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junowo's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This book was such a fun read. I was a bit intimidated at first with the introduction to the complex academic world of maps, but Shepherd guides the reader through it expertly, making it still feel complex without losing you.
The characters were well written and defined throughout the book, and I found myself impressed by how they all held such individual voices in the story.
I think my only disappointment comes in the ending. I felt that Wally’s motivations for his actions weren’t as clear or strong as I was expecting, and I don’t know that I’ll ever understand Tam’s decision to stay in Agloe. Swann’s death also felt a bit unnecessary.
Overall, I highly recommend the book! It puts a fun and interesting spin on a mystery and brought me into the world of maps, which I never would’ve thought I would be interested in, but nonetheless I’m fascinated by now!
The characters were well written and defined throughout the book, and I found myself impressed by how they all held such individual voices in the story.
I think my only disappointment comes in the ending.
Overall, I highly recommend the book! It puts a fun and interesting spin on a mystery and brought me into the world of maps, which I never would’ve thought I would be interested in, but nonetheless I’m fascinated by now!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Stalking, and Murder
Moderate: Abandonment
mbmayo's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Nell is a woman in her thirties, drawn back into her past life as an academic cartographer after her estranged father dies. A map hidden in his possession sets off a race for answers.
I can certainly agree with many of the criticisms of low rating reviewers. This was a plot heavy book with minimal character development. The characters we meet as adults bear little resemblance to their young adult selves. One of the twists is foreshadowed well enough that it is easily predictable within the first quarter of the book. The magic system can be wishy washy and you can't think about it too hard or it all falls apart. For example, in the fire where Tam disappears, Agloe disappears around everyone else because they think all the copies of the map are destroyed. However, decades later when Nell tears up the gas station map, the city doesn't disappear around them, because there's still one more map, even though they don't know where it is and thus can't use it.
But, those didn't ruin my enjoyment of the book. I did wish we had gotten chapters from the point of view of Daniel, Swann, Wally, or Tam. I think this would have really rounded out the motivations of the characters. Overall, I found it a fun read, one of those "Medium paced" books that's actually a slow build to a sprint at the end.
I can certainly agree with many of the criticisms of low rating reviewers. This was a plot heavy book with minimal character development. The characters we meet as adults bear little resemblance to their young adult selves. One of the twists is foreshadowed well enough that it is easily predictable within the first quarter of the book. The magic system can be wishy washy and you can't think about it too hard or it all falls apart.
But, those didn't ruin my enjoyment of the book. I did wish we had gotten chapters from the point of view of Daniel, Swann, Wally, or Tam. I think this would have really rounded out the motivations of the characters. Overall, I found it a fun read, one of those "Medium paced" books that's actually a slow build to a sprint at the end.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment and Death of parent
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury and Murder
amplify's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
I read through the first 3/4 very quickly and found the storyline engaging and enjoyable but, as expected from other reviews, the end did fall apart a bit and what plot holes were forgivable did become rather annoyingly obvious and distracting.
It almost felt as though the publisher put pressure to speed the process up and the author didn’t slow down to question motivations enough to make them believable. Not enough, “not what would I like to see happen and what should really happen” questioning going on while developing the finally thesis.
That said, I loved the concept and I really enjoyed a solid 75% of the book so…
It almost felt as though the publisher put pressure to speed the process up and the author didn’t slow down to question motivations enough to make them believable. Not enough, “not what would I like to see happen and what should really happen” questioning going on while developing the finally thesis.
That said, I loved the concept and I really enjoyed a solid 75% of the book so…
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Death of parent, Death, Murder, and Bullying
th18's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
This book was just fine. Nothing amazing. The writing felt juvenile and so many events were happening it felt rushed. I was irritated by the author constantly reminding us of how small the FMC was - her 'tiny frame' and how cardigans engulfed her etc.
Also she has a ton of bad personality traits that are just brushed away as her being a Young, like being too stubborn for her own good,not listening to anyone and not giving the map to the police like a sensible person after the break in and when she realised it would put a literal target on her back.
Lastly, her relationship kinda came out of nowhere after ignoring eachother the past 7 yrs. (Idk why Felix couldn't understand that she couldnt control her father firing him?!)
The nicer things:
Great idea but not great execution. It's nice that she still chose to stick with her passion for maps instead of going for a different higher paying job (though unsure how she was going to be the SENIOR researcher at NYPL 2 days after returning to the place even though she hasn't even been working in a library the past 7 yrs). Also somehow kept me reading until the end so props to the author for that.
Also she has a ton of bad personality traits that are just brushed away as her being a Young, like being too stubborn for her own good,not listening to anyone and not giving the map to the police like a sensible person after the break in and when she realised it would put a literal target on her back.
Lastly, her relationship kinda came out of nowhere after ignoring eachother the past 7 yrs. (Idk why Felix couldn't understand that she couldnt control her father firing him?!)
The nicer things:
Great idea but not great execution. It's nice that she still chose to stick with her passion for maps instead of going for a different higher paying job
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Abandonment, Murder, Violence, Gun violence, and Death of parent
raquelcanread's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Pretty entertaining! Gave me da vinci code/ national treasure vibes. If it gets picked up for a film it could be a cool adventure movie!!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Death of parent, Mass/school shootings, and Murder
amandabcook's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Death of parent
Moderate: Abandonment, Toxic friendship, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
caseythereader's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
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? No
4.25
- THE CARTOGRAPHERS is part mystery, part ode to libraries and curation. I was drawn in right from the start, happily along for the ride as this strange tale unraveled.
- To be honest, I could see where the plot was going pretty much the whole time, but Shepherd's writing was so cozy and the characters so real that it didn't matter if I figured it out before they did.
- This is the kind of book that I would love to see turned into a movie: the mechanics of the unreality elements would lend themselves so perfectly to the screen. So would the plot twists, tbh, but I won't give those away here!
- To be honest, I could see where the plot was going pretty much the whole time, but Shepherd's writing was so cozy and the characters so real that it didn't matter if I figured it out before they did.
- This is the kind of book that I would love to see turned into a movie: the mechanics of the unreality elements would lend themselves so perfectly to the screen. So would the plot twists, tbh, but I won't give those away here!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Gun violence, Infidelity, Abandonment, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
grantsharpies's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Death, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Blood
theonlybaillie's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Death of parent, Murder, Grief, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Abandonment, Alcohol, Gun violence, and Sexual content
honeywine's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Loved this story and the use of liminal spaces. I found myself glazing over some parts but I enjoyed it overall. As a geography person, I loved all the maps.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Death of parent, Grief, Toxic friendship, Gun violence, Death, Stalking, Confinement, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Abandonment and Kidnapping