Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - The Cartographers

The premise was really interesting and honestly carried the first half of the book - maps are so exciting and niche, so exploring that world was a really interesting subject. The deeper I got into reading it the worse it got, though :/.

The characters were all one dimensional and did not grow throughout the story. The antagonist was very one note and his motivations were really underdeveloped. Most characters were explained (Nell is a Young, therefore she is stubborn) instead of showing this trait for her. The romance subplots in the book also lacked any kind of tension, chemistry, or energy - I only felt any kind of real emotion between Nell and Felix when they were arguing. As for the other couples, WHOOO did they lack chemistry! They felt so contrived, especially the love triangle (?) with Romi, Francis, and Eve. I don't understand what draws any of these characters together, other than the plot dictating it.

Now onto the tropes, oh the tropes. Nell's mother, Tamara, was burdened with the weight of the world with her story. First: she's the dead mother. Second: she's this brilliant and charismatic student that everyone loves. She did not feel like a real person, more of a vessel for other characters to go through emotions or problems.

Spoiler

It turns out she's alive the whole time which was a bad twist because of how predictable it was, and how unbelievable!

I had a lot of issues with her character lacking dimension and personality. The way that "found family" was used with the group of Tam and Daniel's college friends was told and not shown - it did not feel remotely real or close or dynamic, just like it wanted to jump onto the found family in academia trend. Just a bunch of people who we were told were smart and good at what they did but with no depth.

The world building was poor and I feel like it didn't hold up. Especially around the magic system - it was very loose in how it could be used and how it was practically applied in the story. There weren't any rules to how it worked, and any rules that were there shifted around according to what the plot necessitated. This was especially a problem towards the end of the book as the magic is explored more in depth.

I also noticed three missing commas. That was just a little picky thing I got frustrated with. But it's all these little details that added up to make it not a very satisfying book, or even one that made a lot of sense when held up to a light.

Content Warnings

summerif's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

foreverinastory's review

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Thank you to B2 Weird and William Morrow Books for my finished copy in exchange for an honest review and promotion. All opinions are my own.

This was so fun. I was stressed and anxious the whole time, but in a good way!

The Cartographers is all about maps, especially maps that might be a little magical. When Nell's father is found dead in his office, Nell doesn't know what to think. She hasn't talked to him in years since he cruelly fired her and destroyed her reputation in cartography. Nell finds the same map that caused their last fight in his possessions. She thought it was completely worthless only to find out it's incredibly rare and valuable. A mysterious collector has been hunting all copies down. The mystery of why sets Nell on a life changing journey.

I really enjoyed this book! I was immediately pulled in by the suspicious death of Dr. Young. From this Nell begins to dig into her family's past in order to find out exactly what happened to her mother the year she died in a fire. I loved seeing how all the pieces wove together.

While Nell is the main focal point of this story, we get glimpses into the perspectives of her parents and their friends throughout the book. I enjoyed getting to know all of them and see their various motives for why they did what they did.

I meant to savor this book, but once I started I could not stop. I was so invested in the mystery. I had to have answers more than anything else. I also really enjoyed that the characters were all older since I've been reading mostly YA lately. Nell and Felix are in their 30s and the other side characters are probably in their late 40's to 50's.

Overall, I'm so glad I picked this one up, thoroughly enjoyed it!

Rep: white cishet female MC, Black cishet male side character, Black cishet female side character, Asian American cishet female side character, white cishet side characters, male side character mentions having a husband.

CWs: Murder, death, death of parent, violence, injury/injury detail, fire/fire injury. Moderate: sexual content, infidelity.

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