I think it's very brave to take on a beloved classic and do a modern remake. Personally, I was curious to see how Anna Todd's version would turn out to be. I have not read the original novel, only seen movie versions, so I do not have to compare THE SPRING GIRLS to the original book. If you have read LITTLE WOMEN or seen any of the movies you already know the book is about four young sisters, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy and their lives and dreams in Massachusetts in the 19th century.

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The Spring Girls by Anna Todd is a modern retelling of Little Women, which is, let’s be honest, every little girl’s favorite book. I was so excited to read this! I I love Louisa May Alcott and I love retellings of classics!

In The Spring Girls, Meg is a personal makeup artist to their wealthy neighbor, Mrs. King, Jo is counting the days until she can graduate and move to New York City, shy Beth is homeschooled, and Amy is there, too. The family is having mysterious financial worries, even though their father’s deployed and he’s just had some kind of promotion.

I wondered a little bit how this story would modernize successfully, since a lot of tension in Little Women has to do with the sisters needing to marry money or supplement the family with side income from a non-threatening small project, but it works, because the story is on an army base, with army wives selling candles and Lularoe and making a career out of being an officer’s wife. That part of the modernization is, unfortunately, just about the only thing that works.

Something is off with the pacing. I realize this sounds like useless workshop feedback, since I can articulate what’s not quite right without putting my finger on what, exactly, would fix it. The first third of the book takes place between Christmas Eve and New Years, including sections that are so beat-for-beat that it feels more like a parody than homage. Then, the story progresses in fits and starts, with some really forced events. The main pastime on this base is passing by and overhearing highly relevant conversations.

There’s a lot of cool foreshadowing here with John Brooke’s weird reluctance to introduce Meg to his mother (Is she too poor? Has her reputation, after an old boyfriend leaked an NSFW photo, reached his mom? Is he two-timing Meg?), but that’s never resolved. There’s also a lot of cool foreshadowing with Beth and her role in keeping her parents together, but that’s never resolved. And Jo is writing a Very Serious Piece for Vice (On spec, but with an assigned word count? On assignment, but without mentioning that she’s sixteen?), because she is every teenage girl with Big Dreams of being a writer in the Big City. Amy is there too.

In the last couple pages, there are so many revelations that there’s no time to process them. Amy is revealed as the real sender of tragic breakup emails from John Brooke to Meg, but Meg shrugs it off, since she’s about to leave the country with some other dude (I’m about 90% sure they’re going to Cambodia?), Jo bangs Laurie, Beth gets a girlfriend, and the financial weirdness with the March parents just goes totally unresolved. Amy is there, too.




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Every little girl knows the story of Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. I read it when I was a girl as did many of my friends. It is one of the classics and the story is well loved by many young girls and even adults. When I first heard that Little Women was going to be modernized, I was a little skeptical at first. I was afraid that the sisters we all grew up to love were not going to get the justice they so rightly deserved in a modern retelling. I could not have been more wrong. SPRING GIRLS by Anna Todd is simply amazing.

Anna Todd takes one of our most beloved stories and turns it into a charming modern day version of four sisters we have all come to love. While, the heart of the story is still the same, there are some differences from the original version. The characterization of the sisters takes on a modern day feel with issues that young girls coming of age go through today. This is the one part of the story that I really loved and really what made this book stand out for me. Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy are renamed the Spring Girls and they go through what almost every military family goes through when a parent is overseas fighting in a war. Not only do they worry about their father overseas, they also worry about how their lives are going to turn out. They each have goals , ambitions, and fears about their future. Their story is just so easy to relate to today and I think most young girls will be able to sympathize with each of the characters as the story progresses.

All in all, I think that Anna Todd really captured the essence of the story and really did it justice with her modern day spin on such a classic story. I would suggest while reading THE SPRING GIRLS to go in with an open mind like I did. Anna Todd’s writing style is flawless and she will quickly draw you in to the lives of Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy and make you fall in love with them all over again. ( )

I received this from Gallery Books (Simon & Schuster) through Goodreads Giveaway, thank you. I wish I could rate this higher but my honest opinion is the story was lacking. There was nothing that grabbed me in the beginning or all the way through. It was about 4 sisters and the trials and tribulations of growing up in a military family. There was not much to keep your interest, normally I wouldn't finish reading a book that does not have an edge of anticipation. It just seemed to drag on with every day events. Even the ending seemed off, it left things hanging to some degree. This is only my personal opinion and I am sure there are other individuals that may love the story. ( )

Review to come.

Have to process my thoughts on this one. ( )