Reviews

At the Sign of the Sugared Plum by Mary Hooper

berlinbibliophile's review

3.0

I loved this book as a young teenager, and I still enjoyed it as an adult. Of course many of the themes are simplified for a younger audience, but Mary Hooper still does a good job of portraying the slowly growing dread and the willful blindness of the Londoners as the plague approaches. I still liked the protagonist, as well as the characters surrounding her.

kristymakes's review against another edition

3.0

Hannah is a young girl from the country, ready to live it up in the big city. The city is London & the year is 1665. Hannah doesn't know it yet, but her time in the big city is going to be filled with misery, because the plague has just begun claiming victims.

I can't say I know too much about the plague, and I'm sure that the authors descriptions although sometimes graphic, were no where near as horrible as the sights people of that era actually took it. I found the book one part education & one part entertainment.

I think this is a young readers book, but I found I enjoyed it just the same. Would recommend to anyone willing to give historical fiction a chance... just don't expect anything other than a tale of a young girl & her sister trapped in a city crumbling around them.

19paws's review against another edition

5.0

Wonderful historical novel for kids. Two sisters earn their living making confections in London as the Bubonic Plague of 1665 descends on the city. Great historical detail. You really can't beat the Bubonic Plague when it comes to fascinating disasters, and this story was especially good. The ending left an opening for a sequel, I thought. (I hope!)

echo_of_the_books's review against another edition

4.0

ich würde dem Roman 3 Sterne geben, aber da es ein Jugenbuch ist, welches mir in meiner Jugend sehr gut gefallen hätte, gebe ich 4 Sterne.

crazysecondname's review against another edition

informative sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

ich habs vor jahren schonmal gelesen und bin sehr froh dass ichs auch immer noch gut finde

purrplenerd's review against another edition

emotional informative medium-paced

3.75

tita_loves_literature's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious sad

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

luweebayy's review

5.0

I really enjoyed this book and the parallels between the plague and current Covid restrictions is startling! If it wasn’t for the historic elements, it could’ve easily been a book written about the current climate which I think is one reason I enjoyed it.

nicole_shiku's review against another edition

5.0

I absolutely love this book, I was given it in school as a 'welcome to high-school gift' I was petrified... Firstly because we got to pick the book we wanted and I thought people were going to laugh at me for choosing the historical choice, secondly I thought I wasn't 'developed' enough to read a book about such a remarkable part of British history! But one day I started reading it and I loved from the beginning to the end, characters were amazing, storyline was impressive and it was a page-tuner!

mermaidsoph's review against another edition

2.0

More about the different things people thought cured the plague then about the characters and this got slightly repetitive over time. It made the book slightly monotonous to read. I quite liked the main character but the story felt incomplete in my opinion.