Reviews

Jo's Boys by Louisa May Alcott

skygerm03's review

2.0

love little women and love the sequel but this one dragged on a bit too much.

jmpitchford's review

5.0

Jo's Boys had a different feel than the other books to me. While I enjoyed the romances and lessons the kids learned, there was quite a bit of darkness, as well. At first, there were a lot of characters which, while I had seen before, I couldn't quite picture all of them in my mind until the middle of the book, when each one is given at least one chapter of his/her own. Seeing how Jo has developed since Little Women was fun. As a kid, I read Little Women over and over, but coming into Jo's Boys as an adult, I felt this was a mostly satisfying end to the saga, though there are a few endings I wish could have gone differently.

ameserole's review against another edition

3.0

"…books are always good company if you have the right sort. Let me pick out some for you.' And Mrs. Jo made a bee-line to the well-laden shelves, which were the joy of her heart and the comfort of her life.”







I DID IT! I really did it. I read a series within 4 days! I'm so proud of myself!!

Spoiler

Aside from falling asleep after reading the first chapter this book was a pretty good read. I
like all of the books tied into each other, well except for Good Wives. I just didn't like that book as much. But I loved the ending. I feel like the kids were more interesting than the sisters once I read Little Men but in Jo's Boys they are older and going out into the world to find where they belong and if they belong with someone as well.

I fell in love with the characters even more, except for Meg. For some reason I just did not like her character in this book. Also, I feel like I didn't like at least one character within each book...

I'm very happy that I've read these books because I feel like I don't read enough classics.
So thank you to everyone who wanted to do a buddy read on the Little Women series.

bluestjuice's review

2.0

In all honesty, this is a dreary book. Imagine the epilogue to the Harry Potter Series, which most people agree is somewhat hamfisted and not up to par, if not blatant fan service. Now imagine if J.K. Rowling had written it into a full eighth book, rather than a single chapter. That is what we have here. As the third (or fourth, depending on how you care to look at it) and final installment in the chronicle of the March sisters and their families, this draws much too heavily on the less-compelling Little Men for its characters and basically occupies itself giving small snippets and synopses of what happens to them when they reach adulthood. Half of the characters from Little Men are dismissed completely with two-line summaries, while the ones that remain are each dutifully given their trial, lesson, and ultimate happy ending. Mostly, the boys are married off to faceless but undoubtedly very sweet girls for whom it's impossible to care much, because they are such hollow caricatures. Two of the girls were so young in the preceding book that they are basically introduced fresh, and the best stories in all honesty have to do with their independent aspirations (theatrical Josie and pragmatic doctor Nan). There is a chapter early on in which Jo Bhaer, having acquired some literary success modeled directly off of Alcott's experience, relates the tribulations of being a famous author in that day and age. Of all the moralizing and sermonizing that happens in this book, that chapter rings the truest with both honest experience and humor. Otherwise, I could have been happy having this book compressed down to a single epilogue, a la Harry Potter.

zurpel's review against another edition

4.0

Little Men follows "Jo's Boys", as they grow up. Plumfield has developed from the small school for a handful of boys to a college and Jo's boys are on the verge of becoming adults. "Little Men" follows them in their lives as they try to become worthy men, find love and live through the occasional hardships and desasters of life.

As with "Little Woman" and "Jo's Boys", I really liked reading Little Men. The writing is just as wonderful as in the two preceding books. Learning about what happened to Jo's boys when they grew up is very interesting.

lauriestein's review

2.0

the real question: were laurie and jo having an affair?

peggybirb's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

allie_hilleson's review

3.0

While I enjoyed this installment much more than I did Little Men, none of them can compare to Little Women in my mind.
None the less, a sweet tale in the history of the March family.

toni123's review

emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

littletaiko's review against another edition

3.0

This was so much better than Little Men - mainly because I finally got what I wanted, scenes with Meg and Amy. Also it was nice to see the kids grown up. Not thrilled with how everyone's lives turned out but that's more realistic than a happy ending for all.