Take a photo of a barcode or cover
orinposner 's review for:
The Unmapping
by Denise S. Robbins
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A wonderful read that was especially poignant and a salve right now, as I’ve been living through a very-real but nevertheless very-strange ongoing emergency. This novel traipses through various points of view, moving from person to person and narrating their experiences of a city in crisis: New York City has suddenly become “unmapped,” meaning that its buildings have all changed places, switched streets and neighborhoods, scrambling the familiar landscape like a messy jigsaw puzzle. No one knows why and how it happens, but everyday at 4AM, the city scrambles again.
Two main characters, Esme and Arjun, work in the city’s emergency department, trying very hard to keep people safe in this changed and constantly changing world, all while dealing with their own personal issues. I really loved these characters, their intricate lives and specific fears, and how they can be both total losers and really competent at their jobs. We then get a bunch of other characters—mostly unnamed—who all live and work and wait in the city while uncertainty reigns.
And really, so much of dealing with emergencies and with a changing world is about waiting. You predict possible scenarios. You wait for alerts or for information or for help. You anticipate how things can go wrong, or go right. You scramble to survive. It was remarkable to read about the extreme events of the novel and then looking around at my own world thinking, yep, this is exactly how emergency protocols work in the real world. And as much as there is organization in the chaos, it’s still just that insane.