I received a review copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. It has not affected my opinions.
Genre: Fantasy
Age Range: YA
Star Rating: 3.5 stars
Series: standalone
Blurb:
A long time ago, a witch burst into flames. A pirate and a mermaid fell in love. A map was marked with a glowing X. And a Republic was born.
In the present day, two girls are given a history assignment: to try and piece together the rise and fall of the famous and corrupt pirate Republic, which once formed their island home.
As Reggie and Maeve sift fact from fiction, they realise that everything they’ve been told about the Republic is wrong. That the problem with history being told by the victors is that a lot gets left out. That ancient legend might be uncomfortably close to home. As their tentative friendship deepens into something more, they realise that a magical world could be on their very doorstep…
Blurb taken from Goodreads. Add to your shelves here.
Review:
THE MAP THAT LED TO YOU is a dual timeline tale of outsiders, magical islands, and fighting for your home, whatever shape that takes.
Despite the above blurb, the focus of the book is not on the present but on the past. The narrator there, Levi, gets the largest portion of page time – and I did enjoy this timeline more. It’s the high seas portion of the book, full of ships and pirates and a treasure map…
Levi has grown up on a ship in the aftermath of a witch’s death that led to a republic in defiance. But there’s a secret he’s not been told and the empire wants to conquer the republic. I liked the dynamic between him and his sister Vega, how they had each other’s back the entire time.
By contrast to the adventure of the past, the present (narrated by Reggie) felt more like a contemporary tale about two girls and their relationship in a town with Opinions on what is and isn’t proper. There are links to the past with their research project and the tree, but given what they were researching was what was playing out on page in the past, it felt like they existed primarily for their relationship.
I picked up this book at a less than ideal time – I was not well and my head was a bit clothy, which meant it took me a while to get into this book. My attention span wasn’t great and it contains two narrative elements I struggle with on a good day – second person narration and verse. However, once I got into the book, I could appreciate how the elements were used.
These narratives styles are used to demark the three timelines (and three narrators) well. Levi, and the past, is the more common third person prose while Reggie and the present is in second person. The mythology, happening before and during, and between the others, is in verse. The verse suits this mythological aspect well, giving it a sense of oral tradition being passed down.
Sifa Elizabeth Reads 