Author: Jessica Taylor
Publisher: Dial Books
My Rating: 4/5 Stars
Hardcover, 368 Pages
Publication Date: August 15th, 2017
Summary: Emma had always orbited Henri, her fierce, magnetic queen bee of an older sister, and the two had always been best friends. Until something happened that wrecked them. Then the unthinkable occurs—a watery nightmare off the dazzling coast. The girls wash up on shore, stranded. Their only companion is Alex, a troubled boy agonizing over his own secrets. Trapped in this gorgeous hell, Emma and Alex fall together as Emma and Henri fall catastrophically apart. To find their way home, the sisters must find their way back to each other. But there’s no map for this—or anything. Can they survive the unearthing of the past and the upheaval of the present?
Emily and I both received ARCs of A Map For Wrecked Girls at BookCon (after waiting in several particularly long lines!), and I'm so glad that we did, because I have been excited to get my hands on this book for a long time. It was even one of our Waiting on Wednesday picks in the past! So, needless to say, I was eagerly awaiting the moment when I would get to start it. That moment came a few days ago when I spent the entire day at the beach -- which was the perfect setting, since that's where a majority of the book takes place!
As the summary explains, Emma and her older sister, Henri, have always been super close. They did everything together, told each other their secrets, and spent as much time together as possible. As Henri always told Emma, she couldn't ever see herself loving anyone other than her sister. But then a whole mess of drama goes down (which I won't spoil for you!), and then their relationship is never the same. And then, to make matters even worse, they end up stranded on an unmarked tropical island out in Puerto Rico with Alex, a boy with troubles of his own, and they have to take some pretty risky measures to survive.
There were so many things that I enjoyed about this book. For starters, I am absolutely in love with the color, with all of the bright colors and flowers and the stark black background and all of that. I love it so much that it was one of the books that my boyfriend and I both picked to take professional pictures of for the blog's social media! (Shown below!) I mean come on guys, just look at it. *heart eyes*
As for the story itself, I thought it was the perfect amount of thrilling, romantic, and even scary at times. It was interesting to see how Emma, Henri, and Alex utilized the island's resources to survive, and they even got pretty creative with tools and resources when things started to take a turn towards desperate. I in no way ever want to be stranded on an island, don't get me wrong, but watching the way they all banded together and used their scare resources to survive was pretty interesting to follow throughout the story.
This book took me through an emotional roller coaster from start to finish. There were several moments when I was reading where I gasped out loud, laughed, cried, and even dropped the book in shock. (It got to the point where I was beginning to get the idea that my mom was sick of sitting next to me while I was reading.) If you're looking for a book that grabs you and actively keeps you engaged from start to finish, A Map For Wrecked Girls is the book for you.
The only thing that I didn't like about this book was Henry's character herself. I thought she was manipulative, stubborn, a bully, and definitely a b*tch. I don't think that's any problem with the writing or anything, just a character in the story who was definitely meant to be that way, but I didn't like her all the same. Even through her ups and downs, Henri left a bad taste in my mouth. She was mean when it wasn't necessary, stubborn when it was literally a matter of life and death, and just all around not a good person. She was definitely my least favorite character.
Alex and Emma, however, were my favorites, and I totally shipped them from the get go. I thought they were adorable even with their own problems, and the way they worked together and worked so hard on the island made my heart feel warm inside. So yeah, I definitely loved those two a lot more than I loved Henri.
Overall, I really enjoyed A Map For Wrecked Girls. I'm glad that this was one of the books that I waited on line to get. I read this book in a less than two whole days because I couldn't tear myself away from it. I'm a sucker for survival stories, and when it's a story like Jessica Taylor's with extra doses of drama and disaster, it makes it even better. I'll definitely be reading more of Jessica Taylor's books in the future, because I really, really liked this one -- it was the perfect amount of danger, romance, and thrills to kick off the summer! If this book isn't on your TBR, guys, it definitely should be. You won't regret it!
As the summary explains, Emma and her older sister, Henri, have always been super close. They did everything together, told each other their secrets, and spent as much time together as possible. As Henri always told Emma, she couldn't ever see herself loving anyone other than her sister. But then a whole mess of drama goes down (which I won't spoil for you!), and then their relationship is never the same. And then, to make matters even worse, they end up stranded on an unmarked tropical island out in Puerto Rico with Alex, a boy with troubles of his own, and they have to take some pretty risky measures to survive.
There were so many things that I enjoyed about this book. For starters, I am absolutely in love with the color, with all of the bright colors and flowers and the stark black background and all of that. I love it so much that it was one of the books that my boyfriend and I both picked to take professional pictures of for the blog's social media! (Shown below!) I mean come on guys, just look at it. *heart eyes*
Image Credit: Santiago Rolon
As for the story itself, I thought it was the perfect amount of thrilling, romantic, and even scary at times. It was interesting to see how Emma, Henri, and Alex utilized the island's resources to survive, and they even got pretty creative with tools and resources when things started to take a turn towards desperate. I in no way ever want to be stranded on an island, don't get me wrong, but watching the way they all banded together and used their scare resources to survive was pretty interesting to follow throughout the story.
This book took me through an emotional roller coaster from start to finish. There were several moments when I was reading where I gasped out loud, laughed, cried, and even dropped the book in shock. (It got to the point where I was beginning to get the idea that my mom was sick of sitting next to me while I was reading.) If you're looking for a book that grabs you and actively keeps you engaged from start to finish, A Map For Wrecked Girls is the book for you.
The only thing that I didn't like about this book was Henry's character herself. I thought she was manipulative, stubborn, a bully, and definitely a b*tch. I don't think that's any problem with the writing or anything, just a character in the story who was definitely meant to be that way, but I didn't like her all the same. Even through her ups and downs, Henri left a bad taste in my mouth. She was mean when it wasn't necessary, stubborn when it was literally a matter of life and death, and just all around not a good person. She was definitely my least favorite character.
Alex and Emma, however, were my favorites, and I totally shipped them from the get go. I thought they were adorable even with their own problems, and the way they worked together and worked so hard on the island made my heart feel warm inside. So yeah, I definitely loved those two a lot more than I loved Henri.
Overall, I really enjoyed A Map For Wrecked Girls. I'm glad that this was one of the books that I waited on line to get. I read this book in a less than two whole days because I couldn't tear myself away from it. I'm a sucker for survival stories, and when it's a story like Jessica Taylor's with extra doses of drama and disaster, it makes it even better. I'll definitely be reading more of Jessica Taylor's books in the future, because I really, really liked this one -- it was the perfect amount of danger, romance, and thrills to kick off the summer! If this book isn't on your TBR, guys, it definitely should be. You won't regret it!
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