Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Children's Delacorte Press for an ARC of this book

A nostalgic read with familiar characters, little women was the first ever novel I read in English, It was a good read

Great or Nothing by Joy McCullough, Caroline Tung Richmond, Tess Sharpe, and Jessica Spotswood, 400 pages. Delacorte Press (Random House), 2022. $18. lgbt
Language: R (40 swears, 0 “f”); Mature Content: PG; Violence: PG
BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
After Beth’s death and a huge fight, Meg is left alone at home with Marmee to tend to victory gardens and her teaching job. Jo went to work in a factory, and Amy found a way to become a Red Cross volunteer in England. Each sister struggles to fill the holes their sisters once occupied while helping serve their country during WWII—but can rifts be mended while there is so much distance between them?
The authors have reimagined Little Women in the 1940s, and they do a fair job of introducing new ideas while following a lot of the same plot points in the second half of the March sisters’ stories. All of the sisters’ points of view are given, and I loved the poems between chapters. For new and old fans, this is a good read.
The majority of characters are White (American and English), though there are a couple of Black and Asian characters mentioned. The mature content rating is for alcohol use, mentions of tobacco, kissing, and mild innuendo. The violence rating is for death, assault, and mentions of guns, bombs, and war.
Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen

As a lifetime love of LITTLE WOMEN, I was so excited to read this. However, it missed the mark for me. While I did enjoy it, it was nothing like I expected. There was no depth with most of the character's story, despite being a very long book. I might have felt different if the ending had felt resolved but it didn't.

This was a cool retelling of Little Women set in the 1940s, an era I enjoy reading about. I may be one of the few who isn’t super familiar with the original, so I enjoyed this enough but am wondering if it would have held more meaning if I knew the characters from Little Women better. Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC!

Thank you to NetGalley and to Random House Children's, Delacorte Press for an ARC of this book.

I really love Little Women so this book was really intriguing to me. Sometimes retellings of books (especially classics) can be hit or miss for me.

I loved how this book was written from each of the sisters perspectives and each was written by a different person. It did get a little repetitive at some points, but overall I really enjoyed it.

This book was a hit for me.

3.5 stars.
I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. Retellings of classics are either a hit or miss for me. While I initially was a bit hesitant to read this, I did want to give it a chance as it did sound interesting enough. I was glad to have done it, because the story was quite entertaining! I can definitely recommend it.

Thanks to NetGalley for my gifted copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion. DNF at 30%. Couldn’t get into it and I was so hoping that I’d be able to.

Great or Nothing is a retelling of the classic Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, however instead of taking place during the Civil War, the authors have set our story during WWII because we obviously don’t have enough WWII fiction on the shelves. In this retelling, our dear Beth has already passed away, scattering the March girls. Meg stays at home as a teacher, helping Marmee and guiding her students through the ups and downs of growing up during wartime. Jo has jetted off to Boston to build planes and has left her writing to the wayside. Amy has snuck off to London as a Red Cross girl where she learns more about herself and finds a familiar face. Each chapter alternates between the four girls. Beth, while gone, continues to be a presence in the sisters lives as a spectral observer. I really enjoyed the writing style of this book, though I found some elements of the “retelling” to be kind of blegh and unnecessary leading this book to earn a 3 out of 5 stars from me.

I was very excited to receive a copy of this book! I devoured this book in a few days and really enjoyed it. The plot and characters were well-written. The dual points of view also added to the story.

This is a great retelling for a new generation of readers. "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott is a timeless story about the struggles people have finding their place in society as well as their place in a family. It covers all the struggles of growing up and growing apart, but also the amazing strength in the bond that siblings have. While previous generations could only imagine what life was like during the civil war, this is an updated story that takes place during WWII, and does address modern issues with LGBTQ representation.

(thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.)

i've always enjoyed little women retellings, and this one made for a creative addition to my list!

The writing style is evocative and immersive, transporting readers to the 1940s with vivid descriptions of fashion, music, and cultural references of the time. The author's attention to detail helps to create an authentic atmosphere that enhances the reading experience and adds layers of richness to the story.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

A wonderful reworking of Little Women set in the US in 1942, and told from each March sister's POV. Creative and absorbing, and a must-read for anyone who loves the original. Highly recommended!

I thought the concept of this book was interesting but ultimately it fell flat for me. It’s really hard to be compared to the original I’m sure. It just felt like the characters were rather one-dimensional.

The authors each wrote a character, which worked well but it definitely was a different spin on Little Women. A long book with little going on plot wise. The war was a big aspect, the sisters fighting, love interests, and historical events (RedCross Clubmobile, Pearl Harbor, etc). The ending needed more.

While unfortunately this book didn't quite live up to my expectations, I mostly enjoyed reading Great or Nothing! What attracted me to this book in the first place was that each sister's perspective is written by a different author, and while I personally am not a poetry/verse fan, I even found myself enjoying those sections as well.

Additionally, I think that it was really inventive and creative on behalf of the authors to choose to set this story in the 1940s, as it's a time period I've always been a bit interested in (I blame my Molly American Girl doll days for that!), and I feel like the authors really did a good job bringing that time period to life!

Overall, I'm giving this book a solid 3 stars, and I'm looking forward to seeing what these authors come out with next!
(P.S. as a side note, one of the authors, Jessica Spotswood, came out with a very loose contemporary YA Little Women-esque book, The Last Summer of the Garrett Girls, a few years ago, and I would highly recommend that book as well!)

An interesting and emotional retelling of Little Women! The author does a great job capturing each of the March sisters in this WW2 retelling of the modern classic. I particularly enjoyed how Beth’s character was crafted. Told in verse as she watches over her sisters. Meg, Jo, and Amy were true to their original form and I was so happy to revisit with these girls in a different time period.

I always want to love a Little Women remake, but they end up falling flat for me. I know there will be a lot of people who love this book. The characters were written well, the story was creative, it just wasn't my style.

I loved how this book was written, with a different author writing a different sister. Their writing styles really meshed well together, and I honestly couldn’t even tell that it was coming from different people.