3.5 stars for this interesting book, which I'm not sure I loved but I found incredibly fascinating!

The sci-fi concept of this was super unique and fascinating, with entire cities becoming "unmapped" aka buildings changing locations every day at 4am. As expected, for a big city like NYC, this causes an insane amount of issues and dangers. We follow this phenomenon for many months with a cast of characters either named and fully realized (Esme, Arjun), named and kind of missing (Marcus, Antony), or unnamed and characterized in small details (the mayor, the blonde woman, the wife). The jumps between characters was at times incredibly frustrating, and at times super insightful. This book really walks the line here between something I really loved reading and something I was slogging through, what a weird contradiction!!

If what you're looking for is a vibes book with sci-fi elements and a world that feels lived in, this is perfect for you. If you're looking for answers or a straightforward plot, this may not be for you. I'm walking away from this definitely curious but not super moved.

Thanks so much to Denise Robbins, Bindery Books, and NetGalley for a chance to read this in exchange for an honest review.

I have so many conflicting thoughts about this book! On one hand I was so impressed by the premise and the scope of this epic story. It was such a unique concept for a scifi book and I was hooked by the weirdness of it all and needed to know more.

On the other, I was not thrilled with the pacing of this book. It was definitely on the more literary side, but I don't think I was expecting it to be as slow as it was! For such a high stakes concept, the execution was weirdly boring? I also wished I cared about the MCs a little more! They weren't unlikeable persay, but they definitely weren't LIKEABLE either.

Overall a really fantastic debut effort that could have used a bit more refining, but interesting enough that I'll continue to follow up on this author and am excited to read more from her.

I was so excited for this book! It is a little bit out of my normal genre but I was first intrigued by the cover. When I read the Synopsis, I thought this book was meant for me to read. As someone who works for emergency management, I was so excited to see it in a book! I loved the authors writing style, it felt personal in a way. I also love the name Esme, that was a name I picked out if I had a daughter. I don’t want to say too much without giving anything away, but this book was sooo good. I am so glad I decided to go out of my comfort zone. I will definitely be purchasing a physical copy.

Unfortunately this was A DNF around 20%. The premise of the book was great, but the execution fell flat. The writing style was the main issue for me, it was almost lyrical and i felt it difficult to connect. I am sure some people will adore this way of writing, but it left, for me, something to be desired.

Note: ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This novel has been on my radar for months because the concept is so unique: What would happen if buildings in New York City suddenly started moving around? Residents wake up one morning to find that has happened, and it continues to happen every morning afterward. They might wake up with a view of a skyscraper one day, a view of a river the next. How would you react if you never knew where your home or business might end up?

That's the question that Denise S. Robbins explores. Of course there are the logistics of disrupted power grids and other utilities, as well as people who are lost and don't know where their home went if they weren't there when it was Unmapped. Robbins does tackle this, looking at how emergency management and governmental agencies would respond. She also looks at how individuals react. Some of these people start out nameless and may even remain nameless, presumably because there are so many others whom they could represent. However, there are two characters who get the most page time, Esme and Arjun, both of whom work for the New York Emergency Management Department and have their own personal reactions to the Unmapping.

Esme and Arjun are both moderately compelling characters, though not necessarily deeply layered. It was still engaging to follow them around. In an interesting storytelling approach, the author's disjointed narrative mirrors what the characters and residents are going through, helping readers understand in some way what it might be like. I loved seeing how everything was unfolding, how people were coping with events. Threads get dropped and picked up again later, keeping readers interested.

A couple of these threads are related to Gleamwood City, a small Wisconsin town where an Unmapping first happened. This part of the novel didn't work as well for me. While I appreciated that Robbins didn't go in the direction with this that I had feared she would, the payoff of that storyline didn't resonate with me. My other qualms with the book are fairly minor, and it was such a captivating read that my enjoyment eclipsed those issues. This is Robbins's debut novel, and it seems like she's going to be an author to keep an eye on.

The Unmapping is written in a very lyrical and flowing way. I struggled with it keeping my attention because of this and ended up having to DNF at about 20%. While it wasn’t for me, I do feel that there’s people who will love this because of the writing style, and just sink in to be transported into the story.

Note: ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

When you present a premise as unique and fascinating as a city that unmaps and rearranges itself overnight, I expect a plot and a story as exciting as the premise sounds. And parts of this story were. But mostly, the uniqueness of the premise was overshadowed by uninteresting and flat characters. While I do understand this is supposed to be a character-driven novel (as evidenced by the many comparisons to Station Eleven), not one of these characters were compelling enough to hold a candle to the aforementioned premise. Had the characters been interesting enough aside from their roles in this odd apocalyptic event, I may have enjoyed this one more. As it stands, I didn’t love it.

The good parts were the event of the Unmapping and how it’s happened in other cities. It’s been on the news and several characters realize the event for what it is. They also realize the danger involved pertaining to things like gas leaks, unsettled structures, and all of the other perils that come along with a city that’s no longer structurally sound. It’s a fascinating premise for sure and certainly one I was able to imagine happening in my own city.

Each of the characters had their own roles to play in this disaster, but much of th focus was on Arjun and Esme as they’re first responders and know their way around f a disaster. Interspersed with their present circumstances are some flashbacks and some memories about their histories and backstories. While I found them to be sort of interesting at first, I found I eventually didn’t care. There was something missing that made me connect to them and I don’t know what that something was. Emotional investment maybe, because I truly didn’t feel a thing emotionally.

Bottom line — this had a great premise, the writing was fine, the characters fell flat for me. I did love the NYC setting and the feeling of total confusion as the city descends into chaos. 3.5 stars.

Thank you Netgalley for the early copy of the book. Next, Denise Robbins you can always take my money and time. This book had me already because it was set in New York, secondly the suspense and the narration style was literal icing on the cake.

I sometimes feel that books are sold based on plot alone. By the time they reach their final form, it's far removed from the initial story in an attempt to be something larger.

The Unmapping is an odd sci-fi story about blocks shifting. The Empire State Building is no longer in Midtown, it's in Coney Island, and it's not permanent. See concept-wise, excellent. Execution? Eh. Underdeveloped characters who had potential to be deep and have strong inner and outer growth, but instead felt surface level and flat. There's no progress on the key relationships, so this is a story that didn't shift along with the city blocks.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Unfortunately, I DNF this book. I was excited to read this book, but the description of the book and the actual book did not come together for me. I attempted to read this book over several weeks, picking it up and putting it down. First, I could not connect to the characters and I didn't feel a real connection between the characters. I recognize and appreciate climate fiction, but I felt like this one was so boring and a bit redundant.
This all said, perhaps if I kept reading I might have liked the book, but I want to be drawn in early in books. I also think I might have stayed with this book longer and enjoyed this book better if it was an audiobook.

Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to read this book. I wish the author success, and maybe I will pick up the audiobook when that is released.
Thanks again.

A surreal, fascinating concept with flat execution.

I really enjoyed the prose, which was beautiful, and the ideas the author was swirling around in this book. However it did feel somewhat like the plot was playing second fiddle to the concepts, and I found that frustrating. I enjoyed the many viewpoints and liked seeing how everything was connecting - but in the end there was no "and THIS is how everything fits together". Which maybe that's what the author wanted, but I found it disappointing. It was like a meal that's all appetizers; no main course, no satisfying dessert to finish it all off.

Overall not a bad read, just a somewhat frustrating one.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

I loved this book so much! Give me more weird scifi/speculative fiction please! I was intrigued immediately by the premise and then fell in love with the "flawed but trying their best" POV characters, Esme and Arjun. I think fans of Hank Green's An Absolutely Remarkable thing will enjoy this book; while the writing styles are pretty different, both explore similar "weird/intriguing what if" scenarios.

I know some readers didn't like the fact that the cause of the Unmapping is never fully determined, but I personally am glad the book didn't provide an answer about "why" it happened but instead focused on how it impacted the characters and what the response was. My least favorite parts of the book were actually the moments when they explored potential theories for why it might be happening. I also loved the Franz/Christmas tree plot line - I had started to get a bit worried the book was going to only focus on the NYC emergency management response and was beginning to feel a bit too "routine" when the Franz storyline made things delightfully weird again!

But don't worry its not all weird scifi! This book has a lot of heart too. I was not expecting it would make me cry but it did in multiple places, which I find to be a sign of great storytelling. Esme, Anthony, Esme's Dad, Patricia, and Arjun all immediately had my heart and even though Arjun was a immature/cringe at times it was lovely to see him become so self aware and grow as a character (he's actually my favorite character in the book!)

All in all a lovely read!

This was such a unique read! I was very entertained by the concept of the city resetting but struggled a bit to connect to the FMC. I think it’s well written just not for me unfortunately

At 4 a.m., New York City unmaps itself, causing all the blocks and roads to switch places, resulting in complete chaos the next day. I really love the unique concept of this book and immediately want to read it. The book follows a couple of characters throughout the story as their lives intertwine with each other. If you enjoy character driven narratives, I highly recommend this book. Overall, I really enjoyed it and will definitely check out the author's future works as well. Thanks to Netgalley and Bindery Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A love letter to NYC wrapped in the speculative chaos of a city-wide disaster and intimately laced with literary fiction: The Unmapping is unlike anything else on your shelf.

Robbins drops us in a shifting, broken New York where every night, the city literally rearranges itself. No explosions, no meteors, just quiet dislocation. And honestly? That quiet is what makes it eerie and powerful. It reminded me a lot of The City We Became, but in a more grounded, day-to-day kind of way. Less metaphor, more bureaucracy. You’re not following superheroes—you’re following the people who take government calls at 3 a.m. and try to make citywide disaster plans with post-it notes and barely functioning radios. It’s messy and personal and sometimes painfully mundane, which makes it feel real. It plays with themes of climate change, inequality (especially while in crisis), and religion, but in a subtle way that I really appreciated.

What really makes this sing is the writing style. Robbins’ voice is this casually poetic, deeply observant narration that balances literary weight with emotional accessibility. It’s reflective but not pretentious, thoughtful without being overly dense. Every little vignette, every side character, feels like a purposeful cut into the bigger portrait of a city in collapse, and the people who are trying (and sometimes failing) to hold it together.

This is one of those books that doesn’t follow a straight line. It veers off, it unravels, tangles, and rewinds. It reminds readers that everyone is a character to pay attention to in assorted snapshots of those who aren't the 'main characters'. If you’re into thoughtful, emotionally rich stories that use speculative elements to explore identity and connection, this is a must-read. I know that it won't work for everyone, but I really loved it. It’s strange and ambitious, and it worked so well for me.

Thanks to Colored Pages Book Tours, Bindery Books, and the author for the complimentary copy and the opportunity to read and review this amazing book. This review is voluntary and all opinions are my own.

It's 4AM. New York City is sleeping, and without warning it shifts. Neighborhoods change places, buildings move to different boroughs, and people wake up to discover they're not where they were when they went to bed. Thus the Unmapping begins.

This is not the only problem facing the city, as an unseasonal, climate change-fueled hurricane is due to hit and meteorologists aren't sure how strong it will be– just that it will be a disaster when it hits. And now that New York has unmapped and is experiencing gas main explosions, power outages, and water main breakages, emergency services can't get out to help people. Esme Green and Arjun Varma work for New York's emergency management team, and both are desperately trying to just do their jobs, get help where it's needed, and manage their own problems in the midst of it all. Esme is desperate to find her missing fiance, while Arjun is looking for a way to be the hero he's always imagined himself to be.

While scientists struggle to find the cause of the Unmapping or a way to stop it, a strange cult appears, and the people of New York look for a way to deal with the new reality as their city shifts from one day to the next.


Though the premise of The Unmapping makes it sounds like a tense, science fiction thriller, it's not actually that kind of book. It's not about people who can scale tall buildings to rescue a kitten, or about people who can science their way to a grand solution that saves the world. The Unmapping takes place in a world gone awry, but it is about the people on the ground who are just trying to get through the day when their lives are turned upside down again and again and again. Esme and Arjun head up a small cast of characters who are all very flawed and terribly human figures who don't always do the smart thing while things are unraveling around them. This is to the book's advantage, though. It's not about big picture solutions to massive problems, it's about people doing their best in the face of disaster.

Never let it be said that a person's "best" is always a good idea or even remotely logical. Esme's reaction to the Unmapping is to overwork and spend her few off-hours endlessly searching for her fiance, who she'd had a terrible fight with the last time she saw him. Arjun's desire to help people and be a hero results in him looking and acting like a creep. But eventually, they and everyone else in the book find their own paths forward.

Robbins' writing is fluid, often bordering on stream-of-consciousness without wandering too far afield. The perspective shifts– random-seeming at first– mimic the effects of the Unmapping, shifting unexpectedly from Esme or Arjun to other characters who seem to have nothing to do with anything. But eventually a pattern emerges. We start to see the connections linking them all together. Eventually we begin to understand how the communities they join come together to help each other, even when life is constantly throwing emergencies at them.

The Unmapping is sometimes heartbreaking, occasionally confusing, and always about the connections that hold us all together. It is a strange and beautiful little book, and while I was unsure of it at the beginning, it quickly pulled me in and wouldn't let me go. Will everyone like this book? Nope. But if you're looking for a thoughtful story about human connection and community, this is definitely one to pick up.

—

Thank you to NetGalley and Bindery for the advance copy for review.

Note: The Unmapping was acquired by the Mareas imprint of the publishing company, Bindery. As a member of the Mareas community, I've watched the process of acquisition to cover reveal to publication, so I may be a little biased in favor of this wonderfully weird little book.

This book took me a while to read, so bear with on my review - it's scattered nature might be because of my scattered reading habits!

The Unmapping by Denise S Robbins has an intriguing premise, the whole city of New York is scrambled overnight, the grid gone and buildings shifted. This sci fi/dystopian setting was really good - not completely out of this world, a bit dream-like. The book follows the immediate chaos followed by the long term pains.

The book is very character driven, and uses a lot of run on sentences or stream of consciousness phrasing. There's also the exploration of cults and scientific breakthroughs which adds to the relatable yet totally bizarre story.

I liked this book, but it wasn't my favourite sci fi I've read. I did think the premise was really cool and unique.

Thanks NetGalley for the eArc of this book!

Not my favorite but it was interesting. Readers who enjoy science fiction may enjoy it much more. I was a little confused at times. It is very character based.

The Unmapping is a speculative science fiction novel about what happens when the world you thought you knew is different every morning when you look outside your window — literally. In New York City, a woman walks to work. A boy runs away from home. A young man begins to make a pot of coffee.

Something shifts.

At exactly four in the morning, the city unmaps itself. Buildings and sidewalks disappear and reappear somewhere else entirely. Nobody knows what causes it, or how to stop it. It happens every morning, throwing an already chaotic city into a new, nearly unmanageable level of chaos.

I loved the concept of this book. The execution? Not so much. Although the synopsis of the novel promises themes of climate change and political unrest, these ideas remain half-baked throughout the story. Climate change is discussed, but not meaningfully, and cults wearing red are thrown around but not taken very seriously by the narrative.

The writing style itself is good, but the arc of the story puzzles me. There is the inciting incident, the call to action, the exposition, the rising action — and then, for reasons I cannot fathom, we skip over the climax entirely. Of the major incidents up to which the story has been leading us, exactly none of them occur on the page for us to read: we are only informed of them later, after the fact, in little detail. This happens several times in a row. I have absolutely no idea why. An argument can be made that the author is “unmapping” her own story, I suppose, but it’s ultimately unsatisfying and even left me confused enough that I had to flip back and forth for a while to see if maybe I missed a few pages. (I didn’t.)

I also had a problem with the way they never really figure out *why* the unmapping is happening. Now, listen to me: I love a book that doesn’t explain the why. Sometimes, *why* isn’t the point. I know this. I enjoy this. I love a book that leaves me with more questions than answers (looking at you, I Who Have Never Known Men). But this book didn’t read like it was trying to leave you with questions: it read like it simply couldn’t commit to an answer. You’re led in several different directions, from entropy to lucid dreaming to fake Christmas trees, but none of these guesses are taken particularly seriously. Even climate change is posited as a conspiracy theory, which I found particularly strange for a book written by a climate activist.

I know it sounds like I really hated this book, but I swear I didn’t. I liked most of the characters and found them easy to root for, and this book was compulsively readable. I actually thought it made a better metaphor for living through a pandemic rather than a climate disaster.

Ultimately, not a bad debut, but I think it had a lot more potential than follow-through.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this eARC!

The Unmapping had a really intriguing premise, and it was enacted in a character-driven way. It has some elements of magical realism, with how the unmapping could take place and a few other points. I enjoy this sort of surreal setting and the interesting characters we followed.

Esme and Arjun were the main characters working for Emergency Management. They had widely different experiences and focuses when the unmapping hit New York. While their world's collided and then separated again and again, I enjoyed their journey.

The moments when we saw side characters gave the city more depth. I loved how the city felt alive with all these storylines running parallel. Some of the characters were a little flat, but I didn't mind too much for the greater story.

I've read several post disaster "what-if" type books, but this one was more introspective and character driven rather than a disaster story you might encounter. Overall, I'm glad I read it, and the concept was fun to explore!