Review: Meg and Jo

Title: Meg and Jo
Author: Virginia Kantra
Genre: Romance, Contemporary, Retelling
Publisher: Berkley
Source: Library
Format: Ebook
Release Date: December 3, 2019
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

The timeless classic Little Women inspired this heartwarming modern tale of four sisters from New York Times bestselling author Virginia Kantra.

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.

Review:

Meg and Jo are the eldest March sisters. Jo moved to New York City to follow her dream of being a writer, but she’s working as a prep chef and writing an anonymous food blog on the side. Meg is the reliable sister who stayed in their hometown and has a family of her own. All of the March sisters are summoned home at the holidays by their mother’s sudden illness. They need to come to terms with the decisions they’ve made and rebuild their family bond.

This story reimagines Little Women. All of the sisters are young adults who have chosen their own paths. Despite living in different cities, they’re all brought back home by their close bond. Even though the characters are older than the girls in the original Little Women, they had to face the same dilemmas. Jo was conflicted about following her dreams, and had an affair with an older man. Meg took her place as the oldest sister by looking after everyone, but she ended up with too much on her plate. They were the same characters, but older and in a contemporary world.

The bond of sisterhood was important in this story. There were other famous sisters mentioned throughout the story which reinforced this sisterhood bond. Meg and Jo referred to themselves as Elizabeth and Jane from Pride and Prejudice many times. The sisters liked to watch White Christmas which also has a famous pair of sisters. The relationship between Betty and Judy in White Christmas was more of a mother/daughter relationship, which represents the bonds between Meg and Amy, and Jo and Beth. Both of the sisters mothered one of the younger girls. Despite all of the problems the March girls faced, they supported each other.

This was a great retelling of Little Women. The sequel, Beth and Amy, comes out in a couple of weeks, and I’m excited to read it!

What to read next:

Have you read Meg and Jo? What did you think of it?