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A review by voelve
The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
0.5
Tl;Dr: This book is the reading equivalent of junk food. A simple plot with twists you can see coming from 200 pages away, a cast of entirely two-dimensional characters, and nothing you have to spend any time at all thinking about. When I went back and saw this described as a "thriller", I almost laughed.
I'm sure it can feel good if you're in the mood for that, but I felt my time was entirely wasted on this.
It's been a while since I read a book like this, and 'The Cartographers' reminded me why. We have a main character, Nell, who we are constantly told is mousy, boring, and uncomfortable with herself and her entire life, yet she's constantly compared positively to her beautiful and passionate mother.
The second we're told she's estranged from her father, I knew he would die (and he did, like five pages later). She has two adoptive father figures of sorts who replaced him long ago in the book's timeline, but I-the-reader only ever developed an attachment to one of them.
We're told Swann was like a kind uncle to her while Nell worked at the NYPL, and sure, he never treats her badly, but all the affection we're supposed to have for him is secondhand. Humphrey, on the other hand, we're supposed to low-key despise for his choice of work, yet it's him we get touching bonding moments with. From Swann, we get expensive whiskey (the man is inexplicably wealthy for a researcher at a library struggling with funding).
Nell solves a mystery entirely from a list of first names and the knowledge that these people are vaguely related to the antique map world. Her ex works for an incredibly evil-coded surveillance company, yet this rings the alarm bells of no one until it's way too late.
Worst of all is the final "twist" of the book, which I put in quotes because it's not a twist at all, it's just bad storytelling. The plot device is that things you put down on a map become real, if you only you have that map (because, as the book saccharinely puts it, it's "not a place that makes a place, it's the people"). This somehow is supposed to explain how Nell's mother, who has been supposed dead for 25 years, survived in a phantom settlement - because if you just draw a map of a restaurant, food will materialize inside it. Or something. It breaks the extremely simple rules of magic for this plot device that had been established 250 pages earlier.
The villain - obvious the founder of aforementioned evil-coded surveillance company - is also the distinctly creepy childhood friend of Nell's mother. I cannot stress enough how this person is described by everyone in the flashback sequences as possessive, obsessive, and yeah, creepy - and yet everyone still wanted to hang out with him, and Nell's mother is seemingly oblivious to his general unpleasantness until it's resulted in her almost-death.
This book was a waste of everyone's time, including the author's.
I'm sure it can feel good if you're in the mood for that, but I felt my time was entirely wasted on this.
The second we're told she's estranged from her father, I knew he would die (and he did, like five pages later). She has two adoptive father figures of sorts who replaced him long ago in the book's timeline, but I-the-reader only ever developed an attachment to one of them.
We're told Swann was like a kind uncle to her while Nell worked at the NYPL, and sure, he never treats her badly, but all the affection we're supposed to have for him is secondhand. Humphrey, on the other hand, we're supposed to low-key despise for his choice of work, yet it's him we get touching bonding moments with. From Swann, we get expensive whiskey (the man is inexplicably wealthy for a researcher at a library struggling with funding).
Nell solves a mystery entirely from a list of first names and the knowledge that these people are vaguely related to the antique map world. Her ex works for an incredibly evil-coded surveillance company, yet this rings the alarm bells of no one until it's way too late.
Worst of all is the final "twist" of the book, which I put in quotes because it's not a twist at all, it's just bad storytelling. The plot device is that things you put down on a map become real, if you only you have that map (because, as the book saccharinely puts it, it's "not a place that makes a place, it's the people"). This somehow is supposed to explain how Nell's mother, who has been supposed dead for 25 years, survived in a phantom settlement - because if you just draw a map of a restaurant, food will materialize inside it. Or something. It breaks the extremely simple rules of magic for this plot device that had been established 250 pages earlier.
The villain - obvious the founder of aforementioned evil-coded surveillance company - is also the distinctly creepy childhood friend of Nell's mother. I cannot stress enough how this person is described by everyone in the flashback sequences as possessive, obsessive, and yeah, creepy - and yet everyone still wanted to hang out with him, and Nell's mother is seemingly oblivious to his general unpleasantness until it's resulted in her almost-death.
This book was a waste of everyone's time, including the author's.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury and Death of parent
Minor: Gun violence and Violence