the beauty with which l.m. montgomery described both the scenery of nature and the character's mental transformation was STAGGERING

Only knocking it down a peg because I was 50% through the audiobook before it could hold my attention. But the ending blew me away, so I'll have to buy a paperback of it someday to give it a reread. Unlike my beloved Anne novels, this one has one steady arc of plot rather than a slew of vignettes. 

 

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.

Do you know that feeling of reading a relaxing favorite book that makes you feel like no matter what you may face in your life and where you find yourself, that book can transport you completely? This book did wonders for me in that way. 
Trust me, I have been in a rut in nearly every way lately, but reading this book for a second time was refreshing, and I always love L.M. Montgomery's works. 

I found this hidden gem of a book two Mays past and fell in love with it. It was that grey time of year when winter had long since left its mark, but the rain-stained windows and almost dead scorched plant life grew. It was a little depressing, especially in Florida, where we virtually have no seasons, which I sorely miss. After growing up in New England, near enough to the places in Canada that take place in Montgomery's writing, it felt like getting little fragments of my own memories and senses back to me, which was amazing after feeling homesick for so long. 
Her writing is eloquent and describes Valancy's emotions well. 

I remembered the beginning was slow, though I had not remembered just how slow. The story kicks off a little after the 50% mark, and it is quite depressing until then. I resonate a lot with Valancy; though somewhat different circumstances and times, I understand her well. Even if you could not relate to her in the sense of circumstances, you could tell by how well her character and story are written—even if it is so great a difference as can be set from fiction. 

Only after reading some classics within the year and a half since my first reading of this book did I realize and can compare this book to Jane Eyre. I feel like Barney has an incredible likeness to the character of Rochester, with the same humor offset to a new life with a young woman who refuses to give into depression as much as it begs at her doorstep. In this case, Barney is considerably younger, and looking through rumors circulating about his character, he only shows a good one apart from the gossip. 
So if you like Jane Eyre without so much tragedy and the writing, albeit for a more mature audience than Anne of Green Gables, I know you will love The Blue Castle if you are patient. I loved listening to it as a sleep story on YouTube and annotating my favorite parts on my copy. 


We all have our blue castles, and I loved the details about nature and human hearts. Hope is given brighter and brighter and will only be appreciated by those who love the slow things in life and can accept and respect the shadows as well as the sunshine. 
The feeling of the forest, God's presence throughout it, and the spirit of the forest give pause and house new miracles you will likely miss if you are not seeking them. 
There are characters for the world and for another, yet they live in the same one with dazzlingly different hearts. 
I love John Foster's words and how Valancy fell in love completely with life. 
I love her perspectives and enjoyed everything so many characters in books I have read with similar promises could not, which brought respite and bitter tragedy into their stories. Still, this one was beautiful, balancing life and the acknowledgment of death with a sense of peace. 

I know it will be hard to enjoy if you are feeling depressed yourself. It happens, I know, but it will not last forever. Reading a good book and enjoying a quiet, cozy evening will bring back some of the good; it is easy to overlook and gain some peace for today. 
You may not like it if you are tired of classics where the characters hope to marry for love but their parents for money, but all is well because they fall for the rich men anyway. I understand that, but it is not who the characters are which is the point. Love does not define circumstance, love, or worthiness of attention based on financial and social judgment, despite its presence. 
In that way, I was practically not too fond of Valancy's family. Still, even though they endure as present characters for nearly the whole book, they pale compared to my favorite moments and a pure and good romance. Maybe because I have always been a sucker rooting for the romances, but this book and Valancy and Barney have a soft spot in my heart. I hope to have something like their story, even if I am not as well off as they are one day. That will not matter, but love and the slow moments will always matter most. 

Beautiful prose, a great and well fleshed-out protagonist, one of my most favourite romance books of all time.