a kiss on the cheek from Freddie? It all felt a bit too tame, which is not at all the vibe I get from Alcott’s Little Women.

Beth is cancer-free! She has to practice the flute and gets better at it with practice! Jo just needs to write more and then her writing is better and people praise it! We miss Father but he video chats with us and is encouraging! Meg is tutoring kids and sure blushes whenever she brings up Jon (whom we never see)! Amy likes to draw! Even Jo’s coming out, which could have been a really cool modern update and given a lot of interesting depth to her relationships with everyone, was simply met with “cool!” and “yay!” and “great!” and we never had to confront any difficulties or worry about her having any problems thereafter. Everyone was so peppy and positive and sweet and supportive.Įvery attempt to add conflict to the plot was so mild and resolved with so little effort or struggle. It felt like the characters were saying “the right thing” and performing rather than speaking as complex characters. Dashwood, the newspaper editor, for normalizing introducing yourself and your pronouns!) On the other hand, because I already knew the characters and the story, I expected the novel to do more in the way of making things new and interesting, and it disappointed a bit on that front. On the one hand, it’s Little Women! I liked the illustrations and seeing how the plot translated to the modern world.

Jo kathleen gros