The first season of Anne with an E A netflix original

Welcome my dears to what promises to be a scathing review of Anne with an E. Yes scathing.
I went into this show excited, one of my favorite books was going to be a Netflix show. The first two or three episodes were great but then we take a 90° turn and not so much. Should have learned my lesson from Thirteen Reasons Why. So buckle up my friends, this is going to be a wild ride.

Casting!

The casting for this show was amazing! The characters look just like I alway picture them when I read Anne. They could not have picked a better Anne with her red hair and spunk. She's amazing. Marilla looks likes Marilla and Mathew is spot on too. 

The Plot...

I was going to break this down episode by episode, but then I realized I don't remember what happened in each episode and I refuse to watch that show again. EVER. So the fist couple of episodes were really good. Like followed the book so well only veered from the plot a little bit as expected with a page to screen adaptation. Then, then, we took a ninety degree turn and started on a whole different path. So *SPOILERS* I am going to rant about all the things that are wrong with this show in a calm manner (hopefully). To start Ruby Gillis's house never burns down. Her house is still there in the second or third book, it didn't burn down. On the subject of Ruby Gillis she and the other girls were never afraid of Anne they loved her because she was weird and had this amazing imagination. Also lets just take a moment to go to the PTA a meeting that Marilla goes to in the show?? I don't think there's even a PTA meeting in the books, ever. Where did that come from? Anne doesn't even say that much about Mr. Harmond/Thomas at all in the book much less the girls. However the scene where Anne gets Diana drunk was amazing and when she saves Minnie May from croup 😍😍. Skipping a little farther into the series, the bank is shaking and failing which happens in the book... Six years after Anne arrives at Green Gables. SIX YEARS!! Also on this subject Mathew doesn't get sick where he can't work, he dies. Has a heart attack and dies. Now on to Gilbert. I adore Gilbert, book and early show. The moment when Anne breaks her slate over Gilbert's head is one of my favorite things ever. And the show does that really well. However, a couple of things. Gilbert doesn't leave Avonlea until he goes to Queens, as a teenager like five years into the first book. Second Mrs. Blythe is alive throughout the books. At the end of the third book, she's there. Third, Mr. Blythe is also alive throughout the books. In Anne's house of Dreams (I think) he helps Gilbert get his medical practice going. So to recap, both of Gilbert's parents are alive and he never runs away. Just to mention the ending, they A) don't take in borders after Mathew dies, B) Anne is almost seventeen when Mathew dies, and C) No one ever robs Green Gables. And that's just the stuff that really bothers me.

Review

So I loved the first few episodes of this show. The rest not so much. I hate this show as much as I hate any show because of how far it goes from the books and everyone still loves it so much going on about how great it is. It takes a classic and it's name and goes so far from it's story. Yes I have heard of artistic license and that page to scene adaptations are going to be slightly different. That doesn't excuse complete changing the whole story. I am a purist when it comes to adaptations but I'm willing to go with a lot. This crosses a line in adapting books to shows and I'm sure L. M. Montgomery is rolling in her grave with the way this book has been adapted. A paw print and a whisker of ten just for the casting, that's all that saves this show from being horrible.🐾⚟⚞
Happy reading
Merlin:)

Anne of Green Gables L. M. Montgomery

Hello my dears. Are you ready for a classic, because I am.
Anne of Green Gables is one of my very favorite books of all time. It's and absolute classic and if you haven't read it you are missing out. I remember reading it for the first time when I was 7 and falling in love with Anne and Marilla and Mathew, now years later I still love the characters and the story. No matter how times I read it I fall in love all over again and laugh and cry in all the same places. It never gets old. There have been so many adaptations of this book into a movie or show (Anne with an E 🤮🤮) but none have ever lived up to the book. I love it sooo much!

Characters!

• Anne Shirley- The eleven year old protagonist of our story, Anne is an orphan girl who gets adopted by Marilla and Mathew Cuthbert in Avonlea on Prince Edward Island. Anne is a spunky imaginative eleven year old girl with a knack for getting into trouble. 
• Marilla Cuthbert- A strict but loving old woman, Marilla and her brother adopt Anne. Marilla sets about bringing Anne up properly.
• Mathew Cuthbert- Sweet, shy Mathew leaves Anne's bringing up to Marilla, but can't help wanting to spoil her. Mathew in is quiet ways is Marilla's opposite and together they make a wonderful team.
• Rachel Lynde- A very outspoken but kind old woman. I hated her at first but then you get to know her more as the book progresses and come to like her more. Rachel is that person who manages to get all of her work done, volunteer to lead groups or do more work, and some how still have time to be in everyone else's business. 
• Diana Berry- Diana is a sweet, kind girl who has been brought up properly since her birth and because of it has a lack of imagination. That being said she brings out a different side of Anne and mellows her out. She also loves to read. 

Plot!!

So Marilla and Mathew are looking to adopt a young boy to help Mathew around their farm. So they send word by the family of a woman who's going to get a girl of her own. Well, somewhere the wires get crossed and instead of a boy, they get a girl. Marilla wants to send her back at first but Mathew takes a liking to her and convinces Marilla she should stay. So she does and Anne's bringing up begins immediately. Like I said Anne has a knack for trouble and over the six years that this book takes place she gets into a lot of it. She dyes her hair, forgets flour in a cake, flavors a cake with liniment, and breaks her slate over someone's head, to name a few. But she grows up and makes fewer mistakes (although the ones she does make are very memorable). All in all an amazing book.

Review!

I adore this book. ADORE it! Anne is a timeless classic that I will always love. No matter when you read it you can get something from it. It might be a laugh, or proof that everyone makes mistakes and it all turns out alright in the end. Anne is a lighthearted book that is perfect for any moment. I love the plot and the characters and the setting (which is early 1900's Canada (Prince Edward Island) by the way). Everything about this book is amazing. If you haven't read it read it. Honestly I don't know where this book falls because I read it in the second grade and loved it, I read over the years and still loved it so. I think anyone could read and understand it. Read it for yourself, read it to your kids, read it as a class, whatever you want to do, just read it!

Eleven of ten paw prints 💜💜

🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

Happy Reading!

Merlin:)

Countdown to Christmas! Two Days to GO!! The Angel Tree by Daphne Benedis-Grab

Merry Christmas! Happy (belated) Hanukah! Happy Kwanzaa!
So after What Light and it's cheesiness we have The Angel Tree which is also kinda Hallmark movieish but in a better way than What Light. Less like Fir Crazy and more like The Christmas Heart. Every year in Pine River a large tree goes up in the square and everyone puts wishes up on the tree and they get them granted.

• Lucy- She's blind and her service dog Valentine is dying of cancer. Unfortunately her family can't afford the life saving treatment she needs. So her wish on the Angel tree is for that life saving treatment.
• Max- He's part of a big family and recently his house burned down. He and his family are now living in a cramped apartment. He wishes for a new house.
• Joe- He's new to town and lives with his uncle. All he wants for Christmas is to spend it with his mom. So after finding out about the tree that is what he asks for.
• Cami- She loves to play the violin but her grandmother thinks its a waste of time. She wants to make her grandmother proud.
• The Benefactor- the person who runs the Angel Tree. 

So every year a tree goes up in Pine River for wishes. This year there are some pretty big wishes, life-saving cancer treatments for a seeing-eye-dog, a new house, and spending Christmas with mom something many of us take for granted that turns out to be a little difficult in this situation. So when all these wishes get granted, the kids decide to band together to find out who the benefactor is and thank them. Which turns out to be a little more complicated than they thought. In the process they all grow closer and Joe opens up about why he lives with his uncle.

I got this book years ago and fell in love with the story. Even now as my reading interests have changed and grown I still love this story. It truly captures that spirit you find in Christmas, one of giving and giving back. A sweet, slightly cheesy, heartwarming Christmas story. Nine paw-prints and a whisker.🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾⚟⚞ 

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Merlin:)

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling (but not really), John Tiffany, and Jack Thorne SPOILER FILLED

Hello my dears,
So I'm trying something new. This brilliant idea came from my friend CA. This review is for you CA. This is a complement to my non spoiler review of The Cursed Child and is full of SPOILERS and just basically a rant about the atrocity of The Cursed Child. So I'm not going to tell about characters so to get a feel for them read my non spoiler filled review .
Ok this play was written not by J.K. as we have been led to believe but by Jack Thorne, which honestly explains a lot. I mean first of all Harry James Potter who his whole life just wanted a family would not tell his son "Some times I wish you weren't my son. No just no. But more importantly the plot just didn't make sense. Delphi who is some how Voldemort and Belatrix's daughter, wants to bring Cedric back because according to this prophecy that will allow Voldemort to win the Battle of Hogwarts??? Yeah that is confusing and then you add time travel into the mix to make it all possible and it gets crazy. But there is one major problems here. Cedric Diggory would never become a death-eater and definitely not because he was humiliated. But the AUs that happen with time travel are hilarious. But don't forget that Scorpius is also rumored to be Voldemort's son. The rumor is that Draco and Astoria couldn't have a child and so the Malfoy's sent Astoria back in time to have a child with Voldemort. And so at one point because he and Albus are having problems because Harry is sooo out of character rather than use his influential position in the ministry and as the Boy Who Lived to dispel this rumor Harry investigates it because he and Malfoy can't get along at all. But they go back in time several times and at one point in a present day AU Hermione didn't go to the Yule Ball with Krum and so never got together with Ron and Ron married Padma??? After they successfully bring Cedric back for Amos, because they think that they're just bringing back a sad old man's son, Albus doesn't exist, Hermione and Ron never got together, Scorpius is the King of Hogwarts, its Voldemort day, and the salute "For Voldemort and Valor" OMG. But best of all Snape's alive. How you ask. Well I don't know. Honestly this breaks so many laws of time travel. All Cedric did was kill Neville before he could kill Nagini, which wouldn't keep Snape alive. But somehow he's alive in a way the defies all logic. Then everybody goes back in time and Harry gave Albus this blanket in the present day "normal", I use this word lightly, universe and love potion got spilled on it and then they write a message on the blanket by putting some kind of ingredient on it that reacts with the love potion and Harry, Draco, Ron, and Hermione all end up in Godric's Hollow the night Lily and James died. Harry turns in to Voldemort to fool Delphi and save the world because he can speak Parseltongue. It's complicated. However the best parts are when Albus has to kiss Hermione because he's disguised as Ron to steal a time-turner from the Ministry, and the past when Scorpius sees Bathilda  Bagshot and says "Wow. Squeak. My geekness is a-quivering". And no squeak is not a stage direction. All in all this play was horrible but hilarious. Definitely my least favorite book.
Hope you enjoyed this,
Merlin:)

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

IT ALL ENDS 9. 15. 11.
So that's not true because Harry will NEVER end, but I can remember seeing those posters everywhere and being excited to see it. So this is the last book in the series, I will however be reviewing The Cursed Child for two reasons a) to laugh and b) it is a Harry book even if I refuse to call it canon. Anywho, character time.

• The Carrows- Alecto and Amicus. Death-eaters but thats all I can say.
• Presenting for the first time ever MRS. FLEUR WEASLEY- It's Fleur but she married Bill so she's a Weasley and I felt like she needed a proper introduction.

So there are several other characters you meet in this book, like Andromeda and Ted, but they aren't major characters even though I love them to death. 

Sum up time! So... wait CA don't read this because I have to slightly spoil the previous book to sum up this one. So Voldy has horcruxes and Harry has to destroy them to defeat Voldy once and for all. This leads to a grand adventure and several slight misadventures. Then it all wraps up in what at the time was a fantastic ending but now its more eh. I'd explain it if I could without spoiling it and I probably will in a later spoiler filled review.

So I love this book so much and to see the growth that all the characters have had throughout the books lead up to this book is amazing. Throughout the series you see the characters go from frightened, skeptical, scrawny first years to brave, less skeptical, teens who know what has to happen and are will to do what it takes to make it happen, and this transformation is amazing. Seeing everything come together end the end is amazing even if this is in my opinion the saddest book of the series. Yes at this point the ending is a little bit of a let down but honestly I'm okay with it because its fitting. So ten of ten paw-prints 🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

May your love of book, reading, and Harry never end

Always,

Merlin:)

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Baby its cold out side!
I mean its November and its freezing? If you can't tell from my confusion I'm from the South where this time last year I had just pulled out my thinnest of sweaters and now I want a ski suit. Anyway, HPHBP. I love the book but the movie sucks. And before you say "They have to leave out stuff because of time constraints" I know, but don't add stuff in for the sake of it. *cough* burrow scene *cough* Characters:

• Horace Slughorn- He's an interesting person. Former head of Slytherin and a true snake. I say that as a compliment, not an insult. Slughorn's pretty cool, but Minnie is still my favorite.

Yeah that's like literally all the new characters. Wow. Well anyway to summarize. The Wizarding World is in a panic because "Voldy-Moldy really is back!!" Whoops you should have listened to Harry and Dumbledore last year. Also death-eaters are up to more no good than usual. Harry and Dumbledore get into some adventures and there's several plots gone wrong. 

I love this book like all the others because its Harry and Harry is amazing. This book makes me sad and happy all at the same time. The last four honestly make me sad, but what can you do. Everybody should read this, although I probably should have mentioned earlier that as the books go on they get darker. So keep that in mind but if you've gotten this far you can't stop now. Ten of Ten paw-prints 🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

Enjoy the early winter wonderland

Merlin:)

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

He hem.
Ah it's fifth year. The year of O.W.L.s, Umbridge, and sadness. But still it's Harry and so I love it. But that's not important yet. First the characters.

• Delores Jane Umbridge- This years DADA professor. I only have one word to describe her. PINK. Sooo much pink. I can't say anything else or I'll spoil it.
• Luna Lovegood- Unique to say the least. She belongs to Ravenclaw. I adore her. On a slightly related note Evanna Lynch is in the finals of DWTS!!!
• Tonks- Awesome. That is the only way to describe her. The only way. She is the most Bad___ Hufflepuff ever. I loved her before I knew I was a Hufflepuff and before I knew she was a Hufflepuff. Honestly she's one on my favs.

So there are several other fairly new characters, but I can't really talk about them with out spoiling stuff. 

So brief summary. Voldy-Moldy is back but the Wizarding world doesn't believe Harry or Dumbledore. Umbridge appears at the behest of of Fudge and is generally horrible. Ron and Hermione are prefects and lots of twists happen. The ending bothers me the most.

I absolutely adore this book, but the ending makes me sad. So it's not my *looks around suspiciously* *whispers* favorite *horrified gasp*. However, everybody should read this book. EVERYBODY. I think everybody should read Harry anyway but this book speaks out against bullying more and oppressive people and you have Luna and Tonks to top it off, so its great. Ten of Ten paw-prints🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

On a totally unrelated note, Its NOVEMBER and its crazy cold and SNOW???

Happy Freezing!,

Merlin:)

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling

Come one! Come all! To the once of life time event, The TRIWIZARD TOURNAMENT! Yes my dears, we have indeed reached The Goblet of Fire. Ahhhh. The sweet smell of brewing darkness.
Given that this is the fourth book there really aren't many new characters but here we go:

• Mad-eye Moody- This year's DADA professor is none other than slightly insane ex-auror Alastor "Mad-eye" Moody. Moody is well moody. Catching dark wizards comes with its price after all. Basically Moody is one of a kind (well sort of anyway)
• Barty Crouch- Picture Uncle Vernon's ideal man. You know, follows rules to the letter, neat, absolutely perfect and annoying about it. Yes that guy. There no you know Barty. For my Potterheads out there- I feel No sympathy for him. None.
• Ludvic Bagman- Crazy sports fan to the extreme; but he actually played. And now has a government job about sports.
• CEDRIC- OMG I love Cedric. He's like one of the best reps for Hufflepuff, the house to which I happen to belong. He's so sweet and amazing. No I'm not crying you're crying. (my potterheads know what I mean and why I'm crying) I love him.

All the other characters are a) the same b) boring or c) characters I cannot introduce because spoilers!

No matter which the character falls into I love them all, except Barty. I have a series of problems with him. No matter, lets move on.

PLOT! Ok so last year Wormtail *shudder* *snarl* escaped to rejoin the Dark Lord Voldy. Sirius escaped and Harry had to go back to the Dastardly Dursley's. Snape had his moment as a hero which was promptly snatched away. So now its time to go back to Hogwarts but first Harry, Hermione, and the Weasley clan get to go to the Quiddich world cup! Where its revealed that something is going to happen at Hogwarts, Percy is a prick, and disaster strikes. Then we're off to Hogwarts, where we meet Moody and find out what the mystery event that is happening at Hogwarts is. Cue adventures and problems.

So while this may not be my favorite Harry Book, I'm not actually sure which that one is, I still love this book and you meet some of my favorite all time characters. So I definitely give it ten of ten paw prints and you should definitely read this book, or ya know finish it *cough* CA *cough*. 🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾
Happy Halloween!
Merlin:)

Rick Riordan Presents- Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi

*Briiiing* *Briiiing* *Click* Hello,
So first of all, yes I did just open with phone noises. Second of all, YES this is about Rick Riordan's imprint book Aru Shah and the End of Time. So Uncle Rick (for those of you out there who are sadly uninformed on the world of Percy Jackson Uncle Rick is what we call Rick Riordan. He's not my actual uncle. That would be cool though.) didn't write it but he had to do with the process and chose the author. You can tell he was involved by things like the chapter titles and some of the characters and their actions.
The characters:

• Aru: She is like any girl, she wants to have friends, people to talk to. She attends a fancy school and doesn't exactly fit in so she makes up little lies and stories about things she does/has done. In reality she is the daughter of the curator of the Museum of Ancient Indian Art and Culture.
• Sleeper: He's the bad guy who is released from the Lamp Bharata, because of course there are people getting released from lamps Rick had something to do with it. He is going to wake the God of Destruction if Aru cannot stop him in time.
• Boo- I couldn't talk about characters and not mention him because well he's Boo. He's the Grover/Coach Hedge/Bes of this series. 

So this series is going to be about Aru Shah (and no I do not know haw to properly pronounce her name so don't ask. However, if you are Indian Hindu and know how to properly pronounce it please comment and tell me.) and her adventures as a reincarnation of one of the legendary Pandava brothers. Yes brothers, because it is the reincarnation of the soul not body so a Pandava brother can indeed be a girl. This book centers around her finding out that she is a reincarnation of one of these brothers and before that accidentally releasing the Sleeper who wants to destroy the world, whoops. 

This book was गजब का (which is the word for amazing in Hindi). I loved it. Aru is kind of like Annabeth in The Heroes of Olympus and the Olympians series. If you are unfortunate enough to not have read these series she's smart and powerful and doesn't take crap from anybody about anything. So Aru's a bit like that but a bit more uncertain of herself so more Olympians than Heroes of Olympus. But anyway she's awesome and then the plot was amazing. Not to mention the chapter titles. So I say 9-10 is when it would be okay to start reading it. I personally give it ten of ten paw prints. 🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾
Tootles,
Merlin:)

I got to meet Jimmy Cajoles

So I recently had the good fortune of meeting the Goldeline author Jimmy Cajoles. He was at my local book store and he even signed my copy of the book. After he signed many copies of his book, he read a few pages of it and told us a little about himself. It turns out that Goldeline is his first published book, ever. Mr. Cajoles lived in Oxford, MS for somewhere around ten years. A record store on the Oxford Square was where hesitated writing this book. One more fun fact, he graduated from Ole Miss. Okay, I lied just one more thing, be on the look out for more of his books some day.
Merry Christmas,
Merlin:)

Goldeline by Jimmy Cajoleas

Hello my dear bibliophiles,
This was a fairly strange yet interesting book. Please note this is a mild horror middle grade book. That being said, it has scenes of mild horror which could cause nightmares in younger readers. Anyway, so this is the first book to even barely fall in the horror genre that I have reviewed so bear with me as I make one more PSA. This book falls I in the HORROR genre. If you don't like horror or even mildly scary things give you nightmares, read at your own risk. Please also note that in my opinion Edgar Allen Poe is suitable reading material for the upper grades this mot so much. That is also tedious, but it must be done. Now on to the fun part. The characters.

• Goldeline- she's a little girl who's Mama was burned for being a witch. Now she lives with a band of thieves in the woods to stay away from the Preacher who wants her dead. 
• Preacher- he is well a preacher. He wants to purify the town and world from evil things. unfortunately that can mean killing lots of people.
• Gruff- He's the leader of the band of the bandits and thieves that Goldeline lives with.

Now the even more fun part- the plot.

So basically Goldeline is hiding with a group of bandits, thieves and generally less desirable people from the Preacher who is out to get her. See the Preacher believe that she is a witch like her Mama who he burned to death for being a witch. Then something terrible happens and so she ends up in an "evil" forest. All Goldie want's to do is get to a place she can be with Gruff who is the leader of the bandits and her father figure.

I found this book super weird. Like almost at my max for weirdness I can handle, but I still enjoyed it. For it's weirdness and mil horror I give it seven paw prints. 🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾 I only gave it seven paw prints because horror just isn't my thing and like I said it was really weird. I recommend that you be at least twelve/thirteen before you read this and if you get scared or nightmares really easily read at your own risk.

Happy Thanksgiving,

Merlin:)