Review Detail

AROUND CURIOSITY’S EDGE: HIDDEN MERIDIANS by J.P. Hostetler is a YA Fantasy novel that begins with a deadly fire that orphans a young boy, Salem Swan. Soon after, he’s sent off to live with his uncle Ulysses, who has quite an unconventional life. Ulysses is a crew member on the ship Curiosity, and his main goal is to find living mythos creatures before the Regulat, a group that has decided that non-humans are a threat to society and must be exterminated. Both the Regulat and the mythos exist unbeknownst to most, especially Salem. Eventually, though, the Curiosity’s cause becomes Salem’s as he begins to uncover that he’s been close to the mission since the day he was born.

What is so excellent about this book is the wisdom stitched into the pages. There is so much kindness and excellent philosophical reminders as to what it really means to learn, how much better the world is with diversity, that people deserve the room to make mistakes and grow from them, and much more. The author does a great job at creating many metaphors for our current society but weaves those lessons in a way that readers may not have thought of before. Part of that has to do with how the setting is developed. It is both familiar and foreign. The world they are living in is technically our own, but much of the story exists in fictional places. Plus, some of the creatures themselves are ones we’ve heard of before, like gnomes and lightning bugs, while others are new, such as cinnamon birds. Because of this sense of both surprise and understanding, it helps place some of our major modern-day issues in a new point of view.

That being said, the character we’re following switches often, so I found the pacing to be choppy and confusing as a result. When I continued forward though, it always became clear later what was happening. Because of this structure, it reminded me a bit of GAME OF THRONES, but for a younger audience. Also like GOT, AROUND CURIOSITY’S EDGE is inventive and unique while invoking other famous tales as well. For instance, when the Curiosity went outside the Commons, it reminded me a bit of Peter Pan and going off to Never Never Land. In this case, Salem is Wendy. Again, the story is both reminiscent of ones from before, as well as being completely its own.

Overall, AROUND CURIOSITY’S EDGE: HIDDEN MERIDIANS is a beautiful tale that will spark important conversations, get us thinking, and most enjoyably, take us on an adventure.