Uncharted by Erin Cashman

Title: Uncharted
Author: Erin Cashman
Genre: Contemporary Fantasy
Series: N/A

Hardcover, 416 Pages
Publication: September 4, 2018 by Page Street Kids

Source: I received a review copy from the publisher/Saichek Publicity in exchange for a honest review.

Buy|Amazon|B&N|

Seventeen-year-old Annabeth prefers the fantasy of her books and paintings to reality—because in reality, her mom is dead, and it was all her fault. When she accompanies her father to the funeral of some family friends who drowned, she’s surprised to find her grief reflected in the face of Griffin Bradford, the son of the couple who died. Griffin is nothing like the carefree boy she once knew. Now he’s irritable, removed, and he’s under police investigation for his parents’ deaths.

One night following the memorial service, Annabeth’s dad goes missing in the woods, and she suspects Griffin knows more about the disappearance than he’s letting on. He refuses to answer her questions, particularly those related to the mysterious “expedition” his parents took to Ireland, where they went missing for seven months.

Annabeth fears her father isn’t lost, but rather a victim of something sinister. She launches her own investigation, tracing clues that whisper of myth and legend and death, until she stumbles upon a secret. One that some would die to protect, others would kill to expose—and which twists Annabeth’s fantasy and reality together in deadly new ways.

At it’s heart Uncharted is mystery with a touch of myths and fantasy. More mystery than fantasy in my opinion with a secret society and a mysterious mythical island of Hy-Brasil that holds the key to the Fountain of Youth that people are dying to protect or kill to find. I was immediately sold on the idea. I always found the legend of Hy-Brasil fascinating, the island west of Ireland that can only be once every seven years…tales of magic, mythical beast, advanced technology and even faerie inhabitants.

I liked the concept of the novel but I thought it could have been executed better. While Annabeth’s dad, Griffin and the others’ lives were in danger, I still didn’t feel like the stakes were high enough. Everyone lives’ was hinged on keeping the location of Hy-Brasil a secret…but Annabeth was able to figure a lot out in a short period of time. Readers are also told of how technologically advance the Brasilites are and how The Council rules everything with an iron thumb but that is all we know of it. I wanted to learn more. I was more interested in the island than the experiment the Magellans were working on or the mystery surrounding their deaths and how it related to Annabeth’s dad disappearance. The story also focused on Annabeth and Griffin’s relationship. They were childhood friends and are once again reunited 4-5 years later and all of the sudden they’re in-love? I get that they’re kids but it didn’t feel realistic. I also wasn’t a fan of Annabeth and Griffin’ s hot and cold behavior. It was a bit too angsty for me.

Uncharted was a decent read but not without flaws. I was hoping for so much more; more action and Irish legends. I thought the story needed a lot more work, the writing was slightly clunky at times suffering from moments of lulls between scenes and not fully fleshed out characters. I wasn’t particularly a fan of Annabeth or Griffin, I found them frustrating and vexing most of time. I was really hoping to love it but it fell short of being a great read. I’d recommend checking out an excerpt/sample before reading or purchasing to see if this is something you’d like.