A review by mari_books
The Cartographers, by Peng Shepherd

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I love a good mystery in a museums/library with ancient relics. This book clearly draws inspiration from A Secret History. I thought the story was fast paced, with an interesting cast of characters and a plot that kept you hooked. The only areas I thought the book kind of got distracted were in explaining
Spoiler Wally’s motivation for wanting to keep the map a secret. And killing so many people?? And in the letter from Nell’s parents which just tried to spell out why Tam lived in the secret town for 30 years which seemed clumsy especially after all the careful retelling of the other Cartographers pov.
Additionally I didn’t love the magic realism part of the book - some of that was probably lost on me just trying to understand the dynamic between the different characters. Didn’t feel Felix was super useful either….he just didn’t seem developed 
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