I have finished this book a while ago but it's taken me until now to write a review. Somehow I couldn't make up my mind about it. I started off by really enjoying it. If I were to pick one word to describe it, this would be quirky. Quirky characters (and a lot of them!), quirky writing (short chapters, some of them mere lists of things or thoughts). By and large, I should have loved this as on paper it sounds like my kind of book for sure. And yet.... I nearly gave up on it a couple of times in frustration. The chapters felt too short, the characters were too eccentric (and too many!), and at times I felt it was all style over substance. In the end, I rate it as an enjoyable read, but with something definitely missing for me.

Thank you to the publisher and to Netgalley for providing me with an e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest and impartial review.

This book was delightful. The varied strands of the story made it a little challenging to catch on to, but I had faith the author would bring it all together, and Jules Preston did it beautifully. I especially loved the image of the typewriter and its stuck keys. Showing my age, I guess :-)

This book was so original, it had charm , wit, beautiful characters and a story which had multiple layers finely woven together at the end.

A good read and well written story quick, easy, feel-good read. Perfect for a holiday read. It's written in a way that captures your attention completely the real spirit of summer reads.

'The Map of Us' is a book which took me quite a while to get 'into'. I initially found it a little too disjointed, and I could not really engage with any particular character or narrative strand. Just as I was tempted to skim-read passages, the story suddenly caught me, and the eccentricity of it began to make perfect sense. Tilly is a quirky lead character, a statistician who tries to apply theory to love. I found myself rooting for our unlikely heroine, and I've got to say that by the end of the novel I was gripped, and I look back at the book with admiration!

The Map of Us is a complicated story of one family across the generations. There’s Violet, physically disabled and seemingly disowned by her family, growing up at a time when that kind of treatment was somewhat socially acceptable; Tilly, her granddaughter who likes statistics, analyses her relationships with quantitative data and creates a Compatibility Index to prove where her and her ex went wrong; her father who is a professional sand sculptor; her sister who is addicted to buying designer handbags she can’t afford and her brother who is leading world authority on the colour blue. There’s also a whole host of other odd people who crop up along the way, adding to the narrative of the numerous main characters. And – hahaha – they’re all super quirky too! Hahahaha…ha. Oh.

To me, it felt like the characters were all a bit, well, weird purely for the sake of it. Don’t get me wrong, I love an oddball but when literally everyone in the book has their own thing going on that is nothing whatsoever to do with the main narrative then it gets a bit tedious. It’s even harder when the novel is character driven and the plot is wafer thin. For example, Tilly’s Dad refuses to sculpt dolphins, even though they always win the competitions that he enters. Fine – that’s a nicely observed bit of humour but the point was repeated so many times it felt utterly laboured.

My other issue was with the structure of the book. The chapters are written from a first person perspective but it takes a while for you to work out who is actually speaking and that there’s more than one narrator. This stops being a problem once you’ve got to know the family a bit – the chapters are short so it doesn’t take too long – but it is quite hard to get into at first. I don’t know why you’d deliberately make it awkward for the reader?

Overall, I think my main issue was that I just couldn’t engage with the characters and as such, wasn’t really bothered about what happened to them. The book was described as being charming and quirky and I can see why but for me it needed more action and a stronger narrative thread. I didn’t hate the book – it was a nice enough read but unfortunately I got bored with it all.

It seemed like an unusual book. I couldn’t connect to it, either the characters ot the storyline. The story writing took a while to get used to. It was quirky and an interesting concept but I couldn’t get into it.

. . . . .

This was such an unusual book, and as such it feels very hard to try and capture my thoughts about it. It's told through many short chapters - many just a single page long - and they move between characters and perespectives with little fanfare. I never quite felt like I settled fully into the book (and I read it in just two sittings) but at the same time I felt invested enough to keep reading. An odd book but one I'm pleased to have read.

I had a hard time getting into the story and connecting with the characters. The writing felt flat. I can see why people enjoyed it, but it wasn't the book for me.

Fresh, original, unusual and completely unpredictable. Its hard to box this book into any genre other than quirky which means you have no idea what direction the plot will take. The are a few key characters, none of them stereotypical, and it takes a while to figure out how they intertwine. Tilly is the central figure and we join her in the throws of being separated. She is a bit odd and I'm not sure we ever find out why. In fact all the characters are a bit odd and so is the style of writing. It all creates a very unique perspective and mostly it works. My interest was held the whole way through and I was most curious as to how it would all end.

I hate to say it but this book really wasn’t for me. I struggled with the quirky style of writing and the constant jumping between characters. I really wanted to love it as there’s something very endearing about this book but just didn’t get into it.

I liked the short chapters for early morning reading waiting for my ride or late night before bed. The quirky characters each had their own charm and drew you in. Whatever you do don't give up when you go HUH? what? wait? youll get there and say LOVED IT!

I loved this book! It was really well crafted.
I enjoyed the different narrators and wondering what would happen next.
Thank you very much!
I highly recommend it.

This is admittedly a kind of confusing book- it constantly shifts from character to character, often with no indication of which character we are encountering. The view shifts from first person to third person depending on the character, and it takes a bit of work figuring out how everyone is related to each other. While this sounds disorienting and disconcerting, I found I settled into the flow (or lack of flow) fairly quickly. The story blooms as you read, with a large cast of characters to get to know. I'm hard pressed to describe this book, other than it's the story of a family over several decades, mostly set in modern times with flashbacks. I'm also hard pressed to say why I loved this book, but it's just so absorbing getting to know everyone- I so wish I could be friends with this family! Read this when you need something cozy, something to help you appreciate the oddities and quirks of the people you love and/or tolerate.

This book definitely threaded a thin line between being boring and outright entertaining.

It is uniquely written. Short chapters and interchanging point-of-view using third-person omniscient.

What makes the book so engrossing is how it details the 'almost' day-to-day life of a family. Their love and loss.

I can definitely say to you that this is not something that you'd want to pick up if you want to get out of a slump, this one you need to keep in mind. You might think contemporary novels has a "I'll help you escape from a slump!" vibe but this one doesn't.

It's very focused on its characters and it is a gorgeous tapestry of family struggle and love.

A beautifully written book that truly needs to be fully enjoyed.

Thank you Harper Impulse and Netgalley for an ARC for this novel.

I really wanted to like this book but unfortunately I just couldn’t connect with it when I read it. It may have been a case of wrong time for me, in which case I may attempt to reread again in the future.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this ARC! I didn’t care for it, however, and would prefer not to leave a negative review.

Quirky and humorous with interesting characters. Short chapters make this story feel like a patchwork quilt which comes together at the end. My thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and author for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Map of Us starts with two stories and both are absolutely delightful. Viola, a lonely disabled woman, starts to write the imaginary story of an explorer and modern day Tilly has just decided that a divorce is the only option. Jules Preston has managed to combine and weave together both stories to make them feel parallel and different at the same time.

Throughout The Map of Us, we meet quirky and colourful characters but the book never steps into the realms of ‘twee’. It is funny, desperately sad and relatable all at the same time.