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A review by chrysfey
Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy: A Modern Graphic Retelling of Little Women by Rey Terciero
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Utterly DELIGHTFUL. Fans of little women who love remakes and modern takes on this classic story (and who won’t mind creative liberties) and who also want to see more diversity will enjoy this graphic novel.
Now, if you don’t like those things, you won’t like this book.
For me, there’s no such thing as too diverse. I suppose when you’re used to an all-white cast, first for the book and then for every adaptation after that, it could be viewed as too much, but this is a modern retelling, and it has to look and feel modern, which means it can’t be an all-white or all-straight cast. None of the changes surprised me in the least.
The illustrations are so colorful and brought the characters to life. The entire time I was reading I kept thinking about how this version (with this title, obviously) should be made into a movie. Especially an animated one. Looking at you, Pixar!
My favorite character in this retelling (and for the first time ever) is Amy. She’s a ball of obnoxious fun. I love her. (Although she’s certainly not for everyone. I believe she’s supposed to be in sixth grade here, but she did seem a lot younger. I will say that.)
I loved this interracial, blended family in many ways more than the original family. There, I said it, and I am a HUGE fan of Little Women. You get the backstory for how their family formed when Jo’s white mom and Meg’s Black dad fall in love, and I was all for it.
There’s a lot of modern twists, including how their dad is over in the Middle East, but my favorite is how Jo is a fierce feminist (which could be too much for some readers when several important, relevant topics are mentioned).
Modern Takes:
Jo is gay in this modern retelling. I guessed it from the start and right away was nodding, saying, “yes, that feels right.” Even in Louisa May Alcott’s book and all the remakes of the film that I’ve seen it made perfect sense to me.
Meg breaks up with Brooke (I think he had a different name but I can’t remember what it was) at the end after realizing he wasn’t right for her. I applauded this, and I honestly think Louisa May Alcott would, too, because Little Women was first published in two parts. Part One ended after Brooke proposed to Meg. Readers wanted to see Jo and Laurie together and to see the little women marry. Her publisher wanted to accommodate readers (one word: money), so Alcott was forced to write an ending she didn’t feel in her heart and give Jo a romantic interest. She had absolutely refused to marry Jo to Laurie to please her readers and wanted Jo to stay unmarried, much like herself. Knowing that, this modern take with Meg dumping Brooke and Jo being gay and not having a romantic interest really makes sense to me.
Beth’s scarlet fever is now leukemia, which also makes sense given the times.
Jo shaving her head when Beth starts to lose her hair and Meg and Amy also shaving their heads is another change that works very well. It gave me tears.</spoiler)
Now, if you don’t like those things, you won’t like this book.
For me, there’s no such thing as too diverse. I suppose when you’re used to an all-white cast, first for the book and then for every adaptation after that, it could be viewed as too much, but this is a modern retelling, and it has to look and feel modern, which means it can’t be an all-white or all-straight cast. None of the changes surprised me in the least.
The illustrations are so colorful and brought the characters to life. The entire time I was reading I kept thinking about how this version (with this title, obviously) should be made into a movie. Especially an animated one. Looking at you, Pixar!
My favorite character in this retelling (and for the first time ever) is Amy. She’s a ball of obnoxious fun. I love her. (Although she’s certainly not for everyone. I believe she’s supposed to be in sixth grade here, but she did seem a lot younger. I will say that.)
I loved this interracial, blended family in many ways more than the original family. There, I said it, and I am a HUGE fan of Little Women. You get the backstory for how their family formed when Jo’s white mom and Meg’s Black dad fall in love, and I was all for it.
There’s a lot of modern twists, including how their dad is over in the Middle East, but my favorite is how Jo is a fierce feminist (which could be too much for some readers when several important, relevant topics are mentioned).
Jo is gay in this modern retelling. I guessed it from the start and right away was nodding, saying, “yes, that feels right.” Even in Louisa May Alcott’s book and all the remakes of the film that I’ve seen it made perfect sense to me.
Meg breaks up with Brooke (I think he had a different name but I can’t remember what it was) at the end after realizing he wasn’t right for her. I applauded this, and I honestly think Louisa May Alcott would, too, because Little Women was first published in two parts. Part One ended after Brooke proposed to Meg. Readers wanted to see Jo and Laurie together and to see the little women marry. Her publisher wanted to accommodate readers (one word: money), so Alcott was forced to write an ending she didn’t feel in her heart and give Jo a romantic interest. She had absolutely refused to marry Jo to Laurie to please her readers and wanted Jo to stay unmarried, much like herself. Knowing that, this modern take with Meg dumping Brooke and Jo being gay and not having a romantic interest really makes sense to me.
Beth’s scarlet fever is now leukemia, which also makes sense given the times.
Jo shaving her head when Beth starts to lose her hair and Meg and Amy also shaving their heads is another change that works very well. It gave me tears.</spoiler)