ARC Review: Beth & Amy by Virginia Kantra

“…she captures that cozy feeling of LITTLE WOMEN and represents it so well.”
~ Under the Covers

This review is a hard one to write because my feelings about the original LITTLE WOMEN impact my feelings on this book. So you’ve been warned.

I really enjoyed reading MEG & JO and I was looking forward to reading BETH & AMY with anticipation and a bit of trepidation. Why, you may ask? Because I’m still salty about Laurie and Amy being a couple. I wasn’t on board then and I’m not on board now. And honestly, I couldn’t give this book a fair chance when it comes to that part because I never liked Amy and I didn’t think this was a good couple. What I do think is that Ms. Kantra did a great job at bringing a lot of what the original characters were like into today’s modern world setting. But every time these two were on the page, I just got a bit ragey and it definitely impacted my enjoyment of this book.

That being said, the rest was so good! I loved the glimpses we get into the girls parent’s love life, Beth’s struggle with an eating disorder which was handled well I thought, and the subject of addiction. I wanted more and more of all of this even when it felt like Amy was consuming so much of the pages.

I think one of my favorite things about the way Virginia Kantra did these retellings is that she captures that cozy feeling of LITTLE WOMEN and represents it so well. Family is still central and essential part and I loved seeing the March sisters rally together against anything that’s thrown their way.

These two books are the retellings you didn’t know you needed and I loved seeing this version of their world.