Review: Meg & Jo by Virginia Kantra

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Meg & Jo by Virginia Kantra was one of my most anticipated books on the year. I love Little Women and I LOVE retellings. I think it comes from my Shakespeare training. There are a million ways to tell a single story and done well, we can find so many more nuances! The movie She’s The Man? That’s Shakespeare! Originally Twelfth Night. 10 Things I Hate About You? Taming of the Shrew.  So needless to say, I am HERE for retellings. But Meg & Jo left me feeling...meh.

Synopsis: In this retelling, the March family lives in rural North Carolina. Jo has followed her dreams to New York City where she works as a prep cook for a handsome chef, secretly writing a food blog by night. Meg seems to have it all, her handsome husband and children. But when their mother falls ill, the elder March sisters are forced to return to their childhood home.
What I Loved: 

  • Seeing more of Meg and the struggles of balancing life as a mother and an individual. I think it is SO 👏🏻 IMPORTANT 👏🏻 to allow women to express that they have an undying love for their children, while still wanting *more* as a person with a career or passion.

  • I was kinda into Bhaer as a chef. It was a fun dynamic and I love behind the scenes of restaurant life. 

  • Marmee’s (or Mama’s) frustrations with her husband always being gone. Greta Gerwig also explores this in the new movie and i think it’s a really interesting dynamic to lay into, rather than just seeing Saintly Marmee handling everything with grace. It humanizes her, makes her more relatable IMHO. 

  • More justice for Amy March!

What I didn’t like/felt unsure about: 

  • The writing didn’t feel updated. I haven’t read any Virginia Kantra, but I felt like I was reading Alcott and I don’t think that’s the point of retellings. Give me your take on the story!

  • Trey (Laurie). Just...all of him. 

  • Only getting Meg & Jo’s perspective! But Beth & Amy is due out later this year and even though this was “meh” for me I’ll still read it (LOL).

Character Authenticity: 3/5. Steam: 2/5 Overall Rating: 3/5

Book ReviewPhoebe WrightComment