What do you think?
Rate this book
The Unmapping
Intimate and spellbinding,
The Unmapping
is a character-driven, literary speculative exploration of a city’s descent into chaos and confusion, perfect for fans of
Station Eleven
by Emily St. John Mandel and
Exit West
by Mohsin Hamid.
4 a.m., New York City. A silent disaster.
There is no flash of light, no crumbling, no quaking. Each person in New York wakes up on an unfamiliar block when the buildings all switch locations overnight. The power grid has snapped, thousands of residents are missing, and the Empire State Building is on Coney Island—for now. The next night, it happens again.
Esme Green and Arjun Varma work for the City of New York’s Emergency Management team and are tasked with disaster response for the Unmapping. As Esme tries to wade through the bureaucratic nightmare of an endlessly shuffling city, she’s distracted by the ongoing search for her missing fiancé. Meanwhile, Arjun focuses on the ground-level rescue of disoriented New Yorkers, hoping to become the hero the city needs.
While scientists scramble to find a solution—or at least a means to cope—and mysterious “red cloak” cults crop up in the disaster’s wake, New York begins to reckon with a new reality no one recognizes. For Esme and Arjun, the fight to hold the city together will mean tackling questions about themselves that they were too afraid to ask—and facing answers they never expected. With themes of climate change, political unrest, and life in a state of emergency, The Unmapping is a timely and captivating debut.
4 a.m., New York City. A silent disaster.
There is no flash of light, no crumbling, no quaking. Each person in New York wakes up on an unfamiliar block when the buildings all switch locations overnight. The power grid has snapped, thousands of residents are missing, and the Empire State Building is on Coney Island—for now. The next night, it happens again.
Esme Green and Arjun Varma work for the City of New York’s Emergency Management team and are tasked with disaster response for the Unmapping. As Esme tries to wade through the bureaucratic nightmare of an endlessly shuffling city, she’s distracted by the ongoing search for her missing fiancé. Meanwhile, Arjun focuses on the ground-level rescue of disoriented New Yorkers, hoping to become the hero the city needs.
While scientists scramble to find a solution—or at least a means to cope—and mysterious “red cloak” cults crop up in the disaster’s wake, New York begins to reckon with a new reality no one recognizes. For Esme and Arjun, the fight to hold the city together will mean tackling questions about themselves that they were too afraid to ask—and facing answers they never expected. With themes of climate change, political unrest, and life in a state of emergency, The Unmapping is a timely and captivating debut.
408 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 3, 2025
120 people are currently reading
12210 people want to read
About the author
Denise S. Robbins
4 books52 followersDenise S. Robbins is from Madison, Wisconsin, the city where she grew up and to which she returned to after sixteen years living and working in climate activism on the East Coast. She lives with her husband in a yellow house circled by oaks and pines and two owls. Her stories have been published in literary journals including Barcelona Review, Gulf Coast Journal, and more. Read her work and get in touch at www.denisesrobbins.com.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 302 reviews
March 5, 2025
This book is the first book from my imprint, Mareas. It's a literary sci-fi that looks at what it means to be a human experiencing chaos and disaster. I'm writing this as Florida prepares for a major hurricane, as comments online vary wildly between the government has created major weather events, to the government has failed us and climate change is altering how we can live. It makes me appreciate even more what The Unmapping is doing and saying.
Here's what you can expect from The Unmapping:
- A narration style that I describe as "chatty." It wonderfully captures speech and thought patterns in a way that makes it feel like the narrator is truly sitting down to tell you a story.
- A literary leaning contemporary sci-fi.
- Our main character, Esme, who finds that amid large-scale chaos, she also has things to face about herself and her relationship with her fiance, who is missing. Where is he, and why?
- Our other main character, Arjun, who wants to be a hero, to matter to the people around him, and that, at times, is achingly relatable and, at times, acutely disconcerting.
- A cult? In this economy?
- An honest look at who gets impacted most by disaster and how society views them
- A book that is both very human and a little alien that will create a memorable reading experience.
Add it to your shelves! Coming June, 24, 2025, and now available for pre-order.
Here's what you can expect from The Unmapping:
- A narration style that I describe as "chatty." It wonderfully captures speech and thought patterns in a way that makes it feel like the narrator is truly sitting down to tell you a story.
- A literary leaning contemporary sci-fi.
- Our main character, Esme, who finds that amid large-scale chaos, she also has things to face about herself and her relationship with her fiance, who is missing. Where is he, and why?
- Our other main character, Arjun, who wants to be a hero, to matter to the people around him, and that, at times, is achingly relatable and, at times, acutely disconcerting.
- A cult? In this economy?
- An honest look at who gets impacted most by disaster and how society views them
- A book that is both very human and a little alien that will create a memorable reading experience.
Add it to your shelves! Coming June, 24, 2025, and now available for pre-order.
January 11, 2025
Thank you Bindery Books for this ARC.
This book is based on a very interesting and unique concept, and I was really intrigued by it.
I was expecting some form of disaster story, focusing on the chaos created by the unmapping and how society will adapt to it.
Instead I found this book was more focused on a small cast of characters and their lives, emotions and reactions. It has a eerie feel to it.
I was somewhat unsettled by the choice to name only some of the characters, and giving only tittles to most of them (the wife, the reporter, etc.) and I had a hard time connecting with any of them. Considering the context they are in, I didn't find their decisions or motivations realistic.
Overall it's a miss for me, I would have liked to read a story more focused on the unmapping itself, it's consequences and the practical response to it.
This book is based on a very interesting and unique concept, and I was really intrigued by it.
I was expecting some form of disaster story, focusing on the chaos created by the unmapping and how society will adapt to it.
Instead I found this book was more focused on a small cast of characters and their lives, emotions and reactions. It has a eerie feel to it.
I was somewhat unsettled by the choice to name only some of the characters, and giving only tittles to most of them (the wife, the reporter, etc.) and I had a hard time connecting with any of them. Considering the context they are in, I didn't find their decisions or motivations realistic.
Overall it's a miss for me, I would have liked to read a story more focused on the unmapping itself, it's consequences and the practical response to it.
January 21, 2025
An imaginative plot but the follow-through is very poor.
Esme & Arjun, the principal characters in the story, work in the emergency services in NY. Esme sees an explosion at a coffee shop and sets action in motion. Arjun is an emergency worker always looking to step in and help people. He stays in In NY with his dad. His parents are separated with his mom being in India. Both Esme & Arjun are taken aback when an ‘Unmapping’ occurs where entire blocks of the city shift around. This had first happened in a town in Wisconsin. The Empire State Building ends up in Coney Island, and the shift is not one-time. It looks like there will be parts which will shift into the sea. Other cities across the world are to follow. People are distraught, emergency services overwhelmed, radical gangs form, and the political governance is in disarray. Esme’s boyfriend Marcus is nowhere to be seen.
The concept is brilliant but is almost entirely let down by the writing. The character development is poor. Though the broad contours of Esme & Arjun’s characters are interesting, they are very flat characters. The relationships in the book go nowhere and is especially disappointing since the scenario provides an ideal backdrop for good character development & relationships. I found the narrative to be listless, though some of the incidents which follow are interesting.
Overall, a book which falls way short of potential.
My rating: 2.5 / 5.
Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher Bindery Books and the author for a free electronic review copy.
Esme & Arjun, the principal characters in the story, work in the emergency services in NY. Esme sees an explosion at a coffee shop and sets action in motion. Arjun is an emergency worker always looking to step in and help people. He stays in In NY with his dad. His parents are separated with his mom being in India. Both Esme & Arjun are taken aback when an ‘Unmapping’ occurs where entire blocks of the city shift around. This had first happened in a town in Wisconsin. The Empire State Building ends up in Coney Island, and the shift is not one-time. It looks like there will be parts which will shift into the sea. Other cities across the world are to follow. People are distraught, emergency services overwhelmed, radical gangs form, and the political governance is in disarray. Esme’s boyfriend Marcus is nowhere to be seen.
The concept is brilliant but is almost entirely let down by the writing. The character development is poor. Though the broad contours of Esme & Arjun’s characters are interesting, they are very flat characters. The relationships in the book go nowhere and is especially disappointing since the scenario provides an ideal backdrop for good character development & relationships. I found the narrative to be listless, though some of the incidents which follow are interesting.
Overall, a book which falls way short of potential.
My rating: 2.5 / 5.
Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher Bindery Books and the author for a free electronic review copy.
December 26, 2024
How to describe this book? It’s a big-brained, high concept, depressing-but-not, hopeful-but-not examination of the absurdity of living in a world we KNOW is made of intense and institutionalised inequality, a world we KNOW we are making uninhabitable for human life at an alarming, near-future rate, and in a society we KNOW is increasingly built around keeping us as isolated from each other as we can.
It’s a book that asks how we can cling to our humanity amidst the catastrophe that is modern human existence, how we can forge real connections with each other, who we can trust with our precious stores of faith, and how we can make the most of our small lives while we have the gift of them. But it asks none of this explicitly, instead building a tapestry of intensely lonely (occasionally unlikable, though always understandable) people already trying to survive in an odd world that suddenly becomes even odder.
The narrative is disjointed (which is thematically appropriate) and the answers to the questions it asks are largely left to you to find, but Robbins’ effective and chatty writing style keeps the book from becoming too overwhelmingly cerebral. If you’ve loved Hank Green’s Carl books, anything by Emily St. John Mandel, or Orbital by Samantha Harvey, then this is the contemplative, slightly weird contemporary sci-fi for you.
Thanks to Bindery for the digital ARC. I am a member/supporter of the Mareas Bindery imprint, but this review and rating is an honest one.
It’s a book that asks how we can cling to our humanity amidst the catastrophe that is modern human existence, how we can forge real connections with each other, who we can trust with our precious stores of faith, and how we can make the most of our small lives while we have the gift of them. But it asks none of this explicitly, instead building a tapestry of intensely lonely (occasionally unlikable, though always understandable) people already trying to survive in an odd world that suddenly becomes even odder.
The narrative is disjointed (which is thematically appropriate) and the answers to the questions it asks are largely left to you to find, but Robbins’ effective and chatty writing style keeps the book from becoming too overwhelmingly cerebral. If you’ve loved Hank Green’s Carl books, anything by Emily St. John Mandel, or Orbital by Samantha Harvey, then this is the contemplative, slightly weird contemporary sci-fi for you.
Thanks to Bindery for the digital ARC. I am a member/supporter of the Mareas Bindery imprint, but this review and rating is an honest one.
June 10, 2025
There was so much potential that I am truly sad to give it two stars.
The first 10% was incredibly gripping and I thought it would be an easy 5 star read but by the 25% mark I was just frustrated, annoyed, and forcing myself to not dnf.
The POV jumps around in the middle of chapters, we have POVs that that are essentially single serve moments. I actually think this would make a great format for visual media such as a movie or show but on the page it does not translate well and creates a messy and unfocused narrative.
Arjun reads like a stalker and being in his head was not fun. I feel like the author was trying to write someone who is neurodivergent but it didn’t hit that mark for me. Esme is said to be this badass but she read more like a YA Romantasy heroine who is boy crazy. Unfortunately Esme is not the only example, another character gets robbed, loses her phone and wallet and all she can think of is the date she’s missing out on. To be honest I don’t think there’s any woman in this story that could pass the Bechdel test.
While there were moments of brilliance specifically when the author focuses on The Unmapping and the trapped kid but sadly that’s not the main focus of the story.
The premise was outstanding but the execution was lacking. I think focusing on one pov would have been more impactful than all the jumping around which made the characters feel shallow and incomplete. The dialogue did not help as it was used mostly for world building and made it seem like long monologues rather than organic conversations.
Thank you to NetGalley and Mareas Imprint for the e-arc, all opinions are mine.
The first 10% was incredibly gripping and I thought it would be an easy 5 star read but by the 25% mark I was just frustrated, annoyed, and forcing myself to not dnf.
The POV jumps around in the middle of chapters, we have POVs that that are essentially single serve moments. I actually think this would make a great format for visual media such as a movie or show but on the page it does not translate well and creates a messy and unfocused narrative.
Arjun reads like a stalker and being in his head was not fun. I feel like the author was trying to write someone who is neurodivergent but it didn’t hit that mark for me. Esme is said to be this badass but she read more like a YA Romantasy heroine who is boy crazy. Unfortunately Esme is not the only example, another character gets robbed, loses her phone and wallet and all she can think of is the date she’s missing out on. To be honest I don’t think there’s any woman in this story that could pass the Bechdel test.
While there were moments of brilliance specifically when the author focuses on The Unmapping and the trapped kid but sadly that’s not the main focus of the story.
The premise was outstanding but the execution was lacking. I think focusing on one pov would have been more impactful than all the jumping around which made the characters feel shallow and incomplete. The dialogue did not help as it was used mostly for world building and made it seem like long monologues rather than organic conversations.
Thank you to NetGalley and Mareas Imprint for the e-arc, all opinions are mine.
August 29, 2024
Read for work, all my homies HATE esmes fiancé and LOVE Arjun and his fedora!!!!!
June 17, 2025
Audiobook (12 hours) narrated by Julia Whelan
Publisher: Audiobary
The narration and audio are good.
The Unmapping is an unusual and interesting dystopian novel from the mind of Denise S. Robbins.
The world building is fantastic, and although the synopsis states that this novel is character driven, I disagree. The characters are not bad, not dynamic but decent. The meat is in the world, which stands as it's own living breathing character. The people in the story are support characters to the world, which is literally changing, growing, moving.
Is it great? No. But it's good. It's a nice break from reality.
What I really like about the characters, intentional or not, is that they are developed enough to have a nice solid outline of average Americans where they are located, so that in a dystopian novel it's easy to slip yourself or someone you know who fits the vibes of the character into that role, making the story more personal, allowing the reader to mold the character in their minds into who they are thinking of, adding emotion to the story. An example of this would be in recent TV history, Westworld character Caleb Nichols. Those who watched the show may not recall the name. It was the character portrayed by Aaron Paul. Caleb was written as an 'every man character' who Aaron Paul is excellent at portraying. A character that many either identify with or see someone who they know in him, making him immediately loved (or in some cases hated but mostly loved in Caleb's case) and embraced. If done correctly it's an excellent way to gain sympathy and/or empathy for the characters without having to give a slog of information or a huge backstory and flashbacks.
If Denise did this intentionally, she nailed it. If it was a happy accident and/or part of her writing style, as long as her world continue to be as dynamic as this one, it's a huge plus, especially with this type of story as if the readers don't care about the characters, then what is happening in the dystopian world may not even matter.
This is a shade under 4 stars for me. It's early in Robbins' writing career and I will be looking out to see what she put outs next.
Publisher: Audiobary
The narration and audio are good.
The Unmapping is an unusual and interesting dystopian novel from the mind of Denise S. Robbins.
The world building is fantastic, and although the synopsis states that this novel is character driven, I disagree. The characters are not bad, not dynamic but decent. The meat is in the world, which stands as it's own living breathing character. The people in the story are support characters to the world, which is literally changing, growing, moving.
Is it great? No. But it's good. It's a nice break from reality.
What I really like about the characters, intentional or not, is that they are developed enough to have a nice solid outline of average Americans where they are located, so that in a dystopian novel it's easy to slip yourself or someone you know who fits the vibes of the character into that role, making the story more personal, allowing the reader to mold the character in their minds into who they are thinking of, adding emotion to the story. An example of this would be in recent TV history, Westworld character Caleb Nichols. Those who watched the show may not recall the name. It was the character portrayed by Aaron Paul. Caleb was written as an 'every man character' who Aaron Paul is excellent at portraying. A character that many either identify with or see someone who they know in him, making him immediately loved (or in some cases hated but mostly loved in Caleb's case) and embraced. If done correctly it's an excellent way to gain sympathy and/or empathy for the characters without having to give a slog of information or a huge backstory and flashbacks.
If Denise did this intentionally, she nailed it. If it was a happy accident and/or part of her writing style, as long as her world continue to be as dynamic as this one, it's a huge plus, especially with this type of story as if the readers don't care about the characters, then what is happening in the dystopian world may not even matter.
This is a shade under 4 stars for me. It's early in Robbins' writing career and I will be looking out to see what she put outs next.
January 8, 2025
2.4 stars
Thanks to Netgalley and Bindery Books for a free digital copy in exchange for an honest review!
I requested this ARC because the concept and plot seemed so interesting. And it is. The problem that I have with this book is the two main characters.
Arjun is a whiny little brat and Esme’s doormatnness is just unreadable- like both of them need some self respect. It was really slow going because I just loathed the two main characters, despite the fact that the story/mystery was super interesting. When we got to read POVs of the blonde woman or the mayor or even Esme’s dad I was hooked. Also, they randomly rehash Esme and Arjun’s backstories like a dozen times, it got tiring. To be honest I would have DNFed this book if it wasn’t an ARC, it was putting me into a slump and felt sooo long. The plot was compelling, but not good enough to surpass my hatred for Arjun and Esme- there’s a difference between flawed characters and annoying characters. Their love story was sooo underdeveloped, I was honestly hoping it wouldn't become romantic because there was like 0 development for the first 3/4 of the book. The ending was fine but I wish the conclusion of the mystery was a bittt more fleshed out. This review was all over the place but that's lowkey the theme of the book so I'm not apologizing.
Thanks to Netgalley and Bindery Books for a free digital copy in exchange for an honest review!
I requested this ARC because the concept and plot seemed so interesting. And it is. The problem that I have with this book is the two main characters.
Arjun is a whiny little brat and Esme’s doormatnness is just unreadable- like both of them need some self respect. It was really slow going because I just loathed the two main characters, despite the fact that the story/mystery was super interesting. When we got to read POVs of the blonde woman or the mayor or even Esme’s dad I was hooked. Also, they randomly rehash Esme and Arjun’s backstories like a dozen times, it got tiring. To be honest I would have DNFed this book if it wasn’t an ARC, it was putting me into a slump and felt sooo long. The plot was compelling, but not good enough to surpass my hatred for Arjun and Esme- there’s a difference between flawed characters and annoying characters. Their love story was sooo underdeveloped, I was honestly hoping it wouldn't become romantic because there was like 0 development for the first 3/4 of the book. The ending was fine but I wish the conclusion of the mystery was a bittt more fleshed out. This review was all over the place but that's lowkey the theme of the book so I'm not apologizing.
June 11, 2025
January 2025 Review:
Thanks to NetGalley and Bindery Books for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
~
The Unmapping is story in which women rely entirely on men for their sense of self, nobody learns anything, and there are no consequences. Yes, it is as frustrating as it sounds. Spoilers follow.
The strength of this book is mostly in the central event of the Unmapping itself. There are an infinite number of interesting stories to be told, particularly from the NYC Emergency Management Department, struggling to deal with the crisis as it first unfolds. We do get to see some of those stories, and that is where the book is at its best, in the early days.
It was the characters that bothered me the most, though, especially the weirdly sexist depiction of women. Esme, an Emergency Management team leader, is shown to be a capable and intelligent person in her own right, with a strong sense of responsibility to the city—so why does that all get sidelined in place of her having an emotional breakdown over her fiancé going missing, realizing that she basically can’t function without him and never has? It undercuts her character so fundamentally. She only really starts to come alive again when she starts dating Arjun, another protagonist and Emergency Department worker, who she has been unkind to the entire book until that point very close to the end. Whether intentionally or not, she is portrayed as needing a man to keep her stable, which just felt gross.
Rosemary, another female character, literally waits for her husband to get home every day to tell her what to do and devoted her life entirely to his interests, but the narrative doesn’t explore her getting a newfound sense of freedom when he disappears. No, instead she’s pretty immediately seduced by a cult and becomes indoctrinated, before conveniently getting free and immediately going back to her husband, who helps her start to get better. The narrative fails to actually challenge her status in any way, actually making it seem like she needs a man to survive, like Esme.
And Arjun is an incompetent fool with a crush on an engaged woman, careless and driven entirely by emotion, but always magically succeeds despite being pretty objectively creepy.
I did not like these people, Esme was at least interesting to read but no character truly changes or faces consequences here. There are no stakes, and no one learns anything. The mayor of New York City magically disappears near the end of the book and is revealed to be hiding out in New Jersey, dating a married man with no repercussions. It’s just so difficult to care.
And then there’s the hamfisted environmental component of the story. We never get a definitive answer on what causes the Unmapping, but the widely accepted explanation in-universe is that it has some vague ties to climate change and pollution. This just annoyed me. Climate change is brought up but nothing is actually said about it. It feels like the author wanted to try and get an environmental message in without actually committing to one. I’m not bothered by not knowing fully what caused the Unmapping, but I am bothered by a lazy message like “pollution is bad.”
There were other issues, like jarring tone shifts—this book couldn’t decide if it wanted to be lighthearted or serious, grounded or fantastical—and not committing to wrapping up certain stories, but my largest issues really were the characters.
I was very disappointed by this one.
2/5 stars.
Thanks to NetGalley and Bindery Books for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
~
The Unmapping is story in which women rely entirely on men for their sense of self, nobody learns anything, and there are no consequences. Yes, it is as frustrating as it sounds. Spoilers follow.
The strength of this book is mostly in the central event of the Unmapping itself. There are an infinite number of interesting stories to be told, particularly from the NYC Emergency Management Department, struggling to deal with the crisis as it first unfolds. We do get to see some of those stories, and that is where the book is at its best, in the early days.
It was the characters that bothered me the most, though, especially the weirdly sexist depiction of women. Esme, an Emergency Management team leader, is shown to be a capable and intelligent person in her own right, with a strong sense of responsibility to the city—so why does that all get sidelined in place of her having an emotional breakdown over her fiancé going missing, realizing that she basically can’t function without him and never has? It undercuts her character so fundamentally. She only really starts to come alive again when she starts dating Arjun, another protagonist and Emergency Department worker, who she has been unkind to the entire book until that point very close to the end. Whether intentionally or not, she is portrayed as needing a man to keep her stable, which just felt gross.
Rosemary, another female character, literally waits for her husband to get home every day to tell her what to do and devoted her life entirely to his interests, but the narrative doesn’t explore her getting a newfound sense of freedom when he disappears. No, instead she’s pretty immediately seduced by a cult and becomes indoctrinated, before conveniently getting free and immediately going back to her husband, who helps her start to get better. The narrative fails to actually challenge her status in any way, actually making it seem like she needs a man to survive, like Esme.
And Arjun is an incompetent fool with a crush on an engaged woman, careless and driven entirely by emotion, but always magically succeeds despite being pretty objectively creepy.
I did not like these people, Esme was at least interesting to read but no character truly changes or faces consequences here. There are no stakes, and no one learns anything. The mayor of New York City magically disappears near the end of the book and is revealed to be hiding out in New Jersey, dating a married man with no repercussions. It’s just so difficult to care.
And then there’s the hamfisted environmental component of the story. We never get a definitive answer on what causes the Unmapping, but the widely accepted explanation in-universe is that it has some vague ties to climate change and pollution. This just annoyed me. Climate change is brought up but nothing is actually said about it. It feels like the author wanted to try and get an environmental message in without actually committing to one. I’m not bothered by not knowing fully what caused the Unmapping, but I am bothered by a lazy message like “pollution is bad.”
There were other issues, like jarring tone shifts—this book couldn’t decide if it wanted to be lighthearted or serious, grounded or fantastical—and not committing to wrapping up certain stories, but my largest issues really were the characters.
I was very disappointed by this one.
2/5 stars.
June 17, 2025
I was very excited about the premise of The Unmapping. How exactly would this work!? In truth, I have no idea still. The concept is still interesting, and the characters had to deal with a lot of ramifications of what happened after places changed, but that is about the extent of my enjoyment. Here's the truth: I was bored. So bored. We mainly follow Esme and Arjun, two characters whose personalities are akin to watching paint dry. We're treated to their inner monologue as they navigate the aftermath of all the places moving, but it just reads like one giant, rambling, obsessive thought. And look, I get it, as someone who deals with anxiety on the regular, I am sure my inner monologue is annoying too! But I think because of that, I certainly didn't enjoy reading someone else's incoherent ramblings.
The thing is, both Esme and Arjun are not only kind of dull as characters, they are frustrating characters. Esme has no self esteem or self worth outside hershitty fiancé, and there is really not much growth either (and definitely not any on-page). Arjun is equally unsure, but his kind of makes sense because he's sort of a fuckup in general. That, and his whole personality is "looking longingly at Esme while popping klonopin". But I think the biggest bummer for me was that I didn't get any real answers on the Unmapping in general! Like... give me some details! The end was decent, comparatively, so it did have that going for it. Still not really answering my questions, but I liked it more than the rest of the book, so that's something.
Bottom Line: Cool concept, but hampered by dull characters and a lack of answers.
You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight
The thing is, both Esme and Arjun are not only kind of dull as characters, they are frustrating characters. Esme has no self esteem or self worth outside her
Bottom Line: Cool concept, but hampered by dull characters and a lack of answers.
You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight
February 10, 2025
* eARC received from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review *
1.5 stars
The concept behind this novel intrigued me, which is the only reason I requested to read it. The execution of the Unmapping unfortunately reminded me of the Happening. Interesting concept, undesirable execution, and incredibly unlikable main characters. I spent the entire book wondering if Robbins wanted the reader to like Esme and Arjun? No, right? Arjun was introduced wearing a fedora. I mean, c'mon.
I found this book to be the worst I've read in a while regarding representation of female characters. We are trapped inside Esme's head for so long and her thoughts (and much of the prose in this novel) reads like Kronk's cadence when he's talking about Kuzco's poison. Y'know, "Oh, right, the poison. The poison for Kuzco. The poison specifically chosen to kill Kuzco. Kuzco's poison". Esme thinks in repetitive fragments and 99.98% of those thoughts are about Marcus. I honestly started to think a) Marcus wasn't real and b) Esme's own thoughts wouldn't pass the Bechdel test. She obsessed over him so much I started to understand why the guy was avoiding her. Her thoughts were disturbing to read.
On top of that, Esme was full of contradictions. She expresses a like for being told what to do and says she respects the system of processing at her job when the reader has already seen her tell several people how to do their own jobs and she has no respect for the chain of command. What was the reason?
In terms of other female characters: we get the woman who missed her date with Rick. Broke with no phone, she's still just thinking about this missed date with a guy she's never met in person. Then we have the mayor obsessing over the guy she's having an affair with. We also have the wife of a doomsday prepper, you guessed it, obsessing over when her husband will return. There was not a single woman in this novel worthy of me rooting for them.
Arjun is a concerning portrayal of a mentally unwell character. The world (lbr, New York mainly) is falling apart and he's obsessing over a crush. It adds to my chief issue with this book: nothing feels real.
I thought this was meant to show that civilians tend to downplay disaster until it's too late and instead they focus on trivial things like workplace romance. But, when that's SO much of the novel, the disaster takes a serious backseat. It just didn't make for interesting or entertaining reading.
The only part of this I found somewhat interesting was the story of the kid trapped under (in?) a building. If the entire story centered around that perhaps as a representation of how the city's planning for emergencies completely broke down, maybe I would've found this more interesting. Instead, this novel feels like when someone's trying to tell you a story and they just keep going down tangents to explain about the parents and hobbies of random people you've never heard of nor care about.
It just felt like messy story telling. I acknowledge this writing style is 100% not my favorite so that added to me enjoying this a lot less than others. There are also people that found Esme and Arjun likable, so this is one of those books that I found incredibly unenjoyable, but that others seem to love. Not a recommend from me, but it might be someone else's favorite book.
1.5 stars
The concept behind this novel intrigued me, which is the only reason I requested to read it. The execution of the Unmapping unfortunately reminded me of the Happening. Interesting concept, undesirable execution, and incredibly unlikable main characters. I spent the entire book wondering if Robbins wanted the reader to like Esme and Arjun? No, right? Arjun was introduced wearing a fedora. I mean, c'mon.
I found this book to be the worst I've read in a while regarding representation of female characters. We are trapped inside Esme's head for so long and her thoughts (and much of the prose in this novel) reads like Kronk's cadence when he's talking about Kuzco's poison. Y'know, "Oh, right, the poison. The poison for Kuzco. The poison specifically chosen to kill Kuzco. Kuzco's poison". Esme thinks in repetitive fragments and 99.98% of those thoughts are about Marcus. I honestly started to think a) Marcus wasn't real and b) Esme's own thoughts wouldn't pass the Bechdel test. She obsessed over him so much I started to understand why the guy was avoiding her. Her thoughts were disturbing to read.
On top of that, Esme was full of contradictions. She expresses a like for being told what to do and says she respects the system of processing at her job when the reader has already seen her tell several people how to do their own jobs and she has no respect for the chain of command. What was the reason?
In terms of other female characters: we get the woman who missed her date with Rick. Broke with no phone, she's still just thinking about this missed date with a guy she's never met in person. Then we have the mayor obsessing over the guy she's having an affair with. We also have the wife of a doomsday prepper, you guessed it, obsessing over when her husband will return. There was not a single woman in this novel worthy of me rooting for them.
Arjun is a concerning portrayal of a mentally unwell character. The world (lbr, New York mainly) is falling apart and he's obsessing over a crush. It adds to my chief issue with this book: nothing feels real.
I thought this was meant to show that civilians tend to downplay disaster until it's too late and instead they focus on trivial things like workplace romance. But, when that's SO much of the novel, the disaster takes a serious backseat. It just didn't make for interesting or entertaining reading.
The only part of this I found somewhat interesting was the story of the kid trapped under (in?) a building. If the entire story centered around that perhaps as a representation of how the city's planning for emergencies completely broke down, maybe I would've found this more interesting. Instead, this novel feels like when someone's trying to tell you a story and they just keep going down tangents to explain about the parents and hobbies of random people you've never heard of nor care about.
It just felt like messy story telling. I acknowledge this writing style is 100% not my favorite so that added to me enjoying this a lot less than others. There are also people that found Esme and Arjun likable, so this is one of those books that I found incredibly unenjoyable, but that others seem to love. Not a recommend from me, but it might be someone else's favorite book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 3, 2025
This book wasn't for me and I don't really know whom it's for. For full transparency, I really enjoy Mari, the founder of this book's publishing imprint (Mareas), and I have followed her for a while on TikTok. I requested this arc because I was interested in the premise but also to support Mari (so I wanted to love this so badly!!!)
The premise was very intriguing, and I wish we could have spent more time on the unmapping itself. My reading experience felt very choppy and frustrating because I would get interested in a storyline, start to get a feel for what was going on, and then the plot would shift. I definitely preferred some characters and their stories more than others, so I would often put down the book when the story shifted to a character I really didn't care for. I'm not sure I would have finished this book if it wasn't an arc. "Preferred compared to the others" is the strongest feeling I have for these people, however. Their actions were kind of baffling most of the time (even in the context of unprecedented natural disaster) and did not seem to align with their alleged motivations. The women in particular were very disappointing. The driving force of all of the women was a man, and all of the men they centered their lives on were, of course, horrible. The men, on the other hand, were not defined by women (or partners otherwise). To my recollection, the only characters who didn't have names (e.g. "the wife") were women. I also really wish the main characters' romance did not happen because I found it totally unbelievable and tiresome.
The writing itself was fine. The "chatty" prose style was unique and supported the offbeat tone of the book. I didn't have a problem visualizing what was happening, which was impressive because of the fantastical physics of the unmapping itself. The chatty tone veered to grating, though, when some characters' stream of consciousness started to get circular in nature. (The main female character's thoughts drove me nuts.)
I think overall that this book was very ambitious and perhaps was trying to do too much in a debut. With some serious editing, I think this could be really compelling.
Thank you, Mareas, for the arc!
The premise was very intriguing, and I wish we could have spent more time on the unmapping itself. My reading experience felt very choppy and frustrating because I would get interested in a storyline, start to get a feel for what was going on, and then the plot would shift. I definitely preferred some characters and their stories more than others, so I would often put down the book when the story shifted to a character I really didn't care for. I'm not sure I would have finished this book if it wasn't an arc. "Preferred compared to the others" is the strongest feeling I have for these people, however. Their actions were kind of baffling most of the time (even in the context of unprecedented natural disaster) and did not seem to align with their alleged motivations. The women in particular were very disappointing. The driving force of all of the women was a man, and all of the men they centered their lives on were, of course, horrible. The men, on the other hand, were not defined by women (or partners otherwise). To my recollection, the only characters who didn't have names (e.g. "the wife") were women. I also really wish the main characters' romance did not happen because I found it totally unbelievable and tiresome.
The writing itself was fine. The "chatty" prose style was unique and supported the offbeat tone of the book. I didn't have a problem visualizing what was happening, which was impressive because of the fantastical physics of the unmapping itself. The chatty tone veered to grating, though, when some characters' stream of consciousness started to get circular in nature. (The main female character's thoughts drove me nuts.)
I think overall that this book was very ambitious and perhaps was trying to do too much in a debut. With some serious editing, I think this could be really compelling.
Thank you, Mareas, for the arc!
October 29, 2025
Not the kind of book I would typically seek out (sort of plotless, following a range of characters including several I didn’t particularly like or relate to, no picture-perfect resolution), but I’m glad I did - I was so invested in this while reading it I bought the ebook this morning, read it in pieces over the course of the day, and finished it this evening. The writing was excellent - extremely smooth and with a kind of gently consistent rhythm that worked well to balance the ominous natural disaster premise.
I would have wanted the very end to be a little tighter and more concrete (eg, I could not have cared less about [redacted]’s story being wrapped up), but I’m aware that’s not really what this book is about, and I think for what it is about, I can (slightly begrudgingly haha) admit it does it well.
It did make me really nostalgic for New York! Particularly that feeling of walking through the city for hours, going through neighborhood after neighborhood after neighborhood. Also I cracked up when one character’s POV was about how she was sitting and thinking about something sad blah blah blah - and then it cut to another character’s POV and she was like “and also there’s some girl loudly crying in this park, ugh, I’m gonna leave.” Look, nothing is more “in your 20s in NYC” than crying in public being so natural to you that you don’t even think about how you’re doing it.
I would have wanted the very end to be a little tighter and more concrete (eg, I could not have cared less about [redacted]’s story being wrapped up), but I’m aware that’s not really what this book is about, and I think for what it is about, I can (slightly begrudgingly haha) admit it does it well.
It did make me really nostalgic for New York! Particularly that feeling of walking through the city for hours, going through neighborhood after neighborhood after neighborhood. Also I cracked up when one character’s POV was about how she was sitting and thinking about something sad blah blah blah - and then it cut to another character’s POV and she was like “and also there’s some girl loudly crying in this park, ugh, I’m gonna leave.” Look, nothing is more “in your 20s in NYC” than crying in public being so natural to you that you don’t even think about how you’re doing it.
June 20, 2025
✧₊‧˚⁀➷ 1.8/5 .ᐟ
so it's very much on me for not liking this. there's blaring warnings on the blurb saying that this is not going to be my taste: "character driven, literary speculative exploration," "for fans of exit west." there was zero chance of me enjoying this from the beginning, and it's very much on me. i feel like i've taught myself to ignore blurbs because i've been reading ya/na fiction recently and they always lie through their teeth in blurbs ("for fans of holly black" in all caps but then it's barely for fans of holly white, like who is this holly black you speak of?) but no, this blurb is absolutely true to the book.
of course, there's plenty to dislike about this book, specifically, as opposed to the genre.
first of all, the boring characters i was unable to connect to, and characters were this entire story. there's no plot, no action, not anything else to grab you, so the tedious characters were very... hmm. the fact that all of them but two were nameless didn't help, and neither did the fact that arjun(?) was basically a caricature of an indian nerd bordering on incel with zero social awareness. the one scene with the white woman running away in fear that was half-heartedly spun into a race thing? no, that had nothing to do with karens or race, as a desi girl, i would have fled from him faster. the romance between that girl (i couldn’t tell you her name with a gun to my head, and she's one of the two characters that have names) and arjun (don't think that's his name either, actually) was so... unromantic and dull. then all the nameless characters being named at the end and it turns out all them are critical to the unmapping? now, obviously, this is a book, not real life, and that's how it tends to go in media. however, the way it was written felt so cheap and uninspired.
and the resolution was so ridiculous. the explanation for the unmapping, everything that the characters end up as, and the kumbaya conclusion. i keep saying dull, but i don't have a better word for what this book was like.
maybe people who like speculative fiction will find this more to their taste, but this was not for me. i was so miserable about this, i think stopped reading anything for weeks, actually. i received a copy from netgalley in exchange for a review.
so it's very much on me for not liking this. there's blaring warnings on the blurb saying that this is not going to be my taste: "character driven, literary speculative exploration," "for fans of exit west." there was zero chance of me enjoying this from the beginning, and it's very much on me. i feel like i've taught myself to ignore blurbs because i've been reading ya/na fiction recently and they always lie through their teeth in blurbs ("for fans of holly black" in all caps but then it's barely for fans of holly white, like who is this holly black you speak of?) but no, this blurb is absolutely true to the book.
of course, there's plenty to dislike about this book, specifically, as opposed to the genre.
first of all, the boring characters i was unable to connect to, and characters were this entire story. there's no plot, no action, not anything else to grab you, so the tedious characters were very... hmm. the fact that all of them but two were nameless didn't help, and neither did the fact that arjun(?) was basically a caricature of an indian nerd bordering on incel with zero social awareness. the one scene with the white woman running away in fear that was half-heartedly spun into a race thing? no, that had nothing to do with karens or race, as a desi girl, i would have fled from him faster. the romance between that girl (i couldn’t tell you her name with a gun to my head, and she's one of the two characters that have names) and arjun (don't think that's his name either, actually) was so... unromantic and dull. then all the nameless characters being named at the end and it turns out all them are critical to the unmapping? now, obviously, this is a book, not real life, and that's how it tends to go in media. however, the way it was written felt so cheap and uninspired.
and the resolution was so ridiculous. the explanation for the unmapping, everything that the characters end up as, and the kumbaya conclusion. i keep saying dull, but i don't have a better word for what this book was like.
maybe people who like speculative fiction will find this more to their taste, but this was not for me. i was so miserable about this, i think stopped reading anything for weeks, actually. i received a copy from netgalley in exchange for a review.
June 8, 2025
I love reading books and giving them a chance to prove themselves, regardless of reviews. But, damn, is it disappointing when they don’t live up to my expectations! There are so many points of view that it gives me whiplash. I really want to know from the author: why did you choose to include so many characters' perspectives? I only cared about Antony, Esme, and a bit about Arjun. Even then, I was disappointed because Antony’s perspective could have been so tension-filled, but we got nothing. The rest of the characters felt like background chatter; they were a bit interesting, but not important to the plot or to me, lol.
The book has a lot of potential, but I don’t think the author addressed the right aspects for me. There was so much focus on the characters' perspectives, yet not enough exploration of the unmapping, which is what I was really interested in. Additionally, we received no answers regarding why the unmapping started or why it chose NYC. In the end, I was glad to be finished with it, but after spending all day contemplating what to write, I feel that the book would work much better as a show, as it makes more sense in that format.
Thanks to NetGalley and Bindery Books publishing I received a ARC for an honest review !
The book has a lot of potential, but I don’t think the author addressed the right aspects for me. There was so much focus on the characters' perspectives, yet not enough exploration of the unmapping, which is what I was really interested in. Additionally, we received no answers regarding why the unmapping started or why it chose NYC. In the end, I was glad to be finished with it, but after spending all day contemplating what to write, I feel that the book would work much better as a show, as it makes more sense in that format.
Thanks to NetGalley and Bindery Books publishing I received a ARC for an honest review !
June 15, 2025
This book had potential. It seemed like it was going to be similar to another book I had read called The Measure where some strange and unexplainable earth altering occurrence happens and we see how people learn to deal with it and with each other. That’s what this book should’ve been like. Instead it was a confusing mess.
This book focused mostly on two people, Esme and Arjun, and how they deal with what is called the “unmapping.” The writing style and choices Robbins uses for her characters was odd. For both main characters you see side characters treat them with some weird, passive aggressive attitude, as if they are children or incompetent. Esme, throughout the novel, seems quite intelligent and very capable. She has a high stress and fast paced job that requires her to think quick on her toes. However when it comes to her fiancé, not only does he treat her as less than, she acts completely out of character and irrational. Nothing about their relationship makes sense.
Arjun however, comes across as being possibly neurodivergent in someway but it is never clear. Honestly, being that he is a character from a foreign country, his demeanor could be due to cultural differences because it’s not consistent. He is a very poorly written character. Some of this is explained (poorly by the way) by his struggle with anxiety but it doesn’t explain why he misses social cues, is oblivious when he is being treated terribly, has an obsessive need to be the hero and then at the end all of this seems to disappear and he doesn’t even seem like the same character.
There’s entirely too much time focused on trying to explain the “unmapping” which is irritating because it is so weird and so unrealistic this would have needed to be a completely different book for that to work. And then to, ultimately, blame it on global warming?! Seriously?! That was lazy.
All that being said, I think Robbins’ writing style was good. There’s plenty of humor and the way she interacted with the reader in some of the early chapters was entertaining. Unfortunately her execution of the story was messy at best. I’d be willing to read from this author again to see if her story structure improves.
***Thank you NetGalley, Denise S. Robbins, and Bindery Books for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. ***
This book focused mostly on two people, Esme and Arjun, and how they deal with what is called the “unmapping.” The writing style and choices Robbins uses for her characters was odd. For both main characters you see side characters treat them with some weird, passive aggressive attitude, as if they are children or incompetent. Esme, throughout the novel, seems quite intelligent and very capable. She has a high stress and fast paced job that requires her to think quick on her toes. However when it comes to her fiancé, not only does he treat her as less than, she acts completely out of character and irrational. Nothing about their relationship makes sense.
Arjun however, comes across as being possibly neurodivergent in someway but it is never clear. Honestly, being that he is a character from a foreign country, his demeanor could be due to cultural differences because it’s not consistent. He is a very poorly written character. Some of this is explained (poorly by the way) by his struggle with anxiety but it doesn’t explain why he misses social cues, is oblivious when he is being treated terribly, has an obsessive need to be the hero and then at the end all of this seems to disappear and he doesn’t even seem like the same character.
There’s entirely too much time focused on trying to explain the “unmapping” which is irritating because it is so weird and so unrealistic this would have needed to be a completely different book for that to work. And then to, ultimately, blame it on global warming?! Seriously?! That was lazy.
All that being said, I think Robbins’ writing style was good. There’s plenty of humor and the way she interacted with the reader in some of the early chapters was entertaining. Unfortunately her execution of the story was messy at best. I’d be willing to read from this author again to see if her story structure improves.
***Thank you NetGalley, Denise S. Robbins, and Bindery Books for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. ***
June 9, 2025
This book was absolutely brilliant. I’m just sitting here, bobbing in its wake, floating on that sublime feeling I only get from reading transcendent literary fiction.
Books like The Unmapping are why I continue to request books by authors I’ve never heard of and that sound a little crazy. It’s books like these that remind me why I truly love reading: I opened it to see if today was the day I’d read it and was immediately sucked in. I read voraciously throughout the day. I skipped lunch.
Of course this book had to be set in New York. It’s one of the most-photographed cities in the world, with one of the largest populations, has some of the most recognizable landmarks on a global scale, and already has some of the most impressive disaster coordination and response measures in place. What better place to set a novel that plays a screwed-up game of Perfection! with its characters? You’d need a large city that would challenge the reader in the best ways. That’s New York.
In the beginning chapters of this book I said something about how the writing felt like Erin Morgenstern was writing a speculative eco thriller (which would undoubtedly be cool by me), but as I got further and further into the book, this feeling gave way to a more distilled feeling of this book belonging to Robbins alone, with brisk pacing, insightful narrative voices, entertaining dialogue, absolutely delightful worldbuilding, fantastic characters, and we can’t forget the plot (which is a dream for someone like me, who wanted to be a crisis manager at one point and has a degree in urban planning).
It’s diverse, fun, thought-provoking, well-written, and I bet you’ll see it on my best-of list at the end of the year. 5⭐️
I was provided a copy of this title by the author and publisher via Netgalley. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.
File Under: 5 Star Review/Literary Fiction/Speculative Fiction
Books like The Unmapping are why I continue to request books by authors I’ve never heard of and that sound a little crazy. It’s books like these that remind me why I truly love reading: I opened it to see if today was the day I’d read it and was immediately sucked in. I read voraciously throughout the day. I skipped lunch.
Of course this book had to be set in New York. It’s one of the most-photographed cities in the world, with one of the largest populations, has some of the most recognizable landmarks on a global scale, and already has some of the most impressive disaster coordination and response measures in place. What better place to set a novel that plays a screwed-up game of Perfection! with its characters? You’d need a large city that would challenge the reader in the best ways. That’s New York.
In the beginning chapters of this book I said something about how the writing felt like Erin Morgenstern was writing a speculative eco thriller (which would undoubtedly be cool by me), but as I got further and further into the book, this feeling gave way to a more distilled feeling of this book belonging to Robbins alone, with brisk pacing, insightful narrative voices, entertaining dialogue, absolutely delightful worldbuilding, fantastic characters, and we can’t forget the plot (which is a dream for someone like me, who wanted to be a crisis manager at one point and has a degree in urban planning).
It’s diverse, fun, thought-provoking, well-written, and I bet you’ll see it on my best-of list at the end of the year. 5⭐️
I was provided a copy of this title by the author and publisher via Netgalley. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.
File Under: 5 Star Review/Literary Fiction/Speculative Fiction
March 22, 2025
Wonderfully weird!
The Unmapping has a wild and simple premise. At precisely 4 AM, all the buildings and blocks in New York City switch places randomly. Sheer, utter chaos ensues. Robbins does a phenomenal job of capturing how a city would respond to this chaos and follows a few key characters through the Unmapping. The book reads like a fever dream, surreal in all the plot points. I have a soft spot for books like this, and I was entertained thoroughly. This is very much a character-driven book, even though the plot is the really interesting thing about it, which would make this difficult to recommend to people. I went in expecting a fun read that would provide little to no explanation, and that is close to what I got, with a dollop of insightful prose, so I'm pretty happy with it.
Some things that really irked me though, was the one-dimensional characterization of most of the women in this book, and the stereotypical depiction of India. Esme was a favorite, but Arjun's character was pretty superfluous. I've forgotten every other character's name, but they were part of some brilliant world-building.
All in all, I think Robbins did a fantastic job of capturing a crisis that spreads (a very obvious inspiration was taken here) and creating fictional people who live in such a crazy world. Having gone through a global event or two in the past few years, I chuckled along with some of the things in this book. Buildings could start switching places and we'd still be expected to go on with life—yeah, I can believe that.
I have one final question though. Where did Central Park go? Did it stay together or get broken up? I demand answers.
Thank you to Netgalley and Bindery books for a copy of the ARC in exchange for an honest review!
The Unmapping has a wild and simple premise. At precisely 4 AM, all the buildings and blocks in New York City switch places randomly. Sheer, utter chaos ensues. Robbins does a phenomenal job of capturing how a city would respond to this chaos and follows a few key characters through the Unmapping. The book reads like a fever dream, surreal in all the plot points. I have a soft spot for books like this, and I was entertained thoroughly. This is very much a character-driven book, even though the plot is the really interesting thing about it, which would make this difficult to recommend to people. I went in expecting a fun read that would provide little to no explanation, and that is close to what I got, with a dollop of insightful prose, so I'm pretty happy with it.
Some things that really irked me though, was the one-dimensional characterization of most of the women in this book, and the stereotypical depiction of India. Esme was a favorite, but Arjun's character was pretty superfluous. I've forgotten every other character's name, but they were part of some brilliant world-building.
All in all, I think Robbins did a fantastic job of capturing a crisis that spreads (a very obvious inspiration was taken here) and creating fictional people who live in such a crazy world. Having gone through a global event or two in the past few years, I chuckled along with some of the things in this book. Buildings could start switching places and we'd still be expected to go on with life—yeah, I can believe that.
I have one final question though. Where did Central Park go? Did it stay together or get broken up? I demand answers.
Thank you to Netgalley and Bindery books for a copy of the ARC in exchange for an honest review!
Read
November 19, 2025Cults and Christmas trees and hurricanes, oh my! The Unmapping packs a lot of chaos into its pages, but it does so with a talented hand and a clear focus, guiding readers through the storm (both internal and external) that our characters are thrown into. This book was really reminiscent to me of An Absolutely remarkable Thing, which is a favorite- the use of a giant, world disrupting event to reflect on our current climate is a structure that works really well for me as a reader. I think a point a lot of readers might struggle on however is the “likeability” of the characters. The characters we follow are not perfect representations of how we strive to be but instead complex and imperfect, trying their best to navigate through the challenges presented to them. Personally I much prefer this as a reader. I can’t WAIT for the Unmapping to find more of its audience because it is truly such a great book, and if you are looking for your next slightly weird, chaotic, and exciting read, I HIGHLY encourage you to pick it up. It will not disappoint.
Thank you to Bindery and Netgalley for this eARC- a note that I am a supporter of the Mareas Bindery imprint, though this review is entirely my own honest opinion
Thank you to Bindery and Netgalley for this eARC- a note that I am a supporter of the Mareas Bindery imprint, though this review is entirely my own honest opinion
June 1, 2025
I went into The Unmapping because I thought the premise was so intriguing. Without any warning in the city of New York, entire blocks of the city moves at 4 AM. Most people are sleeping and have no idea this has happened. If you're not at home when it happens, you can't find your way to get back home.
The Empire State Building ends up in Coney Island as an example. All of the streets stay the same, but the buildings all shift around the entire city. This was such an excellent concept.
Esme and Arjun are the two main characters and both work in the emergency services in New York so we follow these two as the city desperately tries to help those who are misplaced. As soon as they start to get a handle on things, the unmapping occurs the next day at 4 AM again, and the next and the next... It was interesting to see how this almost became the new normal.
Unfortunately, the writing style almost caused me to DNF as it felt like a stream of consciousness being dumped on the page and it was very off-putting. I did end up sticking with it and eventually got used to it, but I'm not a fan of this style of writing. Overall, I am glad I read this because I did enjoy the unique premise.
*Thanks for partners Bindery Books - Mareas, and to NetGalley for the gifted eARC!*
The Empire State Building ends up in Coney Island as an example. All of the streets stay the same, but the buildings all shift around the entire city. This was such an excellent concept.
Esme and Arjun are the two main characters and both work in the emergency services in New York so we follow these two as the city desperately tries to help those who are misplaced. As soon as they start to get a handle on things, the unmapping occurs the next day at 4 AM again, and the next and the next... It was interesting to see how this almost became the new normal.
Unfortunately, the writing style almost caused me to DNF as it felt like a stream of consciousness being dumped on the page and it was very off-putting. I did end up sticking with it and eventually got used to it, but I'm not a fan of this style of writing. Overall, I am glad I read this because I did enjoy the unique premise.
*Thanks for partners Bindery Books - Mareas, and to NetGalley for the gifted eARC!*
February 20, 2025
The book explores an intriguing concept, but unfortunately, it doesn’t fully deliver on its potential. The story starts off with promise, but quickly becomes entangled by a chaotic mix of themes. Instead of focusing on the central event of the Unmapping and its aftermath, it focuses more on the characters' actions and feelings, which could have been fine- but, the characters themselves aren’t particularly likable. The writing style also didn’t draw me in. If you're a fan of speculative climate sci-fi, it may still be worth checking out, but it didn’t quite click for me.
Disclosure: I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and Bindery books in exchange for an honest review.
Disclosure: I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and Bindery books in exchange for an honest review.
June 15, 2025
????? Makes me sad that this was so exhausting to read 😭 I feel like it was a waste of an awesome plotline
July 17, 2025
A very interesting premise - NYC undergoes an “unmapping” where each building changes location every day at 4am. The story follows many characters in the aftermath of the unmapping’s chaos with many of the stories crossing paths. I would have preferred fewer POV’s and more compelling/grounded characters; when the novelty of the plot wore off the characters had a hard time keeping me engaged. But if you like character driven stories with unique disaster plots this may be for you!
If you choose to read this book, I’d recommend the audiobook narrated by Julia Whelan.
Thank you to NetGalley & Bindery Books for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!
If you choose to read this book, I’d recommend the audiobook narrated by Julia Whelan.
Thank you to NetGalley & Bindery Books for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!
October 18, 2025
1/5
I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher
One day New Yorkers wake up to find that their city has rearranged itself. Buildings and whole boroughs have switched places, displacing thousands of people, destroying the power grid, and causing chaos. It's the Unmapping, a strange phenomenon that seemed to be a hoax but has just proven it's very real. Esme Green works for the Emergency Management team of the city, she is competent and prepared to deal with such events, but she never expected something of this magnitude, or that her fiancé would go missing. Arjun Varma is another worker of this team, he's out there in the thick of it helping people and he enjoys it even, it's finally his time to be the hero. As the Unmapping continues, the locals will have to cope with a completely different way of living and existing, one that will make everyone reevaluate their lives.
The Unmapping as a concept is fantastic, is such a creative plot and opens up a world of possibility. If only the author had stuck more to it instead of the main characters. Esme and Arjun were both unbearable in different ways, did not care for either of them though being stuck in Arjun's POV was way worse. His only personality traits were being annoying and popping his anxiety medication pills. And then the author had the guts to add sporadic POVS from other characters dealing with the aftermath of the event, I felt this was superfluous when you already had two main POVs.
I admit I soft DNFd this at 60% and then skimmed it, but it was so boring. This had no reason being 400 pages long. Wasted potential of a great idea. I came for the Unmapping, and thinking I was going to get a reflection about global warming perhaps, and got stuck with the world's most annoying character exploration.
I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher
One day New Yorkers wake up to find that their city has rearranged itself. Buildings and whole boroughs have switched places, displacing thousands of people, destroying the power grid, and causing chaos. It's the Unmapping, a strange phenomenon that seemed to be a hoax but has just proven it's very real. Esme Green works for the Emergency Management team of the city, she is competent and prepared to deal with such events, but she never expected something of this magnitude, or that her fiancé would go missing. Arjun Varma is another worker of this team, he's out there in the thick of it helping people and he enjoys it even, it's finally his time to be the hero. As the Unmapping continues, the locals will have to cope with a completely different way of living and existing, one that will make everyone reevaluate their lives.
The Unmapping as a concept is fantastic, is such a creative plot and opens up a world of possibility. If only the author had stuck more to it instead of the main characters. Esme and Arjun were both unbearable in different ways, did not care for either of them though being stuck in Arjun's POV was way worse. His only personality traits were being annoying and popping his anxiety medication pills. And then the author had the guts to add sporadic POVS from other characters dealing with the aftermath of the event, I felt this was superfluous when you already had two main POVs.
I admit I soft DNFd this at 60% and then skimmed it, but it was so boring. This had no reason being 400 pages long. Wasted potential of a great idea. I came for the Unmapping, and thinking I was going to get a reflection about global warming perhaps, and got stuck with the world's most annoying character exploration.
June 7, 2025
A book with an excellent premise but seemingly no endgame prepared. After the initial exploration of what happened, it fizzled out into the characters just kind of running around and doing things. I think it would've worked better with a wider world, more stories (they hinted at grocery store employees living at work, and thieves who had figured out how to use the daily shift as an escape route, both intriguing ideas that went nowhere). Overall it just felt unfinished, and well-written enough to make that unfortunate.
January 6, 2025
I let this one sit a little bit before writing my thoughts:
The initial third did not get me hooked enough - but it did promise a ride. For the rest of the book, I could not put it down. I found the "love" story lacking and not too convincing, and at times it seemed like the author was trying to mash a lot of themes together, so some of them didn't get the chance to stand out properly.
Thank you to Bindery Books for providing me the ARC of this book.
The initial third did not get me hooked enough - but it did promise a ride. For the rest of the book, I could not put it down. I found the "love" story lacking and not too convincing, and at times it seemed like the author was trying to mash a lot of themes together, so some of them didn't get the chance to stand out properly.
Thank you to Bindery Books for providing me the ARC of this book.
June 9, 2025
DNF - I don’t understand how such a cool concept could be so dreadfully boring. Jumping around between different characters - none of them likeable or interesting - and a couple love stories shoved in? I give up.
July 18, 2025
interesting concept but too confusing for me to follow unfortunately 🥲🥲
dnf
June 30, 2025dnf at 17%
Thank you Bindery Books and Netgalley for this ARC.
I fear I'm currently not in the mood or right mindset to read this book. It's very well written and seems to be quite interesting plot-wise, so I might pick this one up at a later time. Just not the right book for right now.
Thank you Bindery Books and Netgalley for this ARC.
I fear I'm currently not in the mood or right mindset to read this book. It's very well written and seems to be quite interesting plot-wise, so I might pick this one up at a later time. Just not the right book for right now.
August 19, 2025
????
this was so bad I have nothing else to say
this was so bad I have nothing else to say
Displaying 1 - 30 of 302 reviews