I’d actually like to give this 3 1/2 stars! Very insightful retelling of Little Women. Includes a hat tip to the original by using the original names of the sisters as nicknames for the new characters and the father’s name is Alcott. The major elements of the original are there, but so many new wrinkles and insights are added to the story by switching the perspective to a black family instead of a white one. The civil war experience was vastly different and was brilliantly captured in this story. I enjoyed the way the author discussed love and it’s expectations and different forms. While this is very different in intellectual content and style than the original, I loved how the author respected the original. The basic story beats are there, but the moments in between are very different. Her social commentary about racism was difficult and uncomfortable to read, but necessary to the plot and to current times