Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd

22 reviews

navayiota's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It gave me Secret History-but they grew up vibes. Now I really want to start a map collection.. 

Two things that bothered me were how stereotypically not-like-other-girls Nel is, (petite, unruly hair, big glasses, big cardigans, not chic, bookish, quiet but feisty) i struggled to imagine her that way and the wording always prompted an eye roll from me. The second thing was just how easily everyone spilled their past to Nel even though it was the first time they had seen her in 2+ decades, and the fact that they included all their petty drama. It completely broke immersion for me whenever someone who was prev ously reserved started talking about what was going on in their relationship and even their sex lives. I liked the story but the way it was conveyed to the reader felt weird.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Abandonment, Blood, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Stalking

Moderate: Alcohol and Medical content

Minor: Pregnancy and Sexual content

cyndi1966's review against another edition

adventurous challenging funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Infidelity, and Injury/Injury detail

the_book_bee's review

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gun violence, Toxic relationship, and Murder

Minor: Abandonment

hann_smc's review against another edition

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Honestly, I was really into this book until the end. 
There were a few world building holes that didn't really add up, like

where did the magic come from? Anyone can draw an incorrect map, if every one of them with a label for a fake town creates said fake magic town then it's not even special, just find a new map and then a new town/room/etc.

But it was the ending that really killed me. I kept thinking, "man this is wild, I wonder how it's going to be tied together in a way that makes sense" and then it...didn't.

their reasoning for leaving her mom there so that the crazy dude would chill CLEARLY didn't work. After he kept being crazy that plan failed, go get your wife/mother of your child and just burn the fucking map. There was NO REASON for her to just abandon her child.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Abandonment, and Kidnapping

spineofthesaurus's review against another edition

mysterious

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Grief, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Infidelity, and Stalking

Moderate: Blood, Murder, Self harm, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Classism and Pregnancy

sarahflanders's review

adventurous hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, and Stalking

____emily____'s review

adventurous mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, and Abandonment

atamano's review

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Grief

Moderate: Abandonment, Blood, and Gun violence

kit_lit's review against another edition

mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

I would have preferred more magical realism and map neediness. About halfway through it becomes much more of a typical thriller with folks getting murdered left and right. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Abandonment, and Fire/Fire injury

renyoi's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious reflective 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

4.0

Really engaging text on cartography, interpersonal relationships, and familial dynamics. Author is good at making complex ideas understandable, but falls short near the end of the book in making her character motivations understandable,

specifically Wally, whose villainy went rather unexamined in any meaningful way the entire time

.  Thoroughly enjoyable ready with fully fleshed out characters you will absolutely grow to care for deeply, even when they make seemingly nonsensical decisions. Recommended!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Stalking, Abandonment, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Infidelity and Grief

Minor: Gun violence