Mini book review: Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy

Hello bookworms!! Today’s Monday Mini’s is a mini book review for Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy. This is a modern-day graphic novel retelling of Little Women, by Rey Terciero and Bre Indigo.

Mini book review: Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy

Title: Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy

Author: Rey Terciero, Bre Indigo (and Louisa May Alcott as the original author)

Release date: 5 February 2019

Goodreads link

Book depository link

Rating:

Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy blurb:

Little Women with a twist: four sisters from a blended family experience the challenges and triumphs of life in NYC in this beautiful full-color graphic novel perfect for fans of Roller Girl and Smile.

Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy are having a really tough year: with their father serving in the military overseas, they must work overtime to make ends meet…and each girl is struggling in her own way. Whether it’s school woes, health issues, boy troubles, or simply feeling lost, the March sisters all need the same thing: support from each other. Only by coming together–and sharing lots of laughs and tears–will these four young women find the courage to discover who they truly are as individuals…and as a family.

Meg is the eldest March, and she has a taste for the finer things in life. She dreams of marrying rich, enjoying fabulous clothes and parties, and leaving her five-floor walk-up apartment behind.

Jo pushes her siblings to be true to themselves, yet feels like no one will accept her for who she truly is. Her passion for writing gives her an outlet to feel worthy in the eyes of her friends and family.

Beth is the shy sister with a voice begging to be heard. But with a guitar in hand, she finds a courage that inspires her siblings to seize the day and not take life for granted.

Amy may be the baby of the family, but she has the biggest personality. Though she loves to fight with her sisters, her tough exterior protects a vulnerable heart that worries about her family’s future.

For starters, this retelling of Little Women is adorable. The graphics are bright and colourful, which is such a contrast to the dull feeling of the original books. Not that the original books are dull themselves, just that the era they are written in was primarily full of drab or dark colours if you weren’t rich, and this is translated into the descriptions in the books and even the costumes and props in the movies.

I also loved how Terciero and Indigo kept a lot of the same themes of the original text (gender bias; feminism and societal pressures of what you should have vs what you want; war and families being split because of it; socioeconomic pressures to either work or marry up if you are middle class; etc.) and really made them feel real in a modern context. Because these themes are still relevant in today’s society. Sure, it might not be the exact same situations as we have moved on as a society on some things. But the overarching pressures that force people to make hard decisions about their family and/or their livelihood are still there.

I loved how they made the March’s a blended family, as so many families are these days. Meg and Jo are step-siblings, each from a different parent, and Amy and Beth are the product of their parents coming together.

Look, not everything is perfect (except for The Scorpio Races). The story deals with things such as homophobia, being closeted, fatphobia, war injuries and the benefits of being a trophy wife. They are mostly dealt with well, but not everyone will agree with the character’s choices in these regards. And that’s the beauty of having an opinion. I don’t necessarily agree with what Meg does and says, but I felt the same in the original stories too, so at least everything is consistent.

For a modern-day adaptation of Little Women, I think this story does it exceptionally well. In fact, I’d even go so far as to say it’s one of the best I’ve ever seen.

I don’t believe they are doing the other three books (yes, Little Women was a 4 book series in the end). But that’s fine. I love where Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy ends, as it’s still a happy, hopeful story.

Have you read Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy?