When I first read this book as a young person, I felt like a freak. Like I was a lone species in the world, and like no one else experienced things in the way I did. Then I "met" Emily. Her sensitivity, her passion for life and nature and writing, and many of her traits felt like seeing myself in a "looking-glass" and I felt so much less alone. "There is someone like me," I thought to myself, amazed and relieved. Books like these save lives.
The book is beautifully written, sad and sweet and hopeful. I adore it and of course Emily will always have a special place in my heart. This, for me, is my ultimate "Weird Girl" book/character, in a series of YA novels that made me feel seen.
Naturally, people compare Montgomery's protagonists. I find Emily much more relatable than Anne, loveable goofball that Anne is lol. Montgomery is a great writer of characters but also an underrated storyteller, with charming, funny and interesting mini-plots that feel lifelike and yet entertaining all at once. She really made the ultimate slice of life stories before the genre name was coined.