This book was quite a unique experience. I think this would be the definition of literary sci-fi. There were a lot of dystopian leaning points that parallel our own society. I enjoyed the pace of the book as well as the interaction between the characters. I was sad to not have more resolution in the story but that is life as well/
I will definitely seek out more from this author. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

4.25⭐️
Cults 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

The premise of this book was very good. It was interesting and thought provoking. I love books that present new ideas. I did find myself struggling to remain engaged and emotionally connected to the characters, that may have just been my preference as a reader rather than a problem with the book. Overall, it was a great book!

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!

I was really excited about this book as the synopsis sounded fascinating. While I did enjoy it, and this is a positive review, the book didn’t pull me in as I’d hoped. I expected a more plot driven narrative and instead found it to be more character driven. Readers who enjoy character driven books should give this one a try.

My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I absolutely love the premise of this book, that at 4am every day the buildings in New York City rearrange themselves. I love the focus on collective action, city workers and grassroots groups responding to the emergency. Less into the characters and their personal struggles. But this is an interesting book, worth checking out especially if you like things like The City We Became.

loved this book but maybe i shouldn’t have read it while south east queensland was experiencing our first cyclone in fifty years… or maybe this was the perfect time to do just that, and i need to pay closer attention to the extreme weather conditions and apocalyptic happenings occurring across the world before it’s too late to do anything about it and we’re left scrambling to determine how best survive as an arrogant race on a dying planet. oh wait…

This book was not for me. I have always preferred character-centric stories, and this book — while it has interesting characters — is written in such a way as to keep everything distant and at arm’s length. I am constantly being told what’s happening, told what characters are thinking, told what they’re doing and what they will do and it’s just not a writing style I, personally, enjoy. The characters themselves weren’t all that interesting to me; Esme having a breakdown about her reliance on her boyfriend, or choosing Arjun because he makes her feel safe. Arjun who manages to somehow end up having done the right thing even though he did it without thought or planning and who I found frustrating in his “I’m a good guy, ma’am” approach to life.

The side characters were moments of me being told how interesting they were when I didn’t find them interesting or even that sympathetic. I pushed through the book to see how it ended, but I can’t honestly say I enjoyed it. However, that said, there are ideas in this book that almost work for me … if only they were followed through. I don’t need to know why the Unmapping happened, I’m fine with it being a mystery, but the reactions to it — and the lack of reactions — but I would have liked for more people to actually care about what was going on.

I feel like there’s an idea here, but it’s one that got lost in the delivery. However, the writing is competent and the book is easy to read with a nice, brisk pace. But my lack of interest in the characters and the passive writing style kept me from enjoying this book, and as much as I liked the idea … I didn’t like what the book did with it.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the ARC.

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!

Still half-asleep, Esme is on her way to work on the Emergency Management team for New York before she realises the building has moved. Actually, every building has moved - the unmapping has begun. Each day at 4am, the population of New York blinks and a new day of geographic chaos begins: the buildings all relocate themselves. No one no hows or why; disaster is imminent. Buildings are collapsing, a boy is trapped underground, fires and floods are constant companions.

The concept of this story immediately had my attention and the author dove into problems that I hadn’t even considered. I particularly appreciated the focus on class and immigration, but I would have loved a little more consideration of ecological and environmental impacts. Setting the story in New York was the perfect choice and the range of characters, I felt also reflected the diversity of the city also. This book would be a fabulous choice for a book club - there would be so much to chat about!

Thank you to Netgalley and Bindery Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion. The reason I requested this ARC is because I know this book is the first in the Mareas imprint, which is run by my favorite BookTuber, Marines. I always enjoy hearing her opinions about books, and I trusted that she would choose a great story for her own imprint. Unfortunately, our tastes don't always align (which is fine) and this is one of those cases.

The concept of the book is interesting enough to give the story a lot of potential, but the execution fell a little flat for me. The story never truly engaged me, and I feel like that was mostly because I didn't particularly like the characters. I enjoy a flawed character as much as the next person, but there must be at least something compelling about a character, and I couldn't quite find that here. Both Esme and Arjun felt a little flat to me, and I just couldn't bring myself to really care about them. This might just be a me-issue, though, and other readers might enjoy the story a lot more.

I really wanted to love this. Really liked the premise and was hooked by the first chapter. After that I lost most of my interest in this and had a hard time pushing through to the ending.

The Unmapping is an intriguing concept but unfortunately I didn't connect with it, so the tension was not there for me. (I will preface this, however, by saying that I applied for it because I came across someone reading another ARC of it "in the wild" and they raved about it, so it's defiantly a matter of personal tastes.)

The plot is secondary to the characters' inner lives, which is a fine approach but, although their minds were full of thoughts and details, the voices were all of the same texture, so as a group they felt flat. The chatty style of the internal lives was similar for all of them so they felt somewhat indistinguishable. In a similar vein, there were many characters left unnamed. I quite liked this approach the first time, but as a habit of the story the tool loses its punch. Meanwhile, all these chatty thoughts were slowing the plot action, which again is a fine choice, except I wasn't gripped by these inter lives. It was an ok read, but I just did not find myself eager to pick it back up to find out what happened next.

In The Unmapping our protagonists are faced with a near future where the entire landscape essentially becomes unmoored. Buildings, landmarks, sidewalks; all of it just picks up and shifts every morning at 0400. As one can imagine, this causes a fair amount of chaos.

Author Denise Robbins highlights several key social issues in the book, to varying degrees. Climate change is heavily featured in the book as a top contender among proposed causes for the Unmapping, and as such it is discussed by various characters several times. As one can imagine, disparity in social status has an enormous impact on how various individuals are affected by the unmapping. Those with greater access to resources are better able to withstand initial effects. Interestingly enough (but hardly surprising), it is those with fewer resources who turn to building community in the face of adversity and uncertainty, which leads to the formation of grassroots social movement. More subtly but no less importantly, the author also injects discussions of religious trauma and mental health issues.

Climate change is a frequent topic of discussion among various authority figures in the book as they speculate on causes for the unmapping and struggle with ways to cope with it. Many of the social issues the reader watches play out as the story unfolds, or as part of a character’s actions or thought processes, but there are also a number of instances where one character or another will have a sort of stream-of-consciousness monologue.

If you’re getting the impression that the book is mostly a vehicle for the discussion of said social issues… well, I can’t say that I disagree with you. And every one of them are valid and vital points for discussion.

So here was my problem with that.

The book is marketed as sci-fi / fantasy, but it’s neither. It does discuss climate change, but only as a potential cause for the unmapping. There is no science here. There is a very strange discussion revolving around pseudoscience that is tangential at one point, but it is completely nonsensical and is never touched upon again (which, frankly, is a good thing). In science fiction, the science doesn’t have to be real. But it has to be at least somewhat plausible, and, above all, it has to be developed and understandable. As to fantasy, well, there is a world here; it’s the one we live in, or near enough. But fantasy requires a magic system of some sort. And I’m not sure if the cult and the Christmas trees (yes, I said Christmas trees) and the lucid dreaming are supposed to be that, but if so it is never fully developed or explained, and it just sort of… fades away. The reader is led to believe that it is meaningful, but in the end it appears to be no more than a meaningless distraction. No, this book is speculative fiction. And there’s nothing wrong with speculative fiction, but readers should know that’s what they’re getting, because speculative fiction tends to be odd. And this book is definitely odd.

The two main protagonists do end up being fairly well developed, and this is done natively for the most part, through storytelling rather than long winded descriptions, which I appreciated. One of those two is not necessarily who you expect it to be at first, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Secondary characters appear for brief vignettes and then disappear, only to appear again later in the narrative. And, again – speculative fiction. This is a feature rather than a bug. But if you’re looking for a narrative that flows from beginning to end it’s somewhat jarring.

And – again with the speculative fiction, at least in my experience - you’re never really sure if you like any of the characters. Books like this tend to emphasize those gray areas of human nature, like the guy who is decent enough but has a raging white knight complex, an attachment style that is frankly a bit creepy, and is starved for attention. Or the girl who is smart and talented but doesn’t have a personality outside of her relationship and lets her significant other treat her like an appendage. Or the big brother who would do anything for his sibling but is also a con man and gang leader. Your ordinary fiction tends to view characters through glasses that are at least a little (sometimes a lot more than a little) rose colored. Spec fic goes to the opposite end of the spectrum, in my experience, and emphasizes the worst parts of a character’s… well, character… in an exploration of what makes them tick and whether they are redeemable.

This book had the potential to be a great sci-fi, and honestly that’s why I read it. It’s what I was expecting. It’s not what I got, and that part was a bit irritating (note to publisher: market appropriately), but as social commentary it is good, and if you’re in the mood for a book that’s a bit funky that has a lot to say about the human condition and the world around us, this might be a good book for you.

Disclosure: I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley and am leaving a voluntary review.

3.5⭐️

Interesting in premise, I found the writing to be hard to follow and I was not a fan of the main character. there were one or two supporting characters that stood out to me but all in all, one that I will not revisit.

The Unmapping follows Esme and Arjun, coworkers in NYC's emergency management department, who find themselves in the midst of social chaos after New York's buildings begin to rearrange nightly. On top of their work responsibilities -- greatly augmented by the number of missing/lost people and the disasters caused by the buildings' movements, as well as growing social unrest -- Esme's searching for her missing fiance, and Arjun's searching for a place he can feel useful and wanted.
The novel also follows an entire cast of supporting characters whose stories are at once connected and completely disparate from Esme and Arjun: the mayor, a stranded young boy, a news reporter, and so many more. It follows Esme & Arjun & this supporting cast and also, simultaneously, somehow, the story of all of New York City.

This book seemed like it would be perfect for me --and I did enjoy reading it, and I can't figure out WHY it didn't quite blow me away. The writing was a great blend of conversational and literary: very accessible. The concept of the Unmapping itself: surreal, funky, and somehow just believable enough. It's a story about climate change, and cults, and the structural misuse of power, and the power of the citizen, and work-life balance, and individual stories in a mass panic. All things I'm super into.

That said, it wasn't quiiiiite it for me. I don't know why: maybe I wished for a little more quirk, or maybe I was too annoyed with the frustrating, but understandable decisions the characters (particularly Esme and Arjun, but all of them) kept making. I think ultimately I went into it thinking it would be So For Me and it was, but the expectations were maybe a little high on my end.

Regardless, I will absolutely be recommending this book. At the end of the day it wasn't perfect for me, but it was beautiful, interesting, and really relevant -- and I enjoyed it! (I will be seeking out more of Robbins' work because I think she's probably got other stories that will resonate with me more.)

3.5 stars, rounded up.

Eh, this book fell flat for me. Super interesting premise, it definitely wasn't bad, but just seemed disconnected all throughout the story. Maybe that's the point, lol. Several story lines were ongoing simultaneously and I feel like half of them had no resolution, or an abrupt, incomplete ending. Several major events in the book were just skipped over and many things were left unexplained. I kept waiting for a denouement that didn't come. Not bad, but I would not reread this one, myself.

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.

<i> Disclosure: I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and Bindery books in exchange for an honest review. </i>

This is a really gripping sci-fi that tackles a wide range of important themes, within a complex framework of life-threatening disasters, tense interpersonal relationships and grassroots social revolution (all lightly sprinkled with cults & conspiracies). My sincere thanks to NetGalley & Bindery Books for sending me this ARC in exchange for an honest review; this was such a compelling & rewarding read!

The narrative style is engaging in its down-to-earth, stream-of-consciousness style that really helps you get in the heads of the characters. I felt the choice to deliberately keep some characters nameless was very effective, driving home the feeling of being small & insignificant (in some positive ways as well as negative) when facing a global crisis that is so much bigger than you.

I related a great deal to the fear and solitude being explored for many of the characters, as well as the heartfelt depiction of community mindset, and of individuals standing up to do whatever they can, no matter how small-scale, to help others against impossible odds.

There were parts of the plot that I struggled to keep up with. I’m not sure I understand the purpose of the cult subplot, and my scientific knowledge is nowhere near good enough to tell you if any of the possible explanations given for why the Unmapping came about hold water or not. But I didn’t find myself put off by any of that; it was a fun ride & thought experiment, and I enjoyed the journey either way.

I recommend this book to anyone keen on sci-fi centred around climate-change or global disaster - also potentially fans of Stephen King’s ‘Under the Dome’ or the TV series ‘The OA’ - who enjoy exploring the everyday human impact & themes of social justice within that setting.

There are a few potentially sensitive topics covered in this book, so I will include some Content Warnings below for those who find them helpful. So fair warning to STOP READING HERE TO AVOID MINOR SPOILERS.

—————
Content Warnings:
- bereavement, including loss of a parent & spouse, and grief relating to missing persons
- bigotry, including ableism, classism, racism & misogyny
- claustrophobia & fear of being buried alive
- cult brainwashing & manipulation
- domestic violence (briefly mentioned, not depicted)
- drug use/addiction & dealing (briefly mentioned twice, not depicted)
- lockdown/stay-at-home requirement
- mental health, including depression & anxiety, and ableist attitudes towards medication
- police brutality & racially-motivated violence
- sexual content (mild)
- sexual harassment
- suicide (mentioned, not depicted)
- violence & blood - including explosions, gun violence & gang violence

This book gave me anxiety in the best way. Set in New York City, we follow Esme as she travels to work at the Emergency Response Department to find that the city has unmapped itself. No one knows why or how it's happening, but at 4am each day, the city rearranges itself in a seemingly unknowable pattern. The Empire State Building ends up on Coney Island. People are missing or trapped underneath buildings. There are cults popping up everywhere. Why are there so many aluminum Christmas trees?
Robbins does a great job with the tone of this book. We see the Unmapping through several different perspectives which occasionally get flipped on their head. The narrative voice is always breezy and conversational even when we're unsure who we're following. We feel the despair and confusion of the city and we feel the small bright light of communities being forged from the darkness. It's a wide portrait of a country in crisis.
I will say that the book felt disjointed in places. There were some sections that skimmed past something crucial or focused on a seemingly unimportant section of the story for too long. This book has a gigantic premise and it does its best to present as many facets of that premise as it can squeeze into its pages. I enjoyed jumping around and seeing all of the different points of view, but I can see how some people could find it too scattered.
This was an anxiety-inducing but ultimately enjoyable read and I recommend it to anyone interested in speculative fiction about climate change and its many possible effects on our future. A great reminder that, in the end, our human connections are what make everything possible.
Thank you to Bindery Books and NetGalley for providing me with this eARC in exchange for my honest review.