Be ready to see your Jo & Laurie dreams come true.
I. LOVED. THIS. BOOK.
I could gush and gush about this novel. I'm going to be really honest here, I have not read Little Women. But I did grow up seriously loving the 1990s movie. Is Jo March not the dream character? She's got wit, she's clever, she has a best friend who is not only supportive, but also just perfectly in love with her. She has flaws. She's a real character that even as a young child I could relate to. But one thing that haunted me for years was Jo and Laurie. How, HOW, could Laurie end up marrying Amy?
It never made sense in my brain, and I basically just pretended that wasn't the case. It appears that the authors of this book, Margaret Stohl and Melissa de la Cruz, are kindred spirits.
This book is kind of meta when I try to explain the setting, which I tried to do for my mom today and I found myself getting lost in my own description, but I'll do my best.
When Little Women was originally published, it was published as two separate novels. So this novel takes place in between them. Now, Jo & Laurie is different in that it is a universe that acknowledges the writing and publishing of Little Women. Its discussed how Jo takes creative license with her characters. Yes, the book is based on her family but some tales are exaggerated or some are entirely fictitious. The thing that isn't engineered are the relationships of the March girls. There is indeed a Laurie and he is indeed a fixture in the March household, an extension of this family.
I felt that Stohl and de la Cruz captured the feeling of Little Women completely. The captured the personalities while slightly tweaking them to suit their narrative. They gave us what we wanted without violating the integrity of Alcott's beloved bestseller.
This book was like a comforting escape just when I needed it most. It ticked all my nostalgia, feel-good boxes.
I could gush and gush about this novel. I'm going to be really honest here, I have not read Little Women. But I did grow up seriously loving the 1990s movie. Is Jo March not the dream character? She's got wit, she's clever, she has a best friend who is not only supportive, but also just perfectly in love with her. She has flaws. She's a real character that even as a young child I could relate to. But one thing that haunted me for years was Jo and Laurie. How, HOW, could Laurie end up marrying Amy?
It never made sense in my brain, and I basically just pretended that wasn't the case. It appears that the authors of this book, Margaret Stohl and Melissa de la Cruz, are kindred spirits.
This book is kind of meta when I try to explain the setting, which I tried to do for my mom today and I found myself getting lost in my own description, but I'll do my best.
When Little Women was originally published, it was published as two separate novels. So this novel takes place in between them. Now, Jo & Laurie is different in that it is a universe that acknowledges the writing and publishing of Little Women. Its discussed how Jo takes creative license with her characters. Yes, the book is based on her family but some tales are exaggerated or some are entirely fictitious. The thing that isn't engineered are the relationships of the March girls. There is indeed a Laurie and he is indeed a fixture in the March household, an extension of this family.
I felt that Stohl and de la Cruz captured the feeling of Little Women completely. The captured the personalities while slightly tweaking them to suit their narrative. They gave us what we wanted without violating the integrity of Alcott's beloved bestseller.
This book was like a comforting escape just when I needed it most. It ticked all my nostalgia, feel-good boxes.