Hi friends, happy Monday! I hope you’re all doing well. Today I’m posting my review of the fifth novel in Anne’s series by: L.M. Montgomery, Anne’s House of Dreams.

You can read my review of book one: Anne of Green Gables
You can read my review of book two: Anne of Avonlea
You can read my review of book three: Anne of the Island
You can read my review of book four: Anne of Windy Poplars

Anne’s House of Dreams by: L.M. Montgomery: Anne and Gilbert have started a life together and have moved to Four Winds Harbor in a house that Anne has deemed the House of Dreams. Here Gilbert has now become the doctor he’s always wanted to be and it seems Anne’s teaching days are behind her. She now has met a bunch of new people, Leslie a lonely woman, Captain Jim who loves to tell stories and Miss Cornelia who has no filter. Together they lead Anne through the next chapter of her life. This has probably been the darkest Anne novel yet and this reader wasn’t prepared for it. In fact, they truly miss the young girl that she used to be. The further we get into this series, the further we get in her life and it’s just seems like it’s going by so fast. This novel, much like the others in this series, felt like it flew by. Events happened in the blink of an eye, yet some of the smaller moments felt like they took their time. It was an interesting balance, but it also worked. Just like in a previous novel, we spent seconds at Diana’s wedding, and that’s how we felt at Anne’s. The reader thought we would have had more time at her own wedding, but it just flew by. The reader is also sad that Anne is no longer pursuing to be a teacher but a housewife. Hopefully in coming novels she goes back to her career because in the first few novels she worked so hard to get there, it feels like such a waste to see her drop it to become a housewife. The reader did like that we got to see a bit of Green Gables and our old pals again. They were fleeting but they at least were around for a bit that it felt like a nice reunion compared to the previous book. It was so good to see Marilla, she truly felt like coming home, even if when we saw her it wasn’t always at Green Gables; it was delightful to see Diana again, if only for a moment. When we see what she named her daughter, the reader couldn’t help but beam with happiness. It felt like the best callback. We didn’t get much of Davy and Dora, but it was good to see them. Then we have our new characters who were a really nice addition to the story. The way that Montgomery adds characters who are like-minded like Anne to compliment her and make for an enriching story. Although Miss Cornelia was hard to get used to, her pessimism got tiring fast; but of course Anne being the patient loving person she is, could put up and work her down. As for the plot, this sure went down a path the reader didn’t see coming. From Anne growing up even more, her intense heartache, to her new friend, Leslie and all that she had endured, there were so many moments and storylines that the reader was blown away by, some for the good, some not so much. This novel felt really raw and the tone was really solemn for most of it. Montgomery’s writing was still really beautiful and could be quite flowery, but it still had an undertone of grave sadness. This ended on a much happier note and leads us to Anne yet again moving on to another place and the reader can only wonder where life is going to take her next. This was an interesting pivot in Anne’s life; obviously life isn’t always sunshine and rainbows and this novel did a good job of pointing that out. These hardly feel like middle grade novels anymore because the subject matter has gotten quite mature, but they are still really well written. This reader is glad to be reading this particular novel as an adult to fully understand and appreciate the story.