This book kept me reading nonstop because I needed to know what was going to happen in Anne’s and her family’s life as they navigate a town that is less than welcoming of differences. Anne is just so unapologetically herself but still has to get through times where she thinks it might be better to fit in, and cheering her on is part of the fun. Also, being from the south, I love a peek into how southerners are portrayed, and this book creates a nice show of how things very much can go in the south when “outsiders” come into town and shake things up. Also, if you’ve owned a stubborn dog breed you will feel Anne’s pain as she tries to care for her golden retriever.

Anne Shirley and her two moms (Millie and Lucy) move to the small town of Greenville when Lucy gets a job as assistant principal at Greenville High School. Though Anne, who is also gay, quickly finds a friend in Berry Blythe, others are not so welcoming. A small group of "forevers" (kids whose families have been in Greenville for generations) harass Anne by calling her names, spray painting a hateful message on her front lawn, and pretty much physically assaulting her! Understandably, Anne loses her temper a time or two, but overall handles the harassment with grace -- perhaps a little too much grace considering at least one of the incidents of harassment is a hate crime.

This book is billed as a re-imagining of Anne of Green Gables, but it really isn't because it doesn't capture the spirit of the original. Green Gables Anne wants desperately to belong to someone because, orphaned as a baby, no one has ever wanted her since her parents (who she doesn't remember) died. When she arrives at Green Gables, Anne discovers that her adoptive parents (the Cuthberts) are expecting a boy who can help on the farm; the orphanage sent a girl by mistake. Nevertheless, the Cuthberts decide to keep her, though the decision is a reluctant one on Marilla Cuthbert's part. Anne want to please her new parents by being a proper young lady and wants to fit in with the other girls in town by wearing fashionable clothes (specifically pretty dresses with puffed sleeves). Yet, her quick temper and vivid imagination frequently get her into "scrapes." Because the original work covers a period of five years, we see both the main character and the secondary characters develop, grow, and change over time.

Greenville Anne was orphaned by her American mother and Japanese father at the age of three and quickly adopted by a cousin (Millie) and her wife. Thus, Greenville Anne has always known love and security. Brimming with self-confidence, Greenville Anne wants to stand out and does so through her very colorful fashion choices, taste in music (1970s disco), and dying her hair red. (Green Gables Anne hated her red hair.) Because Anne of Greenville takes place over a period of months instead of years, some of the character development seems a rushed.

Nevertheless, this is a book that can stand on its own. Anne is a likeable protagonist who narrates the story in conversational tone that teen readers will enjoy, and the drama that plays out among the teens at Greenville High will keep readers turning the page. The book is an especially good choice for teen members of the LGBTQ+ community who want to see themselves in literature and for any teen interested in social justice issues.

Anne of Greenville by Mariko Tamaki is modern-day reimagining of the classic tale of Anne of Green Gables. In this story, Anne is new to small town USA in Greenville. She has two moms and is half-Japanese American, so she stand out even without her over-the-top personality. After a failed disco performance Anne meets her best friend, Berry and soon comes into contact with her possibly one true love - Gilly. Or wait- is she caught in a love triangle? Oh no!

Starting off strong, I think the author really did capture the essence of Anne Shirley - and that may be the one thing I enjoyed about this novel. After a few chapters it was easy to believe that Anne was a real modern-day version of the Anne we all love from Green Gables. The excessive personality was nailed and the tangents that Anne went off on were believable to the character.

Now let's talk about the other characters from Anne of Green Gables in this, Diana Barry as Berry and Gilly as Gilbert...maybe? I mean...that's what you would think, right? Spoilers aside, I don't think either of these characters fit into the characters they were supposed to resemble or at least the characters the readers were lead to believe they were based off of.

The townsfolk in Greenville...were MEAN. Like, cruel really. In any other place these children would get expelled and maybe even prosecuted for some of the things that they said and did. I understand the author wanting to convey that Anne was not welcome in Greenville...but this was almost unnecessary.

While I felt the beginning of the novel was a bit of a rocky start, it picked up towards the middle to the end and I was thinking "okay I might really enjoy this book." So rarely has a novel disappointed my in the last fifteen or so pages. The novel was cruising along at a good pace and then came to a screeching halt that left me completely and utterly confused. And disappointed. I felt almost cheated? Besides the BIG thing I feel like Anne's treatment by the townsfolk also ends at a screeching halt and is not resolved well at all.

While I was originally excited for this retelling of Anne of Green Gables I ended up being disappointed. I'm not sure I would recommend this to fans of the classic tale. I actually think people who know nothing about the original Anne Shirley will enjoy it more...

This adaptation of Anne of Green Gables was...interesting. I think that Tamaki smartly picked up on the latent bisexuality of Anne in the original text, but this book didn't quite retain the charm of the original.
Anne here is spunky and smart like her counterpart, but the relationships with adults in this novel don't match the types that she forms and relies upon in the source text. This reads more as a middle grade book than YA, though it is rated for 14 and up (because of the LGBTQ+ content?). I understand that Tamaki wanted to give a true sense of homophobia in a small town, but there are too many slurs and too much backlash to feel pleasant or realistic.

I enjoyed this book. The plot was paced appropriately and the characters were well developed. I would recommend this book to others.

Thank you to Netgalley and Disney Publishing Worldwide, for an eArc copy of this book.

I'm not ever read the original work, Anne of Green Gables in order to compare it to the classic that so many love. However I'm always into a modern retelling of a classic story for a fresh perspective.

This novel takes on a lot of topics like homophobia, racism, bullying, and tried to resolve them all by the end which didn't particularly sit well with me for this one. Nothing in life when it comes to those systemic issues resolve themselves so quickly.

This also felt more like a middle grade read instead of young adult.

I really wanted to like this modern retelling of Anne of Green Gables. It's got elements I really like including a small town setting and roller skating. Unfortunately, this just didn't turn out to be the retelling for me.

I think Anne's plucky spirit and eclectic stream-of-consciousness vibes work well in the original Anne of Green Gables because it's told in third person, so you're not bombarded with all of Anne's thoughts all the time. While I think Tamaki did an excellent job of brining Anne's spirit to this book, being in the head of Tamaki's Anne is just overwhelming and the way the first few chapters bounced around in a way that doesn't occur later in the novel was really disorienting. While I ultimately got used to the point of view by the end of the book, It almost caused me to just put the book down after a few chapters because the writing, as a whole, just felt like it was overdone.

As someone who cares a lot about representations of small towns and rural areas in children's and young adult literature, I was also frustrated by Greenville. This book felt like just 75% homophobia, and while there can be a lot of homophobia in small towns, it just felt like it dominated the book in a way that made the ending not entirely believable. Sure, I believe that Anne's mindset changed but with the way that Tamaki characterized 98% of Greenville I just couldn't buy it. I would have liked more nuance of the town right off the bat rather than waiting until the end.

I'm not a purist in terms of retellings, so I didn't mind the way that Tamaki played with the Anne storyline and the nice little reveal at the end was fun.

Overall, the combo of dissonance between Greenville in most of the book and Greenville at the end of the book plus the chaotic point of view prevented this book from standing out.

CW homophobia, racism, slurs throughout this novel. I loved that Anne of Greenville adapted the story with a queer Anne character. Anne loves disco and rollerskating and performing, with a rich inner dialogue we see Anne face non-stop bullying and harassment throughout the book. Unlike Anne of Green Gables the characters who are mean or less than accepting of Anne never learn a lesson or apologize or make amends for their outright hateful behavior. They just stop being mean for no clear reason at the end of this book. It didn't make sense for Anne to face that bigotry and get blamed constantly for reacting to it and then just have it not matter because the story was over. Anne's adopted mothers never defend Anne in this book also unlike the story it was based on where the adopted family stands up to their fellow adults and work to maintain Anne's safety. This book literally had people trying to hit Anne with a moving car and then they just got over it because they spent a week rehearsing a play together. This story had potential but it could have helped to have more focus on keeping Anne safe while navigating these very hateful situations to lead to a more believable reconciliation of these opposing characters.

This was a fun, modern reimagining of Anne of Green Gables, set in a very white small town. Anne (who has one Japanese biological parent) moves with her two adopted mothers and faces a mix of prejudice based on her heritage, her and her mothers' sexual orientation, her quirky style, and just the fact that she is new in a town run by people who have been there forever. Anne's love of life shines through from the original. Diana (now Berry) and Gilbert (now Gilly) are very different than in the original Anne of Green Gables. I found the end very satisfying. You don't have to be familiar with the original to appreciate this. Anyone who has ever been the new outsider will be able to relate. It also should come with a Spotify playlist. Recommended for grades 7 & up.

Anne is quirky and fun and a bit oblivious as she navigates moving to Greenville. As someone who grew up loving Anne of Green Gables, this re-imagining is delightful! I love the nods to the original story with the modern flair.

Anne of Greenville is your typical high school story. A new girl shows up in a conservative town and turns it on its head by being herself. The relationship between Anne and Berry was sweet and grew over time, but the Gilly story line felt more forced and rushed.

Anne's two moms felt more like roommates that gave her a hard time. They were quick to accuse her of being in the wrong and more wrapped up in their own lives than taking care of their daughter.

A decent story but parts could have been flushed out more.

I love Anne of Green Gables so I was excited to read this arc from NetGalley. It was a nice contemporary high school book with LGBT characters. Lots of lessons in bullying and being yourself. However, I don't think it was a very good adaption of Anne of Green Gables. I don't think it had the same flair as the originals. I felt the ending was rushed and that the characters could have been more developed.

I posted my review for this on TikTok at the following link: https://www.tiktok.com/@literallytara/video/7108835384997563691?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7112133290064299563

Basically I gave it 4/5 stars and highly recommended that my fellow TikTok friends check this one out for early review!

Anne of Greenville is a very cute retelling of the original Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery. This spin takes the bright, shining, unique attitude of Anne and gives it to our modern-day Anne, an Asian American queer teen with queer moms dropped in a small town of "Forevers", the school society snobs that come from families that founded the town and have been there ever since. Anne finds a bosom friend in Berry and a nemesis turned love-interest in Gilly. Anne must find a way to fight through the oppression of homophobic slurs, graffiti, and general hatefulness without getting herself, or her moms, in too much trouble.
Anne of Green Gables was one of my favorite book series growing up, so finding a queer WLW retelling of this story is honestly a balm to my soul. It's the story I'd have loved as a kid.

I loved this Anne of Green Gables. I've come to the conclusion that I prefer the retellings of Anne to the original and I think it's do in part because I've never forgave Gilbert for calling her carrots. Nor can I seem to forgive Anne for losing a part of herself her writing when she marries Gilbert. That doesn't seem to be a problem in retellings. I think that's mainly because retellings seem to stop after the first one.

Although I wasn’t a diehard fan of the spunky red-haired orphan like my younger sister, Anne Shirley was a frequent visitor during bedtime stories and movie nights.

So I had heightened expectations for Mariko Tamaki’s radical retelling, “Anne of Greenville.” And to be quite honest, this middle-grade muddle didn’t quite meet them.

I mean, I’m all for the plethora of positive LGBT representation, and the constant disco trivia was a bizarre but entirely entertaining addition.

But I actually feel like I would have enjoyed the story more if it were entirely original, rather than cringing my way through the mess of vague references to the source material.

And while all of the melodrama was in typical Anne fashion, it didn’t quite fit with the contemporary school setting, regardless of how small a smalltown Greenville may be.

This one was a bit of a miss for me.

This is a modern Anne of a green Gables retelling. In many ways, this is still in the spirit of the book. That being said, it just missed the mark for me. Anne is likable and I loved the idea of this book but I’m not sure it worked out in practice. Anne didn’t have the same zest for life in this and I missed that. I, a huge Anne of Green Gables fan so I think it was a bit of a letdown.

I was hoping that this was going to be a queer Anne/Gilbert retelling when Gilly was introduced as the Gilbert character, but this one is for the Anne/Diana shippers, which I am not one of! In general though, I just through that the characters were kind of exhausting and the relationships weren't very well developed.

I've always thought three things were true about Anne Shirley-Cuthbert. One, that she was autistic. Two, that she was a feminist. And three, that she was undeniably bisexual. This book just confirms all of those things.

This book is a decent modern retailing a of the classic Anne Green Gables story. I believe this will reach a wider audience with its modern adaptation.