I have struggled to rate Alcott’s ‘Little Women’, on the one hand it was a really sweet and wholesome read that I appreciated, but on the other hand it really wasn’t my thing. It is the tale of the four March sisters: Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy, focusing primarily on their sisterly bond in childhood but in the latter half them finding love and marriage. It was charming and lighthearted, quite well written and with Jo as the central character a love of wider literature at its heart, but then also really digestible and readable. It is after all somewhat considered as a children’s classic. I really liked the character of Laurie, and also am headcanoning Jo as an autistic icon. There is no doubt she is on somewhere on the spectrum. I do have to say though despite how much of a free-spirited character she is I partly wish she would have stayed that way rather than eventually conforming to what society expects of her. In places ‘Little Women’ was tragic too and can be an emotional read, though it is brimming with positivity through and through. 

On an opposite line of argument I really struggled with this book in places. I wouldn’t say it felt ‘too long’ however it did take me a very long time to get through, and the story was too simple to keep me gripped at times. I can assume this matter wasn’t helped by the rare case that I had seen the film before reading the book, and also seen a theatre adaptation, hence was very familiar with the plot and nothing really surprised me as a consequence. It is also just not my style of book, with a focus on sisterhood, family and marriage dynamics, it lacks a lot of what I gravitate to in literature. 

It was sweet and light-hearted, doing its job in that department, and I am glad to have now read it, but thats about all it does for me.