I enjoyed revisiting this, which I remember enjoying very much as a child! It would be unfair, of course, to compare any of Alcott's books to her masterpiece Little Women. However, I found that while Little Women (and to an extent, Little Men) feel like timeless coming of age stories, this one doesn't hold up to the modern lens quite as well. For one, the racism toward the novel's Chinese characters (both in the narrative and by the characters) is deeply troubling as a modern reader. For another, Little Women is a story about sisterhood, ambition, and the role of women in 1860s America. Yes, there are some morals sprinkled in (and more so in Little Men), but each sister has a clear character arc. Eight Cousins feels like moralizing with a little bit of story rather than the other way around.

I enjoyed the relationships between Rose and her family members and think the bits about found family are really wonderful. The paragraphs on freeing the waist and eating wholesome food were heavy-handed and rather tiresome. That said, I do plan to read Rose In Bloom to see how it compares to my vague memories.