I love it when a book leaves me thoroughly unsettled – and The Unmapping was a fascinating, character-driven ride through a city in crisis.

Our story takes place in New York City, where at precisely 4 a.m. each morning, every building is rearranged instantaneously. People are panicked and missing, power and water and necessities are uncertain, and nobody knows why this is happening or how to stop it.

Esme and Arjun are both part of the Emergency Management team and are sent into the fray. But Esther’s distracted by her missing fiance, and Arjun is distracted by his desire to be recognized as a hero. With politicians scrambling and red cloak cults emerging, nobody knows how to best help the city. And Esme, Arjun, and the rest of an ensemble cast find themselves reflecting on their own lives and figuring out how to face this strange new world.

The response to the fictional Unmapping feels like a blend of real life responses to climate change and the pandemic. There are those living in denial, frustrating bureaucratic red tape, and overwhelming amounts of anxiety from everyone. It’s a fascinating thought experiment and I was left with so much to chew on. How would any of us respond to something so unmooring? 

Esme and Arjun can be tricky main characters because they’re not necessarily people I would want to be friends with – but I adored reading about them. Esme falls into people-pleasing (people-worshipping, really) patterns again and again, and I was so ready to watch her find a voice and a spine. And strike out on her own, because her relationship was rotten from both ends. And Arjun needed to work through his desire to be loved and his bit of a savior complex, but he’s surprisingly self aware.

I enjoyed the witty & wry voice and found myself giggling pretty frequently. The narration bops around and there are a lot of single arcs. Many of the single-chapter characters do appear again by the end, and I do recommend reading this book in a short time frame (unless you have a way stronger short term memory than I do). 

I wasn’t totally in love with the ending, because I felt some aspects were wrapped up too neatly while others were left completely unfinished and I was craving a bit more information (not necessarily closure). But overall I really enjoyed the concept, the narrative voice, and the reflections this offered.

CW: death, mental illness, drug, grief, religious bigotry, panic attacks, toxic relationship, suicide, gun violence, car accident

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(I received an advance reader copy of this book; this is my honest review.)