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twicebaked's review against another edition
3.0
This is a sweet story about the Bubonic Plague, and Eyam's sacrifice and oath to stay in Eyam until the plague has run its course, to prevent spreading it to anyone else.
It's a good book and I enjoyed it even though a lot of the people died, I just didn't appreciate how she marries wussy Thomas (sorry he just seems weird to me) who is nine to ten years older (she's ten when he first meets her and he's already 19 or twenty)ew and that she doesn't go with whoever his name is, Frances or something. Whyyy girl you can see he likes you and he really cares for you so much.
If you like sad, you'll like this book. If you only like a little bit of sad, you'll still love this book because there's not a whole ton of sad stuff going on.
I think what I didn't like about this book was that it says on the back how they make a sacrifice to save others and really all it actually is is that they don't let people leave or come in. OK, yeah that's pretty scary to be in a town with people dropping like flies but really I was hoping for a little more sacrifice I guess.
I did appreciate that Mall stops seeing Thomas and says I have to stay in town. But Thomas is an idiot so of course he chases after her.
Also GR needs to change their book description because it gives away that she and Thomas get married and they don't until towards the end of the book and only after you think she's not gettin murried to him after all.
I think what is hard about this book is that it's hard to read - it definitely has a feeling of someone writing it, just sitting down and writing writing writing and not taking much time to build a good story. It reads like someone who wrote what actually happened to herself and isn't very good at writing: she's constantly going on rabbit trails, diverting, and losing her train of thought. She also brings up characters that have been mentioned once in passing and says oh yeah Mr. Name Here died yesterday - and the reader's like who? ohhh right ok who cares. At least it has a little bit more of an authentic feel because of that.
One thing I liked, though, was that in the middle of the story she does the thing with her friend where they write down such and such and leave it somewhere and they think it will happen (or not happen) if they do that and I liked how Patrick or Frances or whatever his name is tells Mall to do that - to write it in a book and leave it somewhere so that she can forget about it an move on. And then you realize this is the book. This is what she's written - she left it here so that she could forget and move on. And that's what made me like it, I think, is the tie-in and the sad despair of everyone living in the town. I love the sadness and the idea of her writing it down and leaving it in a book to forget about it, so that she can move on with her life.
The book wasn't clap-your-hands amazing, or a tear-jerker...but it was sad and sweet and I enjoyed it enough to give it three stars so it's a good book and you should give it a try anyway. You might enjoy it more than I did.
It's a good book and I enjoyed it even though a lot of the people died, I just didn't appreciate how she marries wussy Thomas (sorry he just seems weird to me) who is nine to ten years older (she's ten when he first meets her and he's already 19 or twenty)ew and that she doesn't go with whoever his name is, Frances or something. Whyyy girl you can see he likes you and he really cares for you so much.
If you like sad, you'll like this book. If you only like a little bit of sad, you'll still love this book because there's not a whole ton of sad stuff going on.
I think what I didn't like about this book was that it says on the back how they make a sacrifice to save others and really all it actually is is that they don't let people leave or come in. OK, yeah that's pretty scary to be in a town with people dropping like flies but really I was hoping for a little more sacrifice I guess.
I did appreciate that Mall stops seeing Thomas and says I have to stay in town. But Thomas is an idiot so of course he chases after her.
Also GR needs to change their book description because it gives away that she and Thomas get married and they don't until towards the end of the book and only after you think she's not gettin murried to him after all.
I think what is hard about this book is that it's hard to read - it definitely has a feeling of someone writing it, just sitting down and writing writing writing and not taking much time to build a good story. It reads like someone who wrote what actually happened to herself and isn't very good at writing: she's constantly going on rabbit trails, diverting, and losing her train of thought. She also brings up characters that have been mentioned once in passing and says oh yeah Mr. Name Here died yesterday - and the reader's like who? ohhh right ok who cares. At least it has a little bit more of an authentic feel because of that.
One thing I liked, though, was that in the middle of the story she does the thing with her friend where they write down such and such and leave it somewhere and they think it will happen (or not happen) if they do that and I liked how Patrick or Frances or whatever his name is tells Mall to do that - to write it in a book and leave it somewhere so that she can forget about it an move on. And then you realize this is the book. This is what she's written - she left it here so that she could forget and move on. And that's what made me like it, I think, is the tie-in and the sad despair of everyone living in the town. I love the sadness and the idea of her writing it down and leaving it in a book to forget about it, so that she can move on with her life.
The book wasn't clap-your-hands amazing, or a tear-jerker...but it was sad and sweet and I enjoyed it enough to give it three stars so it's a good book and you should give it a try anyway. You might enjoy it more than I did.
amythompson27's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
sixcubes's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
informative
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
byoung1997's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
3.5
ajsterkel's review against another edition
2.0
Are there book design classes? Can I send my copy of this book to a book design class so the students can autopsy it and learn what not to do? Seriously, this is one of the worst-designed books I’ve ever read. The book is about the size of my hand. The covers and binding are stiff. There are basically no margins, so the writing runs all the way across the page and sometimes gets covered by the binding. If you have carpal tunnel like me, it’s an awkward book to hold. I kept dropping it. Constantly losing my page does not make me a happy reader.
Let’s put the design disasters aside and talk about the plot. This novel is a fictionalization of a real-life event that occurred in Eyam, England during the 1660s. After the villagers start dying from plague, they decide to quarantine themselves to keep the sickness from spreading to other villages.
This story is narrated by Mall, a teenage shepherdess from Eyam. She’s in love with Thomas, a shepherd from a nearby village. They’re making plans to get married, but their future is derailed when the people of Eyam decide to quarantine the village. Mall and Thomas are no longer allowed to see each other. Thomas has no way of knowing if Mall is alive. Mall is forced to stay in town and take care of her friends and family as they die.
Earlier this year, I read Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks, which is also about Eyam and the plague. I felt “meh” about that book. Unfortunately, I felt “meh” about A Parcel of Patterns as well.
The author does a nice job of capturing the monotonous horror of watching people die. Mall is completely powerless. She can’t leave Eyam, and she can’t stop the plague. The people in the village believe that God is punishing them, but they don’t know why. The sickness pushes people to their mental limits. It’s a devastating situation.
Other reviewers have mentioned the writing style, so I probably should, too. This book is written in the way that people spoke in 1600s England. If you’ve read British classics, you probably know what I’m talking about. It’s antiquated English. Getting used to the writing style takes some time, but it didn’t bother me. The writing isn’t hard to understand. It’s just different.
I was bothered by the length of the book. There are a lot of characters and only 136 pages. Most of the novel reads like a list to me. This person dies, and then this person dies, and then this person dies. Since the book is so short, the reader doesn’t get a chance to know the characters before they die. The characters appear briefly, and then they’re dead.
Thomas also got on my nerves. After Eyam quarantines itself, he keeps trying to see Mall. Whenever he notices her in the distance, he runs toward her, and she runs away. She asks him to stay away from Eyam, but he doesn’t listen. Dude, just stay in your own village! What if he had carried the plague home with him? Then the quarantine would’ve been pointless. One dude would’ve killed everyone because he refused to listen to his girlfriend. Not cool.
So, I didn’t love this novel. I’m still searching for a really good historical plague book.
Let’s put the design disasters aside and talk about the plot. This novel is a fictionalization of a real-life event that occurred in Eyam, England during the 1660s. After the villagers start dying from plague, they decide to quarantine themselves to keep the sickness from spreading to other villages.
This story is narrated by Mall, a teenage shepherdess from Eyam. She’s in love with Thomas, a shepherd from a nearby village. They’re making plans to get married, but their future is derailed when the people of Eyam decide to quarantine the village. Mall and Thomas are no longer allowed to see each other. Thomas has no way of knowing if Mall is alive. Mall is forced to stay in town and take care of her friends and family as they die.
Earlier this year, I read Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks, which is also about Eyam and the plague. I felt “meh” about that book. Unfortunately, I felt “meh” about A Parcel of Patterns as well.
The author does a nice job of capturing the monotonous horror of watching people die. Mall is completely powerless. She can’t leave Eyam, and she can’t stop the plague. The people in the village believe that God is punishing them, but they don’t know why. The sickness pushes people to their mental limits. It’s a devastating situation.
“And may God better understand and love us, than we, in our weakness, can do him.” – A Parcel of Patterns
Other reviewers have mentioned the writing style, so I probably should, too. This book is written in the way that people spoke in 1600s England. If you’ve read British classics, you probably know what I’m talking about. It’s antiquated English. Getting used to the writing style takes some time, but it didn’t bother me. The writing isn’t hard to understand. It’s just different.
I was bothered by the length of the book. There are a lot of characters and only 136 pages. Most of the novel reads like a list to me. This person dies, and then this person dies, and then this person dies. Since the book is so short, the reader doesn’t get a chance to know the characters before they die. The characters appear briefly, and then they’re dead.
Thomas also got on my nerves. After Eyam quarantines itself, he keeps trying to see Mall. Whenever he notices her in the distance, he runs toward her, and she runs away. She asks him to stay away from Eyam, but he doesn’t listen. Dude, just stay in your own village! What if he had carried the plague home with him? Then the quarantine would’ve been pointless. One dude would’ve killed everyone because he refused to listen to his girlfriend. Not cool.
So, I didn’t love this novel. I’m still searching for a really good historical plague book.
twicebaked's review
3.0
This is a sweet story about the Bubonic Plague, and Eyam's sacrifice and oath to stay in Eyam until the plague has run its course, to prevent spreading it to anyone else.
It's a good book and I enjoyed it even though a lot of the people died, I just didn't appreciate how she marries wussy Thomas (sorry he just seems weird to me) who is nine to ten years older (she's ten when he first meets her and he's already 19 or twenty)ew and that she doesn't go with whoever his name is, Frances or something. Whyyy girl you can see he likes you and he really cares for you so much.
If you like sad, you'll like this book. If you only like a little bit of sad, you'll still love this book because there's not a whole ton of sad stuff going on.
I think what I didn't like about this book was that it says on the back how they make a sacrifice to save others and really all it actually is is that they don't let people leave or come in. OK, yeah that's pretty scary to be in a town with people dropping like flies but really I was hoping for a little more sacrifice I guess.
I did appreciate that Mall stops seeing Thomas and says I have to stay in town. But Thomas is an idiot so of course he chases after her.
Also GR needs to change their book description because it gives away that she and Thomas get married and they don't until towards the end of the book and only after you think she's not gettin murried to him after all.
I think what is hard about this book is that it's hard to read - it definitely has a feeling of someone writing it, just sitting down and writing writing writing and not taking much time to build a good story. It reads like someone who wrote what actually happened to herself and isn't very good at writing: she's constantly going on rabbit trails, diverting, and losing her train of thought. She also brings up characters that have been mentioned once in passing and says oh yeah Mr. Name Here died yesterday - and the reader's like who? ohhh right ok who cares. At least it has a little bit more of an authentic feel because of that.
One thing I liked, though, was that in the middle of the story she does the thing with her friend where they write down such and such and leave it somewhere and they think it will happen (or not happen) if they do that and I liked how Patrick or Frances or whatever his name is tells Mall to do that - to write it in a book and leave it somewhere so that she can forget about it an move on. And then you realize this is the book. This is what she's written - she left it here so that she could forget and move on. And that's what made me like it, I think, is the tie-in and the sad despair of everyone living in the town. I love the sadness and the idea of her writing it down and leaving it in a book to forget about it, so that she can move on with her life.
The book wasn't clap-your-hands amazing, or a tear-jerker...but it was sad and sweet and I enjoyed it enough to give it three stars so it's a good book and you should give it a try anyway. You might enjoy it more than I did.
It's a good book and I enjoyed it even though a lot of the people died, I just didn't appreciate how she marries wussy Thomas (sorry he just seems weird to me) who is nine to ten years older (she's ten when he first meets her and he's already 19 or twenty)ew and that she doesn't go with whoever his name is, Frances or something. Whyyy girl you can see he likes you and he really cares for you so much.
If you like sad, you'll like this book. If you only like a little bit of sad, you'll still love this book because there's not a whole ton of sad stuff going on.
I think what I didn't like about this book was that it says on the back how they make a sacrifice to save others and really all it actually is is that they don't let people leave or come in. OK, yeah that's pretty scary to be in a town with people dropping like flies but really I was hoping for a little more sacrifice I guess.
I did appreciate that Mall stops seeing Thomas and says I have to stay in town. But Thomas is an idiot so of course he chases after her.
Also GR needs to change their book description because it gives away that she and Thomas get married and they don't until towards the end of the book and only after you think she's not gettin murried to him after all.
I think what is hard about this book is that it's hard to read - it definitely has a feeling of someone writing it, just sitting down and writing writing writing and not taking much time to build a good story. It reads like someone who wrote what actually happened to herself and isn't very good at writing: she's constantly going on rabbit trails, diverting, and losing her train of thought. She also brings up characters that have been mentioned once in passing and says oh yeah Mr. Name Here died yesterday - and the reader's like who? ohhh right ok who cares. At least it has a little bit more of an authentic feel because of that.
One thing I liked, though, was that in the middle of the story she does the thing with her friend where they write down such and such and leave it somewhere and they think it will happen (or not happen) if they do that and I liked how Patrick or Frances or whatever his name is tells Mall to do that - to write it in a book and leave it somewhere so that she can forget about it an move on. And then you realize this is the book. This is what she's written - she left it here so that she could forget and move on. And that's what made me like it, I think, is the tie-in and the sad despair of everyone living in the town. I love the sadness and the idea of her writing it down and leaving it in a book to forget about it, so that she can move on with her life.
The book wasn't clap-your-hands amazing, or a tear-jerker...but it was sad and sweet and I enjoyed it enough to give it three stars so it's a good book and you should give it a try anyway. You might enjoy it more than I did.
kaetlin's review
4.0
SO GOOD.
A great school book, very well written and I really enjoyed the characters. :)
A great school book, very well written and I really enjoyed the characters. :)
readingthroughinfinity's review against another edition
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
Thanks to the publisher, Vintage, for sending a copy of the new edition of this book.
This is a historical novel, first published in 1983, based on true accounts of Eyam village in Derbyshire. The plague arrived in Eyam in 1665 and the village made the decision to shut itself off from the rest of the country to save lives. In the story, we follow events from the perspective of Mall, a young woman who lives in the village, but goes out to the hills to tend her sheep and see her sweetheart. Mall is kind hearted and selfless but loses so much because of the plague. As you'd probably expect from the subject matter, this is a really sad, reflective story, with a pretty melancholic tone. So many characters die (probably historically accurate) that it's hard to look on the positive side, but the novel does offer a moment of hope at the end.
This is a historical novel, first published in 1983, based on true accounts of Eyam village in Derbyshire. The plague arrived in Eyam in 1665 and the village made the decision to shut itself off from the rest of the country to save lives. In the story, we follow events from the perspective of Mall, a young woman who lives in the village, but goes out to the hills to tend her sheep and see her sweetheart. Mall is kind hearted and selfless but loses so much because of the plague. As you'd probably expect from the subject matter, this is a really sad, reflective story, with a pretty melancholic tone. So many characters die (probably historically accurate) that it's hard to look on the positive side, but the novel does offer a moment of hope at the end.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Death of parent
Minor: Blood and Confinement
christineschronicles's review against another edition
dark
emotional
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5