DNF Review: Maud

Maud by Melanie J. Fishbane
Grade: DNF
Release date: April 25, 2017
An e-galley was provided by Razorbill Canada via NetGalley in exchange for review consideration.
Summary: Fourteen-year-old Lucy Maud Montgomery — Maud to her friends — has a dream: to go to college and become a writer, just like her idol, Louisa May Alcott. But living with her grandparents on Prince Edward Island, she worries that this dream will never come true. Her grandfather has strong opinions about a woman's place in the world, and they do not include spending good money on college. Luckily, she has a teacher to believe in her, and good friends to support her, including Nate, the Baptist minister's stepson and the smartest boy in the class. If only he weren't a Baptist; her Presbyterian grandparents would never approve. Then again, Maud isn't sure she wants to settle down with a boy — her dreams of being a writer are much more important.

But life changes for Maud when she goes out West to live with her father and his new wife and daughter. Her new home offers her another chance at love, as well as attending school, but tensions increase as Maud discovers her stepmother's plans for her, which threaten Maud's future — and her happiness forever.

When did I stop reading?: 24% into my e-galley.

Why did I stop reading?: I wanted to love this; after all, I quite enjoyed Anne of Green Gables, and I love stories about authors aimed at middle grade and young adult audiences. But Maud passed at a ridiculously slow pace, and I felt like the same situations kept happening again and again. Additionally, I had trouble keeping the various secondary characters straight since they had names like Mollie, Nellie, Clemmie, and Annie. I did not mind at all that Maud was only 14; so many YA leads are 16 or 17, that it's refreshing to have a younger one. 

The Verdict: Not necessarily bad, but it was just so slow.