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somelesbianwriter 's review for:
The Map That Led To You
by Ella McLeod
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I really enjoyed this book! I thought both the prose storylines were great and I loved the characters and the mystery and the queerness and the liberation of it all <3
my one dislike was the poetry sections. parts of them had potential, and I thought the concept of telling parts of the story through poetry was great and could've been really effective, but I didn't enjoy the poems themselves that much. this was partly because they transitioned between rhyming and non-rhyming verses with seemingly no logic/pattern, but largely because the rhyming patterns grated on me - they felt a bit clumsy and random. the non-rhyming bits of the poetry were cool, but the rhymes felt kind of forced.
I also thought it felt random for Reggie and Maeve to be on the cover, when Levi, Vega and Kano took up the majority of the storyline! but I also think the cover is really pretty and that doesn't really matter all that much.
whilst a couple of other bits didn't quite line up - why did no one in Reggie's part of the story query Vega being literally a glowing gold person? - the poetry thing was my only big dislike with this book. otherwise I really enjoyed this read! so many lovable characters, so many great lines, so much representation and hope. also gotta love books not shying away from the violence it truly takes to bring liberation. I'm so tired of books acting like fighting for your liberation violently is bad or puts you on a par with your oppressor, and it was so refreshing to read a book where fighting for their freedom was portrayed positively!
my one dislike was the poetry sections. parts of them had potential, and I thought the concept of telling parts of the story through poetry was great and could've been really effective, but I didn't enjoy the poems themselves that much. this was partly because they transitioned between rhyming and non-rhyming verses with seemingly no logic/pattern, but largely because the rhyming patterns grated on me - they felt a bit clumsy and random. the non-rhyming bits of the poetry were cool, but the rhymes felt kind of forced.
I also thought it felt random for Reggie and Maeve to be on the cover, when Levi, Vega and Kano took up the majority of the storyline! but I also think the cover is really pretty and that doesn't really matter all that much.
whilst a couple of other bits didn't quite line up - why did no one in Reggie's part of the story query Vega being literally a glowing gold person? - the poetry thing was my only big dislike with this book. otherwise I really enjoyed this read! so many lovable characters, so many great lines, so much representation and hope. also gotta love books not shying away from the violence it truly takes to bring liberation. I'm so tired of books acting like fighting for your liberation violently is bad or puts you on a par with your oppressor, and it was so refreshing to read a book where fighting for their freedom was portrayed positively!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Homophobia, Violence
Moderate: Animal death, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Abandonment, Colonisation
Minor: Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail