LITTLE WOMEN Book Review

Little Women¹ by Louisa May Alcott, audiobook, 12h 15m

Synopsis from Audible: Hollywood icon Laura Dern breathes new life into Louisa May Alcott’s classic coming-of-age tale that follows the lives of four sisters against a backdrop of the American Civil War. This autobiographical novel takes place in and around the girls’ New England home.

This great American novel demonstrates Alcott's extraordinary talent at portraying the joys and struggles of family life in an unforgettable way. Generations of people - young and old, male and female - have fallen in love with the March sisters. This classic of young adult fiction transcends genre, gender, and class with its examination of personal quests, societal restrictions, family ties, and the end of innocence.

This new audio original dramatisation of Little Women stars a full cast led by two-time Academy Award-nominee, four-time Golden Globe-winner, and Emmy winner Laura Dern (Little Women, Big Little Lies, Jurassic Park), along with veteran narrators Suzanne Toren, Lauren Fortgang, Allison Hiroto, Emily Bauer, and Carly Robins.

BOOK REVIEW: Originally I had planned to read this and not listen to it because I found this absolutely BEAUTIFUL copy on my shelf from 1930 with a dedication in 1932. As much as I was enjoying reading the stories, it was taking me entirely too long to read so I opted to listen.

I chose this one for three reasons. First, it was the shortest one I saw on Audible. Second, it is a performance piece meaning that there are multiple voice actors which can keep things entertaining for me. Third, it is free to listen to with the Audible Plus membership! At some point I'll read the physical copy of this book as I had never read the book or seen the movies. I also was going into this book not knowing anything other than it was about four sisters. That's it!

This review is for this particular audiobook. I give this a 3.75 out of 5 stars. When an audiobook has multiple voice actors, it is almost always more entertaining and I did find it entertaining. The voice actor for Jo also was the narrator for the Shadow & Bones series. Her voice is sort of similar to the actress Jessie Mei Li who plays Alina in the Netflix series and I know that Winona Ryder plays Jo in the 1994 movie (still haven't seen at the time of writing this). You can see how my head would be confused. This era of writing is very wholesome and minimal drama, especially by a female author. I appreciate the stories and I cannot wait to read my physical book but it just wasn't my cup of tea. Maybe I've been reading too many thrillers and dramas and not enough romance but I'll give it another shot at some point. It also may have something to do with the fact that I was listening to this in the spring time and it starts off at Christmas and I feel like I hear most people reading this at Christmas time.

3.75/5 Stars ¹This is an affiliate link through Bookshop.org which supports independent bookstores nationwide. Pick a bookshop you choose to support and when you order a book, the proceeds go to that store! Books are sent from a main distribution center so if you don't know what store to support, it's okay. All orders not supporting a specific shop go into a pool that gets divided among all the stores listed on the site!