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A review by elizabethlk
Cretaceous by Tadd Galusha
4.0
Cretaceous is a fascinating take on prehistoric life in the day of dinosaurs. Without using any words, Tadd Galusha weaves a story that feels immediately emotional, and genuinely painful at times.
I was under the impression when I went into this book that for some reason it was going to be kid-friendly and it definitely seems to be geared more to teens and adults (although kids who like their dinosaur stories with a bit of extra gore and feeling might find themselves enjoying this one, especially if they struggle to read usually). At times I found myself having to go over a page a few times to make sure I was seeing everything correctly, but that's more so because I personally need extra time to comprehend images without words.
The story itself was really dark and emotional, with a lot of circle of life stuff going on, but as someone who can be emotional about that sort of thing, it definitely had me teary-eyed. The way it veered in between the core story and the big picture was interesting, and I found it especially immersive, although it did make it hard for me to visually follow a couple of times.
Artistically, this story was stunning. The dinosaurs were all rendered in an incredibly believable way, and they seemed relatively true in design to what they would have been in real life based on nonfiction I have read. The scenery, in particular, was quite breathtaking. The events often got bloodier than I really anticipated going in, so there were a few scenes early on that had me cringing slightly, but mostly I adjusted to it, I just hadn't expected it.
The information section in the back that identified each of the creatures depicted and gave additional information about them was helpful and especially interesting. I didn't expect to see that in the end, but I definitely appreciated its presence.
Overall, this is something that I did find myself enjoying a lot, especially once I started really getting into the thick of it. Anyone looking for a believable dinosaur story need look no further.
I was under the impression when I went into this book that for some reason it was going to be kid-friendly and it definitely seems to be geared more to teens and adults (although kids who like their dinosaur stories with a bit of extra gore and feeling might find themselves enjoying this one, especially if they struggle to read usually). At times I found myself having to go over a page a few times to make sure I was seeing everything correctly, but that's more so because I personally need extra time to comprehend images without words.
The story itself was really dark and emotional, with a lot of circle of life stuff going on, but as someone who can be emotional about that sort of thing, it definitely had me teary-eyed. The way it veered in between the core story and the big picture was interesting, and I found it especially immersive, although it did make it hard for me to visually follow a couple of times.
Artistically, this story was stunning. The dinosaurs were all rendered in an incredibly believable way, and they seemed relatively true in design to what they would have been in real life based on nonfiction I have read. The scenery, in particular, was quite breathtaking. The events often got bloodier than I really anticipated going in, so there were a few scenes early on that had me cringing slightly, but mostly I adjusted to it, I just hadn't expected it.
The information section in the back that identified each of the creatures depicted and gave additional information about them was helpful and especially interesting. I didn't expect to see that in the end, but I definitely appreciated its presence.
Overall, this is something that I did find myself enjoying a lot, especially once I started really getting into the thick of it. Anyone looking for a believable dinosaur story need look no further.