Review – The Glass Sentence (The Mapmakers Trilogy, Book 1) by S.E. Grove (3/5 stars)

Reading Level: Middle Grade
Genre: Steampunk
Length: 512 pages
Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers
Release Date: June 12, 2014
ISBN-13: 978-0670785025
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the Mapmakers Trilogy
Source: Swapped through Paperbackswap.com
Rating: 3/5 stars

“She has only seen the world through maps. She had no idea they were so dangerous.

Boston, 1891. Sophia Tims comes from a family of explorers and cartologers who, for generations, have been traveling and mapping the New World—a world changed by the Great Disruption of 1799, when all the continents were flung into different time periods. Eight years ago, her parents left her with her uncle Shadrack, the foremost cartologer in Boston, and went on an urgent mission. They never returned. Life with her brilliant, absent-minded, adored uncle has taught Sophia to take care of herself.

Then Shadrack is kidnapped. And Sophia, who has rarely been outside of Boston, is the only one who can search for him. Together with Theo, a refugee from the West, she travels over rough terrain and uncharted ocean, encounters pirates and traders, and relies on a combination of Shadrack’s maps, common sense, and her own slantwise powers of observation. But even as Sophia and Theo try to save Shadrack’s life, they are in danger of losing their own.”

This is the first book in the Mapmakers Trilogy and I was really excited to read this, the concept sounded so neat! I ended up struggling with this book a bit. I loved the creative world-building and the idea of the world splitting into different times and Ages. However, this story moved very slowly.

A lot of the first part of the book dealt with the politics of this world (which I didn’t enjoy) and then we moved on to more of an adventure (which I did enjoy). We never really got back to the politics or the impact they have on the rest of the world. I felt like the book was a bit disjointed and the story wasn’t tied together very well.

Additionally I liked, but never really loved, the characters. They are interesting and okay, but could have used more depth.

The pacing was definitely off for the story. Much of the story was very slow and boring, but these sections were occasionally punctuated by intense action scenes. This book just felt long and I almost stopped reading it multiple times.

Overall this was okay. The world-building and some of the ideas in here are amazing. However, the story was a bit disjointed, the pacing was off, and the characters were just okay. I won’t be continuing with the series.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– Goodreads Reading Challenge
– Mount TBR Reading Challenge