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A review by infinitely
Jo's Boys by Louisa May Alcott
3.0
“I think it is a very honourable and noble profession to select and give good books to the world.”
―Louisa May Alcott, Jo's Boys
Jo's Boys is the conclusion to the unofficial Little Women trilogy, and it tells us all about what happens to the Little Men we met in book 2, and how they turned out. I have to say that I didn't enjoy Little Men all that much, so I was not really looking forward to reading this, but it went by pleasantly and was an easy, fun read.
Louisa May Alcott's prose is endearing and every chapter feels like a fresh, new story for us to enjoy. I personally like how she makes everyday happenings sound exciting and new, and the dialogue clearly shows us the love between the characters, making a lot of them memorable and unique. Personally, I still think Jo is a brilliant character, and she still shines in the latter books. Her relationship with the professor is wholesome and sweet, and her friendship with Laurie and the other boys show us that she maintains her personality even though she matured and became more matronly as time passed. Amy and Meg, however, had their personalities diluted and faded into the background.
To talk about the other things I didn't really enjoy, not much has improved in the way of how stuck in its own time this series is. While Little Women is a beautiful story of love, friendship and family, the preachiness of the tone will not escape modern eyes, and this continues on to the second and third book. I personally don't find it too overwhelming, but it does hamper the experience a bit.
Moving on to the characters, I'm glad to see most of them grow and succeed, and to some extent achieve their dreams. It was pleasant to see some of them grow through unusual experiences, or be tested and come out stronger, and the varied natures of the boys made each chapter a cute little story that made us root for them as if they were our own family. Most of them had rewarding endings (key word: most), but it was a chiefly fruitful harvest for the Bhaer couple.
Overall: I think Little Men's set up of the boys as children was a tedious read but made for quite the prequel to this, as it gave me reason to be worried for, laugh for, cry for and cheer on Jo's boys. The likable characters and entertaining chapters outshone the moralistic writing and loss of personality for some of the original characters to some extent. In the end, I don't think Ms. Alcott could top the first of the series, but this made for a satisfying conclusion for our beloved March family.
3.5/5