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A review by liamliayaum
The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd
5.0
Trigger warnings: death, fire
Dr. Nell Young has dedicated her life to cartography, the study of maps, even after her esteemed father destroyed her reputation over a seemingly worthless gas station map. After seven years of not speaking to her father, much less working in the industry that she loves, Nell receives a phone call that her father, Dr. Daniel Young, was found dead at his desk in the New York Public Library. As Nell sorts through her father's things and her emotions, she stumbles upon the very same map that ruined her. Intrigued, Nell can't help but try to find out why her father would keep this map and why it appears to be the only copy in existence. At every turn, she is met with more questions and more danger. Will Nell be able to unearth the secrets of this map before she, or someone else she loves, gets hurt?
The Cartographers adds a new spin on the concept of paper towns. For those familiar with John Green's Paper Towns, there will be a familiarity in the setting. I enjoyed this interpretation of a paper town and the magic of it. The magic is even more jarring, as maps are an item grounded in reality and scientific measurements yet one can't help but wish this magic was real and delight in the possibilities. The novel brings beauty back into the mundane and highlights how passion and intellect can both be a blessing and a curse.
There was an elegant symmetry to this story, a brilliant poetry in Nell's journey to answer her father's final question for her. Characters are slowly brought into the journey, filling in gaps of knowledge and in some ways, Nell's past. While Nell is the main character, when the supplementary characters come in, the stories they tell are a story within a story and are separate chapters. To some, this may be jarring, to be investing in Nell's story only to segue to a retelling of stories from many years ago but I found these to be perfectly interspersed to learn more of the story.
While I had my suspicions of who the antagonist was early on, the twists in the story kept throwing me off their scent. This book is billed as a fantasy due to the magic I hinted at above but I would argue that it's more a mystery with minor fantasy elements. The true magic lies in the beauty and symmetry of the prose. That while loss is a part of life, there is often a welcome gain in that loss.
Dr. Nell Young has dedicated her life to cartography, the study of maps, even after her esteemed father destroyed her reputation over a seemingly worthless gas station map. After seven years of not speaking to her father, much less working in the industry that she loves, Nell receives a phone call that her father, Dr. Daniel Young, was found dead at his desk in the New York Public Library. As Nell sorts through her father's things and her emotions, she stumbles upon the very same map that ruined her. Intrigued, Nell can't help but try to find out why her father would keep this map and why it appears to be the only copy in existence. At every turn, she is met with more questions and more danger. Will Nell be able to unearth the secrets of this map before she, or someone else she loves, gets hurt?
The Cartographers adds a new spin on the concept of paper towns. For those familiar with John Green's Paper Towns, there will be a familiarity in the setting. I enjoyed this interpretation of a paper town and the magic of it. The magic is even more jarring, as maps are an item grounded in reality and scientific measurements yet one can't help but wish this magic was real and delight in the possibilities. The novel brings beauty back into the mundane and highlights how passion and intellect can both be a blessing and a curse.
There was an elegant symmetry to this story, a brilliant poetry in Nell's journey to answer her father's final question for her. Characters are slowly brought into the journey, filling in gaps of knowledge and in some ways, Nell's past. While Nell is the main character, when the supplementary characters come in, the stories they tell are a story within a story and are separate chapters. To some, this may be jarring, to be investing in Nell's story only to segue to a retelling of stories from many years ago but I found these to be perfectly interspersed to learn more of the story.
While I had my suspicions of who the antagonist was early on, the twists in the story kept throwing me off their scent. This book is billed as a fantasy due to the magic I hinted at above but I would argue that it's more a mystery with minor fantasy elements. The true magic lies in the beauty and symmetry of the prose. That while loss is a part of life, there is often a welcome gain in that loss.