My thoughts are mixed on this book. And I wish they weren't.

I love Anne of Green Gables. Or let me rephrase that....I think back with fondness on the monster crush I had on Jonathan Crombie growing up. The movie I love even more than the book (except we will pretend that the third one does not exist). Anne of Green Gables has made me want to go to Prince Edward Island and have some cordial.

Anne of Manhattan lacks that magic. Or so it felt to me. A friend of mine said that if you didn't have backstory of Anne, Diana, Gilbert, Marilla, Matthew and so on you would be missing out. And she is right. You would have. That is why Anne of Manhattan made me smile; it was the callbacks and subtle homages that made want to dive back into Anne's world again.......

Anne and Gilbert's relationship was decidedly 21st Century this go around. Their "anger" felt like teenage angst turned sexual tension more than it did a rivalry. The misunderstanding keeping them apart near the end was also decidedly 21st Century. Not that that is bad. BUT it makes Anne of Manhattan stand the test of time....unlike Lucy Maud Montgomery's original work.

Was I glad I read it? Sure. Would I recommend it.....unsure ( )

I have always loved Anne of Green Gables and was eager to read this 21st century update. It did not disappoint. I enjoyed all the callbacks to the original novel, and I liked the changes made to the characters to make them more diverse. The arc of the relationship between Anne and Gilbert was pretty standard rom com stuff, but it was still fun to read. And the alternating chapters between "Now" and "Then" did a great job of providing backstory as well as giving the reader an opportunity to spend time in an idyllic Avonlea.

Thank you to Harper Collins for the ARC! ( )

The idea of a contemporary Anne Shirley at grad school appeals to me, and Starler’s versions of Anne and Gil were likeable.

But some of the prose was frustratingly clunky. I began skim-reading more and more. So I don’t feel like I can properly judge this as a retelling nor as a narrative in its own right, but I definitely have the impression that the prose wasn’t the only thing that was clunky.

Next! ( )

I wanted a little more from one of the secondary characters, but if you’re here for Anne and Gilbert’s chemistry, this modern take on a college-age Anne is definitely worth reading.

Given how important Anne’s friendship with Diana is in the original, I was disappointed by what a small role Diana plays in this story. While this book
makes clear that Diana is a good supportive friend to Anne, unlike Marilla and Matthew, whose essences managed to be pretty well matched here in only a handful of scenes, the handful of scenes for Diana ultimately weren’t significant enough to truly capture that kindred spirit feeling.

I loved the flashbacks to Anne’s youth, those scenes/scenarios (the Christmas scene was especially heartwarming), they had that original Anne vibe yet in a modern setting. The present day plot beyond the romance, Anne’s writing program for kids and her situation with a professor, they felt timely and important and in character for how Anne handled them and yet, I don’t know what exactly was missing, but they just didn’t feel as compelling as the other parts of the book.

I enjoyed the sparks between Anne and Gilbert even if admittedly their steamier moments took some getting used to when you’re accustomed to thinking of them in more old-fashioned G rated terms. My favorite thing about the romance and maybe even my favorite thing about the book was having Gilbert’s point of view, getting that first hand account of how deeply and how long he’s been crushing on Anne, those feelings that as a reader you can very much infer in the original, here you get the chance to experience them and so even though there were aspects of Anne Of Manhattan that didn’t entirely win me over, if you’re a Gilbert fan, I’d recommend giving this a try. ( )

I have been a longtime fan of Anne, probably because I too am an Anne with an e (middle name) while all my cousins with the family middle name don’t have that e. I’ve read the books, seen all the old movies (recently learned there were some newer ones), binged the Netflix series, and even read and watched every episode/book of the spinoff series Avonlee. I even dated a Gilbert Blythe look alike. So yeah, I’m a fan. I was excited to see a retelling since all my friends are Austinites. I finally had a chance to say , seeeeeeeee my favorite story is important enough for retellings too.

And this story does not disappoint. I can tell the author is a fan. The story has moved Green Gables to Long island, made it a winery, and starts with Anne in the last year of grad school for her Masters in Teaching. Gilbert has been away in California, but has moved closer to family as his father has fallen ill. Most readers remember Anne before adulthood, so at the beginning of this book seems a little late to the game, but through various flashbacks we get the story of young Anne and younger Gilbert and the love that wouldn’t die. The only thing I really miss from her younger story that is not retold here, is breaking the slate over Gilbert's head. He totally deserved it. But what the author uses to fill in those gaps like the beach scene and the kiss at the wrong time fit perfectly with the original story I loved so much.

There were so many things to like about this book. There were also a few ehhhh things. For example, I didn’t not care for the sex scenes. There are only two, but the author aimed for steamy and instead came out sounding like a sex scene written by a man. And here’s the thing ... they are not needed. The original books never had sex scenes. This book could have alluded to happy fun times, and left the details out and it would have been just fine. I did like what they did with the character Marilla, and their eventual escape to Prince Edward Island. I also really enjoyed how they brought Anne and Gilbert together at the end.

Overall, this was a really fun read that I think fans of Anne will enjoy, but I think people who never read the Anne books will enjoy it as well. It’s a light comedic romance that just puts a smile on the reader's face. ( )