Jo & Laurie

I have a lot of mixed emotions about this book. On one hand, I don't believe that the audience should get a say in how a story ends. I believe that we should believe Josephine March when she says she does not want to marry Laurie and that she loves him, not in a romantic way, but as a brother (or, more likely, as a sister). I believe that Louisa May Alcott wrote the book as she wrote it for a reason and that we all should accept that Jo knows her own mind and what would make her happy. Shipping is a complicated thing, and if we truly loves these characters and really just want them to be happy, shouldn't they get to determine their own happiness? And isn't Jo's refusal to be someone she's not what we love the most about her? The book purports that love is a risk, and that we must be brave and accept it. One might argue, it is also brave, especially for a woman in the 19th century of little means, to turn down a wealthy suitor, or any suitor, and refusing to settle for what is true. However, any chance I have to revisit these characters and read additional stories of their adventures is a book I must read. And the story was written as such that we can all have our cake and eat it too. So, for that, I am thankful to these women for writing new stories about the March family and writing it in such a way that feels right and true, while also like a fantasy version of a most beloved story. I loved this book like I believe Jo loves Laurie, not quite right, but a dear love all the same.