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A review by morpmeep
Great or Nothing by Jessica Spotswood, Caroline Tung Richmond, Tess Sharpe, Joy McCullough
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Honestly was really looking forward to this book - i deeply love little women, i enjoy the 1940s as a setting, was intrigued by the poetry of Beth and i was delighted at the possibility of a book that really delved into the queerness of Jo.
however, this book didn't really do it for me. one of the biggest parts of little women is the relationships the girls have with each other, but the girls spend the entire book apart, driven away from each other by grief. they don't interact with each other, just spend pages pining for one another while existing in their biege plotlines.
each chapter is from a different girls perspective, and each is written by a different author. Which could be a big appeal if the girls stories ever crossed over - it would be fascinating to see different perspectives and internal dialogues on the same moments. but instead each girls story stands on its own, linked only by unimpressive poetry from Beth's perspective in the afterlife. I found myself skimming over the poems because they lacked any real poetic form. I described them to a friend as 'what a fiction writer thinks poems are' which is accurate. The words aren't *bad*, they're just not poetry. they're flowery prose broken up into stanzas. there's no lyricism or imagery, no rhyming or any sort of play with beats. Theres no pleasure in reading them.
The queer story line of Jo's is hollow and really only appears in the last ten pages of her story.
I'm sorry, y'all, i wanted to like this book but this was not it.
however, this book didn't really do it for me. one of the biggest parts of little women is the relationships the girls have with each other, but the girls spend the entire book apart, driven away from each other by grief. they don't interact with each other, just spend pages pining for one another while existing in their biege plotlines.
each chapter is from a different girls perspective, and each is written by a different author. Which could be a big appeal if the girls stories ever crossed over - it would be fascinating to see different perspectives and internal dialogues on the same moments. but instead each girls story stands on its own, linked only by unimpressive poetry from Beth's perspective in the afterlife. I found myself skimming over the poems because they lacked any real poetic form. I described them to a friend as 'what a fiction writer thinks poems are' which is accurate. The words aren't *bad*, they're just not poetry. they're flowery prose broken up into stanzas. there's no lyricism or imagery, no rhyming or any sort of play with beats. Theres no pleasure in reading them.
The queer story line of Jo's is hollow and really only appears in the last ten pages of her story.
I'm sorry, y'all, i wanted to like this book but this was not it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism