Great or Nothing was literally a book I have waited for forever! As someone who loves Little Women, loves historical fiction, and loves books written about and by women, this was truly amazing. I’ve been waiting for a queer retelling of Jo’s character for my whole life and this did not disappoint. If you’re a fan of Little Women, this needs to be your next read!

I really loved the way this book was written and enjoyed Beth being written in verse. Overall, I thought this was a wonderful re-telling of Little Women and the story of 4 sisters. Being a sister means a lot of different things and can be very complicated at times and I think this story does an excellent job of weaving together the different stories and lives of women during a difficult time.

What a joy to read this book as I have always loved Little Women. In this retelling, four authors share the writing with each telling the story of a sister. The story transitioned smoothly so it seems obvious the authors had to collaborate to keep the story transitioning smoothly. Each chapter told a story or actually a chapter in a character's life-- Jo, Amy, and Meg-- who are living the year after Beth, their sister, had died. I thoroughly enjoyed the way Beth, even in death, was portrayed through poetry at the end of each chapter.

We see each sister go their own way as they strive to find themselves and their own independence. Meg remains at home and becomes a teacher in the school she had attended. Frustrated by the fact she is the one who has not had an adventure, she must take a good look at her life to find what she truly wants. Jo heads off to work in an airplane factory and makes makes important decisions about her personal life. And Amy is supposedly in art school in Montreal, but Amy wanted more and lied to get into the Red Cross which put her in England where she found dear Laurie and along the way, found out much about herself. So, obviously, the book was a good one dealing with self-discovery and finding your own path.

For some lovers of Little Women, there may be some problems with the direction of some story lines. If you, like me, love the naivete of reading Little Women as a child, you understand (as an adult) where the plot comes from but it still might upset some.

I think this book could be used in schools especially as it is always interesting to read the same story in different settings. However, as I write this, there are many books being banned for some subject matter and I would hate to see any teacher lose a job by recommending this. It is, however, very innocently written; nothing explicit anywhere. This published through Random House Children's division as a YA book.

I received the book from #NetGalley and #RandomHouseCHildrens for a review. I am asked to share an opinion as an educator. #GreatorNothing

4.5 stars. As a history teacher, I loved the history mixed in with the story. It was heartfelt and very easy to read. Thanks to NetGalley for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review!

The author nailed this. I typically don’t enjoy retellings but this one was beautifully crafted. Loved it.

This was such a wonderful book. You could tell while reading that the author truly did her research. I’ll be recommending to all my students.

Retellings/reimagining are always a bit interesting. I think to do them well, you really need to be a fan of the original work. Little Women is one of my favorite books (also loved the movies…the 94 version is my favorite), and I’ve read many books either based on or loosely tied to Little Women or Louisa May Alcott.

The story of the March sisters is now set against the backdrop of WW2, shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Emotions are running high, and each sister must navigate her way through her own turmoil. Not only are they carrying immense grief over losing Beth, but they are also finding their places in the world– particularly during WW2 when gender roles really started to get pushed with so many men off fighting leaving lots of jobs open for women.

Beth’s story is told in verse. The tone of her pieces is sorrowful and a bit frustrated– she wants her sisters to see themselves and each other as she sees them in her present angelic state. Putting her pieces in between chapters kept a common thread going. For me, her pieces help frame each sister’s story and how they deal with their grief– each does so very differently.

The remaining three sisters tell their stories in alternating chapters. Meg is a teacher and waiting for John. Jo has gone off to work in a factory, and Amy lied her way into the Red Cross. Each placement of the girls fits with their overall personality, and it remains true to the original work to a point. While no one can deny the original work is Jo March, this one allows Meg and Amy to shine a bit more. I found that kind of an interesting choice by the authors.

There is also a notable difference for Jo in this retelling. I think it was written well, but the development felt a tiny bit rushed. It was hinted that she may feel more than friendship for Charlotte, but then it just happened. In thinking about it, it does seem appropriate for the time period in which it is set. It isn’t like Jo could be out comfortably in the 1940s.

If you ask me to read a retelling, any retelling, of Little Women, I will do it! The classic tale of the March sisters lends itself to any time period and any place you can imagine. This retelling takes us into war once again, World War II instead of the Civil War. The four authors each tackled a different March sister. Each sister (Jo, Meg, Beth, and Amy) have such a distinct voice and I think having a different author write each main character was a stroke of genius. Beth tells her story in verse, and the sorrow at her loss is so powerfully told in the short poems. Jo is off working in an airplane factory, mourning the loss of Beth, and holding tightly to anger from a fight she had with Meg and Amy before she left. Meg is a high school teacher, managing the Junior Red Cross, and keeping things going at home in Concord. Amy, using another woman's identity, finds herself a Red Cross volunteer in London. All three are keeping their distance form one another, still carrying hurt and anger, both from their fight and from the loss of Beth. I think this version gives a wonderful perspective about the female experience during the war and how loss and grief can become the greatest period of personal growth.

I loved this book so much. Follows the original Little Women with truth but also gives the characters space to grow and develop in new ways. The four writers demonstrate excellent understanding and depth of their characters and bring the era alive. I particularly enjoyed Beth‘a creative voice and the use of poetry tied her in to the story in a way that would have otherwise been impossible.

This was everything. I love Little Women so much. I loved seeing the March sisters set in a different time and yet stay so true to themselves. I always love Jo, I relate to her so much, but Meg and Amy really got to shine in this book, too. And, lowkey, Beth’s poetry from beyond the grave was so darn moving. I rarely get emotional about that sort of thing, but those portions were really beautiful.

This was stellar.

Four authors voice the infamous March sisters in this novel based on Little Women, set during WWII. Beth, already dead and gone, is present through verse and in her sister's memories. The remaining three sisters have had a falling out that disperses them. While Meg stays home in Concord with Marmee, missing her fellow schoolteacher John; Jo is working in a factory building parts for airplanes; and Amy is supposedly in art school in Montreal but has actually registered for the Red Cross where she has been shipped out to London and is serving as a Doughnut Dolly. More modern subplots address Japanese interrment, Jo's lesbianism, classism, bullying, and coping with grief.

The story contains many period details--music, makeup, brands, hairstyles, books and movies, and slang--that position it during the 1940s. Many are just name dropped in without context. A fan of the original who is of a certain age or older will hear the Glenn Miller orchestra, or envision Victory Red lipstick, but a Gen-X or younger will skim over the reference.

The authors skillfully blend in many details from Little Women, referencing the time Amy burned Jo's manuscript, the time Laurie rescued Amy from falling through the ice, the time Beth got the piano from Mr. Lawrence. Other favorite scenes are incorporated into the present timeline: the time Laurie proposed, the time Sallie lent Meg a dress and Meg made a fool of herself at a party, the time Meg defended John to Aunt March, the time Amy fell for Laurie, the time Jo found a love of her own, the time Marmee confessed her own inner anger (although here, it's Meg she's confiding in, not Jo). The faith, hope, yearning and moral compass of the original is here too, and never saccharin.

Beth's poem(s) at the end of each chapter are a heart-wrenching reminder of her loss. As if writing from heaven, her omniscience view encompasses the past and hints at the future.

The digital version of this book contains letters from the various characters to one another; I found the font difficult to read. The cover, showing the four sisters from the back, in period clothing, allow the reader to imagine herself as one of the faceless characters.

I received an advance reader's review copy of #GreatOrNothing from #NetGalley.

When I read Little Women (or its retellings), I'm reading for the relationships between the four sisters. It's the heart of the story, not their romantic relationships. So when I read a story like this, where the sisters do not interact at all until Chapter 30 (out of 31), it is no longer Little Women to me.

In this retelling of "Little Women," Beth has died of some mystery illness an unclear amount of time before the story starts. Her ghost gives feedback between the chapters in a series of lovely poems. But the major problem lies in the characters that remain. They had a fight at some point between Beth's death and the start of the story (I have no idea when), and it's not clear as to why. I think Meg yells at Jo for not accepting Laurie? Or Jo says something mean to Meg? Or they both think Amy's a snoop? Regardless, we don't see enough of the argument to make me believe the characters need to be apart (no visits, no letters, no phone calls) for literally the entire book.

Perhaps the four authors didn't want to step on one another's toes by writing the others' characters? I don't know. They do not give a clear reason for the failing of the sisterly bond. Each character agonizes over the other sisters, but there is no real understanding of WHY. Or honestly, even why the characters ever care about each other.

Amy and especially Meg's stories fare better than Jo's, which is a shame. This Jo is unrecognizable: sullen and timid about her dreams and afraid of interacting with anyone in her family. While I understand she was dealing with grief, we might have understood this drastic character change a bit better if we'd understood the Beth/Jo relationship (or any of the sisters' relationships, really). We only know Beth as an omnipresent being, and her sisters only refer to her as a perfect angel. There are less "Jo" chapters than the other sisters, which I think was detrimental to her character development, which happened all at once and not at all (though I found her chapters boring and difficult to get through, which was sad because it's JO MARCH).

If I were to recommend this book to anyone, I think I'd make sure they read the original first. There are a great deal of throwaway references to the original, and I don't think I would have understood the characters at all if I weren't so familiar with the source characters.

Great or Nothing follows Meg, Jo, and Amy as they navigate their grief over losing their sister Beth. Not only must they deal with their loss, but they must do so after the United States enters WW2. After having a fight, each girl goes her separate way and attempts to find their own ways to contribute.

Jo leaves for a job working in a factory making plane parts. She is so devastated by her sister’s loss that she stops writing and cannot find any place in the world.

Amy sneaks into the Red Cross to join the Clubmobile program to prove that she is not a kid and is capable of caring for herself. Like Jo, Amy has given up her art in her grief and finds her way back through an unexpected encounter with a family friend.

All the while, Meg is stuck at home. She is a teacher and lead of the Junior Red Cross and Victory Gardens. She suffers with her loneliness and feelings of inadequacy.

This is a heartwarming story and a great picture of the grieving process and how it is different for each person. The sisters must grieve on their own before finding their way back to their sisters.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of women in WW2 as well as Little Women fans everywhere. While I still prefer the original story, I thought this one was done very well.

I loved many parts of this book and disliked many parts. Let’s start with the parts I did love.

I’m usually not a big fan of Meg, she’s always been my least favorite March sister. Yet, this rendition of Meg is down to earth, giving, and loving. Her and John’s story was everything and it made me cry. It felt accurate to the time period and I wanted a whole book on their love.

Amy’s story was unique. I loved it a lot but I so desperately needed more. It was strong but I felt like their could’ve been a whole lot more and in the original book Laurie did love Jo. So I’m shocked that was just brushed off so quickly. I needed more tension between them I think. I liked how her story had political and racial commentary.

Ah, Joy’s poetry gave me the feels the entire novel. Beth in prose was the best part of this whole novel.

Sadly, I didn’t like any of Jo’s story until the queer part came in with Charlie. But it felt very rushed at the end. No real development. Got confused with the characters and hated the fact that she worked in a factory. Didn’t seem true to the original character at all. She was selfish and didn’t have the Jo spunk.

In some ways, I wish that it wasn’t after Beth’s death, but if it wasn’t then the poetry would’ve been different. I guess I just prefer more pure retellings. I feel as though this novel had a lot of potential but it didn’t live up to my high expectations. I wanted to love it. It also just didn’t give me the YA feel I wanted it to. YA books can be sad, but placing the story after Beth’s death the way it did just felt wrong. I want this book to be accessible to those who haven’t read the original and it really isn’t that accessible.

I know it’s hard to compile four different authors and four different characters point of views together. But it could’ve been edited differently. Possibly splitting it up into two different novels or something. Sadly, this was only a 3/5 ⭐️ novel for me

Thank you for an advanced copy of Great or Nothing in exchange for my honest review.

Star Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Historical Fiction
Pub Date: March 8, 2022

This book was highly anticipated, and for the most part, I liked it. But, it also disappointed me at the same time, so I'm somewhat torn on this review. First, I really enjoyed Meg and Amy's chapters. Those chapters particularly added a lot of substance to the character development for Meg and Amy, and I looked forward to reading those chapters the most. Beth's chapters were also interesting and unique; I thought the poems in her chapters were well-developed and tied back to the other chapters really well.

I was disappointed with the book's ending, though, and I was especially disappointed that the ending offered no real conclusion. The book ended abruptly, and there was no resolution for Amy or reconciliation for the sisters. I also found Marmee's representation lacking, and I didn't find her character authentic. I feel like the book should have been edited better.

Overall, this was a nice addition to my Little Women but I don't think I'll buy it for my collection.

Y'all, retellings of classic can be tricky territory. As a reader, I try to judge books in this genre on its own merits, while also keeping the source material in mind. For this, it's a retelling of Little Women during World War II. What's unique and adds so much to the voice of this one and really connects to the original is that each of the four March sisters are written by a different author. I also appreciated that this really centered the different roles that women played in the war and how had the March sisters been in this time where they would have fit in. This both held the spirit of the March sisters/Little Women, while also writing a piece that centered four women navigating love, family, friendship and wartimes together and apart. Thanks to NetGalley for the early look at this gem!

This is a reimagining of the Little Women set in 1942. I’m a huge fan of Little Women, but unfortunately this retelling didn’t do it for me.

Oh my god. The cutest book. I don’t know. I just stayed up all night reading it. Even when I was done I fell asleep on the living room on the couch and never made it to bed. This is definitely a stat option all nighter book! Would read again!

#GreatOrNothing #NetGalley

I loved reading the original Little Women, and have also watched several different versions of the movie.
This book resets the story in WWII time period and each character is written by a different author. The story flows well and didn't feel choppy. I was caught up in the story from the beginning. At the start, Beth has already passed away, but her poems from heaven were so touching and a favorite of mine.
One of my favorite characters from the original was Jo, I have longed to be a writer. The Jo in this story wasn't how I would have pictured her but....
The three sisters have a fight at the beginning of the story., and a division is created and two of the sisters leave Concord. Meg, stays with Marmee and is an English teacher. Jo, works in a factory, putting airplane parts together. Amy, is in the Red Cross, in Londonn England. Amy and Laurie were my favorite characters of the book.
Overall a fun retelling of a best loved story.

Great or Nothing is a wonderful retelling of Little Women that can be enjoyed by both fans of the original and complete newcomers. I was a little skeptical at first of the use of multiple authors, but I found it worked really well to give each March girl their own distinct voice. The characters retain the core of what makes each of them work in Little Women, while still fitting into the updated setting. A great read!