Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Relic by Douglas Preston

10 reviews

bethancy's review

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Would have been a 5 star, because it achieved what it set out to do. I never would have picked this up if not for my book club, but I enjoyed it. Good storytelling, interesting plot, well executed. However, ignorance of a foreign, native culture is a central theme, and I'm not sure the book would have been published today, e.g
stereotypes of dark magic. Also I had to suspend all belief for the scientific explanations, but that's fiction! My favourite thing about the book was the museum setting, and the writing was very atmospheric. Warning, its also very gory from the start!
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sappypatheticm's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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ruthlessreads's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

As an overall rating, I’m giving this a 2–it’s filled with positive references to colonialism, casual racism & ableism, and is mostly pro-police. (No clue where the authors currently stand on these issues)

However, considering that this book was written by white dudes in the 90s, I knew to expect those issues and was reading because I want to read the whole Pendergast series. It doesn’t excuse those things but does explain them.

That said, I found it quite slow and got a little bored. About 3/4 of the way through it really picks up and ended on a really interesting note. So if I was going by plot/pacing/writing technique etc, I’d give this a 3.5. I liked Pendergast and I’m interested to see how his character develops. Maybe I won’t read the whole series but this is a good start. 
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skeleton_ashleigh's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

"In a close, listening darkness, he heard someone begin to pray." 👌👌👌👌
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bev3203's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

4.25

First 100 pages were slow and then really gory, but after that I couldn't put it down.
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andmingmingtoo's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

I love that it's a mystery rooted in science (or "science"). As a biologist, it's fun to read a mystery book with terms you saw in your genetics classes used as integral clues. 
I also love a good ensemble cast, and this book got me attached to several main characters with the narrative switches and different mystery-solving niches.
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ak97x's review against another edition

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dark informative mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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kstericker's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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sarah_ann_roth's review

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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dogearedbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Reread in March 2022 - I listened to the audiobook this time. Such a great audiobook, I'm trying to get into audiobooks and decided to go with a book I wanted to reread and had a good sample. I am so glad I did, I still love this book and the audiobook made it better. This book is so 90s and just stupid fun, like an anchient beast in a museum hunting people. It has some language of the time, but the bulk of the characters are scientists so at least it isnt as bad as other books of rhe period. I really just love this book, if I ever need a cheer up I'll listen to the wild ride of the audiobook again. 
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