e-Audio, 06:25:50
Narrated by: Ferdelle Capistrano
Release Date: August 18, 2026
Published by: Simon & Schuster Audio
Read from: August 27-28, 2026
Stand-alone (?)
Source: Library’s Libby (I also received an e-ALC of this from the publisher and Netgalley. This did nothing to influence my review.)
Content Warning: Animal Death
For Readers of: Audio, Classic Retelling, Fantasy, Sparkly Cover, Middle Grade, RecommendedIn this modern supernatural middle grade retelling of the beloved classic Little Women, the March sisters have a monstrous secret Meg will do anything to protect—especially with another beast lurking in the woods threatening to expose them.
Meg March and her three sisters are monsters. No, really. Meg has teeth that are a little too sharp. Jo gets furry under the full moon. Beth goes night flying on wings that are impossible to hide under her sweaters. And Amy? Well, don’t let her near a body of water or she’ll start sprouting her mermaid’s tail.
Meg is sure their foster mom, Marmee, wouldn’t like any of this if she knew. And Jo’s best friend Laurie, the nice boy next door, would run screaming. To make matters worse, Meg’s small town outside of Salem is on edge. A vicious beast has been spotted in the forest, and Farmer Bhaer believes it’s responsible for his missing chickens. Meg is sure to be blamed if anyone realizes she’s a monster in disguise. And the closer it gets to Halloween, the surer the town is that something evil is hiding in the forest.
Meg doesn’t always remember what she gets up to at night, and sometimes, she wakes alone in a mossy part of the forest and has to find her way back. With John Brooke determined to find out just what Meg is hiding and locals working to uncover the monsters in their midst, Meg must find the culprit herself—or risk losing the little home she’s found with her sisters.
*MY THOUGHTS*
I have not read the real version of this, but I still liked this one. I think it was mostly because of the monsters. They brought a really interesting part to this story. This was weird af, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.
So the coolest thing about this was the monster bit. I wish there was more of it actually. They spent a lot of time trying to keep anyone from finding out. They were all worried about all the other things that were happening around town. This is where the Content Warnings come in, so please ask your kid (or if its you!) to check it before you read it!
In this retelling the girls are in foster care and are living with their new foster family. Their relationship with their foster parents changed so much over time. And where it made some of them comfortable, it didn’t work for all of them. It ended in a doozy.
Like I said I haven’t read the original, so I don’t know how good of a retelling it is. I do know that I still enjoyed it and I recognized the character names, so that was enough for me. I think it also makes sense since this is a MG book and not adult or YA. This might be all that they recognize or know too.
This was fun! I would definitely put this on a list for classical retellings. Y’all need to go get this and let me know what you think! I hate feeling like the only one whose read this!
Overall, I give this
