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camiclarkbooks's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
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
5.0
Absolutely heartwarming story of what *could* have happened to the timeless Jo March and Teddy Lawrence if Alcott hadn’t been so insistent the two best friends never end up together.
Stohl and de la Cruz wrote “Jo & Laurie” as a charming fan fiction of what happened after Jo March published her first book. It’s a tale of the reluctance to grow up and the acceptance that changes aren’t always terrible.
The two authors wrote the classic characters in a nearly seamless imitation of how Alcott wrote them. They also clearly did a lot of research on the time period and integrated the knowledge nicely into the story.
Stohl and de la Cruz wrote “Jo & Laurie” as a charming fan fiction of what happened after Jo March published her first book. It’s a tale of the reluctance to grow up and the acceptance that changes aren’t always terrible.
The two authors wrote the classic characters in a nearly seamless imitation of how Alcott wrote them. They also clearly did a lot of research on the time period and integrated the knowledge nicely into the story.
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Classism, Child death, and Death of parent
micaelamariem's review
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
While I liked the premise initially, I found this wasn’t the feisty Jo March I had fallen in love with in the original Little Women and who I wanted to be. I realize the authors made this Jo the author writing about her character so it was distanced and different, but I was also…bored. It’s so hard to keep the characters their own when writing a retelling and this time it just fell flat.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Classism and Chronic illness
Minor: Chronic illness, Death, Child death, and Sexism
dorothysbookshelf's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
As someone who sided with Alcott herself in believing that Jo and Laurie were not meant for each other, I believed that I may have had a hard time with this book. However, I’m happy to say that I have never happier to be so wrong.
‘Jo & Laurie’ is a meta piece of fiction, both existing as a retelling of the second part of ‘Little Women’ (‘Good Wives’), and as a wider commentary on life at the time the book was written, drawing heavily from Louisa May Alcott’s own life to build this tale.
In this story, the ‘Little Women’ story is a canonically published book written by Jo March, and is loosely based off her own life, with many added differences and changes - very meta. This is the Jo March who features as the main character in this book - a struggling young novelist, refusing to follow what is expected of her when it comes to moulding her creation to include a sequel - similarly to Alcott’s own relationship with the sequel and refusal to marry off her characters. The Jo of this book is similar to Alcott in a lot of ways, just as the Jo of ‘Little Women’ was the equivalent of Alcott’s self-insert OC. The characters of the original novel were inspired by her own family, and Jo the front and centre - her.
And yes, for all you out there wondering by the title alone, this version of Jo and Laurie do end up together, but by the title, that is not meant as a surprise haha!
‘Jo & Laurie’ is a meta piece of fiction, both existing as a retelling of the second part of ‘Little Women’ (‘Good Wives’), and as a wider commentary on life at the time the book was written, drawing heavily from Louisa May Alcott’s own life to build this tale.
In this story, the ‘Little Women’ story is a canonically published book written by Jo March, and is loosely based off her own life, with many added differences and changes - very meta. This is the Jo March who features as the main character in this book - a struggling young novelist, refusing to follow what is expected of her when it comes to moulding her creation to include a sequel - similarly to Alcott’s own relationship with the sequel and refusal to marry off her characters. The Jo of this book is similar to Alcott in a lot of ways, just as the Jo of ‘Little Women’ was the equivalent of Alcott’s self-insert OC. The characters of the original novel were inspired by her own family, and Jo the front and centre - her.
And yes, for all you out there wondering by the title alone, this version of Jo and Laurie do end up together, but by the title, that is not meant as a surprise haha!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Sexism, and Classism
Moderate: Death and Terminal illness
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
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