The Cartographers

Elise reviewed The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd

The twist makes it.

3 stars

The characters are a bit thin, there's a romantic subplot that doesn't really go anywhere or do anything, and the first half of the book is thankfully a quick read for how little is going on. The back half, after the twist is revealed, is much more compelling and is probably best enjoyed in a single sitting. Some characters are much more fleshed out, and the developing intrigue mixed with the dramatic irony (you can totally tell who the villain is before they ever reveal themselves) makes every page gripping and a little heart-wrenching. I was filled with thoughts like "is the antagonist going to show their hand now" and the twist was so out of left field given the otherwise rather mundane nature of the setting it genuinely took me by surprise. Glad I read it, and though I won't be reading it again, I'm excited to talk about …

The characters are a bit thin, there's a romantic subplot that doesn't really go anywhere or do anything, and the first half of the book is thankfully a quick read for how little is going on. The back half, after the twist is revealed, is much more compelling and is probably best enjoyed in a single sitting. Some characters are much more fleshed out, and the developing intrigue mixed with the dramatic irony (you can totally tell who the villain is before they ever reveal themselves) makes every page gripping and a little heart-wrenching. I was filled with thoughts like "is the antagonist going to show their hand now" and the twist was so out of left field given the otherwise rather mundane nature of the setting it genuinely took me by surprise. Glad I read it, and though I won't be reading it again, I'm excited to talk about it at book club.

Catship reviewed The Cartographers by Karen Chilton

I was sufficiently entertained

No rating

It has its boring parts, it's hard to believe parts, it's predictable parts, it's too much parts, but I don't care, I like it. There's maps and map nerds.

I was wondering for a while if it'd go to a supernatural direction and whether I'd enjoy it more if it did or didn't. When I found out the way it went was fine with me :)

Flauschbuch reviewed The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd

Hit and miss

3 stars

The description of some of the things in this novel, e.g. academic life, large corporations and search algorithms seem a little off, as if the author didn't actually know how they work. Unfortunately, some play a bigger role in the story. If you can suspend your disbelief about those the hunt for the mystery is exciting once the pace takes up. I did guess the main villain halfway through, though. While there are some ponderings about the purpose of maps the project one of the characters is working on - a map of everything - only gets a cursory treatment. It could have merited a book of its own.

sarah reviewed The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd

nothing about this is right

2 stars

I’ve already hooted and hollered about the many ridiculous things the book gets wrong about libraries and academia and I won’t rehash (although ffs if you’re going to write a book revolving around these key details, why wouldn’t you think you need to actually learn about them?!). But even beyond that, this just doesn’t work. Like, the premise of why the murderer wants to do the murdering? Nonsensical. I stand by my appreciation of the romance plot. And I do like the idea of magical maps etc etc. But those are the only reasons this isn’t a one-star review.

RDScally reviewed The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd

Review of 'The Cartographers' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

I'm not sure why this book is getting so much praise.
The basic premise is good but the writing becomes increasingly cartoonish as the novel progresses and the dialog is stilted throughout.
The author drags out a murder scene (where the other characters react in way real people would not) that leads to an unsatisfying ending.
It's as though the author was the popular kid in her MFA program and now book publishing eco system feels compelled to praise her.
I asked a couple of other people to read this book to see if it was just me.
Neither of them made it past the third chapter.

altlovesbooks reviewed The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd

Review of 'The Cartographers' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

”I thought we were going to be friends forever. I thought nothing could tear us apart.”

More like books-about-maps and not books-about-books, but similar? Kind of a mediocre story with a super fun premise. A weird intersection of thriller, maps, and the New York Public Library is where you’ll find this book hanging out, and honestly it’s a very tough book to rate because of it. I don’t have a lot to compare it to.Nell Young is an ex-cartographer, who once had her dream job working with maps in the NYPL, but was fired by her dad after a disagreement involving an old box of Junk and a gas station map. Now she produces fake replicas to hang on hotel walls, but dreams often about returning to her old job. That old gas station map comes back to haunt her after her father is found dead at his desk at …

”I thought we were going to be friends forever. I thought nothing could tear us apart.”

More like books-about-maps and not books-about-books, but similar? Kind of a mediocre story with a super fun premise. A weird intersection of thriller, maps, and the New York Public Library is where you’ll find this book hanging out, and honestly it’s a very tough book to rate because of it. I don’t have a lot to compare it to.Nell Young is an ex-cartographer, who once had her dream job working with maps in the NYPL, but was fired by her dad after a disagreement involving an old box of Junk and a gas station map. Now she produces fake replicas to hang on hotel walls, but dreams often about returning to her old job. That old gas station map comes back to haunt her after her father is found dead at his desk at the NYPL, and she soon discovers that it’s more dangerous than she ever knew.Larger story/ending thoughts and spoilers:So, like, how cool is it to be able to go literally anywhere as long as you have a map that says you can go there? I loved that idea, and wanted the author to play around with it a little more than just setting the story in Agloe, NY (which is a real (fake) place, actually) and creating convenient bolt holes for the characters to hide in for plot reasons.I felt a little let down by the mystery as well. Once I could see where the story was going with Nell meeting the old friend group one-by-one, it became glaringly obvious that Wally was William, just by name alone. A mystery that is no longer a mystery becomes a bit boring to me. It also read like a love letter to the NYPL. Which, don’t get me wrong, deserves all the love letters ever, but got a bit repetitive in story format. Nell waxes on for paragraphs about all the details she misses from the NYPL, details that no doubt exist but the average reader probably has a hard time connecting with. So, in non-spoilery general terms, I felt let down by the mystery, but did love the overall idea of the book. It was an entertaining enough read, but maybe not entertaining enough to rate it higher.

Nils Müller liest reviewed The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd

Spannender Thriller mit interessanter Prämisse

4 stars

Für mich hat das Thema “Raum” schon länger eine besondere Faszination – und damit natürlich auch Karten. Daher ist Peng Shepherds Roman über eine junge Kartographin, die Familiengeheimnis enthüllt, wie gemacht für mich.

Im Mittelpunkt steht dabei eine einfache Karte aus den 1930er Jahren – eine der ersten, die für den aufkommenden privaten Autoverkehr gedacht waren. Die Hauptfigur Nell findet diese in einem Versteck ihres Vaters, nachdem dieser auf mysteriöse Weise umgebracht wurde. Schnell findet sie heraus, dass diese Karte viel wertvoller ist, als sie erscheint, und ein Geheimnis enthalten muss. Was dieses Geheimnis aber ist und wie eng es mit der Geschichte ihrer Familie verwoben ist, zeigt sich erst im Laufe der Geschichte.

The Cartographers ist in erster Linie eine Kombination aus spannendem Thriller und Familiendrama. Als solcher ist er genauso flott wie unterhaltsam erzählt und lässt sich wunderbar “weglesen”. Im Kern der Handlung liegt eine kleine Besonderheit aus …

Für mich hat das Thema “Raum” schon länger eine besondere Faszination – und damit natürlich auch Karten. Daher ist Peng Shepherds Roman über eine junge Kartographin, die Familiengeheimnis enthüllt, wie gemacht für mich.

Im Mittelpunkt steht dabei eine einfache Karte aus den 1930er Jahren – eine der ersten, die für den aufkommenden privaten Autoverkehr gedacht waren. Die Hauptfigur Nell findet diese in einem Versteck ihres Vaters, nachdem dieser auf mysteriöse Weise umgebracht wurde. Schnell findet sie heraus, dass diese Karte viel wertvoller ist, als sie erscheint, und ein Geheimnis enthalten muss. Was dieses Geheimnis aber ist und wie eng es mit der Geschichte ihrer Familie verwoben ist, zeigt sich erst im Laufe der Geschichte.

The Cartographers ist in erster Linie eine Kombination aus spannendem Thriller und Familiendrama. Als solcher ist er genauso flott wie unterhaltsam erzählt und lässt sich wunderbar “weglesen”. Im Kern der Handlung liegt eine kleine Besonderheit aus der Geschichte der Kartographie, ansonsten wirkt das Thema jedoch leider eher als Kulisse für die spannende Handlung und wird nur selten etwas tiefer reflektiert.

sifuCJC reviewed The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd

A missed opportunity

2 stars

I just can't recommend this book. The premise is interesting and the plot structure kept me curious. But the constant recapping and sophomoric relationships killed it. I just didn't care by the end.

I probably should've read other reviews first, but a book about maps! Too bad.

jferg reviewed The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd

So much missed opportunity...

1 star

Content warning General spoilers within.

The initial premise, and the first third of this book, was great ... and then ... it wasn't. It took a left turn into magical realism, and, well, my suspension of disbelief and ability to suffer absurdly dramatic characters just couldn't survived. I finished it (I was listening to the audio version), but it was a hate listen by the end. "Big twists" were obvious, character logic was frustrating at best, even for magical realism the mechanics of the core principle was ... tough to make excuses for. And the denouement? The author might have well just ended it with "and they all lived happily ever after".

There seem to be people out there who liked this book, but I can definitely put it on my "do not recommend" list.

Sarah reviewed The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd

nothing about this is right

2 stars

I’ve already hooted and hollered about the many ridiculous things the book gets wrong about libraries and academia and I won’t rehash (although ffs if you’re going to write a book revolving around these key details, why wouldn’t you think you need to actually learn about them?!). But even beyond that, this just doesn’t work. Like, the premise of why the murderer wants to do the murdering? Nonsensical. I stand by my appreciation of the romance plot. And I do like the idea of magical maps etc etc. But those are the only reasons this isn’t a one-star review.

Jesse reviewed The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd

Review of 'The Cartographers' on 'Storygraph'

3 stars

It was fine. I loved the atmosphere, but I'm more of a character reader, and this just kept saying paper towns meets ready player one and I couldn't vibe with it. It just might not be for me.

Martijn Reintjes reviewed The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd

Review of 'The Cartographers' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

"the purpose of a map is to bring people together."

Very, very disappointing.

I love maps, I didn't love this book.
Although the premise is interesting, the story itself is slow and boring.
I only managed to finish the book because I hoped there was going to be an explanation for the weird magic system that was introduced. There was not.

Two stars because of maps, but don't bother and go read another book instead.

_astronoMay reviewed The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd

Review of 'The Cartographers' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

None of the motivation for anything made any sense. Wally turns into a murderer in search of a map because he's obsessed with Tam and "their" town? Tam stays behind to protect a secret town instead of raise her daughter? Her dad fires her and ruins her career to protect her from said previous murdering old friend? It read like a bad rendition of national treasure to me. Nearly a DNF.

I did enjoy the historical note at the end of the acknowledgements. But this just showed me how the idea for this had so much more potential than a group of PhDs acting like children and making dumb choices.