Book Review: City of Thirst by Carrie Ryan & John Parke Davis

City of Thirst
(The Map to Everywhere #2)
by Carrie Ryan & John Parke Davis

Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy / Adventure

Publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: October 13, 2015

Source: Library

Pages: 400

My Rating: 4.5 stars

Synopsis:

New York Times bestselling author Carrie Ryan and John Parke Davis transport readers back to the boundless world of the Pirate Stream in this engaging and exhilarating sequel to the highly acclaimed 'The Map to Everywhere' that is equal parts adventure, humor, and heart!

When the magical waters of the Pirate Stream begin flooding Marrill's world, the only way to stop the destruction is to return to the Stream and find the source of the mysterious Iron Tide. Reunited with her best friend Fin--who was forgotten all over again--Marrill, her disbelieving babysitter, and the Enterprising Kraken crew must make the treacherous trek to the towering, sliding, impossible world of Monerva and uncover the secrets of its long-lost wish machine. Only there can Fin wish to finally be remembered. Only there can Marrill wish to save her world and all the people she loves. But to get everything they've ever wanted, Marrill and Fin may have to give up on the most important thing they already have: each other. 

My Thoughts:

City of Thirst is the delightful return to the Pirate Stream and all the worlds that it connects. This wonderful adventure will take you on a joy ride that you will not soon forget! 

Having been home from the Pirate Stream for six months, Marrill never expects to find herself back in that world of worlds. The wizard, Ardent, had said it would be nearly impossible and if the Pirate Stream ever touched her world again, it would mean that it was in danger. So it was a surprise when she found a stop sign with the words "YOU ARE NEEDED ON THE PIRATE STREAM MARRILL" scrawled across it. Followed by her babysitter, Remy, she attempts to get back to the stream the same way she got there the last time in 'The Map to Everywhere'. Before she knows it, they are both swept up by the stream in Remy's car and end up back on the Enterprising Kraken, a ship manned by pirats, the Ropebone Man, and Coll, it's captain. Reunited with Ardent, the Naysayer, and her best friend Fin, Marrill tries to figure out why she was brought back to the Pirate Stream, what that means for her world, and what, of all things, is the 'Iron Tide' and how will it affect them all? 

I was thrilled to continue this story. 'The Map to Everywhere' was my favorite read of 2015. It is fun, imaginative, and one heck of an adventure! 'City of Thirst' is just as fun and unique and takes us on an even more pressing journey. I highly recommend these books to anyone who enjoys a fun fantasy adventure. 

While I loved this book just as much and maybe even a little more than 'The Map to Everywhere', there were a few little things that didn't work out so well, in my opinion. For most of the book I really didn't see the point in the babysitter being there. I thought maybe she was included because people sometimes hate to see that most middle-grade stories are about children who are either orphans or just 'away' from their parents and go on dangerous adventures. Everyone wonders where the parents are! And since Marrill's parents are in the hospital and Fin actually is an orphan, I thought that maybe they included a babysitter so it was a little less "kids on their own". And then towards the end, it made a little more sense why she was there but the reason still irked me. Now this isn't going to be 'spoilers' but I'm going to say why. Remy was there to make sure Marrill knew that Fin was her 'plus one', as Remy called him. But why did she need to know that?! In 'The Map to Everywhere', Marrill was the only person that ever remembered Fin at all. And all of a sudden, she starts forgetting him. And the reason was not satisfactory in my opinion!

And a little something else that sort of bothered me: I was really looking forward to this book being about Fin finding his mom. The first book was basically about Marrill finding her way back to her sick mom and I was really just hoping that Fin would get the same. But nooooo! We are given a little clue in a girl who shows up and then disappears. We are left with this open-ended question of what will happen next. Cliffhanger? Well no, not really. Goodreads does not show any other books in this series. At least not yet. I'm REALLY hoping that they continue with this series since there is so much more than can do with it and we are left with questions. I guess I will have to wait impatiently for any news of it being continued.