Still prefer the 1980s version, but this show has its moments (This review contains some mild spoilers but I do my best not to reveal anything plainly or directly.)
Before we get into the actual review of the show, I just want to give some personal context. The Anne of Green Gables books were an important part of my childhood, so I'm highly invested in any adaptation or interpretation of it. Like many people, I grew up on the Megan Follows/Jonathan Crombie version of Anne, and it's still that version which I love best. Megan just WAS Anne -- the red hair, the perfect nose, the more-charming-than-pretty aesthetic, and more importantly her portrayal of a sweet Pollyanna with a quick temper and a tendency to hold grudges. Similarly, Jonathan just WAS Gilbert -- the kind eyes (which he used to wonderful effect in all those meaningful glances), the mischievous smile, the way he was able to convey patience and caring interest.
Bearing all of that in mind, I was very reluctant to watch this new show because I knew it would be difficult for me to be objective. I wasn't exactly won over by the trailer, either -- it was too gritty for me, and it felt like too much of a departure from the golden Avonlea that inspired so many of my childhood dreams. After finishing the first season, that's still my general feeling about this show.
That being said, however, the show IS watchable once you do your best to stuff all your purist tendencies in a box.
I initially liked that they featured Anne's traumatic experiences before reaching Avonlea, though as the show progressed I do think they (again) went a bit too far. Anne's charm has always been that her soul is fundamentally untouched throughout all her childhood hardships, and under the loving care of the Cuthberts and Diana it is finally allowed to blossom. Having an Anne suffering from PTSD is realistic, but misses the point, I think.
I liked better how the show dealt with prejudice towards orphans. There were two particularly wonderful scenes in one episode where, by turns, Matthew then Marilla defended Anne from public scorn after she let her tongue get away with her and unwittingly implied scandalous things about a classmate.
This new show also does better at filling in the lives of characters other than Anne. We get to see a young Matthew and Marilla in their own painfully tender, heartbreaking scenes, and the show also spends some time showing us what Gilbert goes through.
Finally, Amybeth McNulty and Lucas Jade Zumann play their roles capably. (Other actors do great jobs in their own roles in this show, but I'm focusing on the leads because I think their roles are the critical ones for me.) While I must say that as a whole I don't like how Anne was characterized in this series (there are quite a number of scenes where Anne is rude, insolent, insensitive, or even unkind), that's hardly Amybeth's fault if that's the way the character was written. She brings a coltish enthusiasm to the role which grows on you, and in many ways makes up for the way her character is made to behave throughout the series. As for Lucas Jade Zumann, at one point he was the reason I decided to keep watching the show. Like Jonathan, he has kind eyes and in one or two scenes does some meaningful staring of his own. I didn't like the show's characterization of Gilbert towards the end of the season, but I can live with it in part because of how Lucas carried it.
In summary, this show will work best for people who aren't purists and who haven't seen the Kevin Sullivan adaptation from the 1980s. For those who are/those who have, this show is quite a dramatic departure. However, to paraphrase Anne, you can enjoy things if you are determined enjoy them. While the huge changes in the plot and characterization did spoil my enjoyment to a degree, I did end up watching the whole series and I do hope that it is renewed. However, here's to hoping that the next season stays truer to the source material or at least doesn't stray too much further than this season already has.