My favourite thing was the implication that Anne was regularly writing steamy letters to Gilbert.
I also liked Katherine and particularly

that she does not get her problems solved via marriage

.
The bullying in the first section was pretty tough to read about, as poor Anne has half the town against her and the rest too scared to do anything about it.
I also didn't enjoy the lengthy monologues by people just telling their random family histories etc. Please be a little bit relevant to the plot....

Oh, Anne. I love you with all my heart, you are my happy place and you didn’t disappoint in this fourth book. I can’t wait to read the other four!

Every Anne book has so many things I love that something I’ve forgotten always pleasantly surprises me. In this case, I’d remembered little Elizabeth, but entirely forgotten about Katherine Brooke, despite the fact that she has exactly the kind of character arc which appeals to me. I love her and I love Nora — both of whom start out being prickly towards Anne, before inevitably softening up.

Anne of Windy Willows feels slightly different from Lucy Maud Montgomery’s previous books. The book consists primarily of ‘extracts’ from Anne’s letters to Gilbert while she’s living in Summerside, so readers are given Anne’s own perspective and descriptions for the first time. This mostly works delightfully, but there are a few sections where Anne supposedly faithfully reports entire paragraphs of other people’s dialogue which stretch credulity somewhat. There are also fewer of Lucy Maud Montgomery’s beautifully coloured narrative descriptions of things, but as the previous books still exist to go back to, that’s an acceptable trade-off to get more of Anne’s inner thoughts.

These give the reader a deeper understanding of Anne and how her life (especially her life before Green Gables) shaped her. Lucy Maud Montgomery calls extra attention to this when Katherine explicitly compares her own upbringing with the details of Anne’s history before she was adopted. There have always been hints of this, from as early as Anne telling Diana she didn’t know anybody could love her, but Anne of Windy Willows is the first time the reader is allowed into Anne’s head to see what she thinks of herself.

Anne of Windy Willows is chronologically fourth in the series, but was written seventh, after Rilla of Ingleside, which perhaps explains the almost complete absence of Diana. Her only mention is as part of Katherine’s subplot, to show Katherine’s feelings about babies. While Diana’s marriage and motherhood would naturally change her and Anne’s relationship somewhat, it shouldn’t bring it to such an abrupt and total halt! 

Despite a more-than-usually-critical review, Anne of Windy Willows still has all of Lucy Maud Montgomery’s usual charm. Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel is based largely on Anne of Windy Willows and capitalises on some of the best small stories — Pauline Gibson’s day of freedom, Jen Pringle’s betrayal of the amateur dramatics society. I particularly enjoyed seeing how Marilla Cuthbert’s name stands for household competence, even outside of Avonlea.

I did it! I finally did it! This was attempt number 4 for me with this installment of the Anne series and I was beginning to wonder if I was going to make it happen.

What I enjoyed:
• Anne, always.
• Windy Poplars was a home I could really visualize. It had soul.
• Anne’s journey towards finding her place and her people in a new town.
• Katherine Brooks’ transformation - loved it in the TV series, and loved it on the page.

Stumbling blocks:
• The pacing - I just couldn’t stay into it the whole way through. It lagged in sections and I wanted to skim.
• Not enough Gilbert.
• Not sure if the style - half epistolary, half narrative, really worked for me. This might have been part of the pacing issue.
• I kept comparing what was happening on the page to my memories of the TV adaptation and finding that I enjoyed the adaptation more (GASP).

Still, I want to read the whole series and now I can move along.