milenasbooknook's review against another edition
1.0
Modern-day Little Women, but make it extremely political with somewhat unnatural dialogue.
justiceofkalr's review against another edition
4.0
Okay, so I've never actually read Little Women before. It just looks fusty and boring. This graphic novel modern retelling was adorable though and maaaaybe has encouraged me to give the original a shot.
pickekat's review against another edition
4.0
This was an AMAZING modern retelling of Little Women. It was relatable, authentic, and well done. The only thing that I would change was how the authors portrayed Meg.
andipants's review against another edition
4.0
First off, let's set one thing straight: for everyone complaining that Beth doesn't die in this one — of course she doesn't; this is clearly a retelling of part 1. Beth survives her initial bout with scarlet fever in the original book; she dies later of unspecified complications in part 2. Amy doesn't go to Europe here and Jo doesn't move out to become a governess either; that's all part 2. Come on, now.
Now that's out of the way...there was definitely a lot to like here. Bringing the Marches into the 21st century, making them a biracial family, giving Jo the coming out SHE ALWAYS DESERVED DON'T @ ME...all good stuff. But there were also some some changes that, well, they sure left me feeling some kind of way, mostly relating to Meg. The original Meg had an affinity for pretty clothes and was jealous of her rich friends, yes, but I don't recall her coming right out and saying "I'm gonna marry rich" — wasn't that more Amy's thing? And her whole story arc was about learning what really matters: valuing love and good character over money and status, culminating in her marrying Mr. Brooke in spite of Aunt March's threats. Here, Meg's story arc, such as it is, involves her deciding at the last minute and with no foreshadowing at all that she doesn't care about fashion, throwing away a chance at her dream internship at Vogue and deciding she actually wants to be a lawyer because that's something that truly matters. Also, she breaks up with her boyfriend, Brooks, because he's a trust fund kid who doesn't support her dreams (even though he got her the interview for the internship...?). Mr. Brooke, they done ya dirty.
I'm not saying she should've stayed a child bride — update the story, for sure. But romantic relationships are still important to a lot of teenage girls in the 21st century; that could have been updated without throwing it out entirely. As it is, the few male characters there were in the original book barely exist in this story. I get the focus is supposed to be on the sisters' relationships and female empowerment, which is fine, but part of their growth in the original book was also learning to navigate relationships with men. Laurie's original character arc, for example, was important not only for his own sake, but also as a demonstration that the girls deserved better than the spoiled, lazy creature he started out as; he had to grow up and learn to treat them right as friends (and later, a romantic partner), and they were perfectly right to expect it of him. Mr. Brooke didn't need to be jettisoned like that.
I also don't like the dichotomy presented where a career in fashion equals frivolous while a career in law or politics equals worthy and important. Jo, Beth, and Amy all get to keep their artistic pursuits, but caring about fashion is apparently vain and superficial. Plenty of girls are interested in fashion; that doesn't automatically make them airheads. Have her start a clothing charity or something; there are plenty of options. This isn't to say no girl is ever allowed to change her mind, of course, but the setup for this about-face just wasn't there.
Aunt March (here Aunt Cath) is another character who got a major overhaul. They kept the setup of her being crotchety and demanding and Jo butting heads with her, but she felt very toned down from the original. To be fair, this treatment seems to skew toward a slightly younger audience, and Aunt March was truly horrible at some points. They also made the parallels between her and Jo much more explicit, including a bonding moment near the end after Jo comes out when she reveals she's a closeted lesbian. The original character became close with Amy, but if she was ever fully redeemed (debatable) it wasn't until her death, when it's revealed she left Plumfield to Jo. I can see wanting to make a slightly friendlier character to appeal to younger kids and make her moment with Jo more believable, but it felt a little clumsy. More character development would have helped here.
There was also a lot of clumsiness in terms of exposition, particularly several awkward, info-dump-y emails that did not come off as realistic at all. Exposition and backstory can be really hard in graphic novels, since most of the text is usually dialogue, but given more room, I feel like this could have been done better. It felt at times like they were trying to cram too much story into too short of a space, which isn't a huge surprise, because the original book wasn't short. But I wonder if perhaps a series of comics might have been a better format for this story, rather than a single graphic novel.
That said, I did enjoy the story. It had a lot of heart, and many of the updates were quite clever. I liked that Beth got to be more of a character here — in the original, she sometimes seems more like a fragile doll than an actual human — and did I mention Jo gets to be GAY? Sorry, purists, this is the proper way it should have gone all along. Professor who? Pfft. In the end, most of my complaints boil down to wanting more — more backstory, more character development, more story. But it's still an enjoyable read, and I'd expect a good introduction to the classic for younger readers.
Now that's out of the way...there was definitely a lot to like here. Bringing the Marches into the 21st century, making them a biracial family, giving Jo the coming out SHE ALWAYS DESERVED DON'T @ ME...all good stuff. But there were also some some changes that, well, they sure left me feeling some kind of way, mostly relating to Meg. The original Meg had an affinity for pretty clothes and was jealous of her rich friends, yes, but I don't recall her coming right out and saying "I'm gonna marry rich" — wasn't that more Amy's thing? And her whole story arc was about learning what really matters: valuing love and good character over money and status, culminating in her marrying Mr. Brooke in spite of Aunt March's threats. Here, Meg's story arc, such as it is, involves her deciding at the last minute and with no foreshadowing at all that she doesn't care about fashion, throwing away a chance at her dream internship at Vogue and deciding she actually wants to be a lawyer because that's something that truly matters. Also, she breaks up with her boyfriend, Brooks, because he's a trust fund kid who doesn't support her dreams (even though he got her the interview for the internship...?). Mr. Brooke, they done ya dirty.
I'm not saying she should've stayed a child bride — update the story, for sure. But romantic relationships are still important to a lot of teenage girls in the 21st century; that could have been updated without throwing it out entirely. As it is, the few male characters there were in the original book barely exist in this story. I get the focus is supposed to be on the sisters' relationships and female empowerment, which is fine, but part of their growth in the original book was also learning to navigate relationships with men. Laurie's original character arc, for example, was important not only for his own sake, but also as a demonstration that the girls deserved better than the spoiled, lazy creature he started out as; he had to grow up and learn to treat them right as friends (and later, a romantic partner), and they were perfectly right to expect it of him. Mr. Brooke didn't need to be jettisoned like that.
I also don't like the dichotomy presented where a career in fashion equals frivolous while a career in law or politics equals worthy and important. Jo, Beth, and Amy all get to keep their artistic pursuits, but caring about fashion is apparently vain and superficial. Plenty of girls are interested in fashion; that doesn't automatically make them airheads. Have her start a clothing charity or something; there are plenty of options. This isn't to say no girl is ever allowed to change her mind, of course, but the setup for this about-face just wasn't there.
Aunt March (here Aunt Cath) is another character who got a major overhaul. They kept the setup of her being crotchety and demanding and Jo butting heads with her, but she felt very toned down from the original. To be fair, this treatment seems to skew toward a slightly younger audience, and Aunt March was truly horrible at some points. They also made the parallels between her and Jo much more explicit, including a bonding moment near the end after Jo comes out when she reveals she's a closeted lesbian. The original character became close with Amy, but if she was ever fully redeemed (debatable) it wasn't until her death, when it's revealed she left Plumfield to Jo. I can see wanting to make a slightly friendlier character to appeal to younger kids and make her moment with Jo more believable, but it felt a little clumsy. More character development would have helped here.
There was also a lot of clumsiness in terms of exposition, particularly several awkward, info-dump-y emails that did not come off as realistic at all. Exposition and backstory can be really hard in graphic novels, since most of the text is usually dialogue, but given more room, I feel like this could have been done better. It felt at times like they were trying to cram too much story into too short of a space, which isn't a huge surprise, because the original book wasn't short. But I wonder if perhaps a series of comics might have been a better format for this story, rather than a single graphic novel.
That said, I did enjoy the story. It had a lot of heart, and many of the updates were quite clever. I liked that Beth got to be more of a character here — in the original, she sometimes seems more like a fragile doll than an actual human — and did I mention Jo gets to be GAY? Sorry, purists, this is the proper way it should have gone all along. Professor who? Pfft. In the end, most of my complaints boil down to wanting more — more backstory, more character development, more story. But it's still an enjoyable read, and I'd expect a good introduction to the classic for younger readers.
atomicbritt's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Bullying, Classism, and Racial slurs
rachel_tb's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
katreadsalot's review against another edition
4.0
This was a truly excellent retelling of Alcott's classic. Terciero made the characters more contemporary but stayed very true to Alcott's originals. I don't usually read Graphic novels and I need to read more! Indigo's illustrations were stunning.