Advanced Reader’s Copy provided by NetGalley and OrangeSky Audio in exchange for an honest review.

Content warning: on-page animal hunting

Soontornvat is back with another Middle Grade book set in a Thai-inspired fantasy world. Sai is a twelve-year-old that lives in poverty and is trying to separate her life from that of her con-artist father. By luck of being in the right place at the right time, Sai has a job working for one of the most renowned mapmakers of Mangkon. So when the opportunity arises to join the mapmaker on a voyage to chart unexplored land, Sai seizes the chance with plans of never returning to Mangkon. Along the way Sai makes friends, risks her life, and realizes that not everyone can be trusted.

THE LAST MAPMAKER explores social inequalities, colonization/exploration, and how doing the right thing isn't always the easy choice. I wish Soontornvat had leaned a little more on the fantasy elements as they're barely there so they don't feel fully developed - but they easily could have played a larger role in the plot.

This story didn't suck me in like A WISH IN THE DARK did, but it was still a good read. Sura Siu does a good job with the audiobook narration.

Sai is from the wrong side of her town but has managed to lie her way into an assistant’s position with plans for a better future.

After her mother’s death from illness long ago she’s been left in the care of her father. A father who’s not much more than a petty criminal who takes what he thinks is all his daughter’s earnings for drink.

When she gets the chance to leave her home for an adventure and maybe a chance at more she leaps at it.

Along the way she learns what really matters and how she can play a part in protecting it.

Sai is the daughter of a pickpocket with no hope of any kind of future. But thanks to a few months of schooling during which she discovered a talent for penmanship, she has landed herself an apprenticeship with a master mapmaker. Now that the war is over and Mangkon is victorious, the Queen is turning her sights towards exploration. There is a competition with a reward in cash or status elevation for the boat crew that can map the areas beyond their current maps. But there are rumors the competition is for something more, the discovery of whether the mythical continent of the Sunderlands is real or not. But the same myths say the continent lies on the other side of the perilous Harbinger Sea and is guarded by the vicious slake. Will this voyage be the making of her future or a deadly mistake?

A fun sea adventure with touches of Thai influence (mostly name and place names and foods). The story plot wrestles with social structure in a culture and how being born into a lower class can make survival, let alone pursuit of dreams, an uphill climb. It also wrestles with the dark side of exploration and "discovery" of new lands where others already have long lived. Sai also has to sort through a lot of different people telling her different things about their "real" goal of the ship, and she must really wrestle with what the right thing to do is. Sorting out the truth from the lies is not easy, and keeps readers on their toes as well. An engaging sea story with memorable characters and a main character with a unique set of skills. (How often have you read about a mapmaker/forger main character in middle grade?) Looking forward to adding this to our shelves. I listened to the audio version which was excellently done with the narrator displaying a wide range of voices for the different characters. Highly recommended.

Notes on content: One little lovable rapscallion of a character has a mouth on him, but his name calling is more funny than offensive. He says 2 words that may be considered things not ok for elementary or middle school kids to say, but wouldn't even bat an eye for adults. It is mentioned that one character had a child outside of marriage and that would be scandalous in their society, but no sexual details and this is handled pretty tactfully for the target audience. There are perilous situations, some non-bloody attempted murders. Some may have been lost at sea, but no deaths on page.

I received an ARC of this title from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book hooked me instantly! The author was able to build an adventurous world full of maps and ships and unchartered land right from the start. The characters were lovable and witty. But more than anything, it was a meaningful story of how to create your own destiny. I loved the audiobook!

Just... wow!
The Last Mapmaker is an imaginative and exciting adventure story for middle grade readers. Heroine Sai is smart and brave. She has ambitions beyond the unhappy situation into which she is born, and she works hard to make her goals happen. She is also still young, and makes some serious mistakes along the way.
This world feels very different and interesting. Though I couldn't always picture the settings, I found myself effortlessly understanding the feelings those places evoked. Magic and real life blend together, opening up wonderful exploration and possibilities.
The only critical comments I have are that the dialogue occasionally sounded stilted, and the ending wrapped up very quickly and a bit too easily. Other than those very minor quibbles, this story is a delightful adventure! I would love to watch a movie version someday.

Sai, 12 years old girl who lives in a land where ancestors are a way to have a place in society. Sai lives with her poor father and learned forgery to help him with other not proper ways of getting money. When finding an assistant job with a famous mapmaker, she has no choice except to hide her family.

Sai find an opportunity to journey to find a Sunderland, where dragons are there and the Queen will give prise for every ship who could discover this unexistent land. Now, Sai is determined to find this land and reach a high level of society by herself, changing her destiny.

This was a short and fast story about Sai, a kind young girl, a hard worker, a fighter, who does not give up easily and for these, I liked her.
But, yes there are a few "but" that make this book 4 stars, even 3 cross my mind:
-Sai wasn't grateful for the things she had, although there were not too many, I think she should be more faithful to people who care for her.
-What is the first thing that comes to my mind about Sai in the whole book (except for the last two or three chapters maybe), Selfish. She was young and didn't know much about the way of the world and people (this could be an excuse) and she helps a young boy like herself, but still, I find her selfish.
-The last thing is about the whales, on the ship they killed them for oil, this isn't a good subject in a book that is for young readers. Even now I don't like to read such things.

Maybe I get too old for reading such books, learned that we could escape from who we are and where we came from! This not going to happen, I think this can't feel good, if run and forget who you are, your past, people who love you and build a better home for yourself somewhere better, can it?

Many thanks to OrangeSky Audio via NetGalley for giving me the chance of listening to The Last Mapmaker by Christina Soontornvat, with great narration by Sura Siu, I have given my honest review.
Duration: 7 Hours, 21 Minutes.
Publican date: 12 April 2022