Reviews

Mapping the Edge by Sarah Dunant

katzreads's review

5.0

Wow--great book. I don't typically like suspense, but this one had me from the first page. Very unusual storytelling technique.

mellomorissa's review

dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.0

bookishblond's review

2.0

An interesting premise, but poorly executed. Mapping the Edge tells the stories of Anna, a woman who has vanished after a few days in Italy. I say "stories" because this novel follows two plotlines about Anna- two alternative accounts of what could have happened to her after she goes missing. A third storyline follows Anna's friends and family at home in England, who are trying to piece together the puzzle of her disappearance.

This novel felt like a literary experiment. Sarah Dunant is a fantastic writer (do yourself a favor and read [b:The Birth of Venus|28078|The Birth of Venus|Sarah Dunant|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388195878s/28078.jpg|815591]) but she couldn't make this work. Other reviewers have said it before me, but she really should have stuck to one storyline and fleshed it out a bit more and left the reader with some answers at the end.

alotofpuzzles's review

slow-paced

2.5

mbondlamberty's review

3.0

Interesting premise for this story and I like the multiple versions going on, but it wasn't as gripping as some of Dunant's other reads. The characters aren't really ones you get to like or really get to know very well. But I did make it all the way through so it couldn't have been that bad I guess.

emmaaxtco's review against another edition

3.0

I picked this one up because I liked Dunant's Birth of Venus so much. This is the third book of hers I've read (the other was called Transgressions, I believe) and it was one of those books with a lot of potential and not a whole lot of follow-through. I appreciated it for what it is, and it was a definite page-turner, but I think the three stars I've given it is on the generous side.

kingfan30's review

4.0

This book had me intrigued from the start, I just had to find out what was going on. The story flits between three different aspects, the people at home who are trying to find out where Anna has gone, scenario one of a kidnapping and scenario two of following a story for work. My least favourite was the scenario of the kidnapping, I much preferred the other two aspects of the story. The only downside to this book was the ending, it was left a bit too open for my liking.

emma_ireland's review against another edition

3.0

I enjoyed reading it but wasn't satisfied with where it went or how it "finished". I guess I'm a bit of an old grump when it comes to endings: I don't like to be left wondering.

jewelianne's review

3.0

I loved the premise of this book in theory. I have never seen the movie Sliding Doors so I can't say if it's any good, but I have always thought it sounded interesting, although apparently not interesting enough to get over my "not watching movies" thing. But when I heard about this book (a recommendation for books similar to Help for the Haunted, which I don't necessarily agree with), I was very intrigued. Basically, the idea is that a single mother goes on a brief vacation and does not return when she is expected. As her friends at home grow increasingly more worried, two parallel stories unfold about what might have happened to Anna. One is (kind of) a chic-lit scenario, and the other is more of a thriller/horror story. Sounds great, right?!

But in practice I didn't love it. I think part of it is because I did not find any of the characters very likable. Maybe it's because I'm not a single mother trying to get her groove back, but I didn't really get Anna. Her friend, Stella (whom the parts at home were told through) was probably realistic, but I could not connect with her at all. The only things she seemed to like was Anna and pot. And Anna's other friend Paul wasn't really a deep enough character for me to have any feelings about whatsoever.

As for the parallel stories one was kind of boring, and the other was kind of a page turner, but ultimately didn't really make any sense. A lot of it just seemed pointless. For example, Anna bought her daughter a present that she has with her in both of her parallel narratives. In both versions it gets damaged, but in very different ways. This is kind of interesting, but it didn't really go anywhere. And then at the end, when everything comes together, it sort of felt like the whole book didn't go anywhere. I don't know which story actually was the "real" story, although I guess that's the point? I could deal with that. I could not deal with the last paragraph of the story though, because it seemed like there was supposed to be some revelation there, but it didn't make any sense. I can't really say anything else without posting spoilers. It's not a bad read, but it also didn't live up to what I had hoped.

nocto's review

3.0

I've not read any Sarah Dunant for ages. This one took me a while to get into. Then I loved it for a long time. Then I got a bit disappointed with the ending. That summarises it pretty well.

This is the Stella's story: her friend Anna goes missing on a trip to Italy and what we have as well as Stella coping with Anna's young daughter is two flights of Stella's imagination as she thinks about what could have happened to Anna. Figuring out the two parallel versions of what could have happened to Anna is what took me a while to get into in the beginning. The similarities and differences between the two stories made for a fabulous middle of the book. But just as I was wondering how on earth the book was going to conclude I was disappointed and I didn't really feel it all came together in the end.

A good read all the same and one that makes me want to seek out the other Dunants that I haven't read.