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A review by arielleb148
The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd
5.0
“she could hardly fathom it. this was academia, for crying out loud. rivals wrote counterarguments and published rebuttal papers. they didn’t kill.”
when famed cartographer dr. daniel young is found dead with a seemingly worthless map hidden in his desk, his daughter nell can’t resist investigating. to her surprise, she soon discovers she may have the only copy of the map left in existence, since a “mysterious collector” has been destroying all other copies. nell embarks on a dangerous journey to answer her ever growing list of questions regarding the map, but also uncover her dark family history.
i really had no idea what to expect from this book, but it honestly surpassed all my wildest hopes. there’s so many layers and nuances to this book i feel like i need to read it again to appreciate them all. nell’s determination is so admirable and i was rooting for her the whole time. it honestly felt like i WAS her sometimes, with how hard i was trying to piece together the mystery.
about halfway through the book, things really take a turn, and i can’t say much without spoiling it, but from reading reviews i’ve gathered that a lot of people didn’t like it. for awhile, i wasn’t sure how i felt about it either, but the more i thought about it, the more i really liked it. i have no interest in cartography whatsoever but this book gave me so much respect for the field and made me look at maps in such a different way. and the characters do make some decisions that are questionable, but again, i think the more you sit and think about them, the more they make sense.
the second to last chapter had me thinking i was going to hate the ending, but the last two pages made me LOVE it. i think that was the perfect way to end it. it reminded me a lot of the addie larue ending. felix and nell are also just very similar to addie and henry, i think.
also the fact that this was based on a true story? so cool.
even if you don’t typically read mysteries, i HIGHLY recommend at least giving this one a shot. it’s so well-written and honestly has transformed me into a mystery stan. there so many twists and turns and the multiple povs keep the book interesting from start to finish. i can tell peng shepherd did a lot of research for this book and just poured a whole lot of love into it. i loved it.
when famed cartographer dr. daniel young is found dead with a seemingly worthless map hidden in his desk, his daughter nell can’t resist investigating. to her surprise, she soon discovers she may have the only copy of the map left in existence, since a “mysterious collector” has been destroying all other copies. nell embarks on a dangerous journey to answer her ever growing list of questions regarding the map, but also uncover her dark family history.
i really had no idea what to expect from this book, but it honestly surpassed all my wildest hopes. there’s so many layers and nuances to this book i feel like i need to read it again to appreciate them all. nell’s determination is so admirable and i was rooting for her the whole time. it honestly felt like i WAS her sometimes, with how hard i was trying to piece together the mystery.
about halfway through the book, things really take a turn, and i can’t say much without spoiling it, but from reading reviews i’ve gathered that a lot of people didn’t like it. for awhile, i wasn’t sure how i felt about it either, but the more i thought about it, the more i really liked it. i have no interest in cartography whatsoever but this book gave me so much respect for the field and made me look at maps in such a different way. and the characters do make some decisions that are questionable, but again, i think the more you sit and think about them, the more they make sense.
the second to last chapter had me thinking i was going to hate the ending, but the last two pages made me LOVE it. i think that was the perfect way to end it. it reminded me a lot of the addie larue ending. felix and nell are also just very similar to addie and henry, i think.
also the fact that this was based on a true story? so cool.
even if you don’t typically read mysteries, i HIGHLY recommend at least giving this one a shot. it’s so well-written and honestly has transformed me into a mystery stan. there so many twists and turns and the multiple povs keep the book interesting from start to finish. i can tell peng shepherd did a lot of research for this book and just poured a whole lot of love into it. i loved it.