Hi friends! I am so thrilled to be writing this blog post. I finished The Caropgraphers last month and had a blast reading it. That’s why I decided to share 5 reasons why you should read The Cartographers immediately!
Elevator Pitch
If you’ve spent your childhood wanting to be Indiana Jones and living out fast treasure hunting fantasies, this book is for you. The Cartographers is the National Treasure retelling you never knew you needed.
About The Cartographers
Title: The Cartographers
Author: Peng Shepherd
Rating: 5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy, Mystery, Realism
Publisher: William Morrow
Date Published: March 15th 2022
Goodreads Description: Nell Young’s whole life and greatest passion is cartography. Her father, Dr Daniel Young, is a legend in the field and Nell’s personal hero. But she hasn’t seen or spoken to him ever since he cruelly fired her and destroyed her reputation after an argument over an old, cheap gas station highway map.
But when Dr Young is found dead in his office at the New York Public Library, with the very same seemingly worthless map hidden in his desk, Nell can’t resist investigating. To her surprise, she soon discovers that the map is incredibly valuable and exceedingly rare. In fact, she may now have the only copy left in existence . . . because a mysterious collector has been hunting down and destroying every last one—along with anyone who gets in the way.
But why?
To answer that question, Nell embarks on a dangerous journey to reveal a dark family secret and discovers the true power that lies in maps . . .
Content Warnings
Parental death, kidnapping, blood, murder, fire.
Tropes
Found family, second chance romance.
5 Reasons to Read The Cartographers
1. The Found-Family
If you like the found family trope, The Cartographers is for you. I wasn’t expecting this trope to come up in this book, but I was pleasantly surprised when it did. The family dynamic between all the characters is amazing, and honestly I think this book needs a prequel.
2. The writing is gorgeous
I was obsessed with this book from the very first line. Shepherd really did an amazing job with the writing. The story is well paced and the mystery sucks you in right from the start.
3. The cartography
Who knew cartography could be so exciting? Not me. Most of us don’t even think twice about maps anymore since the dawn of GPS. I can’t remember the last time I held an actual map, and I definitely don’t know how to read one. However, the Cartographers is fascinating. Shepherd really did her research and it shows in the writing. This is every nerd’s dream. I would watch a 10 episode Netflix mini series based on this book in a heartbeat.
4. The National Treasure Vibe
Admit it, we all love National Treasure. It is…a treasure. It’s also fun and goofy and lets us live out our treasure hunting fantasies. The Cartographers is like that. It felt like I was right there with Nell, trying to decipher ancient maps and solve the mystery.
5. The magic
I knew this book would have a magical element going into it, and it was really well done. It feels so real, like this could happen in the real world. I love books that give me just a hint of magic, a taste of something wonderful. The Cartographers is magical, and you should definitely read it.
Chat with me about The Cartographers
Have you read The Cartographers? What did you think?
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Firstly, the book cover looks so inviting and the title grabs me next. Hearing that the story lives up to the expectations set by first looks, I’m definitely in to read this book!
I didn’t expect this book to have a found family element either, it looks interesting!
It was a really nice surprise!
You had me at “Indiana Jones”
WAIT A MINUTE, THIS SOUNDS AMAZING?!?!?! Adding this to my tbr pile now, thank you for getting it on my radar!