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annie2000's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
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
angelicaw7852's review
adventurous
lighthearted
reflective
fast-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? No
5.0
ugh just so good.
Content Warnings
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Child death, and Terminal illness
goldengirlbookclub's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I really liked this book within a book meta envisioning of Jo March as “writer” rather than Jo as LMA’s character, as Jo attempts to pen her sequel to Little Women. It pulled on LMA real life experiences and imagines a world where Jo deals with the grief of losing a sister and her own complicated feelings about finding happiness after a huge loss. It was really well done and not only explores a different ending for our authoress, but does a great job of exploring the way grief and loss effect families after a loved one has passed.
Content Warnings
Minor: Child death, Death, Grief, and Suicidal thoughts
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