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jumentous's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Awesome, exciting, action-packed, and full of dragons!
I picked up this book because I wanted to read about dragons; it absolutely delivers, and there is no time wasted introducing the dragons and explaining the science behind them.
I really appreciated the amount of detail that went into the biology and history of the dragons. I'm very interested in speculative biology, and this book has a very thorough explanation of the science of the dragons, which is further highlighted by the inspiration drawn from real life animals. I only wish they could have dived deeper and spent more time explaining things, however I understand why other readers would feel bogged down by any more lengthy explanations.
I also greatly appreciate the way all the different international myths and legends of dragons is intertwined into the design of the dragons, and their scientific history. I really loved the way both eastern and western dragons were able to be incorporated.
At its core, this is an exciting book full of dragon action. After introducing the characters, setting, dragons and their biology, the action kicks in pretty quickly and a majority of the book is dedicated to massive beasts wrecking havoc on the park. There's a lot of awesome, creative scenes that highlight what makes the dragons so fascinating and terrifying. Everything from their size, speed, agility, and intelligence is highlighted and makes them unique from other beasts and monsters. I knew this book was something special when the dragons started dropping bombs on the humans.
I also enjoyed the ways dragon fantasy tropes are incorporated in a more sci-fi way; being able to hear the dragons talk, breathing fire, tearing down buildings, aerial attacks. Everything the dragons do are the same things dragons would do in myths and legends, but it is written through a modern lense and I find it very well executed.
As for the characters, they aren't really the highlight of the book. While this isn't necessarily a problem (after all, this book is about the dragons and not the humans), I feel the dragon's destruction would have a little more impact if there were more personal attachment to the characters. It is very easy to lose track of who is who because there are so many characters with so many titles, and I found myself constantly flipping back to some of the introduction pages to try to remember which character was who.
However, I really do love two characters in particular; CJ and Lucky. CJ is a perfect main character for this book; competent, intelligent, brave, and compassionate. She knows exactly what needs to be done and will figure out how to do it. While she can come off as mary-sue-like sometimes, it does not impact your ability to enjoy the book or the action. She drives the plot forward, makes things interesting, and keeps things progressing. It is especially nice to see the zoo through the lense of a herpetologist, particularly one who studies archosaurs. It not only provides more in-depth explanations of the dragons, but it also helps the reader see them as animals, and not just fantastical monsters.
Although the book does spend a good amount of time pushing the narrative that these are animals with independent thoughts, feelings, and goals, I do find that they start to slip into that 'monster' trope towards the end of the book as the destruction has more impact on the humans. Instead of acknowledging their place in nature, every human is hell-bent on destroying the creatures (which they would have caused more destruction if they escaped into the world, I understand why the humans wanted to eradicate them, I just wish there had been a little more room for nuance regarding dragons being a part of the ecosystem somehow).
As much as I love Lucky, I also wish there had been a little more complexity regarding her character. I did appreciate the buildup of her character arc, and the way the reveal was teased throughout the book was very fun. There had been multiple times where I thought I had been picking up on what they were hinting at, only to tell myself it wouldn't happen. I was so excited when it finally was revealed! However, she is a dragon just like all of these others, and I wish that complex relationship had been explored just a little more. As the end of the book approaches, there is a distinct good guys vs bad guys kind of situation going on with the dragons. I wish that the opposing forces hadn't been so cut and dry, and perhaps we could have heard more from Red Face, his motives and desires, and understand him just a little more. There is a lot of talk about the abuse the animals endure in the first part of the book, however that all seems to be dropped afterwards and there is no talk about how being raised this way would affect the animals. They just go on to become violent beasts.
This book had a lot to accomplish and for how quick and easy to read it is, it accomplishes those things very well. I am an analytical person, and someone very interested in zoology, so my critiques revolve around wanting more of those elements incorporated into the book; but other readers may find the amount of science and explanation just right, so they may move on to all the action scenes without any head scratching.
Overall, this was an exciting book with an awesome plot. Whether you want to read it for the speculative science behind dragons, for the action-packed dragon scenes, or to witness a woman battle a pack of dragons with a flamethrower, you will be left delighted and this book will be on your mind long after you put it down.
I picked up this book because I wanted to read about dragons; it absolutely delivers, and there is no time wasted introducing the dragons and explaining the science behind them.
I really appreciated the amount of detail that went into the biology and history of the dragons. I'm very interested in speculative biology, and this book has a very thorough explanation of the science of the dragons, which is further highlighted by the inspiration drawn from real life animals. I only wish they could have dived deeper and spent more time explaining things, however I understand why other readers would feel bogged down by any more lengthy explanations.
I also greatly appreciate the way all the different international myths and legends of dragons is intertwined into the design of the dragons, and their scientific history. I really loved the way both eastern and western dragons were able to be incorporated.
At its core, this is an exciting book full of dragon action. After introducing the characters, setting, dragons and their biology, the action kicks in pretty quickly and a majority of the book is dedicated to massive beasts wrecking havoc on the park. There's a lot of awesome, creative scenes that highlight what makes the dragons so fascinating and terrifying. Everything from their size, speed, agility, and intelligence is highlighted and makes them unique from other beasts and monsters. I knew this book was something special when the dragons started dropping bombs on the humans.
I also enjoyed the ways dragon fantasy tropes are incorporated in a more sci-fi way; being able to hear the dragons talk, breathing fire, tearing down buildings, aerial attacks. Everything the dragons do are the same things dragons would do in myths and legends, but it is written through a modern lense and I find it very well executed.
As for the characters, they aren't really the highlight of the book. While this isn't necessarily a problem (after all, this book is about the dragons and not the humans), I feel the dragon's destruction would have a little more impact if there were more personal attachment to the characters. It is very easy to lose track of who is who because there are so many characters with so many titles, and I found myself constantly flipping back to some of the introduction pages to try to remember which character was who.
However, I really do love two characters in particular; CJ and Lucky. CJ is a perfect main character for this book; competent, intelligent, brave, and compassionate. She knows exactly what needs to be done and will figure out how to do it. While she can come off as mary-sue-like sometimes, it does not impact your ability to enjoy the book or the action. She drives the plot forward, makes things interesting, and keeps things progressing. It is especially nice to see the zoo through the lense of a herpetologist, particularly one who studies archosaurs. It not only provides more in-depth explanations of the dragons, but it also helps the reader see them as animals, and not just fantastical monsters.
Although the book does spend a good amount of time pushing the narrative that these are animals with independent thoughts, feelings, and goals, I do find that they start to slip into that 'monster' trope towards the end of the book as the destruction has more impact on the humans. Instead of acknowledging their place in nature, every human is hell-bent on destroying the creatures (which they would have caused more destruction if they escaped into the world, I understand why the humans wanted to eradicate them, I just wish there had been a little more room for nuance regarding dragons being a part of the ecosystem somehow).
As much as I love Lucky, I also wish there had been a little more complexity regarding her character. I did appreciate the buildup of her character arc, and the way the reveal was teased throughout the book was very fun. There had been multiple times where I thought I had been picking up on what they were hinting at, only to tell myself it wouldn't happen. I was so excited when it finally was revealed! However, she is a dragon just like all of these others, and I wish that complex relationship had been explored just a little more. As the end of the book approaches, there is a distinct good guys vs bad guys kind of situation going on with the dragons. I wish that the opposing forces hadn't been so cut and dry, and perhaps we could have heard more from Red Face, his motives and desires, and understand him just a little more. There is a lot of talk about the abuse the animals endure in the first part of the book, however that all seems to be dropped afterwards and there is no talk about how being raised this way would affect the animals. They just go on to become violent beasts.
This book had a lot to accomplish and for how quick and easy to read it is, it accomplishes those things very well. I am an analytical person, and someone very interested in zoology, so my critiques revolve around wanting more of those elements incorporated into the book; but other readers may find the amount of science and explanation just right, so they may move on to all the action scenes without any head scratching.
Overall, this was an exciting book with an awesome plot. Whether you want to read it for the speculative science behind dragons, for the action-packed dragon scenes, or to witness a woman battle a pack of dragons with a flamethrower, you will be left delighted and this book will be on your mind long after you put it down.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Gore, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Animal cruelty
phoebelilly's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Intensity is well written and maintained throughout (hard to put down), similar to Jurassic Park but still new and interesting. VERY violent and touch cliche, but still very good
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Blood, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Murder
missmali's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
ananamauvais's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Death, Gore, and Blood
Minor: Confinement and Medical content