Obtain The Golden Specific (The Mapmakers Trilogy, #2) Originated By S.E. Grove Shown In Edition

I read sitelinkThe Glass Sentence last year, I absolutely fell in love with it, and I have to admit that I fangirled a bit when I met S.
E. Grove at a local book event, That fangirling sparked a nice rapport between us, however, and she was gracious enough to send me an ARC of The Golden Specific! It was a challenge, not diving into that book immediately, but when I finally allowed myself to read it such delight!

The Golden Specific was every bit as wondrous and entertaining as I'd hoped.
It continued with themes I really enjoyed from the first book: maps, the timesliced world, strange magic, mystery, danger, and whimsy.
One thing that impresses me about Grove's writing is that she is able to weave so many threads together, pulling them along in varying degrees of intensity, but never letting them fade.


We're treated to our favorite, familiar characters from The Glass Sentence, but are introduced to quite a few new faces who are sure to steal your heart as easily as they did mine.
Remember when I said that S, E. Grove is the Brandon Sanderson of YA IT'S SO TRUE, YOU GUYS, She knows how to make each and every character feel alive, like a complete person, no matter how large or small their part in the story might be.
It is remarkable, and it truly helps to immerse a reader in the story,

You know when you're really just sinking yourself deep into a world and story that you love just settling yourself in, locking arms with the characters, and sighing happily, never wanting to leave Yeah, that's how this whole series has made me feel so far.
Which is awesome, but also terrifying, because this is a trilogy, people! I don't even know if this is a review, or just me trying to tell you how much I loved the book without being spoilerish.
. . Look, just READ THIS SERIES! IT IS SO GOOD, Good series. I LOVE these books! I do think they'd be a bit complex for their intended age range, but perhaps not.
Sophia and Theo are both a delight to follow and I can't wait to see what happens in book! Id been so looking forward to this, but it was a rough reading experience.
My daughters naps went haywire and I fell asleep early every night, When I could grab a few pages, it just felt so large in my hands, Such silly things to hold you back from a story you like so much,

Overall, this one was interesting but still felt a little over my head at times.
I wish I had read this series premommy brain, I totally ship Erroll and Goldenrod and would follow them through so many pages, And Theo! Oh Theo, we gotta get you out of that war, I liked the new addition of characters Winnie, Nettie, and the gang, There is so much going on in just one book and all of it just made me that much more excited for the conclusion.
This series is ALMOST something very cool and incredibly original, It's ALMOST something that I really love, or maybe something that I would have loved as a kid.


Now, there's just something missing, I'm not sure what it is,

Sophia and Theo's adventures across the Ages are interesting, but I always fall short of being really captivated.
This book in particular was a "middle of the series" book, which unraveled some worldbuilding mysteries but didn't resolve anything.
The new characters were fun, but I wish Sophia hadn't spent absolutely all her time separated from everyone.
I'll probably read the third book whenever it happens to fall into my hands through a stroke of random chance, and not before.
!!!!
Things learned! Plots are moving!! Wow that was one hell of a sequel, I really REALLY wish that more people had read this series so that I could talk about it with someone.
Even though my precious characters were apart pretty much the whole novel their stories intertwined, I'm in love with all the new characters introduced into the book as well, I know that this book is categorized as middle grade but to me it is not a middle grade book AT ALL.
For one if I read this when I was younger I would have been very confused because it is such a complex world.
Also the characters are so smart for their ages that they don't read as younger characters either.
But seriously if you haven't read this book series yet please do it took me aboutpages to finally get into it and I'm glad.
the pieces of this plot puzzle are so masterfully woven, I love how it all comes together at the end.


I absolutely loved the new characters, in a way they were whimsical and intriguing, the entire book seemed like a fairytale to me, a truly unique and magical read, This is the sequel to The Glass Sentences, Sophia is still searching for her missing parents, But that journey takes some unexpected twist and turns, Sophia is separated from friends and family, Her uncle is accused of murder, Theo must try to find evidence to prove who the real murder is,

The first book in the mapmaker trilogy left me more confused than anything but I found this book to be absolutely delightful.


I loved the murder mystery element, I loved seeing our young protagonist being forced to grow and become independent from one another, I liked all the new characters that were introduced and I was actually able to keep them all straight.


This was such a great sequel, that really improved upon the first book and expanded this world.


I gave this book a B, I dont know how to feel about this book, It feels so separate from The Glass Sentence, like theyre barely even related, It might have some of the same characters and the worldbuilding is the same though it happens in different parts of the world than the first one, but it just feels so unconnected.
Im not sure how else to explain it, I still enjoyed the book, but I wish the series felt more continuous,

Things I likedthe world is fascinating, Nettie not sure how to spell it since I listened to the audiobook was a delightful surprise.
I loved the falconry aspect, The romance between Errol and Goldenrod was cute, Theo being Theo. The further development of the border closure with Broadgirdles election and the ensuing war, The paper like spirits. The explanation of why the age borders are moving,

Things I didnt likeno Calixta and Burr again, Im sorry if Im misspelling namesaudiobooks make it hard to spell names.
The disconnectedness to the Glass Sentence, Theo and Sophia being separated, Not many maps.

Im reading the third one right now because I enjoyed the first two enough to do so.
But I wish some things had been different, Still, one of the most unique worlds Ive read, and I love the alternate history!,stars.
I travel so far with this book,
The world building is so awesome and magic, The author manage to grew up this universe in so many way, I can wait to have book nto finally know everything,.Really liked the storyline of this one, a little better than the first even, Although I think this one had a little less action than the first which made it move kind of slowly sometimes.
Sophia's storyline had some trouble keeping my attention, but I LOOOOVED Theo's storyline, and I love Theo : also.
. . THAT ENDING!!!!!! That is all, I'm not going to review this, I'm just going to say that I think I liked it better than I liked 'The Glass Sentence' and I'm not sure why.
Maybe because of Errol I always like it when the Han Solo/Robin Hood character finally makes an appearance.
Sorry, Mel! I had to finish!

sitelinkThe Glass Sentence amp sitelinkThe Golden Specific are the most inventive MG fantasy novels that I've read since Harry Potter.
Highly, highly, HIGHLY recommended. It took me forever to get around reading this one, because I've been waiting for the paperback release and I was scared it wouldn't live up to the first one.
After all, it's been almost two years since I read The Glass Sentence, But, because I had loved the first book so much, I still had vivid memories of what had happened and I didn't struggle to follow anything.


My favourite part of this book was the worldbuilding, I'm obsessed with maps and the fact that the world is set in different time periods is utterly fascinating to me.
It's so enjoyable to discover the world S, E. Grove created, because it's so original, I was so confused because Spain was called the Papal States though, I thought it was Italy but nevermind.
The whole mythology about the Great Disruption was explored so much more in this second novel and we're finally getting some answers, but I am excited to get even more of them in the last book.


The plot was quite interesting and I liked that we had two or even three when you count the letters different perspectives, set in different places.
Anywho, I was always invested in it, but I thought this book was a little too long for what it contained.
I'm struggling to imagine this trilogy is middle grade, if I'm completely honest, I think that the plot of the first novel was filled with more tension and urgency than The Golden Specific.
The urgency only came towards the second half of the novel, it definitely hooked me, Moreover, after the ending, I'm interested to see where the author is going and how this story will wrap up for the characters.


Speaking of the characters, liked them, but I still can't believe Sophia is thirteen or fourteen now.
I just can't. Moreover, and it bothered me a bit more than in the first book : I still don't have emotional connection to the characters, and I think it's because I can't believe how young they're supposed to be.
I'm not saying they lack development or anything : they're wellwritten and interesting, but something is lacking for me.


Overall, I really liked this second novel in The Mapmakers Trilogy and

I'm looking forward to read the last instalment.
I'm still in love with this world, but the characters are lacking something for me and the book was a little too long.
But other than that, it was a good one,.or something like that, I know I'm hard to please :/

I found the first book in this series a little dense and hard to get through.
This one was a little easier for me, maybe because I was prepared for some deep reading.
Its density, I think, is at once a strength and a weakness, Grove's story is so thorough, so full, so, . . historical, that it can be heavy to read, but at the same time gives the story an air of authenticity.
I rarely question why the author chose something to happen, I simply believe that it happened,

I love the world Grove created, I love the Ages and the Maps and the politics and the creatures, I love the characters too, It was unfortunate that there was so much going on that I didn't get to see a whole lot of Shadrack, or Calixta and Burr, or other staple characters.
Theo and Sophia were also separated the entire time, which was disappointing,

But I really enjoyed Bronson and Minna's part of the story, as well as Sophia's quest and the new addition of Goldenrod and Errol and even Nettie, I suppose.
Broadgirdle is a great villain, and I'm looking forward to seeing more of him in the future.


I think this would have gotten astar rating if I hadn't realized as I neared the end of the book that this was, after all, a middle book.
Which means two of the three main story arcs reached no conclusion, Boo!

But I guess I'll just have to read the next one, . . :.