Jo & Laurie is a young adult romantic retelling of little women by Margaret Stohl & Melissa de la Cruz. This might be an unpopular opinion, but I am going to share it anyway. I liked the original Little Women, but I didn’t love it like most people. I never felt compelled to re-read it, and it didn’t skyrocket to a favorites list of mine. However, I love both of these authors and when I saw this being dubbed as a romantic retelling I knew I had to check it out. And I am so glad that I did, because I loved Jo & Laurie. So much more than the original! (I know, don’t throw virtual tomatoes or stones just yet!) I know some purists and fans of the original will not want anything to do with a retelling, but I happen to love retellings. They allow new spins to be taken on classics, and I can’t get enough of them. Jo & Laurie is a great book. One I think old and new fans of Little Women will enjoy. And if you have never read Little Women, Jo & Laurie is a really accessible option for you to explore. I think you will love it.

I will start off by saying that I did enjoy Jo in the original Little Women. I loved how independent and headstrong she is. Jo & Laurie explore the possibility of what if, Jo got together with her best friend Laurie (aka Theodore). I felt like the start of this book was trying to mimic Little Women, and it felt a bit dense and slow to me. But at about the half way point, I felt like the authors hit their groove the the pace and story picked up in tempo. I flew through the second half of the book, and I absolutely loved the ending. The characters all felt true to themselves from the original. It was just a different take on the events. I fun little “what-if” played out. I really dug it.

If you have always shipped Jo & Laurie from the original Little Women, or you just like to play the What If game like I do, then I think Jo & Laurie is a romantic retelling that fans will enjoy. It was a story that gained momentum as it went on, and by the end I was really enjoying myself!

I had only recently read Little Women this past January right before I went to see the new movie in theatres. I read the physical book and listened to the audio read by Christina Ricci on Audible. I thoroughly enjoyed Little Women and don’t want to take away anything from the original. However, I’m sure I’m like most of Alcott’s fans and was greatly let down with that ending and the final resolution of Jo March, our star authoress. Well, Jo & Laurie completely healed my broken heart.

Overall, I appreciated De La Cruz and Stohl’s retelling of this fine classic tale. In particular, I liked Laurie’s character more now than from the classic and felt that he was portrayed as a more mature character than in the original and especially compared to the movie. I felt like he was bolder and more confident when it came to Jo. He became a total swoon-worthy character for me. On the other hand, Amy’s character felt like she was written younger and she annoyed me more than the snobbish portrayal of her original character. I suppose I must take the bad with the good.

Likewise, to my feelings from the original, Jo and Meg were still my favorite characters. I felt their characters were the most developed. I think Meg’s character stayed truer to herself, while Jo struggled more with her feelings. Her character growth was interesting to watch unfold, and although I finally got the outcome that I wanted, the sudden change in heart was a little too sudden.

I would definitely recommend this book to those fans who have an open mind and want to have the ideal ending that they felt would’ve completed the story. If I had to choose to reread Little Women again or reread Jo & Laurie, I would most certainly choose the latter.

Jo & Laurie takes place in between the two parts that make up the entire Little Women story while also adding this huge original twist to it.

We get to step back and meet Jo March, the real Jo March, who wrote the story Little Women Part One and is now dealing with the fame and success of it. Little Women is meant to be the fictionalized story of her life, while Jo & Laurie is her real life. There is no rich Aunt March, Beth does not survive her first and only round of Scarlett fever and Meg has never even exchanged words with Laurie’s tutor. All of it was made up for her novel. It’s like pulling the curtain back and meeting the wizard which was such an interesting concept.

Jo is the same Jo though, fiercely independent, loyal and still not in need of a man to make her life complete. It was so fun to follow her on her writing journey for Good Wives. How do you write a story that hasn't happened yet? Or create a future on a page that doesn't seem so outlandish or fantastical? Jo struggles to please not only her editor, but herself and her family who everyone now knows way too much but too little about. She needs this story though to make money to support her family who are even more poor than described in the books. The bright spots in her life are her sisters so she's pushing to create a story to make a better life for them.

Beyond her writing struggles we get to more deeply explore her friendship with Laurie and of course their feelings for each other. We get a bit of Laurie's perspective in chapters, which I really loved, to see where his desires lie and why he makes the choices he does. He was always dragging Jo off on adventures and surprises, my favorite being a week long trip to New York where we get to explore the City with Jo and see what it was like during that time period.

What I thought was a fun twist to this story is that along with Jo and Laurie's perspectives, we also get get Meg's! Meg who is so refined, beautiful and meant for the better things in life. We get to see the bit of awkwardness that ensues due to this made up romance in Little Women with Laurie's tutor and her experiences being the older and most promising sister. It was such a fun take and I enjoyed being in her head while she too fell in love and had to make the decision between following her heart or providing for her family.

Jo & Laurie really took a step back and explored the classism between the March's and those who run in the Lawrence's circle of friends. While the families are such good friends there is obviously a huge gap in the money they have access too. This is very prominent in New York and even Laurie himself sees how the very poor and the very rich sometimes have the same attitudes or mindsets because neither have anything to lose in flaunting the rules society has set.

Jo & Laurie is not meant to replace or add to the Little Women story, but to take a step sideways and pretend that Alcott did not write Little Women but Jo herself as the real author. If you loved the original Little Women and didn't secretly or no-so-secretly ship Jo and Laurie together, skip this. If you want to explore this romantic possibility and see more of the world during this time I highly suggest picking this one up.

I love retellings of my favorite fairy tales and Austen stories, but this is the first one I've read about Little Women. I had no idea what to expect, and it was an interesting read. Jo is much younger than I expected her to be at this point in the story- they have her at seventeen, and the timeline seems a bit off from the original story. Beth has died, and Jo is a successfully published author of Little Women, but is struggling with the sequel she is contracted to write. The authors did a good job of capturing her unrest during this time of her life. It's difficult for Jo to discern what the future holds for her and her sisters, wanting things to stay as they have been, but recognizing that marriage, travel, and career will change everything. She seems scared of her growing feelings for Laurie, and that fear prevents her from embracing the progression of their relationship into something more than friendship. I found her voice to be slightly immature, especially when whining and fighting with her editor. Some chapters were told from other characters' perspectives, such as Meg (which I found myself skimming), but I appreciated being able to get inside Laurie's head. Overall it was an entertaining take on the classic, especially for readers who wished for the childhood friendship to turn to romance.

(I received a complimentary copy of the book; all opinions in this review are my own)

A unique take on the classic story we all know and love!

"1869, Concord, Massachusetts: After the publication of her first novel, Jo March is shocked to discover her book of scribbles has become a bestseller. While pressured into coming up with a sequel, she goes to New York with her dear friend Laurie for a week of inspiration!

But Laurie has romance on his mind, and despite her growing feelings, Jo's desire to remain independent leads her to turn down his heartfelt marriage proposal and sends the poor boy off to college heartbroken. When Laurie returns to Concord with a sophisticated new girlfriend, will Jo finally communicate her true heart's desire or lose the love of her life forever?"

Blending Alcott's life with Jo's, Stohl and de la Cruz have pieced together an entirely new lens in which Jo + Laurie fans can peer into - one that tells what would have happened if Jo ever permitted herself to loving Laurie. Being an Amy + Laurie shipper myself (I'm a Greta Gerwig convert), I was a little skeptical going into this, but overall, I enjoyed this take on Little Women! It was fun and interesting to see what might've been. Also, there were so many quotable moments. My favorite being:

"It's your life, Jo. Write it however you like. Just write it true."

A big thank you to Penguin Teen for sending me an advanced copy!

I really enjoyed this sweet lighthearted story. This book is about the greatest love story that was never told. A lot of mixed feelings has been buzzing around this book.
Just to clear up some misconceptions, this is not a story that changes the original Little Women. It is a story of Jo March as Louisa May Alcott and her journey in writing Good Wives after the huge success of Little Women Part One. A lot of research was put into this novel, pulling from actual letters from Lousia May Alcott As a huge Little Women fan, I can see how many would have mixed feelings about this novel since we all know Jo and Laurie did not end up together in Little Women. Alcott was adamant that it should not happen in both her letters and of course in Little Women. But..... for guilty pleasure reasons, I enjoyed reading about Jo and Laurie.. This story was written very well with lots of memorable quotes. This really was more than a love story. It was a story of Jo's journey to accepting and overcoming her fear of loving after so much loss.
With all that said 4/5 stars for me ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Thank you to Penguin
G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers and Netgalley for allowing me to read and review this novel.

I love retellings and this was so amazing. We get to know the March sisters in a way we never got to know them before, we get to learn more about their creativity and its so good and so cute!

What if Jo March had been a real person, and she had been the one to write Little Women? What if she then wrote a follow-up story that gave the world a sequel to the beloved novel? Jo & Laurie imagines a world in which Louisa May Alcott did not write Little Women, and Jo March wrote it instead, releasing Little Women to a world that loved it and clamored to find out what happens to the girls. Being a new writer, Jo struggles to find inspiration for a second novel, and travels from Massachusetts to New York with her good friend Laurie in an attempt to find some. While there, the tables are turned on her, and Laurie wants more than just friendship. Jo doesn't believe she can offer Laurie what he wants, but is there more to their story than even they know yet?⁣⁣
⁣⁣
I liked that this story explicitly took us away from Alcott's vision entirely, and asked us to imagine Jo instead as the writer of Little Women and its fictional follow-up. I liked that Jo exhibited doubt and struggle as she progressed beyond what was comfortable to her in her writing. After writing what is known and believed personally, it can be difficult to stretch beyond that, and I felt that was portrayed reasonably well here. I do feel that the story could have been written with a quicker pace, but I also liked the exploration of Jo and Laurie's friendship and that Laurie was very supportive of Jo as she struggled with doubt and her search for inspiration. While this book may never become canon for Alcott diehards, it's a leisurely stroll for those (like me) who love Little Women and are happy to step into its world once more from a different perspective.⁣⁣
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⭐⭐⭐.75/5⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣

First and foremost I would like to thank PenguinTeen and G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for the advanced copy to read and review. This in no way sways my opinions, all thoughts are my own.

I am going into this book completely blind. I have never read Little Women, I haven't watched it, I know nothing about the original. With that being said, I really enjoyed this book! I thought it was a fun read! I loved watching this novel play out with Real Jo's struggle to find the right voices for her characers, making her family, friends, and fans happy, etc... I think that for someone who has never even been introduced to the LW universe, this was a good book. I also liked the romance in this book, it felt genuine and something that professional people struggle with when trying to find balance in thier life. I think it's a solid 4 star book for me as it did move a little bit slowly and I find it hard to keep my attention on sitting and reading if the story is on the slow side!

by Margaret Stohl & Melissa de la Cruz
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
Release Date: June 2nd 2020
Genre: Young Adult, Historical Fiction, Romance, Retellings,

This book was received from the Author, and Publisher, in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

Jo & Laurie,

The authors, Melissa de la Cruz and Margaret Stohl have written a delightful romantic reimagined telling of the beloved classic Little Woman by by

Louisa May Alcott

A fabulous representation to storyline, the authors seamless writing is engaging and this book does something so creative. It takes a step sideways and redesigns the character Jo in a completely new fashion. Allowing the reader to except the posed question what if Jo feels romantically drawn to Laurie.

Both authors did a stunning tribute to Little Woman. One that will delight any reader who loves really good fiction. A captivating romanticized ya fiction, that draws in dedicated readers ofLittle Woman, and inspires them to broaden their mindset, while giving new readers something that engages them in a heartwarming tale.

Following the style of Ms Alcott’s and adding their own nuances to create a compelling and wonderful book. The book is set between two of Ms Alcott’s notable novels. In between the release date of Little Woman, 1868 and that of the publication of my favorite, Good Wives in 1869.

I was completely immersed in this book, I love the authors boldness and creativity.

An exceptional book for all ages.

#JoLaurie #Ya Fiction #5star #book2020 #gwendal_books_

Jo and Laurie Review:

So I had really mixed feeling about this book, but I ended liking it more than I thought I would which was a super nice surprise.

Things I liked:
- I loved how this book made the original story of Little Women the story the Jo was writing in this book! I was wondering how the authors would explain the difference between their imagining of Jo and Laurie compared to what really happened in Little Women, and I think this was the most clever way to do it!
- I also love how Jo was based off of Louisa May Alcott herself! I loved the authors note and the historical context in the back of the book explaining the parallel of Jo’s character in this book and the actual author of Little Women herself
- I loved recasting the March family! They are truly such a joy to read about, and I especially loved Megs character arc in this reimagining!
- I really enjoyed seeing how Jo in this book seemed independence as a woman in the 1800s. She was just as strong and independent as she was in Little Women

Things I didn’t like:
- This book, while entertaining, read a lot like fan fiction. The writing was easy enough to read, and there weren’t any spelling or grammatical mistakes like in fan fiction, but the whole premise and execution just felt like fan fiction (which it basically is). I kind of wish the authors were just loosely inspired by the relationships and character dynamics in Little Women and wrote a complete original story with similar elements instead of a reimagining.
- I also felt like some plot points were completely unnecessary, like Marmie and the girls Father’s relationship on the rocks, or the fact that Amy also became dangerously sick

Overall, this was an enjoyable read, but I don’t think I can give it more than three stars given the content in the original Little Women. Amy and Laurie are just endgame, and I truly believe that Jo and Laurie were only meant to be friends.


I will post this review on my blog for the Blog Tour hosted by The FFBC on May 30th

**Disclaimer: I was given a free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review from the publisher.**

Title Jo & Laurie

Author Margaret Stohl and Melissa de la Cruz

Release Date June 2, 2020

Publisher G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers

Description from Amazon

1869, Concord, Massachusetts: After the publication of her first novel, Jo March is shocked to discover her book of scribbles has become a bestseller, and her publisher and fans demand a sequel. While pressured into coming up with a story, she goes to New York with her dear friend Laurie for a week of inspiration—museums, operas, and even a once-in-a-lifetime reading by Charles Dickens himself!

But Laurie has romance on his mind, and despite her growing feelings, Jo’s desire to remain independent leads her to turn down his heartfelt marriage proposal and sends the poor boy off to college heartbroken. When Laurie returns to Concord with a sophisticated new girlfriend, will Jo finally communicate her true heart’s desire or lose the love of her life forever?

Initial Thoughts

I saw this book a while back when browsing the 2020 releases and I passed it by. I always liked Little Women, but it wasn’t my favorite novel. I always disliked the ending. But, when I saw this tour, I decided that I would give this book a try. The day my digital copy arrived was the first day of YALLWEST (or YALLSTAYHOME) and Margaret Stohl and Melissa de la Cruz (who will henceforth be known as Margaret and Melissa like we’re best friends) were the opening keynote speakers. Listening to them describe this book and their passion for it made me run, not walk, to my kindle to start reading as soon as the Zoom meeting was over.

Some Things I Liked

“Babbling Brooke” and other witty gems. I loved the writing style in this book. It felt completely seamless from Little Women. Margaret and Melissa have truly captured Jo March’s voice from the original novel and represented her character so well. The witty banter and overly dramatic sarcasm were phenomenal and I found myself laughing out loud as I read certain scenes.
History and the events of the time. Margaret mentioned in the keynote mentioned above that she is a scholar of American Studies. That was my minor in college and I have literally never met another person (outside of the classroom) that studied the same subject. I absolutely loved how she utilized her academic background to round out the setting and activities the March sisters found themselves a part of. I loved that Jo got to see Dickens and she referred to herself as a peer of Emerson’s.
Two authors. I have to applaud the fact that two distinctly different authors came together to write this book. At no point did I feel like there were two voices speaking for any character. Again, everything felt organic and seamless from page to page.
That ending. Now that’s an ending I can get behind. No spoilers, but this was much better than the original novel.

Series Value

In a way, this book could be considered a sequel of sorts to Little Women. In other ways, it’s also a retelling. While I would love to see more of Jo and the other March sisters as written by Margaret and Melissa, I was very satisfied with the ending here. I think they have laid the groundwork for more adventures but I wouldn’t be disappointed if this was a stand alone story.

Final Thoughts

I loved this book. I read it all in one sitting after watching that keynote. This book reminded me of the best parts of studying American Studies in college, made me remember why I enjoyed Little Women, and was the perfect balance of strong female lead, romance, and comedy. I highly recommend this book for all fans of Little Women, anyone who has a sister, or anyone who enjoys historical fiction.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Recommendations for Further Reading

Alex & Eliza by Melissa de la Cruz – if you liked the historical fiction element and you enjoyed the writing style, definitely try this series by Melissa de la Cruz. It’s a fantastic telling of the romance of Alexander Hamilton and his wife.
Madame Tussaud’s Apprentice by Kathleen Benner Duble – again, if you liked the historical fiction element as well as a strong female lead, try this shorter novel set during the French Revolution.
The Jewel Thief by Jeanne Mobley – if you liked the themes of a strong female character who would do anything to provide for her family, try this new release set during the time of the Sun King’s reign in France.

Wow.

I love several other books from both authors and they utterly shine in Jo and Laurie. It’s a historical fiction novel based on fictional characters in the book Little Women. Jo and Laurie hits themes that resonate so deeply.

There’s talk of suicide, depression, abandonment, and teenagers going through life trying to navigate growing feelings and family responsibilities. Jo, the hard-headed writer we love in Little Women, matures even more in Jo and Laurie She becomes more self-aware and in turn loving towards her family and friends.

Laurie also matures and hardens throughout the story. It all equals out in the end and they have a happily ever after. I loved it.

The book is told in third person omniscient with the narrator sometimes changing in the middle of the page. Not my favorite way to read a book but it totally worked for this one. It allowed several different PoVs to comment on one scene.

Honestly, the book was so good. It’s categorized as a retelling but it’s so so good on it’s own.

I struggled with this one. I've not read Little Women so I'm not sure if it was necessary or not. I felt that the main character was cold and unemotional. There are unlikeable characters in many books but for some reason her personality was too harsh for me. I was anticipating a fun romance and by the time I made it over halfway through she was still just as cold as in the beginning.

I also struggled with her relationship with her sister Meg and how Meg just followed in Jo's footsteps. She even turned down a man who loved her because they'd be broke. I just couldn't find anything happy about the story.

*I WAS PROVIDED A DIGITAL ARC FOR THE PURPOSES OF A BLOG TOUR. THIS DOES NOT AFFECT MY OPINION*

I'll start this off by saying that I've never actually read Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. This book made it very easy for readers like me who haven't read it to follow along with the story and get to know the characters.

When reading, it became very apparent to me that this book is a fanfiction of two characters who the authors wanted to get together. I'll have to say this, though; while it was obvious that the authors wrote the characters to be together, I couldn't help but wonder why Jo couldn't just be on her own.

Jo is a character that, from the get-go, you realize can take care of herself and doesn't really need a significant other to come trifling about her life. Throwing Laurie into the mix kind of ruined the story for me, not going to lie.

But as a story, disregarding the fanfic-romance part of it, was a good book. The plot was well planned out, and the dialogue was pretty well meshed together based on the time period this book is set in. Not to mention, the world-building as well was pretty good.

For that, I rate it 3 stars. I liked Melissa and Margaret's writing together, and I think they did pretty well. I wouldn't mind seeing another book, hopefully one far different from this one, co-written by them.

I really enjoyed Jo and Laurie, a retelling of Little Women. I went into this book having no bias about what should happen since I have not read or seen Little Women. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this one.
The writing took a bit to get used to since it seemed a little clunky and I eventually got used to it.
Oh, Jo. She was so stubborn. At times I just wanted to knock some sense into her and tell her to quit letting fears control her. Yet at the same time, I really enjoyed seeing her toss them aside and take control.
So overall, I would recommend this book to the dreamers who hoped for Jo & Laurie and those, like me, who just want a taste of Little Women.

Rating: 4.5/5
Language: d*** used frequently throughout
Romance: a non-detailed kiss
Spiritual: N/A
Violence: N/A

*I received a copy of this novel for review purposes. All thoughts are my own and a positive review was not required.

Quotes:

"You know, Miss March, that's the second time a beautiful woman with your name has hit me with a fan tonight," Laurie said lightly. "So I suppose I am either doing something very right or something very wrong."
"Happiness is a trait not much desired in one's ancestors, I've found." With a nearly imperceptible sigh, he leaned forward to scratch a fingernail lightly against the portrait of a pale-skinned burgher in an enormous white ruff. "The more miserable the better, in fact. Something about money not being able to buy happiness, and all that." "The Marches must tbe the happiest family you've ever met, then," Meg said wryly. He laughed, his melancholy entirely forgotten. "Positively giddy."

JO & LAURIE was such a fun addition to the LITTLE WOMEN story. While I look at them as two completely separate entities, I did love seeing these characters come together again. I do think this is more of a fanfiction-y story just because of the alternate ending of the actual characters. This book looks at the story as if Jo actually was Louisa, writing Little Women, and follows her story from publication of the first book all the way through writing the second. I thought the authors did an excellent job of capturing the characters’ personalities and mimicking them from Little Women. This did have more of a modern feel, obviously, but still put me back in the world of LITTLE WOMEN. I enjoyed seeing this AU unfold and kind of turning the story on its head. I also thought it was interesting when the authors wove elements of Louisa Alcott’s life into Jo’s throughout the book. This novel was a great add-on to any Little Women fan.

Jo & Laurie by Margaret Stohl and Melissa de la Cruz is a Little Women fanfiction about Jo and Laurie's romance. When story opens, Jo March has just written the first part of Little Women, about the four March sisters, with their real names and semi-real stories, and her editor is asking for a sequel.

This was a strange read. I love Little Women, and I've enjoyed some spinoffs, like Virginia Kantra's Meg & Jo. I knew the story would bring Jo and Laurie together, and I wanted to see how it unfolded. Their years of strong friendship could be the basis of a romance, and when I read Little Women as a preteen, I couldn't understand why Jo and Laurie didn't get married. (As an adult, I love sweet, intelligent Professor Bhaer, and I think Jo chose well in building her life with the thoughtful older man.)

It must be hard to write a story about these beloved characters, simply because they are so loved. I kept reading things that seemed out-of-character. Jo made up the name Marmee, adding uncharacteristic cuteness to her story, for unexplained reasons. Not privacy, since in this retelling, Jo made up Meg and John Brooke's romance and published it in her book, using their full names, although real Meg and John had barely spoken. Even though the Little Women has scenes of sisterly unkindness (hello, Amy and the manuscript?!?) this level of accidental cruelty goes entirely against Jo's character. But then, John and Meg were both secretly into each other anyway so, uh, they get together anyway.  It's weird fanfiction take, is what I'm saying.

I guess I wanted more of a Shakespeare In Love kind of story, imagining the connections and inspiration behind the well-known work.  Instead, for most of this book, Jo storms up the the garret and returns with another disappointing draft for her ever-patient editor. At one point, key moments of Good Wives are pulled out of the air, as the sisters work in the garden and discuss Jo's plans for the sequel, but it was then dropped in favor of scene after scene where Jo wants to know why writing is hard and feeling feelings is hard. (I mean, correct on both counts, but it doesn't make an engaging story.)

The romances dragged, with too many misunderstandings and jealousies, repetitively resolved with grand speeches, so by the time I got to the payoff, with Jo proposing to Laurie, I'd gone from now kiss to ok, fine, whatever, just stop wallowing.  I wanted to like this a lot more than I actually did.

Review to be posted on alisoninbookland.com 5/28. Review will be crossposted to Goodreads & Amazon.

This is likely going to get confusing so here's some clarification. Book Jo is the Jo March most of us know. She's the character in Little Women. Real Jo is author of Little Women taking Louisa May Alcott's place (since LW was based on her family). They might be very similar but they are different people in terms of this story.

The blurring of real and not real was very genuine. Playing 'what if' and imagining different scenarios for a version of yourself is very much a game sisters play. I can attest to that. The playful banter of matching up sisters to people felt genuine. Sometimes it is fun to match off people. Occasionally hurt feelings or annoyance are a side effect. Other times, genuine companionship is a side effect as well. I didn't feel as is the story was disingenuous to (either) Jo's character to be in this 'what if' game.

Real Jo's struggle was interesting to watch play out. What originally started a fun adventure for her grew to be more than what she expected. She thought some people would enjoy the story of her and her sisters. Real Jo didn't expect an entire country to hang on to her every word. The pressure was palpable. You could feel how she was torn in a million different ways. She wants to do right by her characters, her sisters, her fans, her publisher, & most importantly, herself. How do you juggle so many opinions though? [I was deeply moved by the author's note at the end talking about Alcott's struggle with the pressure & the fact that jumping was something that crossed her mind.]

Was this a perfect sequel to Little Women? No, of course not. Some of the language really doesn't 'flow' as a perfect match to LW. Do I think this is how the characters of this beloved story "really" behaved? Maybe not. I do think this was a great addition to the mythos of the Little Women universe for people's consideration.

The 2019 movie Little Women wasn't a perfect adaption of the book (it was pretty darn good though). You know what it did though? It highlighted Amy in a way that I had never seen before and actually made me cheer for her and Laurie. Jo & Laurie follows in those footsteps and makes me see Jo (and by extension Louisa) in a new light. It shows her struggle and shows her as someone who was willing to do everything to take care of those around her. Even though things were tough. Even though she was miserable at something she once loved. It's cheesy but she ends up taking the advice she's been giving Meg about being a martyr.

All in all, it was an enjoyable step back into one of my favorite families. It might not be the version of them I know and love but I've grown mighty fond of this new crew too.

First things first, this book is either incredibly clever or wickedly confusing depending on how you’re feeling as you read it. Also, I assume, it helps if you’ve actually read Little Women as to know the characters of Louisa May Alcott’s classic novel better. But, something worth knowing is that Jo is the writer of Little Women within Little Women and so in this book she is in the period between the first half of Little Women that came out in 1868 and the second half of Little Women that came out in 1869. Those two halves were then turned into one novel, which is the classic Little Women that can be found on bookshelves and libraries everywhere today. So, this book is set within the fiction of the two books’ releases that were actual world releases. Considering the fact that Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women is considered a semi-autobiographical novel, I guess it makes sense for the setting of this book to have one foot in fiction and one foot in reality.

I do have to say though, the arrival of Theodore “Laurie” Laurence in this book is the first real jolt of energy and life, aside from Jo debating with her publisher over her book’s title in the beginning. But alas, as soon as he shows up he is gone again. Something wonderful that Stohl and de la Cruz have done in this novel are making Laurie fulfill the role of muse and the infamous “lover-that-saves-the-writer’s-career.” In almost every author origin story, there is the lover that tells the writer to keep writing. Usually, like in Stephen King’s case for example, that person is a woman propping up a man. To see Laurie playing support character to Jo is a nice switch on the old doubtful writer narrative,

There is something incredibly distracting about this book as well. The language is, I assume because I wasn’t alive in 1868, accurate to how people spoke in 1868. This makes the book both feel incredibly accurate while also mildly annoying. Personally, I spent a lot of the dialogue thinking to myself, “Who talks like this?” But then when I remember the book is set in the summer of 1868, I am reminded that they, probably, did. However, that is only during the scenes that are establishing the fact that the story is in 1868. The conversations among the sisters, for example, when discussing Jo’s writing are rather fun to read. In fact, as a writer myself, these scenes make Jo the most relatable to me as a reader.

The cover claims that this book is “the greatest love story finally told” and based on the title being Jo & Laurie it is easy to assume that Margaret Stohl and Melissa de la Cruz are writing about the love story between Jo March and Theodore “Laurie” Laurence. However, as I read it, I found there to be a very different love story going on. That love story would be the love between an author and the writing process. All of this book that is not about Jo and Laurie is about Jo and writing. The interactions she has, the conversations she has, the insecurities she feels, the dedication she shows, the utter abandonment of writing at all she goes through, and everything else that develops her writing is like a big love letter to writing. Stohl and de la Cruz seem to focus on the love story of author and writing. A love story explored in interesting ways like Jo’s conversations with her publisher and editor. While the love story between Jo and Laurie is one that is interesting and real at times, the true love story that makes this book such a great read is the love letter from Maragret Stohl and Melissa de la Cruz to writing itself.