Emily's Quest - L M Montgomery - UPDATED REVIEW

Emily's Quest by LM Montgomery

Genre: YA Realistic Fiction

Blurb (on back of book): Emily knows she's going to be a great writer. She also knows that she and her childhood sweetheart, Teddy Kent, will conquer the world together. But when Teddy leaves home to pursue his goal to become an artist at the School of Design in Montreal, Emily's world collapses. With Teddy gone, Emily agrees to marry a man she doesn't love ... as she tries to banish all thoughts of Teddy. In her heart, Emily must search for what being a writer really means....

UPDATED REVIEW

MY OPINION: ******

Uh so this might be my ninth, tenth, or eleventh time reading this and yet I loved it just the same. 

So it seems that I originally rated this book five-stars but I think that the reason why it wasn't six-stars is because I didn't have a six-star bookshelf at the time (I created that after reading The Hate U Give). So I did boost my rating up.

This book is the epitome of my childhood and my teenage years and everything in between. Whenever I need something to read, here it is. Whenever I want to read something truly amazing, here it is. Whenever I want to cry from a book, here it is. I love this series so much and I know I didn't reread for the billionth time the entire series but I chose to read this one because it's my favorite one and always has been.

I was reading a couple of reviews on it a few months back and a lot of them stated that this book felt "dark." Looking back on it, I agree. I never really realized it when I was reading it before but this book is just... depressing. Everything that happened is depressing. Literally, a few spoken words could have made everyone happy but no, it just had to be full of misunderstandings and whatnot. However, I appreciated that about the book. It set the tone for this finale but didn't make it overly obvious. 

As a hopeless romantic, this book's miscommunication and heartbreaks really got to me, per usual. I loved everything about it, how so many things were misconstrued because Emily and Teddy didn't speak up about their feelings. It just goes to show how honesty can make a difference. Not that I think I would have the courage to tell the ONE that he's... well, the one, but still. Since this is a fictional world, it just seems different.

Emily has definitely matured from her childhood days. She still finds the beauty in the world around her but she has also opened her eyes to the dark side of the world. She's learned about the criticism and harsh reality that she is going to be faced with in life and she takes it in a mature way that even Aunt Elizabeth can complain about. I loved that about her. I loved her realization of how the world works and even though I don't condone all of the actions that she took, I still understood why she did the things she did. Emily is stubborn, proud, and independent, but most of all, she's perceptive. She sees the world around her like she did as a child but also as a new adult. I loved that about her.

Teddy is constantly being described as as "selfish" which I didn't really understand. To be fair, we didn't really see a lot of him and I'm biased towards him, anyway, seeing as he is a sweetheart. I loved Teddy (I mean, you can't not love him) but I think that he could have been more developed. The Teddy we see here is completely different from the past books. He's a real man now and he's learned to be an independent and mature soul without fully giving up on his childhood dreams and ambitions. He has talent and he does great things with it like he always aspired to do.

Ilse was definitely changed in this book. I feel like she was trying to be the same person but you can't hide the fact that somebody has changed. She has definitely matured (which is probably a good thing) but she also still sees a rose-colored image of the world. I feel like she has started to open her eyes but she has not yet caught on to the things that Emily has already learned. Also, she's still slightly immature and innocent and naive, which struck me as a light contrast to Emily's newly found cynicism. 

I think that if this was my first time reading it at the age I am now, then I would have cried a lot harder. The only reason why only a few tears were shed is because I've read it so many times. I knew what was going to happen and I even memorized a lot of the best passages. Especially from Teddy.

I feel as if I have to acknowledge Dean Priest. A lot of people hate him. I get why because I used to be one of those people. However, through the 78320743298 time rereading this book, I think I realized why he did the things he did and I managed to forgive him. While he's definitely not my favorite character, I didn't despise him as I did before. He never got anything in his life that made him happy. His family didn't accept him, he was talked of throughout all of PEI (or the tiny part of it where they lived -- Blair Water) and he was alone. I think he needed Emily to guide him out of the darkness of solitude and that is why he did what he did. I do not condone his jealousy and possessive qualities though. That took it too far. 

The writing in this book is beyond powerful as usual. LMM is the queen of fiction. The slow-burning romance and the misconstrued feelings and the long glorious descriptions and the WHOLE LETTER THING WITH MRS KENT was beyond amazing. 

IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR SOMETHING AMAZING TO READ, GO READ THIS SERIES. I PROMISE YOU. IT'S WORTH IT.

I would recommend this book to everyone.

Main Character: Emily

Sidekick(s): Teddy, Perry, Ilse, Dean, etc

Villain(s): Misunderstandings, etc

Realistic Fiction Elements: This book was all very real to life.