Meg & Jo
By: Virginia Kantra
Published Year: 2019
Publisher: Berkley
Pages: 400
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This in no way shape or form influenced my opinion of this book.
Summary (Provided by Goodreads): The March sisters—reliable Meg, independent Jo, stylish Amy, and shy Beth—have grown up to pursue their separate dreams. When Jo followed her ambitions to New York City, she never thought her career in journalism would come crashing down, leaving her struggling to stay afloat in a gig economy as a prep cook and secret food blogger.
Meg appears to have the life she always planned—the handsome husband, the adorable toddlers, the house in a charming subdivision. But sometimes getting everything you’ve ever wanted isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
When their mother’s illness forces the sisters home to North Carolina for the holidays, they’ll rediscover what really matters.
One thing’s for sure—they’ll need the strength of family and the power of sisterhood to remake their lives and reimagine their dreams.
First Impressions
This book actually gave me a little pause on first impression. I love the cover and that’s ultimately what sold me, so that part was a strong first impression. The summary on the other hand had me a little concerned. Every time I’ve read a modern retelling of a classic I’ve been underwhelmed. But Little Women was not a huge part of my childhood, so I decided to give it a chance.
What I thought
This book was very delightful! I appreciated how the story was original and completely its own, while still holding the heart of the characters true.
This story is told in alternating perspectives with Meg and Jo. Meg is married with twins and living in their hometown, not too far from their mother. Jo is an aspiring writer living in New York who was recently fired by her newspaper and is now working in the kitchen of a well known restaurant. When their mom gets sick, both girls have to re-evaluate their Christmas plans and decide what’s important to them.
I loved the differences between Meg and Jo’s lives. It made it easy to keep track of each of their chapters as well as felt like I was getting two stories in one. I thought I was going to prefer Jo over Meg just because I’ve always been one to like Jo. I relate to her love of books, independence, and desire to be a writer. But in this retelling, I think I preferred Meg’s story! I liked that she was dealing with normal relationship difficulties as well as finding herself. Jo, who was also finding herself, did so by sleeping with her boss which is not something I could relate to. I also was not a fan of her friendship/possible relationship with her male best friend. It was very underdeveloped and unnecessary.
I also liked the dynamics between all the sisters, including Amy and Beth. I re-read Little Women a few years ago and I think Kantra did a great job capturing their key personality points and the relationships of the family members. I think that aging the characters so they are young adults also really helped to make this story work. Each of the women are finding their way in their lives and seeing how the dreams they had as children work out in their adult lives.
I’ve been in a bit of a reading slump lately and this was one of the few books I’ve read recently that I found myself wanting to pick up and keep reading, over watching TV. It moved quickly and held my interest. Even though it wasn’t a fast paced book with a million things happening and the drama of “what will happen next???” it had just the right amount of everything to make a solid and engaging story with likable characters.
The writing in this book is solid and enjoyable. I loved the characters and getting to see them modernized. I liked that Kantra chose to replicate the characters and not necessarily the plot line. There is a sequel following Amy & Beth and I am already looking forward to reading that one! If you are fond of the Little Women characters, I would definitely recommend checking this book out.