The Atlas of Us by Kristen Dwyer: A review

 

Hi everyone! This week I'm reviewing a book gifted to me by HarperYA360 in return for an honest review. This was honestly a really brilliant ARC to start off the year with and I’m looking forward to the rest! ‘The Atlas of Us’ by Kristen Dwyer is a wonderful novel that discusses the depths of grief, anger, joy, and self-discovery in a young girl called Atlas. I really loved this book because it didn’t dodge the hard bits that come with talking about feelings and facing everything with brutal rawness and vulnerability.

After losing her dad to cancer, Atlas James’ mother decides that, in a last-ditch effort, she should go to a community service program that is aimed at rehabilitation of the hiking trails in the Western Sierras. The program is led by the dad’s best friend Joe and real names are not allowed; so Atlas becomes Maps and finds herself with a fresh start with new people. Now working with a blank slate with no past to tie her down Maps must learn who she is underneath the story that was written for her and who she wants to be.

I really like this book because I think it is the perfect blend of messy teenage feelings and unfiltered vulnerability. The ‘found family’ in this book makes me so happy when I think about it: Maps, Sugar, Junior, Books, and King really do make it work even when everything seems to be at its worst. Even with all of the challenges that they faced, they all got their respective HEAs in the end. Junior and Books are the most adorable pair on and off the page, Sugar is just doing her best and that’s all we can ask, King is working things out slowly (which is fair enough) and Maps is rediscovering what it means to be a young adult going into the adult world.

One thing that really hit it home for me, was that the end was the beginning before the end came again. Now I’m aware that that probably makes little sense, but what this book really tries to get across is that the end is just another beginning and it does that perfectly. The writing in this book is amazing and it was a very fluid and relaxed read. I, at one point, actually complained about how well-written it was because it was going to make me cry (I came very close but not quite). 

I would totally recommend this book to anyone looking for an adventure read with real unfiltered emotion. 

Happy Reading, 

Mei xxx