I decided to just pick this book up and see what it was all about. When I had finally finished it, I was stunned. This book was magnificent and had just the right amount of everything for me to feel beyond satisfied. There are only two issues I had with this book, and those can be easily solved in the next two books of the Mapmakers Trilogy. 
 Plot: The plot was extremely well thought out. As I've said, this book had the perfect blend of character development, action, and plot twists that led to a stunning formula. There were so many surprises and plot twists that leaped out at me that I hardly felt bored. The plot was excellent, and I enjoyed how the worldbuilding was gradually handed out instead of having it all in a few information dumps at the beginning. The plot was very original, and so was the world. I doubt there really is another story like this one in terms of plot. There was nothing wrong with the plot whatsoever. 
 Characters: The characters were all unique. I liked how the protagonist actually has a major flaw. I could easily relate to Sophia's lack of an internal clock, because I often couldn't tell whether it had been a minute or an hour. But I didn't like how this was really the only recurring trait in Sophia. I wish there were more ways to describe Sophia with vague traits, like rude or softhearted or the like. 
 The other characters, as I've said, were all unique. Theo was one of my favorites, but I liked all of them. The person who had captured Shadrack, Blanca, was an interesting villain. Her intentions didn't seem all too bad but she carried them out in a twisted way. I actually felt some sympathy for her, and she was a well thought-out villain. Sophia's companions throughout I also took a liking to. I hope to see more character development in the next two books. 
 Writing/Style/Humor: The pacing was stellar. It wasn't too slow, but it wasn't too fast that I couldn't keep up. It was just the right pace for the book. Meanwhile, the descriptions were very...descriptive. They described practically everything about the rooms and places that Sophia went to. Believe it or not, I didn't like how the descriptions usually took up a couple of extremely long paragraphs and were described in excruciatingly long detail. I wish it was shorter so we could leave a little bit of it up to our imagination. 
 Overall, this book was absolutely wonderful. The map system was great and I don't think I'll be looking down on maps any time now. I'll be looking forward to The Golden Specific and I'll get my hands on it as soon as possible. 
 4/5.