The novel depicts the life of young Sylvia Yule as she navigates growing from a girl to a woman and seeking true friendship.

When Warwick leaves and Sylvia receives news leading her to think he has married, she accepts Moor's second proposal of marriage and hopes she will learn to love him.

Alcott pulled from her own experiences in her writing; Warwick and Moor are often compared to Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson respectively.

Many interpret the main theme of Moods as marriage, although Alcott herself claimed it was focused on the issues that come from living by impulse rather than principle.

Moods begins in Cuba with Adam Warwick's rejection of the beautiful Ottila, his fiancé of a month, for not living up to his standards.

When her older brother Mark's friends, Geoffrey Moor and Adam Warwick visit, Sylvia is allowed to accompany them on their expedition down the river.

Sylvia hears of Otilla's marriage and assumes it was to Warwick, so she accepts Moor's renewed proposal thinking she will learn to love him.

[5] Alcott claimed the main theme of Moods is not marriage, but instead "the mistakes of a moody nature, guided by impulse, not principle.

"[6] Literary historian Sarah Wadsworth interprets the novel as Alcott's response to the idea that love develops or is learned over time after choosing an acceptable person to court.

At Sylvia's death, Alcott wrote that she was relieved of the difficulties caused by life and love, and Elbert compares her suffering to that of Hester Prynne and Jane Eyre, saying all three left home unprepared.

[17] The publisher of Hospital Sketches had suggested he would take her new book, but he wanted Alcott to edit Moods to be half as long and she refused.

A few weeks later, she journaled about coming up with a way to shorten and rearrange Moods, including the removal of ten chapters, which she said made the novel stronger and more simple.

Public response encouraged her, although the novel Emily Chester, released around the same time as Moods, had so many similarities it led to accusations of plagiarism.

After Loring's business failed, Alcott bought the copyright back for one dollar and subsequently made extensive changes for a new edition, which was published in 1882.

[26] Reviews frequently compared it to Emily Chester, another novel released around the same time which readers found to be remarkably similar in plot and characters.

[28] Author Henry James disliked Sylvia's separation from her husband after realizing she loves another man more, although he thought the second half of the book was particularly well written.

[29] Caroline Dall, who helped get Moods published, worried that it would be a problematic read for young women because it advocated lighter treatment of the commitments of engagement and marriage.

[33] The Springfield Daily Republican commented the removal of Warwick's engagement made him a more consistent character but not necessarily more realistic.