sarita_nagesar's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
slow-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
2.0
fantasybooknerd01's review against another edition
4.0
Caroline Dunford's The Mapmaker's Daughter is an interesting tale of political wrangling, betrayal and ecological disaster.
The Shift moves across the land bringing devastation in its wake. The Mapmaker's work to prevent this, but their battle to stop the Shift is becoming harder to predict.
The story starts with our MC, Sharra and her socially conscious sister Jayne being Waylaid by a man delivering maps to two towns. However, after his horse breaks it's leg, he has to commandeer a horse. Enter Sharra and Jayne. The Two Daughters of master Mapmaker, Milton.
It is from here that the story springboards off to give a view of the current happenings within the Milton household and the plot, which whilst having a slow start, full of intrigue and political machinations, eventually careers off to become a full blown adventure story.
The book is essentially a story of two halves, with the first half set in the Milton household, and the second half being set in the wider world. For me, I found that as well as being two halves to the book, there was also two tones to the book, with the first half feeling like gothic horror, reminding me very much of Daphne du Maurer's Rebecca, accentuated by the fact that Sharra's mother is a ghost like presence seeping through the essence of the first half of the story. We get constant hints that she is there and that there was some tragedy surrounding her death. Add to that the creaking eeriness of the house and it's forest like library that women are not allowed to enter as they may disrupt the balance. And the second half of the book becomes more of an action/adventure story.
It is obvious that Caroline Dunford likes fairy/folktales as she manages to bring in various tropes of fairy tales such as the evil stepmother who marries the father after the mother has died in tragic circumstances, and is totally selfish, only concerned with her own status, hating the stepdaughter and favouring her own. She also manages to get the tale of Stone soup in there, which is one of my favourite tales as a child.
On top of this she manages to bring in some prescient topical subjects with the main antagonist of the story, the Shift, which reflects current topics such as climate change and the effects of over resourcing the planet. And whilst Sharra's stepmother, Ivory, is the villain of the group (I didn't think I would ever get a Zappa skit in a review
The Shift moves across the land bringing devastation in its wake. The Mapmaker's work to prevent this, but their battle to stop the Shift is becoming harder to predict.
The story starts with our MC, Sharra and her socially conscious sister Jayne being Waylaid by a man delivering maps to two towns. However, after his horse breaks it's leg, he has to commandeer a horse. Enter Sharra and Jayne. The Two Daughters of master Mapmaker, Milton.
It is from here that the story springboards off to give a view of the current happenings within the Milton household and the plot, which whilst having a slow start, full of intrigue and political machinations, eventually careers off to become a full blown adventure story.
The book is essentially a story of two halves, with the first half set in the Milton household, and the second half being set in the wider world. For me, I found that as well as being two halves to the book, there was also two tones to the book, with the first half feeling like gothic horror, reminding me very much of Daphne du Maurer's Rebecca, accentuated by the fact that Sharra's mother is a ghost like presence seeping through the essence of the first half of the story. We get constant hints that she is there and that there was some tragedy surrounding her death. Add to that the creaking eeriness of the house and it's forest like library that women are not allowed to enter as they may disrupt the balance. And the second half of the book becomes more of an action/adventure story.
It is obvious that Caroline Dunford likes fairy/folktales as she manages to bring in various tropes of fairy tales such as the evil stepmother who marries the father after the mother has died in tragic circumstances, and is totally selfish, only concerned with her own status, hating the stepdaughter and favouring her own. She also manages to get the tale of Stone soup in there, which is one of my favourite tales as a child.
On top of this she manages to bring in some prescient topical subjects with the main antagonist of the story, the Shift, which reflects current topics such as climate change and the effects of over resourcing the planet. And whilst Sharra's stepmother, Ivory, is the villain of the group (I didn't think I would ever get a Zappa skit in a review
happilyeveramy's review against another edition
3.0
A huge thank you to @zooloosbooktours for my #gifted copy of this book for this tour.
This book was a really good start. I absolutely love the idea behind it and Dunford really knows how to write.
I absolutely love Sharra, her character was so easy to like and you couldn't help route for her. I liked the sort of feminism this book has in regards to females not being allowed to be Map Makers. Something Sharra desperately wants. You can tell she is skilled and it calls tp her.
The Shift is very interesting and it certainly made the story on edge and action-packed.
I felt this book was however a bit slow for me and even though it's a historical fantasy, I'd say this book is a very light fantasy. For me that made the book lack a bit. I'm so used to conplex, adult, high and epic fantasy, this was just extremely gentle. This is certainly a good book for people thinking about getting into fantasy.
Theres a lot of pros and cons with this book for me personally. The writing is exceptional and Dunford is an amazing writer and you can see that in the book. I liked the idea of the plot and feel if it was more fantastical I'd of absolutely loved it. I really liked all the characters and there journey, especially Sharra and how she grows in this book.
This may not be a perfect book for me, but I definitely see many people loving this book. So give it a go and see.
This book was a really good start. I absolutely love the idea behind it and Dunford really knows how to write.
I absolutely love Sharra, her character was so easy to like and you couldn't help route for her. I liked the sort of feminism this book has in regards to females not being allowed to be Map Makers. Something Sharra desperately wants. You can tell she is skilled and it calls tp her.
The Shift is very interesting and it certainly made the story on edge and action-packed.
I felt this book was however a bit slow for me and even though it's a historical fantasy, I'd say this book is a very light fantasy. For me that made the book lack a bit. I'm so used to conplex, adult, high and epic fantasy, this was just extremely gentle. This is certainly a good book for people thinking about getting into fantasy.
Theres a lot of pros and cons with this book for me personally. The writing is exceptional and Dunford is an amazing writer and you can see that in the book. I liked the idea of the plot and feel if it was more fantastical I'd of absolutely loved it. I really liked all the characters and there journey, especially Sharra and how she grows in this book.
This may not be a perfect book for me, but I definitely see many people loving this book. So give it a go and see.
lucyp747d4's review against another edition
4.0
I’d like to thank Zoe from Zooloo’s Book Tours for arranging his tour and inviting me to take part.
I found this book very easy and quick to read. I was instantly fascinated by the world of the map maker’s and loved the world building the author had put in place. The idea of physical shifts happening without warning had a climate change ring to it that made the book feel quite relevant to our current climate situation.
I’m slowly starting to enjoy reading fantasy books more and more and this one certainly hit the mark. It had just the right amount of magic and supernatural elements to keep me interested as a reader without overloading on information.
Sharra was a brilliant character. She had so much strength when it came to her beliefs and need for survival that you couldn’t help but want her to succeed. Despite being an outcast she never let this stop her from perusing her goals or trying to change the ways of the map maker’s. Lady Ivory certainly didn’t make it easy for her and she played the role of woman scorned/evil step mother perfectly!
Considering the book is only 240 pages there was plenty of action. From the moment Sharra left her family home she faced obstacle after obstacle. The drama and action certainly kept my intrigue and when Maven was introduced I found there was a level of humour added to an already great read. Whilst some may argue the romance wasn’t entirely necessary between Sharra and Maven I for one enjoyed this added nugget. Given what they had been through it was inevitable that some chemistry would stir between them.
In summary this was a fast paced, intricately planned fantasy tale that had me stuck in my chair till it was over. My only question is will we see Sharra again? Will we ever find out what happened next?
I found this book very easy and quick to read. I was instantly fascinated by the world of the map maker’s and loved the world building the author had put in place. The idea of physical shifts happening without warning had a climate change ring to it that made the book feel quite relevant to our current climate situation.
I’m slowly starting to enjoy reading fantasy books more and more and this one certainly hit the mark. It had just the right amount of magic and supernatural elements to keep me interested as a reader without overloading on information.
Sharra was a brilliant character. She had so much strength when it came to her beliefs and need for survival that you couldn’t help but want her to succeed. Despite being an outcast she never let this stop her from perusing her goals or trying to change the ways of the map maker’s. Lady Ivory certainly didn’t make it easy for her and she played the role of woman scorned/evil step mother perfectly!
Considering the book is only 240 pages there was plenty of action. From the moment Sharra left her family home she faced obstacle after obstacle. The drama and action certainly kept my intrigue and when Maven was introduced I found there was a level of humour added to an already great read. Whilst some may argue the romance wasn’t entirely necessary between Sharra and Maven I for one enjoyed this added nugget. Given what they had been through it was inevitable that some chemistry would stir between them.
In summary this was a fast paced, intricately planned fantasy tale that had me stuck in my chair till it was over. My only question is will we see Sharra again? Will we ever find out what happened next?
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