Review of Map of Us

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3.75 Stars

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

I actually have Chana to thank for recommending this one to me. She read it, and told me that it deserved more hype, so I gladly picked it up.

I will admit that when I first started the book, this formatting took some getting used to. I got confused as to why we kept switching perspectives and why each chapter was so short. But that was when I was reading only two chapters at a time, so I wasn’t keeping good track of the different storylines. Once I realized why I was having an issue, I restarted the book from the beginning, read it in longer bursts, and thoroughly enjoyed it.

I found it extremely impressive how this book managed to intertwine so many different storylines in such a short amount of time. Most chapters are only a page or two, some no more than a paragraph, and they chapters alternate between various different storylines that all connect seamlessly in the end.

It was interesting trying to guess how all the characters fit in to the main storyline. Sometimes the answer was obvious, but other times it took another few chapters from that character’s perspective to start putting things together. The formatting of the short chapters ended up being a very useful way of enabling me to keep track of what was going on with whom. Once I starting keeping track of things, I was riveted and was turning pages in order to see whose perspective was next, and how they connected back to everyone else.

I don’t think this was a very plot-driven books. I was mostly interested in the characters. Their specific stories, character arcs, and seeing how they fit in with everyone else. I enjoyed reading about everyone which is important when a book is this character driven. It mainly follows a family through different generations, with some other characters that have strong ties to the family.

All in all, this is a short and sweet book all about the different ways of finding love and family. It’s told in a really compelling way, as the short pages make this an addictive read. I continued saying “One more chapter,” all the way until the end.

Have you read this? Do you want to? How do you feel about super short chapters?

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