way. There are darker elements between the lines, and Anne is still a role-model for women and girls in strict conservative societies (traditional Japan, for example) who want to find their own independent voice without going completely crazy with rebellion. Anne enters a closed community and thrives at finding her own odd personal niche, yet without offending the values and mores of her elders. There are even hints of atheist spirituality!
Montgomery's work is constantly under-estimated, and the way the books are marketed doesn't help (the flowery script, the swoony illustrations). There are many layers at work in her stories, and some pioneering feminist concepts tucked in between the deep appreciation of nature, the commentary on the stuffy contemporary society of her day, and the delightful, well-drawn characters.
Montgomery's work is constantly under-estimated, and the way the books are marketed doesn't help (the flowery script, the swoony illustrations). There are many layers at work in her stories, and some pioneering feminist concepts tucked in between the deep appreciation of nature, the commentary on the stuffy contemporary society of her day, and the delightful, well-drawn characters.
octavia_cade's review against another edition
4.0
I read and reviewed each of the three books collected here separately, so this is basically just for my own records. The rating is an average of the three individual ratings - Green Gables and Island both earned four stars from me, while Avonlea only earned three.
Looking back over the trilogy, these are the Anne books I really remember from my childhood, when I read them quite a lot. I know there are more books in the series, and I read them too at some stage (at least most of them) but they never quite stuck in my mind the same way. These first three are generally charming - extremely goodnatured, and with an enjoyable cast of supporting characters. Really that supporting cast is quite large, and it's to Montgomery's credit that they don't blur together. The whole thing really does feel like the portrait of a genuine community, rather than a thinly painted backdrop tacked up behind the protagonist, and that's something I've always appreciated.
Looking back over the trilogy, these are the Anne books I really remember from my childhood, when I read them quite a lot. I know there are more books in the series, and I read them too at some stage (at least most of them) but they never quite stuck in my mind the same way. These first three are generally charming - extremely goodnatured, and with an enjoyable cast of supporting characters. Really that supporting cast is quite large, and it's to Montgomery's credit that they don't blur together. The whole thing really does feel like the portrait of a genuine community, rather than a thinly painted backdrop tacked up behind the protagonist, and that's something I've always appreciated.
annieogg's review against another edition
5.0
There is no character quite like Anne. She is intensely relatable in a way that makes me feel like I have known her my whole life or that she is a characterized version of myself. Following her from mistake to mistake as she learns about herself and the world around her makes it so that the person who opened the first book, is not quite the same as the person who closes the last.
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