User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
1.
Anne of Green Gables The original, the classic. I feel like I know every word in this one but it was no less magical in its rereading.
2.
Anne of Avonlea It picks up nicely after the first one with Anne teaching school in Avonlea after Gilbert gives up his post for Anne so she may remain with Marilla and they might keep Green Gables. The arrival of Davy and Dora brings welcome levity after the sad ending of the previous book.
3.
Anne of the Island Still rooting for Gilbert. It was heartbreaking watching Anne with Roy. I loved the moment before her graduation from Redmond when she decides to carry Gilbert's lillies instead of Roy's violets. Gilbert's Christmas gift of a pink enamel heart was a sweet throwback to their childhood days.
Ruby's death was just heartbreaking. Diana's wedding was also heartbreaking in a different way. It reminded me of how much growing up can hurt in all its exhileration.
The ending, with Gilbert and Anne in Hester Gray's garden is beautiful and so fitting an end to their old chum days while being a beginning to their courtship.
4.
Anne of Windy Poplars My least favorite, as most of it is in letter-form from Anne to Gilbert. I love Anne and Gilbert and wished I could see more of the courtship but Gilbert hardly appears here and doesn't even speak. I wish LM Montgomery hadn't omitted Anne's "love letter" pages!
5.
Anne's House of Dreams Finally, Anne is Gilbert's bride! A beautiful wedding and they're off to their beautiful house of dreams. I love the new characters introduced: Miss Cordelia, Leslie Moore, Owen Ford, Captain Jim. The Dick/George Moore sideplot is interesting.
Anne's loss of her first baby is sobering but the joy of her second, successful pregnancy makes up for it. I kind of wish "Jem" had been named Matthew James just because I'm partial to dear, sweet Matthew. I'm so glad Marilla and Mrs. Lynde come to visit the little house of dreams. It wouldn't be the same without them. It was especially heartwarming to see Marilla mothering Anne.
6.
Anne of Ingleside This one started to drag a bit because it's much more focused on the kids than Anne. When the last book closed she had one kid, now she has 5 and then 6 when Rilla is born. I just don't like grown-up Anne as much as growing-up Anne, I guess.
Aunt Mary Maria and Christine Stuart are two "new" characters, though we did meet Christine in passing in
Anne of the Island but she's more fleshed out here. Fleshed out to be annoying, that is. She flirts with Gilbert far too much. I wanted to slap her for Anne. The resolution of the book, with Gilbert reassuring Anne, made laugh because whenever my own husband gets quiet or distant I assume he's plotting how to leave me.
Aunt Mary Maria is intolerable. She's like the anti-Aunt Josephine. Aunt Josephine seemed to be cold and easily angered at first but she thawed quickly. Mary Maria never does. Poor Susan. I don't know if I would have been able to hold back from telling her off and I'm pretty non-confrontational.
7.
Rainbow Valley Just when I was going to give up on the series because of all the kids, this one redeemed it. Lovely.
8.
Rilla of Ingleside I picked this up again and I'm glad I did. Rilla reminded me so much of Anne I now want to get the other post-series books.
Rating: really liked it
Possibly the best series of all time. Truly charming and heartwarming, especially the scene where "Gilbert and Anne are embracing on the bridge" (for further enjoyment this can also be seen in the movie, especially if you are helping with the KVIE Channel 6 fundraiser).
Seriously though, if you enjoyed the movies (with the exception of the third movie which was horrible; I spit on it), I urge you to read these books. There is so much detail and other wonderful characters, like the twins Davey and Dora. And if you are wondering what REALLY happened to Anne as she grew up (since you KNOW that heinous third film could not have gotten it right), read these immediately and be satisfied.
When I originally wrote this review, I had basically one goodreads friend and no readers and so much of this review is an inside joke. Now that so many people are appreciating my “spitting on that horrible last joke of a movie”, I feel I should explain. One night, long ago, before the invention of DVR’s, my best friend was spending the night and we were watching Anne of Avonlea on TV. It was during one of those television drives for viewer support and every so often, they stopped the movie to ask for more money. But our love of Anne was great and we endured the periodic sales pitch until the very end, which as you know if you’ve seen the movie, is a shot of Gilbert and Anne finally, FINALLY, kissing on that lovely bridge. Well, we sighed in bliss as very naïve and romantic 15 years old are wont to do and then, the show cut back to the middle age woman who was spearheading the drive and out of her mouth (and let me stop to tell you she sounded an awful lot like Julia Child, British accent and all, so imagine that voice when you read the next line), came this, “Well, wasn’t that a lovely scene, Gilbert and Anne, embracing on the bridge.” And (again as 15 year olds are wont to do, especially ones who’ve stayed up until after 1am watching Anne and consuming far too much garlic cheesy bread and Dr. Pepper), we collapsed into hysterical laughter. It’s a wonder the rest of the family didn’t wake up. And to this day, we still repeat that line. "Oh, KVIE 6 television drive lady, have you any idea of the impact you’ve had on our lives?”
Rating: really liked it
I estimate that I must have read this series at least fifteen or so times (and that is probably a rather conservative estimate at best), and actually do tend to read it at least once a year (sometimes even more than once if or rather when I need cheering and comfort). I love everything about the
Anne of Green Gables series, and that actually tends to for the most part pertain to L.M. Montgomery's fiction in general. However, because her novels and short stories are such personal favourites, I have always found it more than a bit difficult to pen a review (or rather, what I personally would consider an adequate review). I also have the AOGG books listed on my shelves (singly), and will endeavour to write detailed reviews for all of them in the hopefully not too distant future (but that being said, so far, this has only happened with the first two novels, with
Anne of Green Gables and
Anne of Avonlea). However, I can and will say this about L.M. Montgomery's
Anne of Green Gables series, namely that it is one of my favourite all time fiction series, and that I highly recommend it to and for anyone (and equally to and for both children and adults).
Rating: really liked it
It's unfortunate I didn't discover this series when I was a young girl. I was introduced to Anne (with an 'e') by the PBS Wonderworks series in the mid-80's... And NO, I was no longer a young girl then, but a married woman, I'm THAT Old!!!
So what I'm sayin' is... If you've never read the series... READ IT! Anne is enjoyable at any age. And if you haven't seen the PBS series... SEE IT! It's set in what's quite possibly the most beautiful place in the world, (Prince Edward Island) during a simpler time... You can be quite sure Marilla never had to worry about Anne sending naked pictures to Gilbert via her cell phone. Then again, Marilla had to hand wash her clothes and never had the opportunity to order up dinner using only a phone and the number for Pizza Hut!
Rating: really liked it
I dyed my hair red and went on a pilgrimage to Prince Edward Island and cried standing in front of Green Gables. I had deep discussions with one of the tour guides at one of the sites who had gotten her Ph.D in L.M. Montgomery's works and could hold my own because I had read them so many times. These are the books that started my plunge into love for the written word. Anne of the Island is my favorite, Anne of Green Gables is next and then Anne's House of Dreams.
Rating: really liked it
The greatest children's series of all time, in my opinion, and not just because she spells her name properly: A-N-N-E.
The amazing thing about this series is that almost every girl who has read it so strongly identifies with the main character - girls of completely different personalities. Everyone seems to find something to love about Anne of Green Gables: her love of reading, how he handles having red hair, her adventurous spirit, her constant muddling things. And don't even get me started on Gilbert. A beautiful story of an orphan girl who finds a home and an identity.
A side note: The made for TV miniseries version of these books surprisingly does them justice (with the STRONG exception of "The Continuing Story", that takes place during wartime, where the producers decided to abandon the storyline of the original books, and our beloved Anne for no apparent reason has the gaunt look of a heavy smoker and the theme seems to be 'disillusionment' - what were they thinking?).
Rating: really liked it
While I loved the early books, I really disliked books 5 and 6, which are about Anne as a full grown woman. I read the entire series as an 11-12 year old in the 90s and I just could not get over how disappointing her life ended up to me, given all the promise of her youth and how much she had overcome in her life. As the recent Ann Romney (faux-)controversy has rehashed, feminism doesn't necessarily mean you need to go out into the work force, and yes motherhood is a lovely thing, but I still hated that it seemed to me Anne ended up falling short of her promise. What is the point of going with her through the triumphs of the classroom and her eventual graduation from college as a woman in the early 1900s just to end up at the same finish line as every other woman on the island? Yes, realistically, the time in which it was written didn't really give women a lot of leeway in terms of profession, but with her incredible people skills and intelligence, why didn't she continue her work as a principal or teacher? Is being a doctor's wife (with the privilege of accompanying him to Europe for a conference) and 6 children the best a woman can hope for even in the imagined world of Green Gables?
As a young girl who was thinking of the future and the promise of it, I felt so disappointed and let down at the end of the story. Books are windows into other worlds where we are supposed to be challenged, stimulated and inspired. In my opinion, Montgomery created rare bird with all the promise of stratospheric flight then clipped its wings to keep it close to home.
Ultimate advice: Give your young daughter the first four books but save the last few until life has become less of an open ended promise or she will walk away disappointed.
Rating: really liked it
Okay, so all books in the series are not equal--as time passed, Lucy Maud seemed to become more and more fond of ellipses and romantic descriptions--but I cannot overstate the impact these books had on me as a kid. "Anne of Green Gables" was even the inspiration for an independent study project I did in high school about the "girl's story" genre and its emphasis on orphans, self-made women, the moralizing influence of chicks, and how the seemingly-progressive virtues of intelligence, creativity, and education still earned women the ultimate reward of marriage in the end. Even with all I know, I still love these books to death, read them almost annually (especially when I am sick or depressed), and dream of someday visiting PEI and standing on the shore with the wind whipping through my (long, flowing) hair.
Rating: really liked it
**review to come **
Rating: really liked it
Excellent
Rating: really liked it
I really have read pretty much everything by L.M. Montgomery, much to my eternal geekiness-- she was my absolute favorite author growing up, and I devoured everything the public library had to offer. Anne started it, of course, but the Emily books and The Blue Castle have become my favorites.
Anne, however, is very dear to my heart, and I shall not disparage it in the slightest. Rainbow Valley and Anne of Windy Poplars are probably my least favorites, but I know her heart wasn't really in them. I have always had a soft spot for Anne's House of Dreams and Anne of the Island-- Leslie Moore and Phil Gordon are two of my all-time favorite side characters. I am a little less fond of Anne of Avonlea, mostly because I find the twins hit or miss. Rilla of Ingelside is interesting because we really see Montgomery as a mature writer and woman, and I've come to quite like Rilla as the heroine.
Anne of Ingelside is essentially some of her short stories padded with snippets about Anne-- I consider it and Road to Yesterday to be in the same league, although AoI has some darker undertones that I quite like, hints of the adult world and sexuality that belongs more in the Emily books.
Anne of Green Gables is one of the most perfect novels I have ever read. Period, end stop.
Rating: really liked it
I don't know how I made it through my childhood without reading Anne of Green Gables. But one winter while stuck indoors with my two young children during a very long Montreal winter, I read the whole series. It was like sunshine to my soul, and the images of Anne jumping on the bed not knowing frail little granny was lying on the covers, the image of her getting goose down all over her black dress while she was trying so hard to clean a pillow (or blanket?) and having her crush show up...I laughed harder that winter than I did all year. I might have some of the details mixed up, but Montgomery's inimitable wit and humor have stayed with me all these years.
Rating: really liked it
3.8 average for the series.
Rating: really liked it
Ok this is right now!! Of course I read every one of these years ago and loved them !!
Rating: really liked it
***** 5 Cranky Stars *****
Precocious, ginger haired, freckle faced 11 year old Anne Shirly explodes into the lives of spinster Marilla and bachelor Matthew Cuthbert, owners of the farm Green Gables in Avonlea on Canada's Prince Edward Island.
The Cutheberts had sent away to the orphanage for a home boy to help aging Matthew with the farm, instead they got Anne who entered their lives like a whirlwind and just stayed there whirling! Anne attracts mishaps and mischief like a magnet but her inherent good humor and good intentions wins the hearts of all who get to know her.
The collection contains 8 novels which follow the life of Anne Shirley from school girl to Collage student to teacher, from girl to young woman. Her courtships and friendships, her trials and successes. Her friendships with a myriad of colorful people. The books tell of the days when children could still be children, when mothers made all their children's clothes and fathers mended their shoes, the days when children had chores to do and did not expect payment for it. When life was lived and not raced through; initially no phones but letters written between friends, no planes or motor cars, people walked or traveled by horse drawn vehicles, long distances were traveled by train or boat.
The 8 novels cover Anne's childhood, her marriage, becoming a mother and experiencing devastating loss. The later books concentrate more on Anne's children but she remains a central figure in all of them.
I last read these books as a teenager and my decision to reread them was a treat to myself, the books are written in the beautiful language of the time and the author had a lovely descriptive way of getting her stories told. I highly recommend reading these books either for the first time or re-reading them. Literature that has stood the test of time.
Charming, uplifting, the collection deserves 5 stars, collectively and individually.
