Anne of the Island - L.M. Montgomery

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⭐ 8.5/10

(Originally written by Joseph)

This is the third book in the Anne series, and I got the chance to read it almost exclusively in PEI which is pretty cool. Montgomery is pretty firmly in my top ten authors at this point, so I'm happy that there is essentially a never ending supply of her work. This one follows Anne as she goes through college, and is definitely the book closest to a pure romance so far in this series.

Again, all the hallmarks are here. Beautiful descriptions of countrysides and houses and fields and lakes. Lots of incredibly funny banter between small-town folk. Lots of wholesome if not predictable romance.

A bigger negative that keeps this one from having a higher score is that Anne herself has lost a lot of what made her so great in the first book. She's not really funny at all anymore, and really not all that interesting. That's fine, as she's more a protagonist that meets lots of funny and interesting people, but I sure do miss the old Anne. I also wish there was more from the old characters. Marilla is hardly here, though I thought there were lots of opportunities for her to come in and speak wisdom.

Still, there are way too many positives to outshine that. Phillipa Gordon takes over in this book, essentially coming in and being what young Anne was, stealing the show. Hilarious in every scene she appears in. Davy is also old enough to be consistently funny now, and his POV chapter and his letter to Anne were both masterpieces. I also thought the Ruby Gillis chapter was heartbreaking, though again I think the old Anne would have been terrific there.

But the heart of this book is the romance. It is entirely predictable to the point of rolling my eyes when there is "misdirection" but that doesn't make it any less amazing. It has some striking similarities to Jim and Pam, with their counterparts being quite similar, and even a big guy named Roy getting in the way. That's maybe my favorite fictional romance, so that's high praise. Two characters you want to see together so badly, which makes for great, emotional ups and downs in a masterful slow burn.

So yeah, a great book set in a great place. Still didn't achieve those highs of Green Gables, but it wasn't far off and I'm glad I can read one of these every few months. If you haven't read Green Gables, then what are you even doing?

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