Lisa ManterfieldCritiques

A thank you to the publisher-- I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Smallest Thing by Lisa Manterfield is a YA novel about Emmott Sydall, a 17-year-old who lives in a small English village and wants to run away with her boyfriend to London, but is forced to stay in her town because of dramatic events. This story is very loosely based on occurrences in the town of Eyam during the Bubonic plague-- the town quarantined itself to save neighboring towns from infection and hundreds of residents died. However, this book is set in modern times.

The book is written with Emmott as the narrator in present tense. We move through the events as she experiences them over the course of about two months, the chapters being selected days during this time. Without including spoilers, we see Emmott interact with her boyfriend Ro, her father, her best friend Deb, a possible new love interest, and various neighbors. It's a story of growing up and realizing what matters most.

It's a charming little book and although I think it reads a little younger than the age group it's intended for, it was pleasant. It felt very English because of the language and I really loved that part. It was like I got to watch a Lifetime movie from Britain, which is something I'd love to do!

Now, the critique... (I'm taking a class on narrators now so forgive me but I can't get past my hyperfocus on narration!) The problem I had with it was that Emmott (kind of a cringey name for a female but it's based on a real person by that name, so...) goes through the events in real time, so we as readers are along for the ride... and frankly it's exhausting. She narrates her own thoughts constantly instead of revealing them through dialogue or other characters, and I struggled to stick with her analysis. It's so weird, but we never get to really see into Emmott's character, even though we spend so much time listening to her thoughts. She calls herself a rebel, but I don't think that we ever really get there. I think that sometimes authors forget that the reader can glean information about the characters without having everything spelled out. {Myself as a fake editor: I wonder if Emmott would be better off narrating about this time in her life as she looks back on it as an adult. Maybe that way, her blossoming into maturity would make more sense. Because in hindsight it's much easier to see why things happened the way they did. It can be difficult to see the wisdom behind an immediate crisis situation as it unfolds.}

I really enjoyed Lisa Manterfield's other work [b:A Strange Companion|39671077|A Strange Companion|Lisa Manterfield|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1522252889l/39671077._SY75_.jpg|55680363] much more, but I'm grateful for the free copy of this one! Thank you!

It is really hard to do this story justice. Having lost a significant other in an age similar to Kat, the way this story is written echoes the emotions that I felt. Unfortunately or fortunately, I did not have a Mai. This story is really deep, so if you are looking for a fluff piece, you won’t find it with this book. Now, if you want to have a book hangover and get buried in the feels, grab your tissues and dig in. This story is so worth the tears you will shed.

It is really hard to do this story justice. Having lost a significant other in an age similar to Kat, the way this story is written echoes the emotions that I felt. Unfortunately or fortunately, I did not have a Mai. This story is really deep, so if you are looking for a fluff piece, you won’t find it with this book. Now, if you want to have a book hangover and get buried in the feels, grab your tissues and dig in. This story is so worth the tears you will shed.

The premise of this book is very good. There is so much an author can do with a quarrantined village and a mystery illness.

But I have to admit that I did not like the main character. She was immature, spoilt and very disrespectful towards her parents. I also did not like the fact that she tried to justify her behaviour and judements. What I do have to say is that Emmott grew as a character and her bratty self was soon left behind as the reality of her situation set in.

Lisa Manterfield portrayed the stressess and horror of living in a forced quarantine situation very well.

I am of two minds in recommending this book. On the one hand, the premise is excellent, but ... well, in the end you have to decide for yourself.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review.

***This book was reviewed via XPresso Blog Tours

Emmott Syddall wants nothing more than to leave the tiny English village of Eyam, that has been home to countless generations of her family. She's desperate to escape to London, with her boyfriend Ro, though Ro seems more reluctant to leave. Emmott’s father wants her to stay, eventually taking over the family tour business. Before she can leave, however, disaster strikes in the form of a deadly plague, and the quarantine that follows. Trapped in Eyam, Emmott, and her fellow villagers struggle to survive. This is a trying time, bringing out the true nature of each person. For Emmott's, it is a time of intense growth, as the dross in her life is burned away in the fires of plague. Through it all, Emmott loses people to betrayal and death alike, but she finds herself, and her true calling, and a new friend and ally in the young Red Cross relief worker named Aiden.

I enjoy stories of pandemics and epidemics. These are among the most terrifying of the 'man Vs nature’ category. These stories speak to our deep, ancestral memory of the great slate-wipers, and the fear and knowledge that they will happen again. The reminder that humans really aren't top of the chain, and that death is random, an implacable reality that can strike any of us, at any time. There is no true villain, for virii simply do what they do. There’s no malice involved.

Manterfield captured the feelings of despair, fear, and rage quarantine can engender. The still-healthy are trapped with the sick and dying, forced to watch loved ones suffer and die, all the while knowing they could be next. They are watched over by dread spectres, people in Haz-Mat suits, designed to protect them. Just seeing these suits often creates such feelings of fear because you know it means *something bad has happened*. It might not be contagion, but it's never a good sign. That fear is captured here. These people in their suits are as terrifying to the Eyam residents as their predecessors were to plague victims. Plague doctors’ get-ups were designed to block contagion as well, though the full grasp of transmission was lacking then. (I find them quite innovative for the times).

(Insert plague Dr)

I loved how the reader's emotions were drawn out via comparisons, such as death being an off switch on a remote whose batteries are then removed and thrown away, and through beautiful description.
‘The camera pans across the rows of stone cottages, the vivid hanging baskets, the church, the bus shelter, the school, and the tea rooms, but slashes of cold, hard metal interrupt the scene with the sterile invasive colors of Armageddon.’

Emmott’s thoughts on organised religion mirror mine… I hate the phrase “God called them back” when referring to deceased. She summed up my feelings nicely. Was God bored? Death and it's randomness sucks. Don't give me platitudes. I loved how Emmott's relationship with Aiden developed. The eyes are the window to the soul, it's said, and powerful conveyors of emotion and intimacy. When that is all you can see of a person's face (or body), you get to know them for what their soul reflects without opinion being tainted by their looks.

Oh, squee! The modern plague doctors have a computer called 'Sherlock’.

My only qualms were how childish and selfish Emmott came across at times. Much of this can be explained by how young, and relatively sheltered she was, so even that did add to authenticity. That she tempered that, and had such profound growth over the course of the story made it easier to deal with, though at times during the first third of the book I really wanted to thwack her.

I appreciated that this was the author's re-imagining of a historical true story, updated for the modern times. She explains a bit about historic Eyam, and how those people *chose* to impose quarantine upon themselves to stop their pocket of Bubonic Plague from spreading. That is an amazing level of foresight and bravery. It made me interested in learning more of historic Eyam, and curious as to what prompted the author to chose it as a focus.

📚📚📚📚📚 Highly recommended, especially if you enjoy man vs nature stories.

Emmott Syddall wants nothing more than to leave her small town and move to London. She does not want to become another dead Syddall buried in the small Eyam cemetery. Emmott make plans to move to London with her boyfriend, Roland right before her 18th birthday. However, before she can get out of Eyam, her neighbors begin dying. At first, it looks like a weird flu, but no one really knows, and then, Eyam is quarantined. There is no leaving, the exits are surrounded by military patrol. Relief workers in yellow haz-mat suits flood the town and begin asking questions. No one wants to go out and about or interact with anyone else. Except for Emmott, who just wants to escape and her father, who just wants to help his neighbors. Emmott's mind begins to change about leaving when a suited up relief worker named Aiden begins visiting.

The Smallest Thing is a creative re-imagining of the self-imposed quarantine of the village of Eyam in the 1660's due to the plague. At that point in time, the villagers of Eyam were seen as selfless, heroic- allowing the plague to ravage them, saving countless others. In modern times, with social media and aggressive TV reporters, the town is a spectacle, the victims are no more than statistics. Emmott is very easy to identify with, restless and burgeoning on adulthood, her story is one of growth and finding her place. I enjoyed watching her change her opinion of her father from a fearful man who is tying her down, to a hero who allowed her to grow. The virus also interested me, this was not just a resurgence of the plague, but something unknown, brought about possibly by climate change and increased human movement. The romance in this felt just right, not rushed, not insta-love, but definitely intensified by the situation. If not for the fact that it was a haz-mat suit, the fact that Emmott saw nothing but Aiden's eyes felt almost exotic their connection was based on something deeper than physical attraction when Emmott wants nothing more than to connect with someone. Overall, a heartfelt story of devastation and how a community can pull through.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.

I received this ebook in exchange for an honest review on ebooksforreview.com.
Emmott, a 17 year old girl, is dying to break away from her village and make a life for herself in London. Her family has lived for generations in the same village, actually most people simply never leave. Every family expects their children to stay and pass on the village's history. Emmott has a plan to take off with her boyfriend Ro-she has a job and apartment already secured.
Mysterious deaths begin happening and no one knows what's happening until one day-the entire village is quarantined off-making her break impossible. Her mother and sister are away visiting family, leaving her and her father alone.
Emmott has never felt like she belongs there-except for one good friend and Ro, she's felt alone. Her father feels it's his calling to take care of the entire village-which leaves them dangerously close daily to contamination. Whatever this virus is-it's deadly. Emmott struggles because she needs her dad and cannot understand why he can't just focus on her and staying healthy.
I hesitate to say much more on this. I was pleasantly surprised by this book because I was riveted from the very start. There are more very important characters but hate to spoil it!
Will Emmott and her father survive this nightmare? Will Emmott ever taste the freedom she so craves?

I have read several books about reincarnation but I have to comment by saying that this book is one of the best ones I have read. It was not just about lost loves or believing but also about life itself. The lesson to take away from this book is "Life is too short, Don't let it pass you by, Savor every moment".

Readers like me did not get to meet Gabe prior to his death. So I did not get to experience his relationship with Kat. Yet, through Mai and Kat's memories of Gabe; I felt like I did get a glimpse of who he was and just how special he was to Kat. It was easy to believe that Gabe was back in a way through Mai. Every time that she reacted to Kat, she pulled me in a little more deeper. All of the other characters in the story were just as much a part of the story as Kat and Mai were. It was nice that Kat did not fight her logical side but went into the journey she was experiencing with an open mind. A Strange Companion is full of great characters, and a memorizing storyline that sticks with you long after you have finished the book!