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alexandramilne's review
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
livres_de_bloss's review
3.0
This was... okay.
2.5
It reads very much like the self-published, first novel that it is. The pacing isn’t brilliant, it jumps huge sections at a time and rushes through a lot of sections; it raises the question if it’s going to be rushed, is there much point in including the section at all?
There were parts of this that were exceptionally boring. Oddly, I found toward the end, my interest was waning significantly and I was just trying to finish for the sake of finishing, not because I was invested in the story.
The characters were stilted and samey. I didn’t really feel any connection to them. With this, the dialogue, also stilted, was also quite saccharine at times. While there was mercifully little romance, the relationships felt forced and unrealistic.
The coincidence and interweaving was predictable and confusing. It is beyond reasonable belief that everything would work out nice and neatly like that.
To summarize, this reads very much like the first attempt that it is. I’ve read very similar stories that were flushed out better than this. I did enjoy that there wasn’t a huge romantic element; however, it was tied up a bit too neatly at the end.
2.5
It reads very much like the self-published, first novel that it is. The pacing isn’t brilliant, it jumps huge sections at a time and rushes through a lot of sections; it raises the question if it’s going to be rushed, is there much point in including the section at all?
There were parts of this that were exceptionally boring. Oddly, I found toward the end, my interest was waning significantly and I was just trying to finish for the sake of finishing, not because I was invested in the story.
The characters were stilted and samey. I didn’t really feel any connection to them. With this, the dialogue, also stilted, was also quite saccharine at times. While there was mercifully little romance, the relationships felt forced and unrealistic.
The coincidence and interweaving was predictable and confusing. It is beyond reasonable belief that everything would work out nice and neatly like that.
To summarize, this reads very much like the first attempt that it is. I’ve read very similar stories that were flushed out better than this. I did enjoy that there wasn’t a huge romantic element; however, it was tied up a bit too neatly at the end.
cheerful_elephant's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
gemmascott's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Really lovely book which tells the story of a cast of characters during the 20th and 21st century in Edinburgh, all connected to one sewing machine.
Shows the importance of found family as well as the difference that a skill, like sewing, can make to one’s life. Also highlights lots of unexpected connections.
Really took my back to my uni days in Edinburgh and as I’m also a keen sewist, this book couldnt have been more perfect.
Shows the importance of found family as well as the difference that a skill, like sewing, can make to one’s life. Also highlights lots of unexpected connections.
Really took my back to my uni days in Edinburgh and as I’m also a keen sewist, this book couldnt have been more perfect.
sbubbletrouble's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.25
I listened to the audio version which had good narration. Would like to revisit in print as I got a little lost with the timelines
scottishlindsay's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
blogginboutbooks's review
3.0
My favorite kinds of novels are multi-generational family sagas told in dual (or more) timelines, which come together at the end in a satisfying way. Even better if there are old family secrets to uncover. That's exactly the kind of story THE SEWING MACHINE purports to be, which is why I picked it up (also because I needed a book for a reading challenge that has the word "machine" in the title and those are not easy to find). I loved its premise and its cover art, both of which indicated that THE SEWING MACHINE was the exact kind of read I like best.
Unfortunately, THE SEWING MACHINE is a very lackluster novel. The characters are all likable, but they're just not very original or interesting. It doesn't help that the chapters are told from multiple viewpoints over long spans of time, making it hard to really get to know the characters well, meaning it's tough to get really invested in their heartaches, struggles, and triumphs. By the time you start empathizing, the timeline moves ahead two decades and everything in the characters' lives have changed. You never get a chance to worry if the they are going to survive and thus REALLY care about their plights. This format also gets confusing. I found myself getting lost in time more than once and forgetting how one character was related to another. My biggest issue with THE SEWING MACHINE, though, is that it's just...boring. There's no real plot to keep the story focused and chugging forward. It's mostly episodic, but even then, not a lot actually happens. There's conflict, yes, but no real tension or suspense to keep a reader wanting to turn pages to see what will occur next. The short chapters do help with pacing since you're never stuck in one place for long, but still, it's just not a very exciting book. Even the big secret isn't much of one. It's anticlimactic to say the least. So, yeah, I never felt overly compelled to pick this book back up when I put it down. If "machine" wasn't such a hard word to find in book titles, I wouldn't have finished this one.
Don't get me wrong, THE SEWING MACHINE isn't a terrible book. Fergie's prose is skilled and her words definitely painted pictures in my mind of the novel's setting and players. I just felt like the author was trying to cover too much ground, which led to underdeveloped characters, a scattered plot, and a lack of power to the whole thing. In a lot of ways, it feels like a first draft that just needs some tightening in order to become something truly moving and unforgettable. For me, then, THE SEWING MACHINE was just an average read.
Unfortunately, THE SEWING MACHINE is a very lackluster novel. The characters are all likable, but they're just not very original or interesting. It doesn't help that the chapters are told from multiple viewpoints over long spans of time, making it hard to really get to know the characters well, meaning it's tough to get really invested in their heartaches, struggles, and triumphs. By the time you start empathizing, the timeline moves ahead two decades and everything in the characters' lives have changed. You never get a chance to worry if the they are going to survive and thus REALLY care about their plights. This format also gets confusing. I found myself getting lost in time more than once and forgetting how one character was related to another. My biggest issue with THE SEWING MACHINE, though, is that it's just...boring. There's no real plot to keep the story focused and chugging forward. It's mostly episodic, but even then, not a lot actually happens. There's conflict, yes, but no real tension or suspense to keep a reader wanting to turn pages to see what will occur next. The short chapters do help with pacing since you're never stuck in one place for long, but still, it's just not a very exciting book. Even the big secret isn't much of one. It's anticlimactic to say the least. So, yeah, I never felt overly compelled to pick this book back up when I put it down. If "machine" wasn't such a hard word to find in book titles, I wouldn't have finished this one.
Don't get me wrong, THE SEWING MACHINE isn't a terrible book. Fergie's prose is skilled and her words definitely painted pictures in my mind of the novel's setting and players. I just felt like the author was trying to cover too much ground, which led to underdeveloped characters, a scattered plot, and a lack of power to the whole thing. In a lot of ways, it feels like a first draft that just needs some tightening in order to become something truly moving and unforgettable. For me, then, THE SEWING MACHINE was just an average read.
ladyk23's review against another edition
5.0
I met the author of this book a few years ago. We had done the same writing course and were attending a convention that ran alongside it. She talked then about the book which had just been published at the time. Always wanting to support fellow writers, and also wanting to support a fellow writer on the same course as I, this book was always in the back of my mind as one I must read at some point. I didn’t know much about the plot, but I wanted to read it to be supportive of Natalie.
Anyway, fast forward a few years. I had never quite gotten around to purchasing The Sewing Machine, and it came up on an Audible sale. Well, no excuse I thought, and made the purchase.
I’ve been listening to/reading a lot of serial killer books recently, Manhunt - about Millie Dowler’s killer Levi Bellfield, Killing for Company about Dennis Nilsen, and Serial Killers which is a history of loads of different murderers. I’m a fan of true crime and the My Favorite Murder podcast so this isn’t unusual for me, but maybe a bit unusual to read so many back to back, but they just happened to be what I had in my recent Audible library. Anyway, when I came to the end of this run, I really wanted to read something lighter, and completely different. I looked down my list and thought right, it’s about time for you and me Sewing Machine.
I had no idea that I would fall so in love with this amazing book. Or that I’d be so very envious of Natalie’s writing ability. Her characters are so perfectly sculpted, each with their own secrets, and traits, you can’t help but feel for them all, and wish that they were people you knew for real. And I’m not just talking the main characters, I’m talking Eva from the corner shop, Fred’s neighbour and her little boys, Donald’s cousin. People who appear only a couple of times in the story but they feel so real.
The interwoven threads of story keep you completely gripped, and even though I had pretty much guessed the ending before it came, I was so happy that it ended how it did that I wasn’t even mad about that. This book has had me sobbing pretty much all the way though, in a way that only great storytelling can. As I inched closer and closer to the end I didn’t want it to be over. I wanted to stay in these peoples lives and company forever.
This is a story that spans over 100 years, several generations of several families, and yet it feels just as relevant as anything else you could pick up, by showing the kindness (and cruelty too) of humans. This book is a masterpiece, and Natalie, if you’re reading this, I can’t wait to see what else you’ve written or are you’re working on.
Everyone stop what you’re doing and read The Sewing Machine. Right now.
Anyway, fast forward a few years. I had never quite gotten around to purchasing The Sewing Machine, and it came up on an Audible sale. Well, no excuse I thought, and made the purchase.
I’ve been listening to/reading a lot of serial killer books recently, Manhunt - about Millie Dowler’s killer Levi Bellfield, Killing for Company about Dennis Nilsen, and Serial Killers which is a history of loads of different murderers. I’m a fan of true crime and the My Favorite Murder podcast so this isn’t unusual for me, but maybe a bit unusual to read so many back to back, but they just happened to be what I had in my recent Audible library. Anyway, when I came to the end of this run, I really wanted to read something lighter, and completely different. I looked down my list and thought right, it’s about time for you and me Sewing Machine.
I had no idea that I would fall so in love with this amazing book. Or that I’d be so very envious of Natalie’s writing ability. Her characters are so perfectly sculpted, each with their own secrets, and traits, you can’t help but feel for them all, and wish that they were people you knew for real. And I’m not just talking the main characters, I’m talking Eva from the corner shop, Fred’s neighbour and her little boys, Donald’s cousin. People who appear only a couple of times in the story but they feel so real.
The interwoven threads of story keep you completely gripped, and even though I had pretty much guessed the ending before it came, I was so happy that it ended how it did that I wasn’t even mad about that. This book has had me sobbing pretty much all the way though, in a way that only great storytelling can. As I inched closer and closer to the end I didn’t want it to be over. I wanted to stay in these peoples lives and company forever.
This is a story that spans over 100 years, several generations of several families, and yet it feels just as relevant as anything else you could pick up, by showing the kindness (and cruelty too) of humans. This book is a masterpiece, and Natalie, if you’re reading this, I can’t wait to see what else you’ve written or are you’re working on.
Everyone stop what you’re doing and read The Sewing Machine. Right now.
jaibee's review against another edition
4.0
This was a nice little palate cleanser after the last book I read, and I’d recommend it for when you need a little literary pick me up.
Thoroughly enjoyed trying to read the dialogue in the necessary Scottish accents and my brain somehow refusing to read them in anything but a Welsh accent??? Thanks brain.
Thoroughly enjoyed trying to read the dialogue in the necessary Scottish accents and my brain somehow refusing to read them in anything but a Welsh accent??? Thanks brain.
ladyk23's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I met the author of this book a few years ago. We had done the same writing course and were attending a convention that ran alongside it. She talked then about the book which had just been published at the time. Always wanting to support fellow writers, and also wanting to support a fellow writer on the same course as I, this book was always in the back of my mind as one I must read at some point. I didn’t know much about the plot, but I wanted to read it to be supportive of Natalie.
Anyway, fast forward a few years. I had never quite gotten around to purchasing The Sewing Machine, and it came up on an Audible sale. Well, no excuse I thought, and made the purchase.
I’ve been listening to/reading a lot of serial killer books recently, Manhunt - about Millie Dowler’s killer Levi Bellfield, Killing for Company about Dennis Nilsen, and Serial Killers which is a history of loads of different murderers. I’m a fan of true crime and the My Favorite Murder podcast so this isn’t unusual for me, but maybe a bit unusual to read so many back to back, but they just happened to be what I had in my recent Audible library. Anyway, when I came to the end of this run, I really wanted to read something lighter, and completely different. I looked down my list and thought right, it’s about time for you and me Sewing Machine.
I had no idea that I would fall so in love with this amazing book. Or that I’d be so very envious of Natalie’s writing ability. Her characters are so perfectly sculpted, each with their own secrets, and traits, you can’t help but feel for them all, and wish that they were people you knew for real. And I’m not just talking the main characters, I’m talking Eva from the corner shop, Fred’s neighbour and her little boys, Donald’s cousin. People who appear only a couple of times in the story but they feel so real.
The interwoven threads of story keep you completely gripped, and even though I had pretty much guessed the ending before it came, I was so happy that it ended how it did that I wasn’t even mad about that. This book has had me sobbing pretty much all the way though, in a way that only great storytelling can. As I inched closer and closer to the end I didn’t want it to be over. I wanted to stay in these peoples lives and company forever.
This is a story that spans over 100 years, several generations of several families, and yet it feels just as relevant as anything else you could pick up, by showing the kindness (and cruelty too) of humans. This book is a masterpiece, and Natalie, if you’re reading this, I can’t wait to see what else you’ve written or are you’re working on.
Everyone stop what you’re doing and read The Sewing Machine. Right now.
Anyway, fast forward a few years. I had never quite gotten around to purchasing The Sewing Machine, and it came up on an Audible sale. Well, no excuse I thought, and made the purchase.
I’ve been listening to/reading a lot of serial killer books recently, Manhunt - about Millie Dowler’s killer Levi Bellfield, Killing for Company about Dennis Nilsen, and Serial Killers which is a history of loads of different murderers. I’m a fan of true crime and the My Favorite Murder podcast so this isn’t unusual for me, but maybe a bit unusual to read so many back to back, but they just happened to be what I had in my recent Audible library. Anyway, when I came to the end of this run, I really wanted to read something lighter, and completely different. I looked down my list and thought right, it’s about time for you and me Sewing Machine.
I had no idea that I would fall so in love with this amazing book. Or that I’d be so very envious of Natalie’s writing ability. Her characters are so perfectly sculpted, each with their own secrets, and traits, you can’t help but feel for them all, and wish that they were people you knew for real. And I’m not just talking the main characters, I’m talking Eva from the corner shop, Fred’s neighbour and her little boys, Donald’s cousin. People who appear only a couple of times in the story but they feel so real.
The interwoven threads of story keep you completely gripped, and even though I had pretty much guessed the ending before it came, I was so happy that it ended how it did that I wasn’t even mad about that. This book has had me sobbing pretty much all the way though, in a way that only great storytelling can. As I inched closer and closer to the end I didn’t want it to be over. I wanted to stay in these peoples lives and company forever.
This is a story that spans over 100 years, several generations of several families, and yet it feels just as relevant as anything else you could pick up, by showing the kindness (and cruelty too) of humans. This book is a masterpiece, and Natalie, if you’re reading this, I can’t wait to see what else you’ve written or are you’re working on.
Everyone stop what you’re doing and read The Sewing Machine. Right now.