s.penkevich's Reviews > Anne of Green Gables
Anne of Green Gables
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by
![6431467](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1713573726p2/6431467.jpg)
s.penkevich's review
bookshelves: classics, childhood_classics, childhood, coming-of-age, life
May 15, 2024
bookshelves: classics, childhood_classics, childhood, coming-of-age, life
‘Dear old world,’ says Anne Shirley, ‘you are very lovely, and I am glad to be alive in you.’ Books like this, the long beloved Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery, make me feel this sentiment deep in my bones. Despite it all, how can I not love a world and a humanity that brought this into existence. This book is perfectly splendid and I only wish I had read it as a child. Yet, traveling across Canada recently with this book, I was pleased to discover it could still build a bonfire in my adult heart to warm me with joy, still bring a frequent smile to my face and outbursts of gleeful laughter. ‘Anne with an ‘e’’ is an early ADHD icon who’s poetic ‘thoughts rove all over creation’ whom—as the rest of Avonlea soon discovers—is impossible not to love and I saw so much of my younger self in her. A coming-of-age tale wrapped in a sweet innocence that champions being yourself and embracing mistakes as an opportunity to learn and grow, what really brought this novel to heart for me were the ways in which Anne’s offbeat personality cracks the stale and rigid expectations of a community and allows everyone to grow along with her. Community and shared growth are central to this story and this is as much a story about Avonlea as it is the Anne who makes it her home. Still touching hearts young and old since it was first published in 1908, Anne of Green Gables is an endearing and enduring classic.
‘ I shall give life here my best, and I believe it will give its best to me in return.’
There is a lot to love about Anne of Green Gables, but also a lot of messages to take to heart. An aspect I am particularly fond of in literature aimed at children is how the most successful ones can distill important themes in accessible ways that can enter our hearts to bathe us in pure shining light that always feels so pleasantly positive and empowering. There's multitudes to learn from Anne. For instance:
—Always embrace and learn from mistakes: ‘Next to trying and winning, the best thing is trying and failing.’
—Find the good and fun in everything: ‘Life is worth living as long as there's a laugh in it.’
—A positive attitude makes a big difference: ‘It’s been my experience that you can nearly always enjoy things if you make up your mind firmly that you will.’
—Pay attention to the small joys and details in life: ‘All things great are wound up with all things little.’
—Give people a chance: ‘Miss Barry was a kindred spirit after all…you wouldn't think so to look at her, but she is.’
—Always prepare for setbacks: ‘There is always another bend in the road.’
—Start over fresh and don’t let setbacks get you down: ‘Tomorrow is always fresh, with no mistakes in it.’
There are many more, such as the importance of friendship, admitting faults and embracing imagination not just for oneself but to help it flourish in others. Going through these got me thinking how delightfully quotable and altogether memorable this novel is and it is no surprise this novel has continuously been endeared as an enduring classic. Even those who haven’t read the novel are likely familiar with certain scenes or lines, like the often quoted ‘I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers,’ which happens to arrive at the start of the same chapter in which the famous scene occurs where Anne accidentally gets Diana drunk on currant wine thinking she is serving raspberry cordial. The novel plays out in rather episodic moments such as this (which lends itself to the many tv series adaptations both animated and live action) with fairly contained action-consequence-resolution formats that build on each other to follow the course of Anne’s childhood into young adulthood. And it is a joy to watch Anne grow up.
Diana and Anne drink currant wine in the 2017 Netflix adaptation Anne With an E
What makes this book truly great are the characters. Anne, of course, but Marilla and Matthew are just as charming and engaging. I love Marilla who is struggling but earnest about trying to understand Anne and comes to really love her. As Matthew tells her, raising Anne won't be difficult 'if you only get her to love you,' and watching the relationship grow between her and Anne is so heartwarming. While sometimes she just wants Anne to shut up and stop being weird she can't help but privately enjoy how offbeat she is. I suspect this is a novel where those who read it in youth will identify with Anne but those who read it as adults (and especially as parents) will have a real appreciation for Marilla much like how everyone talks about which daughter from Little Women they are until they reread it as an adult and realize how much Marmee speaks to them. That was the case for me at least. But also wow did Anne speak to my heart and remind me of my pre-teen self.
'There's such a lot of different Annes in me. I sometimes think that is why I'm such a troublesome person. If I was just the one Anne it would be ever so much more comfortable, but then it wouldn't be half so interesting.'
The fictional town of Avonlea is nestled upon Prince Edward Island in Canada, which was also the birthplace and childhood home of author Lucy Maud Montgomery. While not an orphan as Anne was, Maud lost her mother at the age of two and when her father remarried she was sent to live with her grandparents. So one can see a twinkle of inspiration for the young Anne who (for those who don’t know the story), due to a misunderstanding, is sent to be adopted by aging siblings Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert. ‘She’s been a blessing to us,’ they learn, ‘and there never was a luckier mistake.’ Maud was fond of reading as a child and, like Anne, loved poetry. ‘Don't you just love poetry that gives you a crinkly feeling up and down your back,’ Anne states, and in Anne we find quite the poet as well with long rambling chatter that moves ‘from safe concrete to dubious paths of abstraction.’ In an essay Montgomery discusses how novels were banned in her grandparents house but she had access to all the poetry she liked, and in her own writing there is certainly an impressive and delightful sense of the poetic. Montgomery pops off with excellent consonance quite frequently with phrases like ‘the waif of the world,’ but her vibrant imagery is certainly pure poetry. A favorite moment occurs right from the start with the images of Avonlea in bloom with an enraptured Anne finally rendered speechless. It is a critical image because it is in Avonlea that Anne is also able to bloom into the amazing person she becomes.
Prince Edward Island
‘What good would she be to us?’ Matthew asks Marilla when she questions keeping Anne, reminding her ‘we might be some good to her.’ This idea permeates the text and we see how community is so important. ‘True friends are always together in spirit,’ Anne teaches us and there are few more lovely friendships in fiction than Anne and her ‘bosom friend’ Diana. To watch Anne grow up is also to watch Diana grow up and to watch them love and support each other (I quite agree with the more recent adaptations, such as the modern-setting graphic novel Anne that portray them as a sapphic romance, besides *nose in air*I don’t think Gilbert is good enough for my Anne). Anne also comes to think of others as ‘kindred spirits’—such as Aunt Josephine who essentially becomes her benefactor after taking a liking to Anne while she apologizes for jumping onto her in bed by accident—and that we can find kindred spirits everywhere if we are willing to get to know people.
‘Evidently she did not like talking about her experiences in a world that had not wanted her.’
Friends are also important to Anne as she never had them before, unless you count Katie Maurice (her reflection) or Violetta (her echo). Her attachment to them is rather telling because not only was it a sign of her strong imagination but also because they were simply an extension of herself–Anne only had herself and coming to Avonlea. But we also see how Anne struggles at concepts like religion, which Marilla realizes is not due to irreverence but rather how can Anne comprehend divine love if she’d never experienced love from another before (though her distaste for God for having given her red hair—a constant struggle that leads to a very humorous scene about dying her hair and also is a point of contention where Gilbert calling her “carrot” cuts far too deep—is quite amusing). Anne had to learn community in general. Over the novel we see she thrives at this due to her imagination, something she says is easy ‘if you’d only cultivate it.’ Anne perfects how to bring out the imagination in others, something that—following in the footsteps of her mentor, Miss Stacy—makes her career as a schoolteacher a perfect fit to utilize such abilities. Sure, sometimes imagination can backfire like when she becomes afraid of the haunted woods, but it is also a path through that fear.
‘Ever since I came to Green Gables I’ve been making mistakes, and each mistake has helped to cure me of some great shortcoming.’
Though one of the greatest lessons in this book, I think, is the rather optimistic approach to embracing mistakes and learning from them. Each moment of growth comes from something initially thought of as an error (getting Diana drunk, almost drowning in the river) and finding it to be a teachable moment for the self. Though this extends beyond Anne too, as some of the friction Anne comes up against in the community becomes an opportunity for growth for them as well, or even with the Cuthberts who quickly learn that adopting a child is more about the child being an asset to the farm but a person to help grow and cultivate love, and be loved in return.
‘We ought always to try to influence others for good.’
This is such a lovely novel, one that encourages imagination, friendship, love, and appreciation of the world around us. For Anne, simply being out in nature and basking in the light of life is enough to ‘feel a prayer’ and in our encounters with Anne we too can feel it within ourselves. Though this is also a story of hard work, finding joy in simply learning and not having to always be the best, and also the importance of persistence. Anne of Green Gables is a marvelous story for readers both young and old, and I greatly enjoyed my time in Avonlea.
5/5
I also really love this edition of the book.
‘ I shall give life here my best, and I believe it will give its best to me in return.’
There is a lot to love about Anne of Green Gables, but also a lot of messages to take to heart. An aspect I am particularly fond of in literature aimed at children is how the most successful ones can distill important themes in accessible ways that can enter our hearts to bathe us in pure shining light that always feels so pleasantly positive and empowering. There's multitudes to learn from Anne. For instance:
—Always embrace and learn from mistakes: ‘Next to trying and winning, the best thing is trying and failing.’
—Find the good and fun in everything: ‘Life is worth living as long as there's a laugh in it.’
—A positive attitude makes a big difference: ‘It’s been my experience that you can nearly always enjoy things if you make up your mind firmly that you will.’
—Pay attention to the small joys and details in life: ‘All things great are wound up with all things little.’
—Give people a chance: ‘Miss Barry was a kindred spirit after all…you wouldn't think so to look at her, but she is.’
—Always prepare for setbacks: ‘There is always another bend in the road.’
—Start over fresh and don’t let setbacks get you down: ‘Tomorrow is always fresh, with no mistakes in it.’
There are many more, such as the importance of friendship, admitting faults and embracing imagination not just for oneself but to help it flourish in others. Going through these got me thinking how delightfully quotable and altogether memorable this novel is and it is no surprise this novel has continuously been endeared as an enduring classic. Even those who haven’t read the novel are likely familiar with certain scenes or lines, like the often quoted ‘I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers,’ which happens to arrive at the start of the same chapter in which the famous scene occurs where Anne accidentally gets Diana drunk on currant wine thinking she is serving raspberry cordial. The novel plays out in rather episodic moments such as this (which lends itself to the many tv series adaptations both animated and live action) with fairly contained action-consequence-resolution formats that build on each other to follow the course of Anne’s childhood into young adulthood. And it is a joy to watch Anne grow up.
![ANNE_105_D7_KW_0103_1200-600x338](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1717030400i/35567073.jpg)
Diana and Anne drink currant wine in the 2017 Netflix adaptation Anne With an E
What makes this book truly great are the characters. Anne, of course, but Marilla and Matthew are just as charming and engaging. I love Marilla who is struggling but earnest about trying to understand Anne and comes to really love her. As Matthew tells her, raising Anne won't be difficult 'if you only get her to love you,' and watching the relationship grow between her and Anne is so heartwarming. While sometimes she just wants Anne to shut up and stop being weird she can't help but privately enjoy how offbeat she is. I suspect this is a novel where those who read it in youth will identify with Anne but those who read it as adults (and especially as parents) will have a real appreciation for Marilla much like how everyone talks about which daughter from Little Women they are until they reread it as an adult and realize how much Marmee speaks to them. That was the case for me at least. But also wow did Anne speak to my heart and remind me of my pre-teen self.
'There's such a lot of different Annes in me. I sometimes think that is why I'm such a troublesome person. If I was just the one Anne it would be ever so much more comfortable, but then it wouldn't be half so interesting.'
The fictional town of Avonlea is nestled upon Prince Edward Island in Canada, which was also the birthplace and childhood home of author Lucy Maud Montgomery. While not an orphan as Anne was, Maud lost her mother at the age of two and when her father remarried she was sent to live with her grandparents. So one can see a twinkle of inspiration for the young Anne who (for those who don’t know the story), due to a misunderstanding, is sent to be adopted by aging siblings Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert. ‘She’s been a blessing to us,’ they learn, ‘and there never was a luckier mistake.’ Maud was fond of reading as a child and, like Anne, loved poetry. ‘Don't you just love poetry that gives you a crinkly feeling up and down your back,’ Anne states, and in Anne we find quite the poet as well with long rambling chatter that moves ‘from safe concrete to dubious paths of abstraction.’ In an essay Montgomery discusses how novels were banned in her grandparents house but she had access to all the poetry she liked, and in her own writing there is certainly an impressive and delightful sense of the poetic. Montgomery pops off with excellent consonance quite frequently with phrases like ‘the waif of the world,’ but her vibrant imagery is certainly pure poetry. A favorite moment occurs right from the start with the images of Avonlea in bloom with an enraptured Anne finally rendered speechless. It is a critical image because it is in Avonlea that Anne is also able to bloom into the amazing person she becomes.
![Untitled](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1717030400i/35567072.jpg)
Prince Edward Island
‘What good would she be to us?’ Matthew asks Marilla when she questions keeping Anne, reminding her ‘we might be some good to her.’ This idea permeates the text and we see how community is so important. ‘True friends are always together in spirit,’ Anne teaches us and there are few more lovely friendships in fiction than Anne and her ‘bosom friend’ Diana. To watch Anne grow up is also to watch Diana grow up and to watch them love and support each other (I quite agree with the more recent adaptations, such as the modern-setting graphic novel Anne that portray them as a sapphic romance, besides *nose in air*I don’t think Gilbert is good enough for my Anne). Anne also comes to think of others as ‘kindred spirits’—such as Aunt Josephine who essentially becomes her benefactor after taking a liking to Anne while she apologizes for jumping onto her in bed by accident—and that we can find kindred spirits everywhere if we are willing to get to know people.
‘Evidently she did not like talking about her experiences in a world that had not wanted her.’
Friends are also important to Anne as she never had them before, unless you count Katie Maurice (her reflection) or Violetta (her echo). Her attachment to them is rather telling because not only was it a sign of her strong imagination but also because they were simply an extension of herself–Anne only had herself and coming to Avonlea. But we also see how Anne struggles at concepts like religion, which Marilla realizes is not due to irreverence but rather how can Anne comprehend divine love if she’d never experienced love from another before (though her distaste for God for having given her red hair—a constant struggle that leads to a very humorous scene about dying her hair and also is a point of contention where Gilbert calling her “carrot” cuts far too deep—is quite amusing). Anne had to learn community in general. Over the novel we see she thrives at this due to her imagination, something she says is easy ‘if you’d only cultivate it.’ Anne perfects how to bring out the imagination in others, something that—following in the footsteps of her mentor, Miss Stacy—makes her career as a schoolteacher a perfect fit to utilize such abilities. Sure, sometimes imagination can backfire like when she becomes afraid of the haunted woods, but it is also a path through that fear.
‘Ever since I came to Green Gables I’ve been making mistakes, and each mistake has helped to cure me of some great shortcoming.’
Though one of the greatest lessons in this book, I think, is the rather optimistic approach to embracing mistakes and learning from them. Each moment of growth comes from something initially thought of as an error (getting Diana drunk, almost drowning in the river) and finding it to be a teachable moment for the self. Though this extends beyond Anne too, as some of the friction Anne comes up against in the community becomes an opportunity for growth for them as well, or even with the Cuthberts who quickly learn that adopting a child is more about the child being an asset to the farm but a person to help grow and cultivate love, and be loved in return.
‘We ought always to try to influence others for good.’
This is such a lovely novel, one that encourages imagination, friendship, love, and appreciation of the world around us. For Anne, simply being out in nature and basking in the light of life is enough to ‘feel a prayer’ and in our encounters with Anne we too can feel it within ourselves. Though this is also a story of hard work, finding joy in simply learning and not having to always be the best, and also the importance of persistence. Anne of Green Gables is a marvelous story for readers both young and old, and I greatly enjoyed my time in Avonlea.
5/5
![Untitled](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1717075445i/35568721.jpg)
I also really love this edition of the book.
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Reading Progress
May 15, 2024
– Shelved
May 15, 2024
– Shelved as:
to-read
May 23, 2024
–
Started Reading
May 23, 2024
–
46.09%
"Shoutout to Anne, one of the original ADHD icons.
This is kind of perfect? I love this so so so much so far.
Also has been the right reading choice while stuck in a Canadian airport."
page
177
This is kind of perfect? I love this so so so much so far.
Also has been the right reading choice while stuck in a Canadian airport."
May 29, 2024
– Shelved as:
classics
May 29, 2024
– Shelved as:
childhood
May 29, 2024
– Shelved as:
childhood_classics
May 29, 2024
– Shelved as:
coming-of-age
May 29, 2024
– Shelved as:
life
May 29, 2024
–
Finished Reading
Comments Showing 1-50 of 53 (53 new)
message 1:
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Janae
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May 15, 2024 01:36PM
![Janae](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1667755520p1/109658142.jpg)
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![s.penkevich](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1713573726p1/6431467.jpg)
Im super excited! I really enjoyed the fairly recent miniseries and had read a few graphic novel adaptations that modernized it but never the actual book so I figured it is time. Plus a friend here gave a glowing recommendation the other day too
![♥︎ Heather ⚔](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1724009320p1/14006100.jpg)
Enjoy your read!
![s.penkevich](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1713573726p1/6431467.jpg)
Thank you! ooo yay hope you enjoy as well. Been meaning to read this for years
![s.penkevich](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1713573726p1/6431467.jpg)
Enjoy your ..."
oooo that one looks super pretty as well! They have some cool ones, I might have to snag a couple of them. Was able to find this one for $9 used and was glad it came in pretty perfect condition.
And thank you!
![s.penkevich](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1713573726p1/6431467.jpg)
sigh, i guess i should finish this now"
Haha you should! Then we can discuss! And isn't that great? they have a whole series of classics with these covers. Its super pretty. I was worried it would show up pretty beat up since it was used but based on the stiffness of the pages and the untouched ribbon I think I'm the first to open it.
![Beth](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1352692366p1/6074441.jpg)
![s.penkevich](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1713573726p1/6431467.jpg)
Thanks isn’t that a cool edition? They have a bunch of them in that series
![s.penkevich](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1713573726p1/6431467.jpg)
It’s so worth it! I thought I was going to find it too young but it really charmed me
![s.penkevich](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1713573726p1/6431467.jpg)
Ooo that is such a perfect way of putting it. Agreed, it’s just so pure and good without being cloying.
![Candi](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1721649817p1/3639005.jpg)
‘Ever since I came to Green Gables I’ve been making mistakes, and each mistake has helped to cure me of some great shortcoming.’
This to me is one of the greatest lessons that I think about quite often even now. I'm delighted you loved this so much!
![Heidi](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1206230156p1/416888.jpg)
![adira](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1724267252p1/167531828.jpg)
![s.penkevich](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1713573726p1/6431467.jpg)
‘Ever since I came to Green Gables I’ve been making mistakes, a..."
Thank you so much! Pure joy is the best way to put it for this book haha.
Agreed, I actually brought it up in a work meeting today. Good ole "teachable moments" but I really like how the book explores that idea in a way that never feels...cloyingly optimistic or sort of insulting? Like...this book just felt like what PBS programming felt like as a kid? Does that make sense? Like Reading Rainbow and Arthur sort of stuff where its just empowering and good advice that feels genuine and pure and not corporate haha.
![s.penkevich](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1713573726p1/6431467.jpg)
I loved it SO much. Like way more than I was expecting to. Also I think Marilla is probably my favorite???? Which I don't know if thats supposed to be the take away or just because I'm an adult now but I loved Marilla so much. When Anne is like "I wont talk about it anymore" and Marilla exclaims "well thank god for that!" I laughed so hard. If I were to make a modern retelling it would just be her exclaiming "oh for fucks sake" every time Anne launches into a rant (I love Anne's rants though)
![Janae](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1667755520p1/109658142.jpg)
![s.penkevich](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1713573726p1/6431467.jpg)
ooo that is good to know, I think this will be one I'll read multiple times as well. Have you read any of the sequels? I've been told Windy Poplars is quite good?
ANd thank you so much! Perfectly splendid indeed!
![s.penkevich](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1713573726p1/6431467.jpg)
Yesssss thank you this was SO GOOD. Like wow I couldn't stop reading and I loved it so much. Yay I can't wait to get to that one. I need to rewatch the miniseries now too, I was sort of bummed when I remembered the Aunt secretly being queer and throwing soirees for queer artists was made up for the show and not part of the book haha. But still so lovely.
![Candi](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1721649817p1/3639005.jpg)
So true! It feels authentic and not forced. Mostly, it's all common sense and that's why those lessons feel so true and heartfelt, in my opinion. We just need to remind ourselves of these things from time to time :)
![s.penkevich](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1713573726p1/6431467.jpg)
Ooo yes that is a good way to put it! Agreed, and I think something about the way that its able to be understood by any age makes it feel so much sweeter and lovely.
![Julie G](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1708562843p1/5211606.jpg)
I couldn't agree more!! (I love that you've mentioned "imagination" in your review. You are so right; imagination is such an important aspect of Anne's experience, and I worry that our youth is quickly losing the ability to develop that part of themselves).
![Mir](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1275489063p1/237469.jpg)
I think this is a book a lot girls receive as a gift from an aunt or grandmother. That's how I got it and why I was nagged into reading it.
![s.penkevich](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1713573726p1/6431467.jpg)
I couldn't agree more!! (I love that you've mentioned "imagination" in your review. You are so right; imagination is such an important aspect of Anne's experience, and I worry that our youth is ..."
Thank you! Yea, I like how much this book is really forward about the importance of imagination. It all sort of reminds me of PBS shows I would watch as a kid haha in a good way
![s.penkevich](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1713573726p1/6431467.jpg)
I think this..."
Ah yes that makes sense. I feel like I always see that around christmas at the bookstore--grandparents like to get Tom Sawyer for boys and I'm like...they just want Dog Man just get the Dog Man book haha.
I feel like coming to this on my own helped too, I'm never good about actually reading anything when I'm told to haha
![Joseph Anthony](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1705186369p1/22849571.jpg)
![liv ❁](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1724020635p1/44731563.jpg)
![s.penkevich](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1713573726p1/6431467.jpg)
Thank you so much! Oooo that is awesome, I hope they will enjoy it. And that its just as enjoyable for you!
Thanks, it was a bit of a whirlwind trip but definitely worth it. Sort of eagerly waiting for the weekend to finally catch my breath haha
![s.penkevich](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1713573726p1/6431467.jpg)
Thanks! Ha, nah I can see why. I think reading it on vacation (and listening to most of it while driving across canada) really helped cuz it was the right mood for the right time? oooo yay curious to hear what you think of the show. I enjoyed it and wonder if having seen it first was part of why I found Gilbert a bit annoying. The show changes quite a bit and really leans into Anne and Diana as a sapphic story so I was like no Gil, nobody needs a man here haha.
![s.penkevich](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1713573726p1/6431467.jpg)
The best feeling :)
![liv ❁](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1724020635p1/44731563.jpg)
Oh yeah that's true, I bet the Canada vibes were very helpful. I've also just been in a cynical mood recently... even the Mary Oliver I'm reading is just... too happy for me to enjoy it idk. It'll pass and maybe I'll feel joy when reading happy things again.
Okay so the reason I started reading it was because of the amount of clips I've seen of Anne and Gilbert from the show and I was so in love with their dynamic and just loved Gilbert, which is soooo rare for me with m/f couples which is why I had to start it, so that's so interesting. I even watched old movie/show clips for their dynamic haha. So I wonder if that'll change when I watch the whole thing.
![s.penkevich](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1713573726p1/6431467.jpg)
Yessss glad you are loving it! I enjoyed this way more than I expected I would
![s.penkevich](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1713573726p1/6431467.jpg)
Ooooh yea I know the feeling. Sometimes nothing lands or Can harmonize with your mood.
Haha okay that makes sense though, and admittedly they are pretty cute together in the book (especially at the end, Gilbert has a great line about friendship and love that hits hard) I think I was just getting too much joy out of saying “shut up, Gil” every time he had a line haha
![s.penkevich](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1713573726p1/6431467.jpg)
Thank you so much! This was such a lovely book, filled me with joy for sure
![s.penkevich](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1713573726p1/6431467.jpg)
Thank you so much! Yea I need to rewatch the show now (I kept waiting for the whole thieves coming to live with them part to happen and then realized that was made up for the show haha) I was so bummed when it got canceled.
![Amina](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1704684472p1/150665344.jpg)
![s.penkevich](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1713573726p1/6431467.jpg)
Oh I love that! Ha I just looked it up and I definitely remember seeing that edition!! I always think of the box set series we’d sell at Barnes and Noble during Christmas time, I don’t think I had realized it was a series until then honestly. How are the rest of them? I keep hearing the third is a lot of people’s favorites?
And quite true, the way the characters feel so lifelike really drove this one home for me too. Thank you so much, glad you have such fond memories of this series. It’s so endearing!
![✨Julie✨](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1624508014p1/15367905.jpg)
![s.penkevich](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1713573726p1/6431467.jpg)
Thank you so much! Ha she reminded me of a child version of me a bit too much haha. Ooo that is a great idea, hope you enjoy—I’ll be eager to hear what you think. I just found this one so joyful!