This book kept getting better and better, and I'm glad I picked it up.

The first thing I'd like to say is that this would be a great book to read for anyone who wants to get into creative writing. There is a lot of descriptive writing with beautiful similes, prose, and things like that that are not only enjoyable, but would be really good for students to pay attention to.

It's a cozy book, full of twists and turns. It gets rather crazy at some points, and there was a lot of shocking plot twists that I didn't expect, although I did predict one from the beginning that I'm proud of myself for. I'd like to reread this knowing all that happens. The writing, in true Montgomery fashion, is gorgeous. As a nature lover myself I absolutely relished those parts. Romantic tropes came up, but it wasn't cringy, and it was enjoyable and sweet. 

The only think that made me take away a half star was that during Valancy's rebellion, her attitude towards swearing was weird. She was decent in every way, but she had become weirdly tolerant of it to the point of considering doing it herself. It was an odd point in her character development.

 

Read: October 29, 2023
 Title: The Blue Castle 

Author: LM Montgomery 

Genre: Historical Romance
 Rating: 2.5 / 5
 Review: 

I wasn’t sure what to expect going into this novel. I have never read Anne of Green Gables, then again from what I have heard, this book is nothing like those. So, I suppose that is a good thing. Regardless, I was pleasantly surprised by The Blue Castle. It is certainly quaint and adorable but feels far different from any other historical piece I’ve read. 

The Blue Castle and may things about it that I do not care for of course. The representation of woman alone is enough to have me sighing (though it was expected, the cruelty of these women were not), the beauty standards as well were repetitively shoved in the readers’ face and the amount of time the main character was called ‘Not pretty’ to her face was quite annoying. The story line was extremely predictable and at points the author grew a bit longwinded on subject that weren’t relevant to the plot; and many of the characters were interchangeable to the point I couldn’t remember who was who. 

All that being said, I enjoyed this book immensely. The writing was beautiful. Despite the lengthy bits, the story only seemed to drag in the first half of the novel but really picked up midway. The premise was adorable and I love the moral even if the ending was utterly unrealistic. 

  Quotes: 
 “Fear is the original sin. Almost all of the evil in the world has its origin in the fact that someone is afraid of something. It is a cold slimy serpent coiling about you. It is horrible to live with fear; and it is of all things degrading.” 

TW:
Body Shaming, Chronic Illness, Classism, Cursing, Emotional Abuse, Gaslighting, Religious Bigotry, Terminal Illness.