Reviews

Jo: An Adaptation of Little Women (Sort Of) by Kathleen Gros

beccamcostello's review against another edition

2.0

It's a queer retelling (sort of) of Little Women, but it's not the queer retelling I wanted.

Good for younger readers, but I think it's too light for most 13-year-olds. Every relationship is perfect in every way, and I don't like when stories for kids ignore interpersonal conflict. It's not like kids aren't aware that their peers can be cruel or that adults will often let them down. I especially wish Marmee wasn't made out to be the Perfect Mother. Even the idealistic OG Little Women didn't do that.

But, there are references to people using they/them pronouns, and it is ultimately a queer representation story. I'll be happy to donate my copy to my husband's middle school reading classroom and I hope some of his students read it and see themselves, and see hope, in it.

katiedermody's review against another edition

I liked this one too, maybe even a little more. With Anne I enjoy a queering but with Jo she is so queer coded even in the original so it just makes sense. This Jo is in 8th grade, joins the newspaper club, meets Freddie (the girl who edits the paper, hello gender swap Friedrich). All about her family, the new kid next door Laurie who becomes her best friend, and Jo finding her voice as a writer and as a queer girl. So good!

bibliobrittish's review against another edition

3.0

3.5 - I am by no means qualified to comment on how well this retelling keeps with the original work - I have yet to get around to reading Little Women. But... even aside from that, Jo is a beautiful story. Sweet, kind, and important, it shows sisterhood and friendship as it should be, but doesn't leave out the tricky bits (nor does it add unneeded conflict). A breath of fresh air, and each sister gets a happy ending (yay! and yes, I know that's not how the original story goes) - including an incredibly hopeful coming out storyline for Jo.

moonpie's review

3.0

I appreciate the idea behind Jo but I think the story would have been stronger if it were less connected to Little Women. It was hard to enjoy the book as a stand-alone piece because I kept trying to work out whether each plot point, description, secondary character, etc. diverged from the original story. There were so many similarities to the original—sometimes awkward, sometimes cute—that the differences in Jo's story were kinda jarring.

Might have liked it more if I'd connected to the artwork but I wasn't really into that, either.


(two and a half stars)

apricotjoy's review against another edition

5.0

Lovely expressive illustrations and I really liked the blogging aspect that was woven throughout. This made me tear up at one point!

biblio_amy's review against another edition

4.0

I thought this was a fun way to adapt a modern retelling of Little Women with adding an LGBTQ character. I thought it was well done for middle grade and wish a book like this was out there when I was younger helping kids understand some feelings they may have towards their peers that may be gay or how to understand what that means. Is this a true alignment to the book even in a modern retelling, no, but some of those elements are there that still feels like the classic story.

kkaste's review against another edition

emotional hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

eboc2024's review against another edition

4.0

Very good modern retelling of Little Women, in graphic novel format. It covered most of the details of the classic novel, but updated them appropriately.

izzle17's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

letstalkaboutbooksbaybee's review against another edition

4.0

Jo is gay, Beth lives, Laurie gets chicken pox, this is exactly how we all wanted Little Women to go