A Map of the Known World

A Map of the Known World was a beautiful balance of serious sadness, romance, and art. I often fear "sad" books but I loved the way this one balanced itself out. For every heartbreaking passage there was another about finding a romantic connection, a new friend, or creating a beautiful piece of artwork. It worked really well for me.

Cora's situation seemed so hopeless at first, a family living in silence, forever changed by the loss of their brother and son, struggling to understand him and understand what happened. Cora's parents choose to place blame on Damian, their son Nate's friend that was in the car with him. Surprisingly, to both Cora and Damian they find a connection through this shared tragedy and begin spending time together. show more Their connection also happens to include a love for the arts, I LOVED how much art played into this story. The summer before the current school year, Cora had escaped through her drawn maps of foreign countries, daydreaming about what it would be like to be there. It was beautiful and I wish I got the opportunity to read about artistic people like the ones in this story more often!

While I really enjoyed this book, for some reason the ending wasn't really surprising. Not that I really wanted to be surprised or that I didn't want it to end the way it did. I'm not sure, something was missing. I could have used a little more. But overall I really liked this book! A great perspective on a hard topic. show less

I had found this novel incredibly hard to find in the stores, which of course made me want to read it even more. However, this interesting cover did not effectively convey what I would find inside.

The novel follows the first person narrative of Cora Bradley after the death of her brother, Nate. Nate's best friend, Damien Archer, has been shunned by the world and most importantly, Cora and her family. Cora seems to have been shunned as well since her parents refuse to allow her out of the house and barely speak to one another.

So, to escape, Cora draws. An unusual habit, not because she draws, but because she draws maps. It is interesting, too, because she also draws maps with pictures, rather than just geographical images.

Events unfold show more and Cora and Damien become friends and things in Cora's life deteriorate, pick up a little, deteriorate again, and then become miraculous. Very interesting...

The novel would have been great, superb even had the nasty corniness and cliche's not been involved. The writing was simple, but on the simplicity level of a teenage girl with medium smarts and a slightly artistic mind. Cora's personal thoughts should have been more developed in an intellectual and artistic way, in such a way that the narrative implied. Then add to the fact that the wording seemed off... in the manner that indicates a novel, rather than thoughts.

The corny factor came in full swing when a relationship started to bloom... in fact, any relationship of any kind became corny. The fettering over thoughts and the unsureness of EVERYTHING that Cora did or thought was just... annoying.

Despite these drawbacks, I really did enjoy the novel. It conveyed an interesting story and I loved reading about someone interested in art... artistic value is hardly a characteristic placed in novels. show less

Cora Bradley is lost. Ever since her older brother Nate died she hasn't known what to do with herself. Her family is falling apart and she can't seem to relate to her only friend anymore.

Cora and her older brother Nate didn't actually get along very well in his final years of life but now that he is gone it seems like he was the only thing holding their family together. Her father now drowns his problems in alcohol and her mother now spends all her time focusing on how to keep Cora out of trouble. That means strict rules and basically no life.

Cora doesn't really mind at first, but then she starts to get to know Damian. Damian was in the car with her brother the night he died. She and her parents both blamed Damian for what happened to show more Nate, not knowing that Damian also secretly blamed himself. But what Cora doesn't know and that Damian can show her, might heal some of the rifts in her family.

I fell in love with the book from the very first page. I had never read anything by Lisa Ann Sandell before this and I was just amazed. Sandell brilliantly portrays the grief, love, and hope in Cora's heart. The details used in the book were amazing. Everything was so intricately linked and just seemed to flow off the page.

I kept turning the page wanting to know more but never wanting it to end. I would recommend this book to anybody, really. I can't say that it wasn't sad at parts but it was also such a hopeful read it leaves you feeling kind of happy and grateful for the beauty of life. show less

The real reason I picked this one up: I dig the cover. Hadn’t read anything by Sandell, but I had heard good things about Song of the Sparrow. Really awesome cover good vibes from a recent book = maybe I should read this one!Another great novel. I’ve been reading so many lately! A Map of the Known World deals with grief, first love, family, and coming of age. It’s apparent almost from page one that this family is suffering. Each one dealing with their loss in different ways, individually. I suppose you could say this is a story of healing, because ultimately it is. I really enjoyed reading Sandell’s writing. It was simply beautiful, utterly captivating. It was just as expressive as an artist.... her novel was her canvas and her show more paintbrush her words. Corny, I know, but how can I not reference art when it is so prominently displayed in this novel. Cora’s character unquestionably embodied the awkward transition from middle school to high school. I recall feeling the same awkwardness. And Sandell perfectly captures the emotions of Cora’s despair with her parents and the pain of an ostracized teen, there isn’t anything quite like being ditched by your best friend. The plot was intriguing, maybe a little bit slow in areas. The relationship between Cora and Damian was slow to develop as well. It was an interesting dynamic, falling for your big brother’s best friend maybe somewhat typical, but falling for your dead brother’s best friend, now that’s a unique take. The ending was inspiring. While everything wasn’t resolved you can see the start of the process beginning. Excellent novel, I will most likely continue to pick up Sandell’s novels. show less

Being a high school freshman is usually traumatic enough. For Cora Bradley, however, it’s worse than average: she lives in the shadow of her older brother, Nate, a notorious misunderstood troublemaker who killed himself when he drove into a tree. The Bradley household, once a warm and friendly place, is now cold, silent, and overbearing. So Cora throws herself into art, drawing elaborate maps of far-off places in her futile attempt to escape the ghosts of her small town.

Cora must deal with normal teenage girl troubles, too, though. As she and her ex-best friend drift apart, Cora finds solace in the unlikeliest of places: in Damian, Nate’s best friend, who was in the car with him that fatal night. Damian shows her things about Nate show more that Cora never knew before, but her parents despise Damian and blame him for their son’s death. What will happen when all these different points of view clash? Will Cora come out stronger in the long run?

After hearing amazing things about Lisa Ann Sandell’s stunning writing, I was more than disappointed in A MAP OF THE KNOWN WORLD. There is wonderful descriptive prose, yes—the kind that makes you want to stop after every period and drink in the sentence you’ve just read, the kind that makes you think, Wow. This is what writing is about.

Unfortunately, this lyrical language is interspersed with really elementary dialogue and predicaments. Cora may be a high school freshman, but high school freshmen do NOT need to sound so whiny, shallow, explosive, and unreasonable. I hardly felt any connection to the characters at all, and instead wanted to smack them on their heads for being so one-dimensional. The story, too, is predictable; you hardly need to read the book in order to know what the ending is.

All in all, A MAP OF THE KNOWN WORLD an admirable attempt at lyrically dealing with the difficult subject of death. However, the lack of connection I felt to the characters undermined the attempt. Read it once to savor the occasional delicious line of prose, but not to feel as if this is a world that you can believe in and empathize with. show less

Wow, this book was outstanding. I could tell from the first page that I was going to be hooked and that I was going to love it. It's all about Cora and her family dealing with the death of her older brother. All summer Cora avoided going places and stayed inside isolated, drawing maps. Maps of places that she wanted to go when she got out of her town. Then school starts and everything changes. She connects with Damian, her brothers best friend, who was in the car with him when it crashed. But he got out alive. Her family hates him, blaming him for the death, but Cora starts to see that he knew a completely different side of her brother, and that maybe she was wrong about him.

I could really relate to Cora, and her growth throughout the show more novel was brilliant. The way that her brother was a part of the story through flashbacks was great and I felt like he was as much a character in the book as anyone alive. Damian's character was drawn perfectly. He had so many layers. I thought that the romance between Cora and Damian was paced perfectly also. It wasn't a "boom they're in love" or a "I'm going to have them fall in love on the last page" thing, it was perfectly in between. I would normally tell about something that I didn't like, but I don't think that there was anything. show less

It happens every once in a while. A book that is outside my typical genre and interest sneaks up on me, grabs hold, and refuses to let go. These are the books I cherish, the ones I think of when I can't sleep or when I'm sitting in traffic. These are the books I tell everyone to read right away. I've been lucky in books this year, it wasn't that long ago that I read just such a book, and now, I've finished another. A powerful and gripping story that reveals lifes truths and emotions in an effortless manner, it transcends age and should be read by anyone and everyone. Fantastic! Just make sure you have a few tissues handy.