A review by tm400
The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd

adventurous 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

4.0

this was such a captivating read! i feel like it had such a unique premise, and that the author executed it really well. i'm a big sucker for magical realism, and this book hit almost every aspect of the genre that i love!
i love the use of language such as skeleton, ghost, shell, empty, etc when describing wally towards the end of the book, after we've discovered he was the one behind the murders/map disappearances but before they return to agloe. i also really loved the way the story was told, with the intermittent first person chapters from the members of the Cartographers. really helped me immerse myself into the setting!!
 
i loved how this story was written; it was immediately thrilling from the first chapter, and i read it quickly. i found it perfectly paced and loved the storytelling. personally though... i wished a different ending for the protagonist. i do think that this ending was great, and i think that it was still a fantastic ending for this novel. but part of me, the part of me that just read that whole book, wished for something more...explicit is all. i also got confused a few times on characters' motives for why they do the things they do (mainly/especially wally and tamara)
sorry but i also hate that tamara was still alive in agloe at all... i suspected it from the second we discovered she was the only one who didn't make it back to the real rockland after the fire but i was just hoping maybe it wouldn't happen but then it did :/

i'm giving this a 4/5 stars, and am definitely looking into more books by peng shepherd to add to my tbr! 
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