Greetings readers!
The weather around here is finally getting nicer! We’ve had quite a few nice sunny, warm days with just the right amount of wind to keep it fresh and I have been having the time of my life reading in my sunlit living room!
I took advantage of that sunny time to read this book too. And since it has such a nice yellowy golden coloured cover, it was a picturesque scene of me reading. Except I was probably wearing tattered pjs!
The Golden Road by L. M. Montgomery
Publisher: Tundra Books
Pub Date: Jan 9, 2018
Price: $12.99 CAD
ISBN: 9781101919477
Introduced in The Story Girl, Sara Stanley is L.M. Montgomery’s most enchanting heroine since Anne of Green Gables. Sara was born with a fertile imagination and a strong sense of fun–and she gets her chance to put her talents to good use when she spends the winter with the King family in the old-fashioned town of Carlisle.
On a blustery November day the King children and Sara, the Story Girl, come up with a great idea that will help them endure the dreary winter season. They will publish a magazine of their thoughts and adventures. From “Personals” and “Fashion Notes” to an etiquette column and stories of the most interesting happenings in Carlisle, OUR MAGAZINE is simply the most entertaining and delightful publication anyone in town has ever read. But seasons pass, and nothing is forever–and soon it will be time for the Story Girl to leave her good friends on Prince Edward Island, friends with whom she has walked the golden road of youth.
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*Thank you Penguin Random House CA for providing me with a copy for review! All opinions are my own!*
This book is the sequel to Montgomery’s previous novel, The Story Girl. It follows the same set of characters only with new adventures and games. I have to say that I enjoyed this one a bit more than the first one. If you want to read more about what I thought of The Story Girl you can read My Full Review!
What I Liked:
Characters:
All the characters had their charm on again. The same personalities from the first book but a little more cheeky and mischievous. Cecily is still my favourite, even though she doesn’t have a lot of parts in the book, she has this quiet kind of sass that I really appreciated. The other characters had their shining moments too, but Cecily is definitely the character I enjoyed the most.
This One Had A Plot:
Let me tell you people. The first book was really just a recount of the summer vacation these kids had. There was no real direction that I could pick up, unless you count the winding down of summer. Which I don’t. In this book, the characters actions revolved around an event, their hand-written magazine! It was a cute plot. Every few chapters Montgomery wrote in excerpts of their magazine which basically recounted what the previous chapters had been about, but the characters would slide in “extra” details that may or may not have happened. Their banter and bickering about these extra added bits added quite a lot of fun.
The Writing:
As usual, I adored the writing by Montgomery. She has a purple/flowery prose yes. But I loved it. It went along with the whole scenario of the story. When you’re a kid everything in the world is your new discovery and since kids are always experiencing things/events for the first time, it gives the author lots of room to add in the wonder and magic into the story. Montgomery has the perfect prose for writing through the eyes of a child and I just cannot get over all the beautiful descriptions in this book!
What I Disliked:
Slow Pace:
It wasn’t all that exciting. Funny things do happen yes, others a bit more tragic and yet I didn’t feel much as I was reading. It didn’t give me that little sentiment of joy or bliss and I just felt kind of bored sometimes. Everything was all mellow and there was no real climax or suspense to pull me into the story.
That Moment When Montgomery Killed A Character Without Actually Killing the Character:
By the end of the book, one of the characters’ fates is to die. I am not lying. While Montgomery doesn’t directly kill him/her on page, the readers know that is it that one of the characters will not make it into adulthood! Who does that!? It was a sad, sad moment people.
Overall, this book was fine. I did like it a bit more than the first one because it had a good direction and I thought the magazine idea was really cute. If you are going to read this book, it is probably going to be for the beautiful descriptions and the character personalities.
Rating: 3.5 / 5 stars
Recommend: Sure. It is a cute read after all.
Let me know what you think! Have you read this? What did you think? What MG stories are you looking to pick up soon?
Happy reading!
~ Rendz
Reading with Rendz 