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lazygal's review against another edition
4.0
Such an original world! In some ways, it reminded me of The Rithmatist with the nearly-our-world setting and the imaginative use the author makes of something we take rather for granted, in this case, maps.
The quest/trek we (via Sophia and Theo) undertake, first to find Uncle Shadrack, then to Varessa and the carta mayor follows the usual route: danger to be avoided, seemingly untrustworthy people being "good guys" and "good guys" who really aren't, etc.. But again, there's enough that's slightly different that will appeal to readers who are tired of the contests and dystopias. I'm not sure I understood the different map types, but the idea of a water map just sounds so cool.
Copy provided by publisher.
The quest/trek we (via Sophia and Theo) undertake, first to find Uncle Shadrack, then to Varessa and the carta mayor follows the usual route: danger to be avoided, seemingly untrustworthy people being "good guys" and "good guys" who really aren't, etc.. But again, there's enough that's slightly different that will appeal to readers who are tired of the contests and dystopias. I'm not sure I understood the different map types, but the idea of a water map just sounds so cool.
Copy provided by publisher.
sexiilikeacow's review against another edition
4.0
Hope the next one comes out soon, this book was great. The world alone is phenomenal, the characters even better!
luckyliza13's review against another edition
4.0
Good story, entertaining & interesting. I will probably have to read the next two!
book_nut's review against another edition
4.0
Fantastically fresh premise, and wonderfully creative magic. A little slow to get started but worth it in the end.
ofliterarynature's review against another edition
3.0
Definitely an ok book. It's interesting, but so far I haven't found anything about it to love OR to hate. (But actually, the characters are kind of boring). I'll be continuing the series once I can convince the library to give me the next book lol, but nothing about it so far makes me think this will be a series I'll want to revisit.
herlifewithbooks's review against another edition
3.0
Many-paged alternate history fantasy. Dash of steampunk, perhaps? I dug the history more than the fantasy, but otherwise a fun (long) read.
nostrabora's review against another edition
1.0
Illogical, hard to follow plot. At many points my eyes were just going over the words not being able to absorb them, or even build a mental image of what was happening, except for brief flashes. I want to run through an imaginary world that feels as easy as breathing, not stumble through it on stilted fumbling steps because I can't make out what kind of terrain Im even walking on. Nothing in this book made any sense. And it's such a shame because the premise sounded so interesting! I love cartography and travel and historical fiction. My favorite things in fact! And adding the element of different parts of the world being trapped in different times sounded like a new and fascinating concept. I hoped we would get to travel to those new times in this book. Instead we were stuck in pretty much the same age throughout the whole story. Also thrown in were way more weird science fiction abilities/powers/body modifications?/monsters/magic/etc. than I had anticipated. It was so utterly random. Grass hair? Thorn skin?? Huh??? And no explanations of anything. Ever. I was so. confused. the entire. book. And I couldn't even exert the mental energy to try and invent or reason my way through the nonsense of the 'world building', because you are constantly bombarded with new concepts and ideas that just appear out of thin air without any explanation which you're just meant to roll with. In some ways, this book was basic and predictable, in others unbelievably confusing and extremely hard to follow. I'd also like to echo what some other reviewers have said - what audience is this book intended for??? The MC is 13 years old, but this book seems rather advanced in concept and certain elements that are more adult like torture/body mutilation/depression for readers of similar age. Wanted to like this book so much, but wow it really fell short of the mark.
mkundert104's review against another edition
2.0
The concept was cool, the characters were intriguing, but for some reason I could not get into this book as I hoped I would.
nissahh's review against another edition
4.5
This will most likely be one of the best books I will read in 2015. The writing, the world, the characters. Everything about this book is amazing and I can't wait for the new book to come out later this year.
The cover is gorgeous as well. I don't have problems with this book at all. It was simply amazing. Words can't begin to describe how much I love this book. I never thought I needed this in my life until I was reading it. It starts off a little slow, but you get caught up in the story that you just don't care.
The cover is gorgeous as well. I don't have problems with this book at all. It was simply amazing. Words can't begin to describe how much I love this book. I never thought I needed this in my life until I was reading it. It starts off a little slow, but you get caught up in the story that you just don't care.