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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
Am I being a downer because of lockdown? I didn't get on with this at all. In fact, I couldn't tell you half of what happens because I kept reading sections and not taking anything in.
I might retry when I'm in a better headspace and see if my opinion changes.
I might retry when I'm in a better headspace and see if my opinion changes.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
informative
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Very glad to have finally read it. A really interesting take on the Little Women story giving us the hidden story of the father, who actually is just a bit of a shit really it feels like. Marmee is given more personality and back story and the few chapters in the hospital from her perspective were the most readable. The chapters set in the south showing the terrible legacy of slavery were impactful, I just wasn't a fan of his narrative and perspective. A lot the story felt cliché and schmaltzy at times but that fits very well with the style of Little Women I suppose which is one of my favourite books of all time.
the opposite of Year of Wonder I was extremely pleased by the end.
an unsual foray into "fan fiction". well researched and Icouldn't fault Brooks for her characterization of Mr. March. the only issue is he and (I am assume more likely Bronson Allcott) are self righteous and annoying AF.
I know he was a vegetarian and an abolitionist but I want to role my eyes every time he went on and on about his sympathy for the plight of the enslaved. Like we get it but you're still an old super religious white dude.
I was so relieved at the end when Grace was like "stop your nonsense! this isn't about you, go the fuck home and take card of your kids".
an unsual foray into "fan fiction". well researched and Icouldn't fault Brooks for her characterization of Mr. March. the only issue is he and (I am assume more likely Bronson Allcott) are self righteous and annoying AF.
I know he was a vegetarian and an abolitionist but I want to role my eyes every time he went on and on about his sympathy for the plight of the enslaved. Like we get it but you're still an old super religious white dude.
I was so relieved at the end when Grace was like "stop your nonsense! this isn't about you, go the fuck home and take card of your kids".
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
emotional
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Having studied writings and history of transcendental New England, and a lover of Little Women, I can only say this novel is a remarkable work. I’m in awe.
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I wasn’t sure about it in the beginning, but it grew on me a lot as I read it, particularly as it shifted to Marmee’s perspective of her husband. The parents in Little Women have always felt somewhat two dimensional to me - likely because, as Geraldine Brooks’ mother apparently said, “Nobody on real life is such a goody-goody as that Marmee.” I really liked reframing them as these complicated people, and that Marmee saw her husband so clearly for who he was (in all his goodness and his faults).
It also gave me one of my new favorite lines from a novel - the first in a long time to make me write it down and save it:
"The point is the effort. That you, believing what you believed-what you sincerely believed, including the commandment thou shalt not kill'-acted upon it. To believe, to act, and to have events confound you-I grant you, that is hard to bear. But to believe, and not to act, or to act in a way that every fiber of your soul held was wrong-how can you not see? That is what would have been reprehensible.”