Review by Ameira, Year 8, Pen Y Dre High School
I thought this book was going to be very dark at first, but it was super good. Each character was so interesting because they all had different personalities. For example, there was Thomas Rose; everyone saw him, and he had been hanged so they thought he was dead but when they found out he was alive. He was very sweet and kind and a very good character. However, my favourite character was definitely Tobias because he was so cool and I couldn't stop reading the parts he was in! At some point I remember reading in the voice I think he’d have. At first, I thought I would never like him as a character but after seeing all the other ones he was by far the best out of them all.

I learned more about the Black Death. We were taught about it in school, but this book taught me even more about it! I also really like the fact that Adam and Eve and even Noah’s Ark was mentioned. The most exciting parts in the book was actually the first few pages because I thought it was so interesting that they found a poor boy being hung from a tree looking dead and then he woke up and they had a whole argument over letting him go with them! I would recommend this book to lots of students who want to learn about the Black Death!

Review by Oliwia, 11, Orchard Fields Community School
I would recommend this book because it has a very interesting storyline, like nothing I have ever read before. What I found interesting was when Thomas was hanging from the tree but turned out to be alive, which was quite suspenseful and kept me reading for a long time. Will Hunter was my favourite character because he came from a sad background (his dad died, and his mum got murdered in the woods when they went to get food – Will saw it all) but didn’t give up and was a determined character. I didn’t like Sweyn because he was the oldest of his Uncle’s children and was always drunk before they had plays to do, also he was rude to Will. The time period it was set in was interesting and I learnt a lot especially about how the plague started and what happened to the person who had the plague. The book was kind of serious because of the death theme from the plague, however, it was sometimes happy and light-hearted as Thomas would always try to cheer up Will. The only thing I didn’t like about the book was when Tobias (Will’s Uncle) would spank him after plays or if they didn’t get enough money, it didn’t seem fair. It was interesting to learn how children were treated back then but it wasn’t nice to read about.