I can't even put into words how much I adore this series<3

I enjoyed this book but was not as enchanted by it as the first. Anne is 16-18 years old throughout and working as a teacher and enjoying life in Avonlea with her friends. She is now so more much grown up that she is not so full of antics and trouble.

This would have been a 4 star read for me except for the very problematic issue of the twins, Davy and Dora, who are adopted by Marilla. Davy is obviously brought in as a stand in for Anne's previous antics and trouble-making. He is very much the favorite of the twins for both Marilla and Anne, so much so that Dora rarely makes an appearance and when she does she is always spoken of in a rather pathetic and denigrating way because she is too good and is, therefore, boring. I cringed every time Dora was mentioned because I knew that the next words I would hear would be someone speaking of Dora in a negative way. With a brother like Davy who is steals the limelight and all the attention with his antics and is so obviously adored by Anne and Marilla (for which they profess some guilt) it's no wonder that Dora is quiet and good and keeps to herself. Unfortunately, the reasons for the differences between these twins never occurs to Anne nor Marilla (nor Montgomery, for that matter) so it never occurs to them that they might have been able to help bring Dora out of her shell. Ok, child psychology was not in it's heyday when this book was written, but I would think that Anne's work as a teacher and her general love and understanding of children and people would have given her the heart to do more than just ignore and explain away Dora. I don't understand why Montgomery included Dora in this book at all. Her "storyline" and the way she was treated feels so out of place in Avonlea.

Anne of Avonlea drinking game:
Take a drink of your tea/soda/plum wine every time
-Anne's grey eyes are mentioned
-Marilla is sarcastic
-Paul Irving says "you know"
-Paul Iriving refers to his "little mother"
-Diana's weight is mentioned
-Anne or Marilla express their preference for Davy/speak unkindly of Dora because she's "too good."

The character of Davy just about ruined this book for me. I kind of hated him. His sister, Dora, is a sweet, mild-mannered, overall good kid. And so Davy takes great joy in tormenting her endlessly. But Anne and Marilla just write this off as him being "mischievous," never taking into consideration how awful this must be for Dora.

Davy even locks his sister alone in the dark in a neighbor's barn, just because he thinks it would be funny to make everyone worry(!?). When Dora is finally found, she's been crying for hours. The end result of this episode? Anne and Marilla say they love Davy more because he needs them more. No, Dora needs them to protect her - from her brother. And they utterly fail.

Anne's "scrapes" in the first book were because she often acted before thinking, or had a quick temper. But Davy's actions are thought out and deliberate, and he does them because he likes making trouble, making his sister cry, and getting a reaction out of people. Very, very different, imo.

In addition, this book felt a lot more sickly-sweet and moralized more. It wasn't nearly as good as the first (isn't that always the way?), and I don't think I'll continue on with the series, even though I did want to see Anne and Gilbert get together.

Such a wonderful reading day, thanks to Anne! I loved the new characters and the fact that we see Anne teaching, as I'm a teacher myself. As in the previous book, there were plenty of amazing quotes and cute moments. It's great to know that there are many other books in the series!

4.5 stars rounded up

I love how Anne makes all the little routine things in life seem so magical and heartfelt. Inspires me to live a life that’s full of those kinds of thoughts and dreams. Life is so much more beautiful because there are books like these and characters like Anne to help inspire readers. :)

It was wonderful to be back with Anne again! This was a buddy read with Carolyn and Leeanne and it is lovely to be able to have a discussion about the story, to see what stands out to each reader and the different observations made. I am very excited by the prospect of following Anne's journey through life, and I loved every moment of this book.

Anne's time as a teacher was very enjoyable, and her endeavours with the Avonlea Village Improvement Society and the rather amusing results of their efforts was more interesting than I would have guessed. What I loved about the first book, and what continues with the second, is how it is all so engaging and exciting, even though it is not an action focused book. Anne's friendships, her 'kindred spirits', her earnest enthusiasm for life and the world makes for captivating reading. L.M. Montgomery's writing has this magical quality to it that makes even the simplest chapter riveting.

The addition of Davy and Dora to the family was a mostly enjoyable one. While I wasn't as fond of Davy as Marilla and Anne seemed to be, he did not irritate me as much I had feared. I suppose that is damning him with faint praise, but he was quite an exasperating child! I much preferred Dora. In our discussion, Carolyn called Dora 'serene' and I think that fits her so well. I tend to think of her now as Serene Dora, a title of sorts. She is such a sweet little thing and thoroughly unappreciated by Anne, Marilla and everyone else really.

I adored Miss Lavendar just as much as Anne did, and also found Charlotta the Fourth a fun character. Her fervent admiration of Anne was completely understandable. I know Davy was probably a little too precocious and earnest for some readers, essentially a young boy version of Anne herself, but I really did love him and found the talk he has with Anne about his mother and her mention of her own parents particularly touching.

I had spied the title of the final chapter at the start of the book and I admit my heart had dropped a little. A Wedding at the Stone House. I had thought Anne would be the bride, and I couldn't help feeling let down that it had all happened so quickly. Because of this, I had thought the earlier dream of college would be replaced by that of being a very young wife and mother. But I was wrong-- and thrilled to be! When Marilla came up with a solution that allowed Anne to head off to college I was blown away, thrilled for her and adored Marilla for not letting the opportunity slip by. And the romantic in me loved that Miss Lavendar's Prince returned at last. I was very satisfied with every part of the book, but especially the final chapters, which felt perfect.

I restrained myself to only a few chapters a day so that I didn't devour the book in one sitting, and after a few days I found myself making sure it was the final thing I read before trying to sleep. There was something so calming and heartwarming about finishing the day with Anne's adventures and observations.

I look forward to seeing what comes next for Anne and everyone else in Avonlea.

Gosh, how I hated this book. As most of you know I LOVE (absolutely adore) the first book in the series, Anne of Green Gables. I loved every single character and even though many people find Anne annoying, I really took her into my heart. I also love the Netflix adaptation Anne with an E, I fell in love with Prince Edward Island, Diana, Marilla and Matthew, even good ole Rachel Lynde. It has become a comfort show for me. So my expectations for the second book were high. I was super excited to see a more grown up Anne, to accompany her on all the silly adventures and scrapes she would get herself into as a young woman but no! what we got is a moralising tale that got on my goddamn nerves.

My biggest gripe with this book is not that it's hella boring (barely anything of significance happens) but that all of the new characters (Davy, Dora, Mr Harrison, Ms Lavendar, Paul Irving etc.) are so shitty and boring that they pale in comparison to the ones we already fell in love with in the first book. On top of that, many of our beloved characters, first and foremost Anne herself, feel very different, so much so that they are barely recognisable, most of her actions feel so out of character. It's a shit show.

But let's start in the beginning! Anne is about to start her first term teaching at the Avonlea school. I was very excited to finally see Anne as a teacher but what Montgomery does with her in this position is infuriating. Anne is the worst teacher ever. But more on that later.

The book soon introduces Anne's new and problematic neighbour, Mr. Harrison, and his foul-mouthed parrot, as well as the twins, Davy and Dora. They are the children of Marilla's third cousin and she takes them in when their mother dies while their uncle is out of the country. Whilst Dora is a nice, well-behaved girl, her brother Davy is the exact opposite, much more of a handful and constantly getting into many scrapes.

As many reviewers have pointed out, the favoritism that Anne and Marilla exhibit, favoring Davy over Dora, despite (or because of) his more riling and original nature, is infuriating. At one point, Anne says to Marilla: "I like Davy better than Dora, for all she’s so good.", and she agrees with her. It's so bad. Davy is probably the most annoying (!) character in this entire series. I hated him with a passion. Montgomery uses him in such a gimmicky way and none of the scrapes he gets into are fun or entertaining to read about. She uses him to teach her readerships lessons on how to behave properly and how to raise children. No, thanks. On top of that, it's pretty misogynist that Anne and Marilla dislike Dora so, she's too "boring", too perfect for me. Excuse me, what? She's just a kid. And she deserves as much attention and love as her wild brother.

Other characters introduced are some of Anne's new pupils, such as Paul Irving, an American boy living with his grandmother in Avonlea while his widower father works in the States. He delights Anne with his imagination and whimsical ways, which are reminiscent of Anne's in her childhood. And here lies another problem. Just as with Davy and Dora, Anne exhibits favoritism when it comes to her students as well, which makes her the worst teacher ever. She is so judgemental of all students who aren't like her. At one point she thinks of one of her students: "Annetta is a quiet little puss and a model of good behaviour, but there isn’t a shadow of originality in her." Who says that about their own students?? My God. When one of her students trips on her way to the chalkboard, Anne says to her:

n  “Really, Barbara”, she said icily, “if you cannot move without falling over something you’d better remain in your seat. It is positively disgraceful for a girl your age to be so awkward.”n

What the hell? Does that sound like the Anne of the first book to you? What has gone wrong here? And I understand that Montgomery wanted to show how Anne struggles to find her footing as a teacher but I genuinely think that her character changed so much that she is barely recognisable. Her actions and words simply don't ring true. I also hated the whole ordeal with Anthony, a boy in her class who kept disrespecting her. Anne tried reasoning with him but at the end, the one thing that wins Anthony over is when she beats him like his dad used to, even though in the beginning she vowed to never whip any children. It's bonkers. Her weird obsession with Paul is also uncomfortable to read about from a modern perspective. Like, we get it, you see yourself in him, but chill, girl. Montgomery describes Paul as follows: "There is nothing weak or girlish about him in spite of his dreams and fancies. He is very manly and can hold his own in all games." Okay, thanks, I hate it here.

Later in the book, Anne and her friends meet Miss Lavendar Lewis, a sweet but lonely lady in her 40s who had been engaged to Paul's father 25 years before, but parted from him after a disagreement. At the end of the book, Mr. Irving returns and he and Miss Lavendar marry. This was quite the sweet subplot but I unfortunately didn't care. I didn't like Miss Lavendar and was much more interested in her (horrible) treatment of her maids, whom she all named Carlotta. But no, we must focus on the eccentric old lady because she's oh-so special. Cool.

Anne discovers the delights and troubles of being a teacher, takes part in the raising of Davy and Dora, and organizes the A.V.I.S. (Avonlea Village Improvement Society) together with Gilbert, Diana, and Fred Wright, though their efforts to improve the town are not always successful. The Society takes up a subscription to repaint an old town hall, only to have the painter provide the wrong colour of paint, turning the hall into a bright blue eyesore. This book sees Anne maturing slightly, even though she still cannot avoid getting into a number of her familiar scrapes, including selling Mr. Harrison's cow after mistaking it for her own, accidentally rubbing red dye on her nose before meeting a famous author, and getting stuck in a duck house roof while peeping into a pantry window.

Unfortunately, none of these silly little adventures are as fun as the ones in the first book. They're not as memorable or original. I also disliked how much of a backseat Anne's friendship to Diana took in this book. Whenever we see Diana she is only complaining about how fat she's gotten and by the end of the book she is married of to Fred Wright and we never see her again. NO, NO, NO.

Towards the end of the book, Mrs. Rachel Lynde's husband dies and Mrs. Lynde moves in with Marilla at Green Gables, allowing Anne to go to college at last. The only silver lining in this book because Rachel rooming with Marilla is all I needed in my life. In the last chapter, Anne and Gilbert make plans to attend Redmond College in the Autumn.

Personally, I really like Anne and Gilbert together but I fear that I like the idea of them (and the representation of them in the show Anne with an E) more than what Montgomery actually delivers. There are very few interactions between the two of them in this book but let's look at some significant moments:

n  She had a sudden realisation that Gilbert was a schoolboy no longer. And how many he looked—the tall, frank-faced fellow, with the clear, straightforward eyes and the broad shoulders. Anne thought Gilbert was a very handsome lad, even though he didn't look at all like her ideal man.n

So far ... so good? I mean, it's pretty standard romance, I guess, but I can live with that. Gilbert is a MANLY MAN (...good for him?) but not Anne's type (we all know she's kidding herself but whatever). What I have more of a problem with is how Gilbert views Anne:

n  In Gilbert's eyes Anne's greatest charm was the fact that she never stooped to the petty practices of so many of the Avonlea girls -- the small jealousies, the little deceits and rivalries, the palpable bids for favor. Anne held herself apart from all this, not consciously or of design, but simply because anything of the sort was utterly foreign to her transparent, impulsive nature, crystal clear in its motives and aspirations.n

It's giving: SHE'S NOT LIKE OTHER GIRLS. And there's nothing I hate more than that trope. Get the fuck outta here. Anne is NOT special, no matter how hard Montgomery wants to drive the point home that Anne is a special snowflake who is superior to other girls, I assure you, SHE IS NOT.

However, I have to give Montgomery credit for the end of this book, and Gilbert and Anne's last conversation, because it truly hit me in the feels and made me sooo excited for the third book (jokes on me, because that turned out to be shit, but regardless). Listen to this:

n  For a moment Anne's heart fluttered queerly and for the first time her eyes faltered under Gilbert's gaze and a rosy flush stained the paleness of her face. It was as if a veil that had hung before her inner consciousness had been lifted, giving to her view a revelation of unsuspected feelings and realities. Perhaps, after all, romance did not come into one's life with pomp and blare, like a gay knight riding down; perhaps it crept to one's side like an old friend through quiet ways; perhaps it revealed itself in seeming prose, until some sudden shaft of illumination flung athwart its pages betrayed the rhythm and the music, perhaps … perhaps … love unfolded naturally out of a beautiful friendship, as a golden-hearted rose slipping from its green sheath.n

Excuse me while I scream in a corner but this shit is PERFECT. Call me a hopeless romantic but I love everything about this scene. Montgomery found the exact right words here!

Another highlight for me was the callback to Matthew: "Anne had never missed her weekly pilgrimage to Matthew’s grave. Everybody else in Avonlea, except Marilla, had already forgotten quiet, shy, unimportant Matthew Cuthbert; but his memory was still green in Anne’s heart and always would be." Oh man, how I have still not recovered from his death. I love that Montgomery acknowledges his persistent impact on Anne's life.

***

TW: use of a derogatory term for indigenous people (I*jun)

The way I'm obsessed with this series. Anne has to be one of my favorite fictional characters of all time.

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After absolutely falling in love with the Netflix series ‘Anne with an E’, I couldn’t bear that it was over!!! I needed more of fantastically wonderfully cheerfully Anne in my life. And so I decided to go ahead and buy the whole box set of Anne of Green Gables. I read the first book and thought hmmm this is very similar to the Netflix series yet the ending was astronomically different. Once I began the second in the series I firmly, and rather happily, established that the book series was going to be much unlike the TV series…Phew

Anne of Avonlea by LM Montgomery i started off enjoying the 2nd in the series of Anne books. I expected to finish it today. I love the wholesomeness. The quirky Anne. Then tragedy struck in my life. My beloved companion (shown in my pic) tragically died. I can’t finish the book right now. I only had 20% to go. But I enjoyed the calm, peace and serenity this book brought. I will pick it up again. The library will take it back anyday. One day I will pick up where I left off. Never take anything for granted. A single bra strap can ruin a day and a person’s life aka a dog.

داستان این جلد در مورد آنه‌۱۷ساله‌ای هست که معلم اونلی شده و با دوستاش یه انجمن اصلاح تشکیل داده و همچنین ماریلا از یه دوقلو  نگهدار�� میکنه

O primeiro livro da série arrebatou-me e, confesso, comecei a ficar um pouco desiludida com o início deste segundo volume, talvez por também estar com a cabeça no sítio errado. E a edição, meu Deus, Minotauro, está péssima! Deixaram carateres na impressora, colocaram vírgulas ao desbarato, usaram termos que em nada tinham relação com o resto da frase, houve gente que "interviu", diálogos em que as personagens se tratavam por "você" e na frase seguinte já se estavam a tratar por "tu", troca dos nomes das personagens, enfim, estive a ler um livro com um lápis na mão, o que não é bom sinal, pois não sublinho livros, e aqui sublinhei e acrescentei vogais e consoantes, enfim, não sei se o prazo estava apertado, mas a revisão claramente falhou nesta obra.
Problemas de edição à parte, o meu coração voltou a bater pela Anne, por favor não traduzam o nome dela, é tão mau, até porque mais nenhuma personagem tem o nome traduzido e isso de traduzir nomes próprios é, para mim, muito estúpido!
Dizia eu que o meu coração voltou a bater pela Anne e pelas suas aventuras, agora já mais adulta, madura e com outras responsabilidades, mas ainda a manter uma imaginação maravilhosa e uma certa inocência que me continuam a encantar. Fiquei curiosa em saber a continuação desta aventura agora que a menina Shirley vai para a universidade. Sim, eu já sei mais ou menos como continua a história, mas não perdi a curiosidade, que talvez seja forte o suficiente para encetar a box set com todos os livros da série, que adquiri em novembro de 2017!


Talvez, afinal de contas, o romance não entrasse na vida das pessoas com pompa e circunstância, como um cavaleiro, talvez deslizasse para o nosso lado como um velho amigo, com modos delicados, talvez se revelasse numa aparente prosa, até que um raio de iluminação atravessasse as páginas, traindo o ritmo e a música , talvez... talvez... o amor de desvendasse naturalmente de uma bonita amizade, como uma rosa de coração dourado deslizando para fora da sua vagem verde