I am a huge fan of the classic, “Little Women” and loved this concept of the story from the other sisters. However, I felt a disconnect and some of the characters felt flat to me.

The Other March Sisters, co-written by Linda Epstein, Ally Malinenko, and Liz Parker and given to me as an ARC thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Publishing, takes us into the day-to-day lives of Amy, Meg, and Beth and reveals who these women are outside Jo's gaze. Women living in the late 19th century in a world that is very much shaped by gender roles and the image of women as the perfect wifes.

We travel with Amy to the European continent, where she discovers her true purpose in life as she tries to find a husband to ease her family's financial burdens; we enter Meg's marital life, where she finally finds love for her husband and herself as she discovers her natural medicine skills; and we visit the March home through Beth, who finds a glimmer of hope amid her illness in piano teaching and a person she didn't expect to steal her heart.

The Other March Sisters is a beautiful story, the first of 2025 to which I have given 5 stars, that talks about the difficult relationship that women found between family duty and personal growth and the barrier that gender stereotypes bring to a truly full life (because yes, there are queer characters in this novel because yes, they have existed since the world has been a world). A story that I recommend and that has captivated me from the beginning to the end.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for providing me with an advanced copy of The Other March Sisters. Unfortunately, I decided to set this one aside before finishing.

As a fan of Little Women and retellings, I was excited about exploring new perspectives in the story, but this book didn’t work for me. The storyline about Marmee and Mr. March pressuring Amy to marry to secure the family’s financial stability, which is mentioned in the book blurb, ended up being a much heavier focus than I expected. This felt like a significant departure from their values in the original, and it was repeated so often that it became off-putting.

The final straw for me was a long letter presented as small images which were difficult to read on. Between that and my difficulty connecting with the character changes, I realized this wasn’t the right fit for me.

DNF.
Thank you NetGalley for the e-arc of this book in exchange of an honest review.
I don’t think this is a bad book, that is not the reason I DNF it, and I want to make that completely clear because I don’t want to discourage people from reading it.
The truth is, Little Women is one of my favorite classics of all time, I hold that book and its characters so close to my heart, and I understand that is difficult to fulfill my expectations when it comes to adaptations or new works of fiction based on it.
I have to admit I was a little bit bored, specifically because I didn’t feel like I was learning anything new about the characters, which was the main reason I was so excited about this book. Maybe I will give it another chance moving forward in the year, we will see.

This is a lovely book for fans of Little Women. It is set out in four parts, each following the lives of Jo, Amy and Beth as imagined by the author. All of them set on different paths, but writing letters to each other to keep each other up to date and seek solace in each other as they find their way through life. The final part ends back with Amy, closing the story we began in part 1.

Overall, this is a really enjoyable book, gentle, loving, and very soothing.

My thanks to Netgalley and Kensington Publishing for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Having read and loved “Little Women” as a much younger reader, I found the story told from the perspectives of Meg, Beth, and Amy refreshingly different. They were realistic characters with the emotions, questions, and concerns of women. The story tells of Meg’s learning about medicinal plants, Amy’s growth as an artist, and Beth’s coming to terms with a debilitating illness. These are characters that the readers will grow to love and respect for their strong character. I didn’t want to story to end!

Thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the digital copy of this book; I am leaving this review voluntarily.

When it comes to classic books, I have a soft spot for Little Women. I can’t remember when I was first exposed to the book, but I knew I wanted to be Jo, as did many other young girls. But the story of Little Women is solely about Jo, with everyone else as a minor character. The Other March Sisters explores the familiar story from the points of view of Meg, Beth, and Amy, written by three different authors, who tie the stories together seemlessly.

The Other March Sisters is a feminist retelling of Little Women, as well it should be! The original book inspired generations of girls to dream of being a writer, of taking care of everything in the household because there was no man there, of not settling for the easy choice. Meg, Beth, and Amy all have their own struggles, and how they approach and push through those struggles to come out on the other side is part of the reason I loved this book. I especially liked how the authors used Anna, Lizzie, and May Alcott’s actual writings and life experiences to round out these characters more.

This book is getting a lot of flak on social media and review sites because there’s an LGBTQIAP+ storyline. All I have to say is that these people need to grow up. You think being queer is uniquely a 20th and 21st century thing? Hardly. If you know where to look, you can find representation in all sorts of art, from drawings to books to sculpture and paintings dating back centuries. Being queer is not new, they’re not going away, they won’t be silent, so you better get used to it.

In the endearing classic LITTLE WOMEN, Jo March is our lively protagonist. In this retelling, sisters Amy, Meg, and Beth are front and center. Meg, although married and raising twins, feels unmoored until her garden brings her to life. Youngest Amy, exploring the sites of Europe, learning of art and love and dear Beth; while her family defines her by her illness, she finds the courage to allow herself to finally live. This novel has a contemporary feel and is loaded with hear

This book came at an apt time as I just visited Orchard House where Louise May Alcott wrote Little Women.

Little Women has always been an accessible lovely classic to me, and I have read quite a few variations on the sisters previously.

This story shows the point of views of the “other March sisters” Amy, Meg and Beth. For Amy it is set during her travels to Europe, her encounters with Fred Vaughn, her artistry and her meetings with Laurie. For Meg, it shows more of her relationship with John and being a mother to the twins while pursuing interests of her own helping women through her work in the Garden. For Beth it follows her illness and her making a new acquaintance who she grows very close to, giving her a new and unique voice.

My favorite point of view was that of Beth, who I always wish we had more time with, and her story felt grounded in the essence of Orchard House and the sister's connection.

A running theme through the book was a criticism of their parents, especially Marmee which was a new take I have not seen before.

Overall, 3.5 stars - an enjoyable read that goes into a deeper dive to the lives of the March sisters.

Thank you Kensington Publishing and Net Galley for this advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Little women is one of my all-time favorite books. Perhaps I did not read the description carefully enough, but this was not just retelling Little Women from other point of views. It completely changed who everyone was. I can't and won't recommend it.

I am one of the authors of this book. I requested on NetGalley so I could see what the ARC looked like but didn't want my review ratio to suffer! I hope you enjoy the novel. :)

Return to the world of Little Women with The Other March Sisters! Unlike other recent retellings, this one doesn't attempt to modernize the characters and story. Instead, it chooses to explore the personalities of Amy, Meg, and Beth further with a few chapters in each sister's POV, set during the second half of the original book after Jo takes off for New York. There is a lot of fresh, original content with references to the old familiar scenes, slightly spun by sharing another sister's viewpoint of the events that were previously told from Jo's POV.

The theme focuses on the challenges women faced in being treated as second-class citizens at that time and society's expectations, which resulted in a lack of choice for many. I think in the original, I just accepted that for what it is, and Jo's headstrong nature and the path she followed were definitely not the norm for the time, so it didn't dwell as much on the expectations placed on the sisters who didn't choose to forge such a bold path. Marriage, motherhood, and women's lack of choice in both are front and center in this version. In some ways, it jaded me to see these characters in a new light, but it added new dimensions that made me appreciate the old story and my opportunities and freedoms even more.
Several authors co-write the book. I believe they each took a sister, but I couldn't tell that it wasn't the same author as the writing is consistent throughout and really mimics the same language style as the original, making it feel more like a spinoff than a retelling. It definitely made me nostalgic for the classic! I highly recommend it to anyone who has a love for Little Women.

Thank you, NetGalley and Kensington Publishing, for sending this DRC for review consideration.

I remember reading Little Women when I was about 12 years old, and though that’s been decades, it’s a story that has stayed with me surprisingly well.

Short Synopsis:
THE OTHER MARCH SISTERS brings voices to the the three other main characters of The Little Women - Amy, Meg and Beth. The authors have pulled from the original text but also quotes, journals and articles from the characters real life inspiration and gave them a voice in all the things Jo couldn’t possibly know.

My Thoughts:
It’s no secret here that historical fiction is generally not my genre of choice. But I was captivated from page one. I loved reading about Amy and her finding herself and chasing her own happiness. And Meg doing her best to not lose herself in a marriage in the 1800s while also finding ways to aide others. And then there’s Beth, with her outwardly sweet disposition but her intrusive dark thoughts she keeps hidden to make her family more comfortable.

It was such a well-written, beautifully thoughtful novel, and one that I will carry with me for awhile.

What You’ll Find:
📖Little Women reimagining
3️⃣Multi-POV
📚Historical Fiction
❤️‍🩹Chronicle Illness
🌿Herbalism
🎨Women Artists
🫶Queer Love and characters

4/5 ⭐️
Little Women was the first novel I ever read, so of course when I saw the title “The Other March Sisters” I jumped to the opportunity to read it. The writing of this book is marvelous and you get to enjoy all the characters in it. Thank you NetGalley for providing me with this ARC.

I am surprised that this is not an angle of a classic staple of girlhood that I have read before. A life-long Jo, found it interesting although at times I feel like exploring the theme of motherhood and marriage not being enough for Meg kind of goes against the point that not all happiness looked like Jo's. Still overall a good read.

Rating: 5/5 (but should be so much more) stars!!

Review: First off, how can I not love a book that’s based of another one of my favorite books? Second, this book addresses so many topics that are relevant to today. The way they recreated the characters of Meg, Amy, and Beth is just phenomenal. Watching them discover what truly matters in life other what people expect of you is going to hopefully inspire readers to do their own research in life and make a difference. Conservatives, this book is definitely not for you but honestly definitely going to be recommending this to several people to see their reactions. If you are looking for a good Female Rage book, then I would highly recommend checking this book out!

The Other March Sisters by Linda Epstein, Ally Malilnenko, and Liz Parker

Thank you to @netgalley and Kensington Publishing for an advanced readers copy of this book.

The Other March Sisters is a retelling of Little Women, focusing on the stories of Meg, Amy and Beth. Going in, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from this book. I absolutely adore Little Women, and honestly I wish I had reread it prior to reading this book. I thought that it was a refreshing take on the stories of Meg, Amy and Beth. I especially enjoyed the story of Meg as she came into her own as a wife and mother. It definitely made me want to revisit Little Women. Overall, I enjoyed this book but it was definitely a bit of a slow read for me.

This book publishes on February 25, 2025.

#netgalley #theothermarchsisters #arc #fiction #littlewomen

I really wanted to like this book, but I just couldn’t get into it. I’m a huge fan of the original Little Women, so this should have been a perfect fit for me, but I found the characters in this iteration to be very flat.

I am not sure what I really wanted out of reading this work, maybe a feeling similar to the one I get when I reread Little Women, but it just didn't give me that feeling.

Written by three different authors, this work tells the story of Beth, Meg, and Amy and really reads like a fan fiction. I liked the ideas within each story, but I struggled to finish this one.
I can see where others will love the stories contained here, and don't let me review keep you from checking this one out, just keep your expectations a little low and you will probably not be disappointed.


Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the dARC of this work in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington for the advanced copy of this book.

I went into The Other March Sisters excited to see how other folks interprète the beloved March Sisters of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, but felt quite let down quite early on.

The story gives us a glimpse into the untold stories of the three other March sisters during Little Women, when Jo isn’t present. It gives each of them a chance to tell their own story.

What was proposed as a new look into the story - a follow up for Little Women lovers - reads like fan fiction. The characters feel forced and lacking of their characteristics of the original novel, reduced down to a stereotype to reflect a modern idea. Perhaps some of the points the writers were making could have done better in an original story, but as The March Sisters, it feels as though the authors didn’t read the original book. One example of this is in Meg’s relationship with her husband John. In this story, it is hinted at that she doesn’t feel comfortable around him, and that she might have been forced into her marriage. Which is factually incorrect given the source material. There is always room for interpretation and creative liberties, but to so drastically change a character and a relationship to push a different story makes the Little Women-ness of it all feel like a cover thrown on a different story in order to draw more readers.

The writing itself is fine. The writers have a cohesive voice together, and I applaud them for writing this all together. However this isn’t Little Women. A let down indeed.

My review will be shared on my Instagram closer to the release date.