The Mapmakers ~ Paul Jenkins & Wesley St. Claire (Beyonders #1)
★★☆☆☆
I received this digital review copy from Aftershock Comics via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of this book in any way.
Well that was stupid. There are ways of making a conspiracy-focused narrative without making it unbelievably dumb. The first 30 pages or so were promising, but then it devolved into a cliche mess.
This is about this kid, Jake, and his corgi. (The corgi was the only character I liked) Jake is obsessed with conspiracy theories and feels like there's more than this provincial life. When his life gets turned upside down and he's inducted into a secret organization called the Beyonders, he discovers that maybe he's been right all along, that everything's connected. He sets out on a quest to crack the code. It's a race against the Order, what we know as the Illuminati, as they hunt down Jake, his dog, and his math genius friend, Narine.
This first point is a personal thing, so take it with a grain of salt. I hate it when fiction (usually urban fantasy, but I guess National Treasure-esque stuff is prone to this as well) takes real people, whether living or dead, and claims they're secretly apart of this mysterious organization or a vampire or something. It's stupid and feels morally and legally questionable. I get that it's supposed to ground the story, but it very rarely does for me.
The conspiracy connections in this are thin at best, and the vast majority of the bland dialogue consists of characters explaining things they ought to know for the sake of the reader. I honestly don't believe that an ancient secret organization of conspiracy hunters don't know conspiracy basics and react like the MC is an idiot every time he brings anything up. Or actually, that makes sense! It explains why the MC is such a Gary Stu, with his equally Chosen One female sidekick and obvious love interest, Narine, being his equivalent Mary Sue. They're the only ones who know absolutely anything and seem very cool in comparison. Very cool.
Our MC Jake fluctuates between sarcastic and funny, and ridiculously petty and whiny. It's annoying. In case you're wondering what Narine's personality is, she wears blue lipstick. That's her personality.
There's a shoehorned in ancient prophecy, a bad guy who's ~ruthless~ and has a plot twist I saw from a mile away. And did the author even watch that documentary about the Voynich Manuscript? It basically confirmed that Leonardo Da Vinci was born like 30 years after the document was created. Honestly, if you want to read this and actually have a fun time, take a shot every time Leonardo Da Vinci comes up. You'll probably die of alcohol poisoning. At least they didn't mention the Mandela effect, or I would have screamed.
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