The ANNEthology

Well, this was a fun read! This Young Adult anthology collects short stories by authors who wrote Anne from "Anne of Green Gables" in their own way: the characters, setting, and adventures from the original series are all there, but presented in new and imaginative ways. There’s creepy dark cannibal Anne, modern junior high teenager Anne, gender swapped Anne, dystopian Anne, haunted house Anne, and AI robot Anne, to name a few. One of my favourites was poetic Anne: a poem set in a northern mining community in the 1980s.

Some stories are sweet and some are shocking, some are serious and some are sad, but all are successful in that they contain the original spirit of the character with additional clever twists. Most authors wrote the voice exactly right, so when the twists arrived it was at times jarring or puzzling, but in such a fun way! I think the authors assume familiarity and it does help to know the original characters, setting, and stories so that the twists attain maximum impact, otherwise readers may be confused or feel like something is missing or disjointed. But I was a fan as a child, so loved both the nostalgic and interpretive elements.

As usual with short story collections, I liked some more than others, but generally thought the writing was excellent. The various writing styles all maintained the mood of the original source and added modern touches while remaining accessible for the target age group. Overall, I think this is an excellent Annethology and would recommend it for adventurous Anne fans of all ages!

Thank you to Netgalley and Acorn Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved and remember Anne of Green Gables growing up so it was great to see the different interpretations of her by these amazing authors.

Anne (with an e), one of my very favourite kindred spirits, has been reimagined by ten authors. Having known Anne Shirley Cuthbert for over three decades, she’s become part of my story and I was keen to see what she’s been up to in other people’s imaginations.

There are some stories where Anne is clearly the passionate, feisty girl who took up residence in my heart. At times, though, she’s not as easily recognisable. Anne is a boy. Anne is trafficked. Anne comes with a serial number.

My favourite stories were:

Anne and the Bloody Book by Susie Moloney

Anne discovers that appetite for reading can be life changing.

“What a mysterious book…”

In Search of Kindred Spirits by Hope Dalvay

Anne and Gilbert are assigned to work on an art project together.

“A kindred spirit is someone with similar interests to yours. No, it’s more than that. It’s someone you have a deep connection with. That’s why I read so many books. I’m looking for kindred spirits in the pages. Some of my best friends are book characters.”

4624463 by Natasha Deen

Anne lives in a world where you’re punished for having emotions and books are dangerous.

“Something bad is going to happen.”

Anne of the Silver Trail by Shari Green

Anne is absolutely certain she’s about to be un-adopted in this story in verse.

“If we’re lucky in life, we come across
someone who challenges
the lies we tell ourselves, someone who
who sits us down and tell us
a different story.”

While there wasn’t a bad story in the bunch, I found I enjoyed them more when they included at least one of my other favourite characters, like Diana, Matthew and Marilla.

What I found even more important than the cast of characters, though, was Anne herself. No matter what setting she was placed in, I wanted to be able to connect with her spirit. I needed to be able to identify parts of her personality that made me love her in the first place.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Acorn Press for the opportunity to read this anthology.

If you are an "Anne of Green Gables" purist and refuse to watch "Anne with an E" on Netflix because you can't stand the idea of any deviation, "The ANNEthology" will NOT be for you. I liked approximately half of this anthology. Some of the short stories in this collection were interesting reimaginings of the classic story with sci-fi elements and modern takes that I enjoyed. There were others that felt sacrilegious, and I wonder if L.M. Montgomery would have felt honored by the new adventures of Anne Shirley.

Thank you NetGalley for the digital arc so that I could provide an honest and voluntary review.