knightley18 's review for:

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, Devra Newberger Speregen

3.0

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I thought I would give this book more stars as it is right up my alley in terms of genre and time period. Little Women is adorable with the sweetest most charming little characters. At its high points, it is a delightful read full of good feelings and tenderness. But I think it is interesting how Alcott keeps remarking on Jo’s writing being criticized for its moral spiels. I think this is a criticism she likely received herself as several chapters seemed not really to add to the plot and were frankly boring. I’m referring to the chapters where Amy has her dinner party, the one where they go on calls, and the one about Daisy and Demi in particular. They could have been cut out, and I would not have missed them. Some of Alcott’s advice too was difficult to swallow particularly as it was so gendered, but I suppose it was written at a different time period. My last bit of criticism is that I feel like she “broke” Jo in the end of the story. I don’t mind that she got married. I like her and the professor together. However, she went from being such a wild and free spirit to being “Mother Bhaer” and that was just very disappointing to me.