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A review by ninaandtheb00ks
The Plains of Passage by Jean M. Auel
2.0
if i’m being honest, i almost stopped reading this book after the first 200 pages. the only reason i didn’t, is because my OCD brain cannot handle an unfinished series, and so i persisted. however, this has to be my least favorite of the series so far.
here’s what i didn’t like about the book:
- this book did not need to be 800+ pages. an editor could have scrapped a good deal. the plot doesn’t really start until page 275, which makes the first third of the book very hard to get through.
- ayla stopped being an interesting protagonist after she left her clan. she has become too perfect; there are no flaws. she’s a classic mary sue: everyone loves her, and even if they don’t, all it takes is a few words from her before they change their minds. she always wants to help. she is super pretty, but doesn’t realize it. she invents riding horses, owning dogs, firestones and soap (not joking). she’s also an advocate for neanderthals and handicapped people. like are you kidding me? she lived thousands of years ago so how is that realistic??
- for a book with a supposedly strong and independent female protagonist, ayla conforms waaaay too much to jondalar’s wants and needs. also, i find some parts sexist. for instance, in the entire series there is only one clan that is entirely led by women, and those women happen to hate men and throw them in jail. like… really?
- there is SO much repetition. not only specific comments (people must have noticed ayla’s weird accent at least 27 times), but also in the plot. every time ayla and jondalar meet a new clan, the same thing happens: the clan finds them and their animals strange, they get used to them, ayla helps someone from the new clan, they start to really like her and ask her to stay, she wants to stay but jondalar wants to move on and then they move on until they meet another clan.
there were some redeeming parts, but i lhope the next installment improves a lot, because i do generally enjoy it when ayla interacts with new people in new ways.
here’s what i didn’t like about the book:
- this book did not need to be 800+ pages. an editor could have scrapped a good deal. the plot doesn’t really start until page 275, which makes the first third of the book very hard to get through.
- ayla stopped being an interesting protagonist after she left her clan. she has become too perfect; there are no flaws. she’s a classic mary sue: everyone loves her, and even if they don’t, all it takes is a few words from her before they change their minds. she always wants to help. she is super pretty, but doesn’t realize it. she invents riding horses, owning dogs, firestones and soap (not joking). she’s also an advocate for neanderthals and handicapped people. like are you kidding me? she lived thousands of years ago so how is that realistic??
- for a book with a supposedly strong and independent female protagonist, ayla conforms waaaay too much to jondalar’s wants and needs. also, i find some parts sexist. for instance, in the entire series there is only one clan that is entirely led by women, and those women happen to hate men and throw them in jail. like… really?
- there is SO much repetition. not only specific comments (people must have noticed ayla’s weird accent at least 27 times), but also in the plot. every time ayla and jondalar meet a new clan, the same thing happens: the clan finds them and their animals strange, they get used to them, ayla helps someone from the new clan, they start to really like her and ask her to stay, she wants to stay but jondalar wants to move on and then they move on until they meet another clan.
there were some redeeming parts, but i lhope the next installment improves a lot, because i do generally enjoy it when ayla interacts with new people in new ways.