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A review by marathonreader
The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
fast-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
5.0
"Maps were love letters written to times and places their makers had explore. They did not control the territory - they told its stories" (372)
Demerit 1: I was annoyed by a sudden flip into didactic exposition regarding William towards the end. We didn't need to know why he chose to do XYZ and how he felt about ABC. It was clear without this.
Demerit 2: Personally, I was annoyed by the nicknames. I don't see how Romi is Ramona. Also why is Tamara Jasper-Young called Tam.
Merits: Literally everything else. The most exciting plot and fascinating characters. Despite popular opinion, I do not think any character is truly bad; they are all so COMPLEX and FAULTED and that makes them all beautifully round.
"'You should have gone after him,' she said.
'You were bleeding, and unconscious,' Eve said slowly. 'Yo're our little Nell. We couldn't leave you.'
Something passed through the three of them - Francis, Ramona, and Eve - in the silence. They were standing a little bit apart from each other, at a distance strangers would keep - which perhaps they were, after all these years - but the loner they talked, the more the stiffness of their shoulders and the tenseness in their faces began to slowly ebb... They were clearly still afraid, but the heart of it, the soil the seed of the fear had grown form, was made from something more like guilt, or shame.
And love, maybe. Trampled and withered'" (214-5)
"The paradox that even if our map could be perfect, every bit of data completely measurable and knowable... the world it represents isn't" (William, p. 324)
Demerit 1: I was annoyed by a sudden flip into didactic exposition regarding William towards the end. We didn't need to know why he chose to do XYZ and how he felt about ABC. It was clear without this.
Demerit 2: Personally, I was annoyed by the nicknames. I don't see how Romi is Ramona. Also why is Tamara Jasper-Young called Tam.
Merits: Literally everything else. The most exciting plot and fascinating characters. Despite popular opinion, I do not think any character is truly bad; they are all so COMPLEX and FAULTED and that makes them all beautifully round.
"'You should have gone after him,' she said.
'You were bleeding, and unconscious,' Eve said slowly. 'Yo're our little Nell. We couldn't leave you.'
Something passed through the three of them - Francis, Ramona, and Eve - in the silence. They were standing a little bit apart from each other, at a distance strangers would keep - which perhaps they were, after all these years - but the loner they talked, the more the stiffness of their shoulders and the tenseness in their faces began to slowly ebb... They were clearly still afraid, but the heart of it, the soil the seed of the fear had grown form, was made from something more like guilt, or shame.
And love, maybe. Trampled and withered'" (214-5)
"The paradox that even if our map could be perfect, every bit of data completely measurable and knowable... the world it represents isn't" (William, p. 324)