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moriahleigh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Graphic: Death of parent, Cancer, Terminal illness, Suicidal thoughts, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual violence, Death, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Rape, Medical content, Grief, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Pregnancy and Car accident
an_emily's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Cancer, Grief, Death of parent, and Medical content
writtenontheflyleaves's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
πππππ
πΊοΈ The plot: When Lia receives an unexpected diagnosis, the news upends her life and those of her husband, teenage daughter, and elderly mother. Meanwhile, her body knows nothing of the word "cancer", just that Something is moving through it. Malevolent, yes. But also tricksy. Playful. It gambols through Lia's cells and the memories stored in her body, the loves and hurts she carries with her. These things are a part of her, bodily - what does it mean to let go? Will she or those she loves ever be ready for that?
When @mostardentlyalice was picking my TBR, perhaps it was a given that Maps would be on it. She has been championing this book since its release and I can totally see why - it is a triumph.
Written in playful, poetic style that takes a moment to acclimatise to then carries you along like a fairground ride, this book is both a tour through one woman's life, the ups and downs of desire and despair, and a portrait of a family struggling with anticipatory grief.
Half the story is narrated by Lia's cancer: a nymph that rummages through the mythic landscape of her body, describing organs and passages as fantastical landscapes peopled by dream-creatures from her life. It is the villain of the story, hungry to see and claim everything, determined it must survive. But these things also make it very human, very like Lia herself, not truly a villain. This is maybe the genius of the book, its ability to show that death is contained within life without simply saying it, of forcing the reader to even momentarily surrender to the acceptance of that fact. It's a grieving feeling, one of the good ones.
Naturally, to carry all this off, the writing is bonkers and beautiful and so brim-full of compassion for our past and future selves. What an absolute knockout of a debut!
πΊοΈ Read it if you like Ali Smith or Jessica Andrews (the vignette style of storytelling is similar here). Extra points for exploration of mother and daughter relationships and first love!
π« Avoid if cancer or anticipatory grief are too heavy for you to read about right now. Also if you hate experimental prose or poetry.
Graphic: Grief and Cancer
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Rape, Death, and Death of parent
agnesbebon's review
5.0
Graphic: Pregnancy, Cancer, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Addiction, Rape, Car accident, Chronic illness, Vomit, Bullying, Grief, Medical content, Adult/minor relationship, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Abandonment, Alcohol, Blood, Death, Death of parent, and Toxic relationship
jiscoo's review against another edition
4.75
heartbreaking, original, intelligent, empathetic, and made to be read and reread compulsively.
Graphic: Death, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Cancer, Death of parent, Grief, and Sexual assault
edilund's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death of parent, Medical trauma, Dementia, Terminal illness, Cancer, and Grief
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Car accident, Sexual assault, and Physical abuse
unfiltered_fiction's review
5.0
Maps is a story rich with abstraction; it peaks when you put aside the need to fully understand the literal meaning of each sentence, and instead immerse yourself in the temperature, colour, taste, and shape of each pattern of words. At the same time, a new layer of intention can be revealed within many of these word puzzles if you're willing to break your reading flow to google an unfamiliar word - a body part, an obsolete adjective, a plant.
Like all the best books, it's more than the sum of its parts. The writing occasionally an undertone of self satisfaction and precociousness - but it is entirely earned by how hard each word, every syllable works to conjure an intricately textured landscape of thought and emotion. I felt some elements were handled imperfectly (particularly sexual assault and abuse of power) and yet could appreciate how this became part of the fallible, multi-dimensional humanity of the book and its characters.
Graphic: Cancer, Death of parent, and Grief
Moderate: Death and Sexual harassment
afion's review
4.5
Graphic: Dementia, Sexual violence, Grief, Pregnancy, Death of parent, Cancer, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, and Adult/minor relationship
Moderate: Car accident and Bullying
Minor: Infidelity
leabhar_love's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Death of parent, Death, Medical content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Cancer, Chronic illness, and Grief
bella_cavicchi's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Terminal illness, Grief, Death of parent, Cancer, and Medical content
Moderate: Bullying and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Dementia