Great or Nothing
by Joy McCullough
Caroline Tung Richmond
Tess Sharpe
Jessica Spotwood
5 stars

Going from four march sisters to Three is hard to handle Meg, Jo, and Amy all handle the loss of their sister Beth differently. Also, the United States is reeling from the attack on Pearl Harbor. Meg stays home with her mom; Jo takes off to a factory job, Amy joined the Red Cross in London, and Beth from beyond the grave watches her sisters.
I have never read Little Women, so I wasn't too sure what to compare it to, but I loved it. Beth, I love her little bites in there it is touching and made me cry the most. Jo is stubborn and strong-headed and I love how she knew she was off and wanted to explore and see who she was. Meg is a sweetheart she buries everything and just tries to be the strong one while breaking inside. Amy is a rebellious kid that pretty much frauded her way into the Red Cross. I love how it shows how they all deal with the grief of their sister and the War. They all have so much grief to get through and in the end, they slowly find their way back to each other.
Thank you, Net Galley, and Random House for the ARC for an honest review.

Little Women was one of my favorite books growing up, and I have probably seen the different movie adaptations hundreds of times.

This re-telling of a familiar story, set in the 1940s, is a welcome addition to the March family collection. I especially loved having four different authors voice the sisters. (Beth's poetry at the end of each chapter left me sobbing on more than one occasion.)

I honestly didn't notice that we spent less time with Jo than Meg and Amy until I read it in another review -- but the original story focuses so much on Jo already that it was nice to get to know the oldest and youngest sisters better through their chapters. (I also thought those two authors did a fantastic job with the secondary characters in each of those storylines.)

I felt like Jo's world was the least developed -- and I wished for more connection at the end. Maybe an epilogue would have helped?

This book was a fun reimagining of Little Women. While it held true to many aspects of the original version, I appreciated the changes throughout. I especially enjoyed what Amy chose to do instead of going abroad to work more on her painting. I missed the interactions between the sisters, and that so much of the book involved the sisters being distanced from each other. The reality of their grief over the loss of Beth, and how the sisters and their mother experienced it in different ways, was powerful. I appreciated the details from WWII and the places the different sisters found themselves in.
Thank you NetGalley for the digital ARC and the opportunity to share my opinions on the book!

I enjoyed this! I love reading fresh retellings on classic books and the way this was done was such a feat. It all fit together and was a joy to read.

I just read Little Women for the first time last month and I absolutely loved it. I'm not a huge fan of classics so I was hesitant going into it but I was totally shocked by how much I enjoyed it.
I'm so happy that Great or Nothing lived up to the original! This retelling was done so well and really captured the spirit of Little Women. For having been written by four different authors, it felt like such a cohesive piece of work. I love historical fiction and this one did not disappoint.

I am a HUGE Little Women fan, like read the book every Christmas fan!! I am not normally a big historical fiction fan, but I really enjoyed this one. The Characters were still the same in the ways that matter, but different due to the circumstances of the time period. This was probably one of the better retellings I have read! I think most fans of the original will love this and maybe even the new generations.

I really wanted to love this book since I love little women so much! But I think because I love little women so much it was hard for me to wrap my head around these characters. They are the same, but different and in a different era which was hard for me to picture. I am very curious how a new younger audience will react to the book if they have never read or heard of the original. Whether you have or have not read the original it was still a fun book and a good story. It was quite short and I wanted each sisters story to continue, but that's how I feel about the original as well. Would be a fun companion book for students learning about world war 2 in middle or high school.

I have to confess that I didn’t really like Little Women. But I should also mention that I tried reading it Spring 2020, so it’s probably a book worth revisiting some time. And after reading this retelling I do think I should give the original another try.
(I’d also like to add that I’ve probably only seen parts of the classic movies; but to me Laurie always sounds like Peter Lawford.)


It was setting it in the 1940s and seeing the sisters deal with the war that caught me up in the story. Definitely one of my top eras that I enjoy reading about.
Each author did a great job telling the story of each sister in their own parts. I honestly couldn’t even tell it was different authors, they all flowed from one chapter to the other flawlessly.

Ordinarily, reading books with multiple character POVs, I tend to find one I love and another whose chapters I’d rather read through quickly to get back to the rest; that is not at all the case here. I loved each character and was completely enthralled in each one of their stories.

I absolutely adore the concept of Little Women but set during WWII. I feel the time period fits well with the original themes and struggles of the classic novel. I like how the authors explore various experiences during the WWII era within the lives of the March sisters--anything from factory workers to "Doughnut Dollies" to those doing their part on the homefront. I love all the historical details that frame the stories and individual struggles.

Other aspects of the story didn't work for me. I found it odd to start the story after Beth's death and continually felt that something was missing. Instead of being shown the wonderful relationship between the four sisters, I was told about what life was like before Beth passed away. In addition, I didn't think her poetry sections added much to the story or fit with who Beth is.

I'm shocked to say that of the four sisters I was most intrigued by Amy's story! If this entire book was a retelling of Amy and Laurie's story set during WWII, I would have been 100% content. But switching back and forth to Meg and Jo left me less enthralled. Meg's chapters were just fine, but I found Jo's to be kind of boring and very Un-Jo like. Many of the elements and topics brought up in this book felt like the authors were checking off a list of things to include instead of staying true to the original novel.

The ending also felt rushed and didn't wrap everything up as I had hoped. The aspects I adore about Little Women center around the strong, dynamic relationships between the four sisters. In this book, the sisters spend most of the time apart and fighting so I never felt those close-knit, love-each-other-even-when-they-make-you-mad sister relationships, which was disappointing.

There are definitely aspects of this book I enjoyed, and I continually kept wanting to read the next chapter to see what the authors did. I just wanted something a little different than what I got with this story. I would recommend this to the right reader but not to everybody who loves Little Women.

I’m not super familiar with historical fiction (and I was terrible at history in high school), but I really enjoyed this book! It “brought me” to a completely new place than I’m used to. I really liked how each sister was written by a different author. The chapters all flowed so well with each other, I would’ve never known they were written separately!

While a good book, it is inescapably fanfiction. Joy McCullough took the story of Little Women, moved it a couple decades later, to the start of World War II, and continued to tell the stories of three of the March sisters, while the ghost of Beth inserted poetry in between chapters and cheered her sisters on. After the disastrous marriage proposal, Jo flees to Connecticut to work in a factory building planes, while Laurie enlists and is sent across the ocean to fight. Amy, lying about her age in order to join the Red Cross as a doughnut dolly and help the war effort in a meaningful way, ends up following him to England. Their father reenlists as a Chaplain, leaving the high school teacher Meg home alone with their mother and trying to figure out her life. The story drags out slowly through the middle, but if you reach the end, it'll bring a smile to your face.
Overall, it was a sweet story for those wishing Little Women continued on even longer and an interesting dive into their characterization. The author really dove into their interpersonal relationships and perfectly depicted the arguments between siblings and the reluctance to be the first to offer a hand. I have always loved Jo, so I enjoyed reading her sections the most, as she explored love, friendship, and the dismantling of the patriarchy.

I wasn’t crazy about this latest attempt to adapt Little Women into a different genre and time frame. It was worried by four different people and the voices didn’t blend well. I didn’t care for most of the story lines. This was a pass for me.

I received an ARC from the publisher and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.
Great or Nothing is an ambitious multi-author collaboration, retelling Little Women during World War II, with each of the four authors (Joy McCullough, Tess Sharpe, Caroline Tung Richmond, and Jessica Spotswood) taking on a different March sister. The result is a beautiful story in its own right, paying tribute to what worked in the original story, while also providing fans with a little something new.
One of the first things I noted was the seamless way the perspectives flow into each other. The authors have been pretty vague about who wrote what, other than Tess Sharpe discussing her own queerness and wanting to reimagine Jo as queer. And having read a prior Joy McCullough book before, I inferred that Beth’s portions, written in verse to complement the prose of the other three, are hers, although that is just a guess. I imagine if you’re familiar with all the authors’ work on any level, you might be able to figure it out. However, either way, the way they are able to bring them all together in such a seamless way is remarkable.
As bittersweet and sad as it is, I appreciate the choice to set the story after Beth’s passing, with the sisters scattered on their own individual adventures. It allows each story to feel distinct, not only voice wise, but in terms of the environs they’re in and their respective challenges. And the way Beth was incorporated through those verses, showing her thoughts and emotions toward her family as she observed them moving on with their lives was effective and poignant.
I adore this iteration of Jo…but I can’t say there’s a version of her I haven’t loved. She’s striking out on her own in Boston, doing her bit to contribute to the war effort. She also finds some clarity about her identity upon meeting another woman, Charlotte (who prefers to be called Charlie) at the boardinghouse she’s staying at.
Amy, who often gets unnecessary hate from Jo/Laurie shippers, is also really well fleshed out. She’s also on her own in a new place; in her case, she’s found a way across the pond to London with the Red Cross. She encounters Laurie there, and I love the way his past with Jo and the evolution of their feelings for each other are dealt with. At the beginning, it seems like he sees her as just a sister, but it ends up feeling believable that he sees her, not just another March sister or a substitute for Jo.
Meg’s story highlights the most conventional story for the time period, and that’s not surprising, given her character always favored conventional things to begin with. But the way that’s fleshed out, with the exploration of her own dreams and doubts about them if/when things pan out with John, while also still maintaining the strong love between them. It rings very true to the original, while adding more layers to her and making her more sympathetic.
This is a beautiful, well-crafted novel that will delight fans of the original Little Women. However, you don’t have to have read it to enjoy this book, and I would definitely also recommend it if you enjoy historical fiction about sisterhood and family.

🌟 4/5
🌶 0.5/5
📇 I want to preface this by saying that I have actually never read the original Little Women (gasp - I know, but don’t worry, I will soon). That being said, I think not reading Alcott’s version allowed me to go into this with no preconceptions or ideas of what might happen. A rewrite of a classic is a daunting task, but these authors excelled at it. Each March girl was written by a different author, but I was unable to tell the difference - and Beth was in prose!

Thanks to @NetGalley for the early access to this digital copy!

The best things:
🔹multiple points of views, you got to see the world from each March woman
🔹set a bit more in the future (WW2 instead of Civil War)
🔹I’m a sucker for a happy ending, and this was no exception

The worst things:
🔹it was a little slow for me in the beginning, but once I got into it, I flew through it
🔹stating the obvious here, but death and war

End notes:
🔹highly recommend

Rewriting a class is a difficult task and these four amazing authors knocked it out of the park. I am the type of reader that if I loved the original story, I would read its retelling no matter what, so when I read the description for Great or nothing, I just knew I had to read it. Little Woman is such a classic that it doesn't matter when it's read; the values and morals of the stories can still align with everyone. The characters are lovable and super retable.

I love historical fiction, and one of my favorite periods is in the 1920s, so take my review with a grain of salt if you would. – I like this over the original. There I said. It could be because it's set in New Englandish - or the 1920s - or the poetry in it, but this should be read in school alongside the original and compared in lessons.

Great or Nothing is set during WW2; the march sisters' stories are told separate (as well as written by different authors, not that you could tell because it all flowed together so nicely.) with the chapters alternating between Jo, Meg, Amy, and takes place after the death of Beth (but she is there spoken through poems from beyond the grave).

Reading this felt nostalgic and repurchased me to the first time I read Little Woman. The character felt the same but wherein different timelines – Jo working at an airplane factory, Amy' studying' art in Montreal while volunteering, Meg is teacher, and father is off in the battleships in the pacific. Like the original, each girl needs to learn how to be understanding of themselves, be honest with each other, and figure out how not to let their pride get in the way. Although the morals and values from the original are present, how each sister brings to the destination is different. Jo must figure out how to get over her pride, Amy must have more self-reflection, and Meg needs to stop caring about others' thoughts.

I felt the book was a little short (even 400 pages) and am longing for more. Seeing the march sisters in this new timeline was great, and I can't wait to add this edition to my collection.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Children's Delacorte Press for an advance copy of Great or Nothing in exchange for my honest review.

This is a great reimagining of a well-loved classic.
It is not a secret that I love a good retelling of a classic. While Little Women is not on the top of my favorite classics list, I am a fan of WWII stories and stories told by multiple authors, so I was happy to give this book a try. I am so glad I did. The familiarity of the original story is there, but the adventures and actions are well placed in their new time. While the characters may be familiar, each author did an amazing job creating situations and obstacles for each sister to face. This is not just a retelling of the original story with a different wardrobe or location, this is bring characters we know and considering what they would do in this new situation.
Well-written reintroduction to characters we love and hope they find their happy ending.
While the situations are new, this is still the Jo and Amy and Meg that we love. Much like crossover episodes, the characters may not have always been in the new location, but they still have the same attitudes, reactions, and motivations. We see that throughout this book and it is so great.

I recommend this book for the new adventures of characters we love.
Stars 3.5
Would I Recommend? Yes

I am not usually a historical fiction fan, but a retelling of Little Women is what drew me to this book. I think the idea was unique and the setting seemed natural for this retelling. I do think we needed more of Beth's storyline. The book seemed to be missing something without the background and events of her death. The ending seemed rushed and I really wanted a better story line for Jo. She was my favorite character in the original. It was an interesting reimaging but fell short in the end for me.

In an amazing retelling of Little Women set during WWII, Great or Nothing surprised me in the way it pulled me in & made me feel connected. The March sisters’ stories are told separately, just as they are separated physically, but the story is cohesive & flows. I loved each woman’s voice & was compelled to keep reading to find out what would happen as their stories continued. The stand out component to me was Beth’s voice. She is represented through poems, retelling the past & commentating on the present. Also, poetry was included from my favorite poet, Emily Dickinson, which made my heart happy. What a fantastic read.

A WW2 era version of Little Women. The March sisters are seen in a new era and in a different light. Multiple authors each write a portion and it blended so well. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was unable to finish this book and thus will not be posting a full review of it to my blog. While I love Little Women and generally enjoy historical fiction set during World War II, this book felt awfully contrived to me. I don't think the characters worked in this setting in the way in which this book was written. The writing felt too divergent and the narrative stalled because of it. Thank you for the opportunity.