Thank you to Netgalley and the author for the review copy in exchange for a review.

I really liked this retelling of Little Women. I really liked how each author wrote for a different sister and I loved the poetry woven through the chapters. This story actually made me like Amy (Normally she is one of my least favorite characters and I really loved reading her story in this book) I also really loved all of the other sisters stories. I adored setting it in WW2 - I really want to see more fiction about WW2 that focuses on the home front and how it impacted the people there. I loved how the stories were tied together in the end. Overall I think this book was a really amazing read and I think fans of Little Women would love it.

I’m always a sucker for a good re-telling and I’ve gotta say, this reimagining of Little Women, taking place during WWII, absolutely knocked it out of the park! I absolutely loved what the author did here with Great or Nothing and I thought it all made for one enjoyable, fresh, and unique read.

The reader gets to experience the story through the lens of three March sisters, Meg, Jo, and Amy, and then Beth’s in verse. I enjoyed coming alongside each character here as they faced their challenges and navigated a changing world. I found myself rooting for them and was sad to part with the beloved March sisters upon turning the last page. Besides the wonderfully-written characters, the story itself wove together so perfectly and I was thrilled by the way things came together throughout and wrapped up by the end. A story of love, heartache, and finding oneself. And I feel it’s worth mentioning that despite being written by several authors, the plot was seamless and stellar!

Whether you’re a Little Women lover, somebody who loves maybe historical fiction, or maybe just on the hunt for a little something different in your reading life, this is a book I’d recommend! It was a gem!

Many thanks to Random House Children’s/Delacorte Press and NetGalley for the gifted e-copy!

I’ll read anything Joy McCullough writes and I’ll urge anyone to read her books as well. When this WWI era Little Women retelling was announced, co-authored with Caroline Tung Richards, Tess Sharpe, and Jessica Spotswood, I wanted it on my shelf immediately. The unique structure and heartbreaking premise is enough to know that this book might destroy and uplift me, much like Joy’s Blood Water Paint did. I think I’m ready.

A reimagined version of “The Little Women” and is set during World War ll. I have mixed feelings with this book. I like how the sisters were individualized by different authors. However, I felt that this was repetitive throughout. Also, I left like this was longer than it should have been.

My rating is 3 stars.
Thank you NetGalley and publishers for this ebook for an honest review.

Reimagining Little Women in WWII, the story follows the March sisters in the aftermath of Beth's death as they each do their part during the war.

I thought that it was a wonderful idea to change the time period of Little Women, with 4 different authors to represent the 4 sisters with Beth's chapters in verse. The story does a great job of imagining the characters while also taking creative liberties to make it their own. I found the story well written and but also lacking in arc. I loved that Beth was still a part of the story. II felt like while the story stayed true to the characters in some ways, that it didn't stick with the main theme of the original which was their sticking together through thick and thin, instead tragedy drives them apart.

Overall it was a nice book with plenty of promise, but didn't ultimately deliver in the way I had hoped.

First sentence: There was a moment in each day where she forgot. It never came at the same time; if it had, perhaps then Jo could have been prepared for it. But how could you prepare for forgetting, just for a moment, that what once was a quartet had been reduced to a trio? There was no rhyme or reason to the moments she stumbled. 

Premise/plot: Four authors have teamed up to spin a retelling of Louisa May Alcott's Little Women. This retelling is set during World War II. It opens AFTER Beth's death. Amy, the youngest, is seemingly at art school [not really!], Jo is off working at a factory, and Meg is teaching at the local school. The sisters aren't really in the best place. Jo, in particular, is choosing not to speak with any of her sisters--in particular, Meg, or her mother. She is still dazed [hurt, confused, out of sorts] by Laurie's most unwelcome proposal. [How dare he?!?!?!] And she does not want to stay at home missing Beth. None of the girls do, not really. Meg stays because she loves teaching, loves her mother, and I think she's wise enough to know that no matter where she goes she'll always be missing Beth, still worried about the war. In alternating chapters, the story comes together. It is a coming of age story for all three. Don't let Meg staying at home fool you, she is still living life. She's not a "nobody" because she chooses to stay at home. 

Beth, though deceased, is still holding the family--and this book!!!--together. Her sections are told in verse. 

My thoughts: My curiosity was very high. A World War II retelling?!?!?! I loved the premise of these young women coming of age during this time period! It seemed to me to make absolute perfect sense that Jo would, of course, be doing her part and getting work at a factory. Meg as a teacher, likewise, felt right. [Meg doesn't always get the love and appreciation she deserves.] Amy is VERY Amy. I was going to not spoil it, but, since the book description says it clearly--well, so will I. Amy has "stolen" the identity of another applicant and is a Red Cross volunteer in London. Conveniently located to bump into the dreamy Laurie. 

Though I'm normally not a fan of alternating narrators, I ABSOLUTELY LOVED, LOVED, LOVED it in this one. I didn't love all the narrators perfectly equally--I didn't. [But that is perhaps to be expected. I feel the same way with the source material.] Beth's poems made the novel for me. I loved them oh-so-much. In one of the Marvel movies--I think the second Spider-man movies--Peter Parker is gifted these awesome glasses with the acronym E.D.I.T.H which stands for EVEN DEAD, I'M THE HERO. And such is the case with Beth and her poetry. For me at least.

Great or Nothing by Joy McCullough, Caroline Tung Richmond and Tess Sharpe

Q.O.T.D: If you could time travel to any era, what era would it be and why?

A.O.T.D: I’d like to travel to the Victorian era but I wouldn’t want to stay long because I would miss indoor plumbing and electricity! 😂

Description:
A reimagining of Little Women set in 1942, when the United States is suddenly embroiled in the second World War, this story, told from each March sister's point of view, is one of grief, love, and self-discovery.

In the fall of 1942, the United States is still reeling from the attack on Pearl Harbor. While the US starts sending troops to the front, the March family of Concord, Massachusetts grieves their own enormous loss: the death of their daughter, Beth. 

Under the strain of their grief, Beth's remaining sisters fracture, each going their own way with Jo nursing her wounds and building planes in Connecticut, Meg holding down the home front with Marmee, and Amy living a secret life as a Red Cross volunteer in London--the same city where one Mr. Theodore Laurence is stationed as an army pilot.

Each March sister's point of view is written by a separate author, three in prose and Beth's in verse, still holding the family together from beyond the grave. Woven together, these threads tell a story of finding one's way in a world undergoing catastrophic change.

Have you read this book?
This story is of grief and the process the March women took to find each other. A great way to retell the story of the March sisters. Each sisters narrative is written by a different author.
⭐️⭐️⭐️

“Great or Nothing” by Joy McCullough, Caroline Tung Richmond, Tess Sharpe, and Jessica Spotswood is a reimagined version of “Little Women” set during World War II. I loved the original story! I read the abridged version in elementary school and the real novel in high school. Louisa May Alcott created characters that you cared about and wanted to know more about. I feel like this story is a little flat. They tried to make the story woke. I think if this was just marketed as a new book, I would have liked it better because I kept comparing it to the original.
On an episode of Friends, Joey put the real “Little Women” book in the freezer because the story upset him too much. I want to put this in the freezer because it wasn’t for me. I received a complimentary copy of the book from Random House Children’s through NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

I was surprised by this book, it treads ground you know, but gives it a really great twist. I love every character and feel they are true to the roots of the original characters. The time period was a perfect backdrop and I really enjoyed the plot. So sweet! Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

This ARC was offered in exchange of an honest and impartial review:
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4*
Pros: A Little Women retelling set after Beth's death and having World War II as a backdrop. Definitely refreshing and somewhat faithful interpretation of the classic characters, with a few extra layers of complexity. LGBT+ representation. Interesting historical elements included, such as war-time city and country-wide measures, the many ways women helped the war efforts, important and varied PoVs.
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Cons: While some scenes felt deep, others were too superficial to be used as premises.

Great or Nothing, a reimagining of Little Women set in 1942, finds Meg at home with Marmee, as her boyfriend John, her father, and their family friend Laurie are off at war. The family is struggling with Beth's death and grieves in a variety of ways. The sisters have a falling out and Jo heads off to work as a riveter at an airplane factory, Amy lies about her age and joins the Red Cross in London, and Marmee buries herself in charity work. Meg resents her sisters leaving and flirts with dating another man, Jo finds herself attracted to a female journalist, and Amy runs into Laurie in London, where they fall in love. The stories, penned by four different authors, are told by Jo, Meg, and Amy, with Beth adding free verse observations between chapters. More than distance separates the girls, as they struggle toward adulthood and rediscovering their sisterhood.

Description: "A reimagining of Little Women set in 1942, when the United States is suddenly embroiled in the second World War, this story, told from each March sister's point of view, is one of grief, love, and self-discovery."

This is a beautiful retelling of the classic Little Women. It had nostalgia for the original but was well done for it's narrative. I always enjoy points of view chapters in books and this one is no different. It allowed more connection to each girl, even though the story takes place after a character is no longer around.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and publisher for this arc in exchange for a review!

I admire authors that have the hutzpah to undertake the retellings of classic novels, and manage to create something exciting that feels new, but keeps the nostalgia of the original. Four different authors, one for each sister, collaborated seamlessly here. Moving the familiar story of the March family from the Civil War era to WW2 was a solid foundational idea. While the idea is perfect, the execution is not quite.
Starting with the good, I particularly enjoyed reading about Meg’s experiences as a schoolteacher. The poems from Beth's perspective are beautiful and haunting at times (fitting). Maintaining a wartime setting keeps the effects of the homefront and community efforts in play, but the time jump forward about a hundred years opens new possibilities. I also LOVED getting to see more of Amy and Laurie's relationship. This is rushed through in most adaptations, so I was excited to see this new take and get more time to enjoy it. I love the LGBTQ rep as well.

Where I get a little lost is the change in dynamic with the March sisters. I think the central theme of the story has always been the close family bonds with the Marchs. So to lose that here is jarring and a bit disorienting. Yes, it's nice to see more of the sisters as individuals, but the lack of them as a cohesive unit seems antithetical to the original story. My other complaint is just that the story is long (400 pages) and yet most of the storylines seem lackluster when it comes to action. It's like following a character through an average day in their life when nothing consequential really happens. for large chunks.

All in all, I enjoyed reading the story and revisiting these characters.

I received a free copy from NetGalley. What if Little Women had a part two? That is what this book is. The girls are older, off in different places and starting careers, jobs, and dates with still so much of the story being how they relate and react to each other, keeping the sibling vibe that started in Little Women. Having read and watched Little Women several times, I like that they took the characters and added to the story, instead of just putting their own spin on what is already out there. Worth the read if you are a Little Women fan.

What if Little Women was set in the 1940s and the sisters were all doing something for the war effort? A historical fiction retelling of a beloved classic. That sounds good right? Well, it is! And that is exactly what Great or Nothing is about. And I know I didn’t really make it sound exciting there but here me out!
The story starts sometime after the Big Fight (where Amy burns Jo’s manuscript) and after Beth has died (both events happen in the original as well, so these shouldn’t be spoilers). After this, the three remaining sisters have gone their separate ways. Jo has moved out, and is working in a factory on the assembly line making parts needed for planes. She has seemingly given up writing.
Amy, if you’d ask her sisters, is headed to art school in Canada. However, the art school was a ruse, and against her family’s wishes (and the law), she has boarded a boat to England to help out as a nurse with the Red Cross. In doing so, she has taken on a different name, as Amy herself was too young to go. Soon she finds herself in London, where she comes face to face with an old friend…
Meg has stayed home. Her fiancé is fighting in Europe, and Meg is working as a teacher at the local school. She misses her sisters. She misses her fiancé. She spends time with their mother, being the only sibling left at the nest.
And Beth? Beth watches all of their stories unfold, feeling sorrow that she’s no longer part of them but also happiness at seeing her sisters grow and move on.
The novel is written by four different authors, and each author takes on their own sister. Though this can sometimes cause a disruption in voices and writing style, where the different writing style can be off-putting or throwing you off, I didn’t notice any of that. The writings were at least similar enough for me to not notice, with of course the exception of Beth, whose chapters are written in verse. But that makes sense, since she’s no longer actually part of the unfolding story, but, just like the reader, a mere spectator.
Having multiple POVs can also be tricky. There always might be that one character that you are simply not interested in. I know I had that with A Song of Ice and Fire, for example. However, with this one, all three stories were so different and yet all so interesting. All three hooks of the story were compelling, yet it wasn’t overwhelming. I loved Amy’s adventures in London, I loved seeing her come to terms and make peace with the Big Fight. And at the same time I also loved Meg’s life, though that was objectively slightly less action-packed. But Meg was written to help out in her own way, by keeping morale up in the community. I loved how the book highlighted different ways of existing and living in the war, and that there was no bad way to go through it, whether you were out helping at the front or stayed home or worked on the assembly line, all was just as good and worthy of praise.
There weren’t many dynamics between the sister, mostly because they spent most of the book in completely different parts of the world. But you could still feel their love for one another, their regrets as well, and it was lovely seeing them each come into their own person and go from there, the message really being that sometimes space is necessary.
All in all, I absolutely loved this book. I am always a sucker for retellings and for historical fiction, so this hardly could have been a miss. The setting was vivid, the writing was really good and enchanting and really engaging; it swept me right along. It’s mostly character driven, because their bond as sisters as well as their own growth is at the front and center of it all, but there are some very interesting plot hooks. Especially Amy’s perspective had me on the edge of my seat sometimes (mostly with the romance) and Jo’s had me squealing throughout for that exact same reason.
Definitely give this a go if you:
- Like Little Women
- Love historical fictions
- Like Sapphic fiction (cause there’s a bit of that as well!! Not gonna say who but… I think you can guess who ;))
- Like a character driven story

I don't think I have ever read any reimagined version of Little Women, but I am so glad this one exists. I think it was great to have a retelling of such a beloved story, still written as historical fiction, but during WWII, and written by a contemporary writer who could give these characters new life. I absolutely loved the way the author tied Beth into this book, looking down on her sisters and writing in poetic form, it may have been my favorite part of the whole book. Little Women is one of my favorite books of all time, and WWII fiction is my favorite genre of all time, so having them married to create this book was wonderful. I highly recommend Great or Nothing to any fan of Little Women, it won't disappoint.

This book was really good! I love retelling with a twist which was just what this book was. I liked that we got to see the aftermath of the death of a certain character as well

First of all, I liked that all the different point of views were different and each had their own voice. They weren’t too similar and were all enjoyable. Each character was interesting and so was their story. The plot was good as well with all the different stories happening and making them intertwine.

The book was a little long or would drag in some parts. For example, it felt like it took a long time for the family to get together again. I found it hard to get through the book at certain points, but that could just be me.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to retelling and Little Women lovers.

I enjoyed this retelling of classic March sisters. I love 1940s history, so that twist was interesting to read about. Jo in the 40s is exactly how I would imagine her and I liked the twist on LGBTQ relationship.

I absolutely adore Little Women, and this WWII reimagining of the March girls was such a treat. All four stayed true to themselves while also finding ways to surprise me and keep me guessing. Meg and Amy's chapters were my favorites, which shocked me since I have always been a Jo girl. The authors we're able to give them so much agency and personality. I highly recommend this charming remix!

A book in which the setting is a character itself, full of interesting ideas and strong women. My expectations may have been too high, as I hold a deep love for both Little Women and the 1940s. Due to this, I felt that I didn't get quite what I anticipated from this book. It was an enjoyable, engaging read overall, just lacking in the kind of magic I was hoping for. Still a solid novel, and one which I would recommend that most libraries purchase.