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!

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raquelcanread's review against another edition

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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!!

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caseythereader's review against another edition

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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

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taelights's review against another edition

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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.

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sophie42's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful mysterious slow-paced

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

2.0

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anniereads221's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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bedtimesandbooks's review against another edition

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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

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foreverinastory's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Thank you to B2 Weird and William Morrow Books for my finished copy in exchange for an honest review and promotion. All opinions are my own.

This was so fun. I was stressed and anxious the whole time, but in a good way!

The Cartographers is all about maps, especially maps that might be a little magical. When Nell's father is found dead in his office, Nell doesn't know what to think. She hasn't talked to him in years since he cruelly fired her and destroyed her reputation in cartography. Nell finds the same map that caused their last fight in his possessions. She thought it was completely worthless only to find out it's incredibly rare and valuable. A mysterious collector has been hunting all copies down. The mystery of why sets Nell on a life changing journey.

I really enjoyed this book! I was immediately pulled in by the suspicious death of Dr. Young. From this Nell begins to dig into her family's past in order to find out exactly what happened to her mother the year she died in a fire. I loved seeing how all the pieces wove together.

While Nell is the main focal point of this story, we get glimpses into the perspectives of her parents and their friends throughout the book. I enjoyed getting to know all of them and see their various motives for why they did what they did.

I meant to savor this book, but once I started I could not stop. I was so invested in the mystery. I had to have answers more than anything else. I also really enjoyed that the characters were all older since I've been reading mostly YA lately. Nell and Felix are in their 30s and the other side characters are probably in their late 40's to 50's.

Overall, I'm so glad I picked this one up, thoroughly enjoyed it!

Rep: white cishet female MC, Black cishet male side character, Black cishet female side character, Asian American cishet female side character, white cishet side characters, male side character mentions having a husband.

CWs: Murder, death, death of parent, violence, injury/injury detail, fire/fire injury. Moderate: sexual content, infidelity.

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