Review: The Cartographers (by Peng Shepherd)

My Rating:  4 stars

Peng Shepherd's The Cartographers is one of those books that surprised me in ways that I wasn't expecting.  I will admit that I probably would not have picked this one up if it had not been chosen as a book club read — mostly because I have little to no interest in maps (or anything related to it), plus I'm not really into books with magical realism because I don't really understand it, which means I will likely struggle through it and risk detracting from the reading experience.  With this book however, as soon as I started reading, I was instantly absorbed and quite honestly did not even think about the magical realism aspect until I got to those specific sections — and even then, the scenes didn't go completely over my head like I thought it would.  Basically, those scenes made logical sense to me in the context of what was happening in the story up to that point.  The premise itself was quite unique, the story overall was well-written, the plot moved along at a relatively fast pace, and the characters were well-drawn. 

This book captivated me, probably because I've never read anything like it.  I mean, I've read "genre mashup" books before, but this one was done in a way that felt so different, especially thematically.  There were elements of fantasy and magical realism (as already mentioned), but there were also mystery and intrigue, thriller-seque suspense, history and geography, contemporary realism, and even a dark academia and gothic vibe at certain parts. They're was also a literary bent to this with the setting of the New York Public Library, where much of the action takes place.  All of this came together in a mesmerizing, gripping story that I thoroughly enjoyed, even though this kind of book normally wouldn't really be up my alley.

If my review sounds a bit vague, it's definitely intentional, as this is the type of book where knowing next to nothing makes for the best reading experience.  Having said that, this one wasn't perfect by any means — I was actually able to figure out the ending as well as the various correlations between past and present quite easily, and yes, there were moments where I had to suspend disbelief a bit, but I was fine with that, since I knew going in that there would be some magical / fantastical elements to the story, so I was prepared.

I definitely recommend this one, especially if you're a fan of stories with magical realism.  This also made me curious about Peng Shepherd's other works as well.  Looks like I will need to check out her backlist at some point!