Reviews with content warning for Injury/Injury detail - The Cartographers

The Cartographers was a book that had great potential, but fell flat for me. The academia setting and mystery elements were interesting. However, the pacing and execution were not very well done. The beginning was a slow build up to an admittedly intriguing mystery about the main character’s past. Once more of the backstory was revealed, I felt like I couldn’t read fast enough only for the ending to be very rushed and unsatisfying! There were too many characters to keep track of and the main character felt underdeveloped. If you’re looking for a fantastical mystery set in the world of academia, you might enjoy this. Overall, I think there are better fantasy options out there!

Content Warnings

raquelcanread's review

Go to review page

adventurous funny mysterious fast-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

3.0

Pretty entertaining! Gave me da vinci code/ national treasure vibes. If it gets picked up for a film it could be a cool adventure movie!!

Content Warnings

caseythereader's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

Content Warnings

taelights's review against another edition

Go to review page

medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.5

I started off really loving this book so I'm a bit disappointed that it went so downhill for me by the end.

The first half quarter of the book was honestly so good. I was so drawn in by the story and the mystery and the characters. But towards the halfway point I thought the story had grown very repetitive and boring. I was kind of desperate for it to be over so I could move onto another book which is never a good thing.

Also by the halfway point I had already guessed the two biggest twists in the story so I didn't really feel surprised at all when either of them were revealed. I was just like "oh okay cool I was right" but not even in a satisfying way.

I thought the ending was super unsatisfying and a bit too open ended for my tastes at least.

Also I felt like a lot of the sacrifices and choices made by the characters were just dumb and unjustified.

Spoiler

Wally's whole motivation made no sense to me and his actions were so extreme. Like turning into a serial killer just to protect the secret of this town??? And for what reason??? Literally makes no sense to me still. Also Tam deciding to live in the Agloe for multiple decades just felt pointless. Like what person would give up their whole life with a loving husband and a tobbler just for some town even if it was a secret town. Turning the husband you are supposed to love into a single parent when you could idk just call the police and/or run away. Also Swan's death was overly dramatic and I thought it added nothing to the story.

Honestly the idea of the book really interested me but the execution of it was disappointing. Most of the characters fell flat and were unbelievable to me. The story also felt underdeveloped and had a few obvious plot holes. Plus the world building just wasn't it and left me with so many questions.

Content Warnings