Reviews

The Mother-Daughter Book Club by Heather Vogel Frederick

sarahannkateri's review against another edition

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Four very different girls – popular fashionista Megan, sports-obsessed Cassidy, bookish Emma who gets teased for wearing secondhand clothes, and Jess, who people call Goat Girl because her family lives on a farm (well, until her mother ran away to New York to star on a soap opera...)– are all roped into starting a book club with their mothers.

Once a month, the girls and moms plan meet up to talk about Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. None of the girls want to be in the book club, especially once they see how LONG the book is, but the moms are insistent. As they spend a year reading together, friendships will start, and drama will definitely happen…

leasummer's review against another edition

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4.0

Cute book, great companion to "Little Women." Our book club read "Little Women" first, and is reading "March" next month.
Good book for all ages.

tader_horkan's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful lighthearted sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

isaac_tee's review against another edition

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fast-paced

3.5

elliebailey's review against another edition

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4.0

This was a sweet tale of friendship. The characters are amazing friends, and they are a little unrealistic, but despite that this book got me hooked! I could not put it down! This book also made me want to join a mother/daughter book-club. This is a light quick read book that all girls ages 10 and up would enjoy. I loved it!

pearlagcalo's review against another edition

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4.0

So sweet.. I 'd love for the girls to read this, totally appropriate for their age.

eparsons516's review against another edition

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4.0

Another middle school favorite

burstnwithbooks's review against another edition

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4.0

Wow, I really didn't expect to enjoy this so much the second time around. I listened to it on audio this time and I think I actually liked it quite a bit more (my rating is probably more of a 4.5). Part of that is probably that I've actually read (and seen) Little Women now, so I appreciate all of the references and parallelism to that glorious work of art, but I'm also finally far enough away from actually being the target audience for middle grade to appreciate it objectively. And wow, did I become overly attached to this little book club. I'm slightly too emotionally invested and yes, I will definitely be continuing on in the series. I'm sure I'll listen to it on audio (Hoopla has it, people!) because the narration is fantastic and it made the story go so quickly. I look forward to watching these young girls grow up and hopefully I'll continue to love the series!

*****
(1st review)
This book was fabulous! I had so much fun reading it. It's such a unique idea and it's literally been on my TBR for years. Seriously, I think it's in the first 5 books on my Goodreads TBR. Anyway, I really enjoyed the experience! I really wish I had discovered this series a few years ago, because I think I would've especially been all over it then.
I've also never read Little Women, although I know quite a bit about it. I still really enjoyed the book, but I definitely think it would've enhanced my experience if I had read Little Women beforehand. This gives me incentive to read it now, though!
I may actually continue on with the series, just for fun! It's such a cute idea and I love all of the characters and their relationships. Besides, it'll be a great excuse to make me read all of the classics they are based around!

rachelb36's review against another edition

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2.0

Firstly, this book implies the girls' book club is reading [b:Little Women|1934|Little Women|Louisa May Alcott|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388269517s/1934.jpg|3244642], but actually they are reading Little Women and the sequel ([b:Good Wives|78960|Good Wives|Louisa May Alcott|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1282713827s/78960.jpg|6582437]). I went to all the trouble to read Little Women to avoid spoilers, and three-quarters of the way through the book stumbled into major spoilers for Good Wives! This is so frustrating, as there is no warning or FYI of any kind in the beginning of the book or the ad-copy. I dropped an entire star for this reason alone.

The story itself was okay, nothing special. I was able to overlook the ridiculously unrealistic happenings because this is, after all, a children's book. I wasn't impressed with the parents much of the time, however. It apparently is acceptable for grown adults to make fun of other adults (and children!) as long as those people are "mean." Not the kind of role models I'd like for my children.

suhbreenah's review against another edition

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4.0

They are not a traditional book club. Emma has read every book on their list, Jess is too busy with mom troubles to pay attention, Cassidy is trying to make it as a female athlete, and Megan just doesn't want to be there. And yet, here they are with their moms getting together once a month to talk about their first book together. Louisa May Alcott's famous Little Women teaches them lessons about each other and life as they make their way through their school year against bullies, family problems, and crushes. They never thought it would work out quite the way it did.

I Loved this book. The characters are likable, and the switching Point-of-Views wasn't nearly as hard to follow as I originally thought they would be. The personalities were each their own, and though they had some traditional events in the book that we've seen before, it was fun to read. Little Women was also a good choice for their first book, as it showed the sisters coming together as the book club did. The family moments in this book was enjoyable and nice to read. Great book to read for fun when you aren't looking for too much dramatic complication.