Name: The Girl of Ink & Stars
ISBN: 9781910655580

Kiran Millwood Hargrave

When Isabella's friend disappears, she volunteers to guide the search party. As a mapmaker's daughter, she's equipped with elaborate ink maps and knowledge of the stars, eager to navigate the island's forgotten heart. But beneath the mountains a legendary fire demon awakens, and her journey is fraught with danger ...

The Girl of Ink & Stars

Valle Fernandez

Julie Rubens

Such a fun and quick read. I loved how much of the story was about friendship and I found the mapmaking parts really cool and interesting. I liked the world building, but I don’t really understand the ending because it was kinda confusing me.

Abi Hills

This book was good, but maybe not as good as I thought it was going to be. Make because of the length (under 250 pages) and the fact that it's technically children's and not young adult. Even so, it was still good, I would have liked it if it was a little longer. 

I like the fantasy side of it, the fact that it was mystical and you sometimes didn't know what was real and what was not. (view spoiler)[I like the floating island element, it felt like something out of a Ghibli movie. I would have preferred however if we knew more about the island's lore because some things didn't make sense at first. When you enter a new world you want to know more about that new world to make sense of it in your head. (hide spoiler)]

I would recommend this book to people of all ages, especially if you like something fantasy-esc, set in an unknown world, with mythical creatures and myths and legends. It's an exciting read, with a fast pace, that only took me a couple of days but I could have easily read it in a couple of hours if I wasn't working. Definitely give it a go if it sounds like the kind of thing you might like.

Amie ONeill

I was kinda just bored? Like things were happening but I couldn’t have cared less and the writing wasn’t pretty rubbish. In my opinion this story could’ve done so much more than it did. The characters felt pretty two dimensional and the plot didn’t keep me gripped.

Eleanor Luhar

This is quite a short YA novel, a standalone book that I just picked up on impulse. I immediately got the impression that this was aimed at slightly younger teens - the protagonist was only thirteen, so I didn't really connect that much. It's that awkward age where you think you're old, but you're not. I could imagine thirteen-year-old me would enjoy this quite a bit.

Isabella lives alone with her father, a skilled cartographer. Her mother and twin brother had passed away, leaving the two alone. The Governor had taken control of the land, and his daughter, Lupe, attended the same school as Isabella. The two were very close, and Isabella's angered outburst causes Lupe to run off into the Hidden Territories to prove she wasn't "rotten". A classmate of theirs had recently been found dead, and Lupe was going to find the killer.

Isabella, disguised as her deceased brother, shows Lupe's note to her father and a small group begin going after her, Isabella included. They follow a map passed down to Isabella's mother, through blackened forests scattered with bones. They do find Lupe, along with the Banished and, worst of all, the hell dogs from Isabella's favourite myth.

This myth turns out to play an important role in their journey, and Lupe discovers something about her father when he sacrifices himself to fend off the wolves. They face Yote himself - the mythical fire demon - and Isabella finds herself returning home without Lupe.

It is quite a young teen book, as I said, and the plot develops all because of Isabella calling Lupe's family "rotten". This drama and exaggeration is pretty typical of a children's/teen book, I find, and seemed a little immature to me. The writing was great, I just couldn't get over the simplicity and immaturity of the plot at times.

For a teen book, it was quite dark at times - a lot of death was included. The ending was both happy and sad, which is nice. I get quite fed up of too many happy endings. 3 stars.

Title was originally: Cartographer's Daughter in hardcover. A tale inspired by Canary Islands folklore follows the experiences of a mapmaker's daughter who investigates a series of mysterious deaths and uncovers dark secrets on an island home where

The Girl of Ink and Stars

Elska Bee

I'm generally more lenient in my ratings towards middle grade and younger YA, but nothing abut this really grabbed me.

I felt that a lot of the lore and world-building could have been developed a lot more to make it more immersive first off. It definitely had interesting elements but it was hard to see how they all fit together and I felt a bit left in the dark of how this society and world works. I also felt that the more supernatural elements were thrown in suddenly with very little setup, which made them less impactful because I was struggling to keep up. I think the real problem here is the length. I think readers old enough to read this, could have handled another 50-100 pages just to flesh everything out a bit more. I'll admit I picked this up /because/ it's short, but I just didn't get enough out of it.

I also didn't feel particularly connected to any of the characters. The governor's daughter, Lupe (idk the spelling, audiobook, sorry), has her moments, but the focus isn't on her and the main character pulls up short in comparison.

Overall, there aren't any serious problems here, but I was left feeling underwhelmed and disconnected. Younger readers might find enough here if they're interested in the topics explored (like cartography, mythology), but I wouldn't generally recommend it beyond that.

Anastaciya

a nice book, but for younger readers. 2,5 stars from me.

Lisa Beasley

This was a really cute read. I could tell it was written for a younger audience but it was a nice story and I liked the characters.

Kate

There aren't many things better than reading a book that is just as gorgeous as its cover and thankfully The Girl of Ink and Stars was just that. It reminded me of Nim's Island meets Journey to the Centre of the Earth meets Disney (and yes, this would make a fantastic movie. Someone make this happen please and thank you.) It was action packed from start to finish, with twists and turns throughout. I throughly enjoyed the relationships, both family and friendship and the mythological element was a pleasant surprise. I'd definitely recommend this for both children and adults looking for a quick but lovely fantasy/adventure middle grade read.

Beth Bartholomew

The Girl of Ink and Stars is a beautifully designed little novel. The pages are decorated like a map and the book is littered with similar markings throughout, this made for a lovely visual experience whilst reading. This being a very short book meant that the story wasn’t the most complicated and did at times feel rushed. But overall this book presented me with a good reading experience and is one that I would recommend.

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