Monday Book Review: Emily of New Moon

Reading is one of the things that pulled me out of the dark hole of grief, and I love hearing about others’ take on the titles I’ve read. To that end, I’m pulling over one of my reviews from Goodreads each week. If you’ve read the book, I’d love to hear what you think in the comments below. Please note links in this article are affiliate links.

This week’s review: Emily of New Moon by Lucy Maud Montgomery

Rating: 4/5

Although a huge fan of Anne of Green Gables, I was a bit hesitant to read Emily of New Moon. I read the Anne books as a young teen and gave up on them halfway through since they seemed to lose their charm as they progressed (possibly that was because of my age at the time).

Still, I decided to give this series a try and found I like Emily just as much as Anne. It is a similar story to Anne’s — orphaned child taken in by people who really had no intent of raising a girl. Emily’s pain of losing her parents seems more acute than Anne’s and maybe that’s why I was more sympathetic to Emily’s quirks while I found my eyes rolling when Anne did similar things.

My only criticism would be some of the chapters in which Emily is writing to her father seemed long and bogged down. Also, I found Dean Priest and Emily’s friendship to be a bit unsettling and, quite frankly, rather creepy.

All in all, this was an enjoyable read. If you like period pieces and Anne of Green Gables, you’ll probably like Emily of New Moon also.

Save

2 Comments

    1. my usual style when reading a book is to read it once, thoroughly. And \I rarely return to a book. (I could never get over my school chum who was brilliant, and a speedreader. She would be reading a book for the 3rd or 4th time. )

      But Emily was one of the books I read several times. Her story seemed “sophisticated” to me…big city of Toronto, and all. At the time, we lived in small town setting. I loved the hurts of Emily’s life…because her emotions were able to speak for my own hurts (whatever those were now, I forget) And her lonelinesses, a mirror.

      But I certainly did enjoy this book.

      1. I’m the same way about books! I almost never go back to the same title twice. There are so many books out there I want to read that I’d rather try something new. That said, I am thinking about going back to some old favorites and trying them again. My plan is to revisit Anne of Green Gables and The Secret Garden sometime this month.

        And Emily was so poignant. In some books, a character’s pain feels contrived, but Emily really resonated with me as a realistic portrayal of girl who had experienced deep loss and was forced into a foreign world.

Comments are closed.