3.5/5 stars

Jo & Laurie is a young adult romantic retelling of little women by Margaret Stohl & Melissa de la Cruz. This might be an unpopular opinion, but I am going to share it anyway. I liked the original Little Women, but I didn’t love it like most people. I never felt compelled to re-read it, and it didn’t skyrocket to a favorites list of mine. However, I love both of these authors and when I saw this being dubbed as a romantic retelling I knew I had to check it out. And I am so glad that I did, because I loved Jo & Laurie. So much more than the original! (I know, don’t throw virtual tomatoes or stones just yet!) I know some purists and fans of the original will not want anything to do with a retelling, but I happen to love retellings. They allow new spins to be taken on classics, and I can’t get enough of them. Jo & Laurie is a great book. One I think old and new fans of Little Women will enjoy. And if you have never read Little Women, Jo & Laurie is a really accessible option for you to explore. I think you will love it.

I will start off by saying that I did enjoy Jo in the original Little Women. I loved how independent and headstrong she is. Jo & Laurie explore the possibility of what if, Jo got together with her best friend Laurie (aka Theodore). I felt like the start of this book was trying to mimic Little Women, and it felt a bit dense and slow to me. But at about the half way point, I felt like the authors hit their groove the the pace and story picked up in tempo. I flew through the second half of the book, and I absolutely loved the ending. The characters all felt true to themselves from the original. It was just a different take on the events. I fun little “what-if” played out. I really dug it.

If you have always shipped Jo & Laurie from the original Little Women, or you just like to play the What If game like I do, then I think Jo & Laurie is a romantic retelling that fans will enjoy. It was a story that gained momentum as it went on, and by the end I was really enjoying myself!

3.5/5 stars