Retellings walk a tricky line. When a story is as beloved as Little Women, readers don’t just remember the plot—we remember how it felt. The warmth. The sisterhood. The moral center. So when authors revisit that world, every creative choice carries extra weight.
Two upcoming releases—one from Sarah Baily Books and the other from Aladdin, both imprints of Simon & Schuster—take bold but very different approaches to reimagining the March family. One leans into contemporary thriller territory, while the other embraces middle-grade fantasy with a supernatural twist.
I read both—and had wildly different reactions.
Beth Is Dead (Published January 6, 2026)
Beth Is Dead is a modern YA thriller that asks a provocative question: what if Beth March didn’t die quietly of illness—but was murdered?
In this reimagining, the March father is a famous novelist who writes Little Women as a thinly veiled account of his daughters’ lives. The book becomes wildly successful—and deeply controversial. Critics argue he has no right to tell this story. Threats follow. He goes into hiding, leaving Marmee (now a nurse) and the girls behind in Massachusetts.
Then Beth is found dead.
What follows is a tense, fast-paced investigation where every sister—and several people close to the family—has motive. From a thriller perspective, the book is effective. The pacing is tight. The twists are sharp. The story keeps the tension high and the stakes personal.
But here’s where it didn’t fully work for me.
As a Little Women retelling or reimagining, I struggled with some of the foundational choices—especially the decision to make the father the author instead of Marmee. That shift fundamentally alters the emotional balance of the March family. I also had difficulty connecting with this version of Jo, who felt far removed from the character readers have long loved.
And that’s the frustrating part: if I hadn’t known Little Women—or if this book had been presented without that framework—I genuinely believe it would have earned more stars from me. The writing is strong. The suspense works. The story is compelling.
But because this is a retelling, those character choices matter.
I ultimately landed at three stars ⭐⭐⭐—not because the book lacks skill, but because I couldn’t move past how the March sisters and parents were portrayed. That said, it’s worth noting that Hello Sunshine selected Beth Is Dead as the inaugural pick for their Sunnie Reads Book Club for Gen Z readers, which tells me this book is going to spark a lot of conversation.
And maybe that, too, is part of its purpose.
About the book:
Synopsis:
Little Women meets One of Us Is Lying in this incredibly fun and original take on the Louisa May Alcott classic.
When Beth March is found dead in the woods on New Year’s Day, her sisters vow to uncover her murderer. Suspects abound. There’s the neighbor who has feelings for not one but two of the girls. Meg’s manipulative best friend. Amy’s flirtatious mentor. And Beth’s lionhearted first love. But it doesn’t take the surviving sisters much digging to uncover motives each one of the March girls had for doing the unthinkable.
Jo, an aspiring author with a huge following on social media, would do anything to hook readers. Would she kill her sister for the story? Amy dreams of studying art in Europe, but she’ll need money from her aunt—money that’s always been earmarked for Beth. And Meg wouldn’t dream of hurting her sister…but her boyfriend might have, and she’ll protect him at all costs.
Despite the growing suspicion within the family, it’s hard to know for sure if the crime was committed by someone close to home. After all, the March sisters were dragged into the spotlight months ago when their father published a controversial bestseller about his own daughters. Beth could have been killed by anyone.
Beth’s perspective, told in flashback, unfolds next to Meg, Jo, and Amy’s increasingly fraught investigation as the tragedy threatens to rip the Marches apart.
Buy Links: Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | IndieBound
Meet the author:
KATIE BERNET is the author of Beth Is Dead, a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection. She’s an award-winning creative director, a long-standing member of the DFW Writer’s Workshop, and the director of the 2025 DFW Writer’s Conference. As the oldest of three sisters, she’s a diehard fan of Little Women.
Learn more about Katie by visiting her website.
Little Monsters (On Sale August 18, 2026)
If Beth Is Dead challenged my attachment to Little Women, Little Monsters embraced it.
This middle-grade, modern supernatural retelling reimagines the March sisters as foster kids harboring a big secret: they’re monsters.
Meg has teeth a little too sharp.
Jo grows fur under the full moon.
Beth goes night-flying on hidden wings.
Amy sprouts a mermaid’s tail near water.
And somehow—beautifully—it works.
What makes Little Monsters so special isn’t just the creative concept. It’s the heart. Every character feels like the true March sisters, even through a fantastical lens. The compassion, loyalty, and quiet courage that define Alcott’s original are all here.
Set near Salem, with a suspicious town, a mysterious beast in the woods, and secrets threatening to unravel the family, the story balances tension with warmth in a way that feels perfectly suited for middle-grade readers.
This book understands that being “monstrous” is often about being misunderstood—and that love, especially sisterly love, is what makes a family safe.
This one earned an easy five stars from me. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
About the book:
Synopsis:
This middle-grade modern retelling of the beloved Louisa May Alcott classic reimagines the March sisters as foster kids harboring a big secret... they are actually monsters!
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.
Buy Links: Simon&Schuster | Amazon | B&N | Bookshop.org
Meet the author:
Máire Roche (they/them) is a former elementary and pre-k teacher who now writes stories full of magic, mystery, and wonder. When she isn’t teaching or imagining fictional worlds, Máire enjoys running, teaching martial arts, and baking too many cookies. She lives in the Midwest with her spouse and their very disagreeable cat, Lulu.
Learn more about Máire by visiting her website.
Final Thoughts: What Do We Want From Retellings?
Reading these two books back-to-back made me reflect on what readers want from retellings.
Some stories aim to disrupt and challenge the source material. Others reinterpret it while preserving its emotional core. Neither approach is inherently wrong—but they will land differently depending on the reader.
For me, Little Monsters honored the spirit of Little Women, while Beth Is Dead intentionally unsettled it. Whether that works for you may depend on how deeply attached you are to the original—and how open you are to seeing the March family through a very different lens.
If you’ve read either book—or plan to—I’d love to hear your thoughts. Join the conversation below in the comments, and let’s talk about which retellings feel brave, which feel true, and which manage to be both. 📚✨
