Scan barcode
keen23's review against another edition
3.0
Clearly a Jurassic Park knockoff, but decent enough and short. Read it mostly on a plane.
wyll's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
2.0
literally no human character in this book has a personality, so if you're just interested in giant monsters, then you might enjoy this.
every time there's a piece of media obviously inspired by jurassic park, i just can't help but think: does jurassic park not exist in this universe? did you learn nothing from that movie? what the fuck are you doing? the answer is obviously no, you learned nothing, and what you're doing is just ripping it off - and i say that because the explanation for the park malfunctioning is a employee deliberately destroying it so that he can secret away the babies created. hm, i wonder where i've seen that plot before -
maybe i could forgive the blatant rip-off if the pay-off was a little better - but like i said, the characters have no personalities, and so i can't really get invested in them/want them to survive. they're just there to be terrorized by these creatures, and it isn't even fun to read, since you can't really envision it because of terrible writing. there are short, choppy sentences; there are run-ons; there's a lack of showing that borders on unbearable. it feels very juvenile in its execution and delivery.
on the topic of the characters: one of the primary narrators, nick, has a really weird moment on their way to the zoo where he has "bad feelings" about where they're going, and there's an attempt to draw a parallel to "people on railcars riding to their death." it's a minor thing, i know, but that just Really bugged me.
there isn't much to say beyond this. if goodreads* offered the ability to do half-stars, i'd give this a one-and-a-half, but since it doesn't, i'm offering two stars, primarily because of lennie the yeren, literally the only character in this book i could find myself interested in at all.
*review imported from GR
every time there's a piece of media obviously inspired by jurassic park, i just can't help but think: does jurassic park not exist in this universe? did you learn nothing from that movie? what the fuck are you doing? the answer is obviously no, you learned nothing, and what you're doing is just ripping it off - and i say that because the explanation for the park malfunctioning is a employee deliberately destroying it so that he can secret away the babies created. hm, i wonder where i've seen that plot before -
maybe i could forgive the blatant rip-off if the pay-off was a little better - but like i said, the characters have no personalities, and so i can't really get invested in them/want them to survive. they're just there to be terrorized by these creatures, and it isn't even fun to read, since you can't really envision it because of terrible writing. there are short, choppy sentences; there are run-ons; there's a lack of showing that borders on unbearable. it feels very juvenile in its execution and delivery.
on the topic of the characters: one of the primary narrators, nick, has a really weird moment on their way to the zoo where he has "bad feelings" about where they're going, and there's an attempt to draw a parallel to "people on railcars riding to their death." it's a minor thing, i know, but that just Really bugged me.
there isn't much to say beyond this. if goodreads* offered the ability to do half-stars, i'd give this a one-and-a-half, but since it doesn't, i'm offering two stars, primarily because of lennie the yeren, literally the only character in this book i could find myself interested in at all.
*review imported from GR
alexandrabree's review against another edition
3.0
The inital character reactions are way too dramatic. We jump from totally normal but top secret before opening trip to a Jurrrasic Park style crypid theme park, to the character saying, they took our phones were like the people on the death cars in ww2 Germany. If that's supposed to be foreshadowing... bad job. Every reader who picked up the book new that the park was going to go wrong.
The "animals" were fun and the book was short enough to be action packed, I am trying to find the next couple because I'd like to see how it continues.
The characters were a little flat but it's a creature feature so meh... not a top priority. Campy, predictable, cheesy read
The "animals" were fun and the book was short enough to be action packed, I am trying to find the next couple because I'd like to see how it continues.
The characters were a little flat but it's a creature feature so meh... not a top priority. Campy, predictable, cheesy read
vikingwolf's review against another edition
4.0
Carter is the 5th richest man in the world and his interest in cryptids has led to him opening up a new theme park with some seriously scary monsters in it. He ignores the issues that they are still having with security, IT and red tape and decides to open the park for a preview before the official opening. Employees and their families are to be given clipboards to review everything from food and accomodation to the staff and the exhibits, so things can be tweaked by the time it officially opens. However, when things go wrong, there are some serious monsters out hunting the guests!
There are a dazzling amount of monsters in this book which I really enjoyed. There is a giant kraken, sea serpent, dinosaurs, thunderbirds, ahools, Yeti, chupacabra, biliapes, mongolian death worms, giant lizards, blue tigers and more. I found myself thinking that this is the kind of zoo that would fascinate me IF everything stayed safely locked up! I mean, imagine a giant kraken at Sea World or Sasquatches in a forest enclosure! I can remember how excited I was to see those gorgeous tigers with the stunning markings...I think I'd go mad over seeing a Yeti! The visitors have mixed reactions to seeing the first couple of enclosures, with some of the kids getting frightened and others being awestruck.
Things go wrong when an animal escape goes un-noticed and a couple of guests are killed. Carter decides to hush this up and invents a story about them going to the hospital to explain their vanishing to the other guests. Things go from bad to worse when kids decide to sneak in at night to one of the exhibits, and then the power starts to fail and the animals are escaping. It then becomes a panic for the remaining guests to try and survive the monsters and find their way out of the park-which is easier said than done! The monsters are really scary and it is tense when we follow the guests and staff as they try to escape the monster carnage.
The book takes a similar approach to the Jurassic Park style of novel where you get to see the park through the eyes of the visitors as they go to a preview. I've read a few books with this kind of setting like Great Zoo of China and Salechii and I really enjoy this scenario. It is always entertaining to read a creature feature with varied monsters and a good amount of death! There are some decent characters and the usual monster chow on legs but that is what I expect from this kind of book.
It was my first book by the author and I very much enjoyed it. He has written a couple of Sasquatch books which I already have on my e-reader and I look forward to reading them soon. It's always fun to find a new author to read in this genre.
There are a dazzling amount of monsters in this book which I really enjoyed. There is a giant kraken, sea serpent, dinosaurs, thunderbirds, ahools, Yeti, chupacabra, biliapes, mongolian death worms, giant lizards, blue tigers and more. I found myself thinking that this is the kind of zoo that would fascinate me IF everything stayed safely locked up! I mean, imagine a giant kraken at Sea World or Sasquatches in a forest enclosure! I can remember how excited I was to see those gorgeous tigers with the stunning markings...I think I'd go mad over seeing a Yeti! The visitors have mixed reactions to seeing the first couple of enclosures, with some of the kids getting frightened and others being awestruck.
Things go wrong when an animal escape goes un-noticed and a couple of guests are killed. Carter decides to hush this up and invents a story about them going to the hospital to explain their vanishing to the other guests. Things go from bad to worse when kids decide to sneak in at night to one of the exhibits, and then the power starts to fail and the animals are escaping. It then becomes a panic for the remaining guests to try and survive the monsters and find their way out of the park-which is easier said than done! The monsters are really scary and it is tense when we follow the guests and staff as they try to escape the monster carnage.
The book takes a similar approach to the Jurassic Park style of novel where you get to see the park through the eyes of the visitors as they go to a preview. I've read a few books with this kind of setting like Great Zoo of China and Salechii and I really enjoy this scenario. It is always entertaining to read a creature feature with varied monsters and a good amount of death! There are some decent characters and the usual monster chow on legs but that is what I expect from this kind of book.
It was my first book by the author and I very much enjoyed it. He has written a couple of Sasquatch books which I already have on my e-reader and I look forward to reading them soon. It's always fun to find a new author to read in this genre.
free_the_bookshelf's review against another edition
3.0
This book is giving SyFy movie vibes. I’m picturing low rent CGI bears, cats, and snakes. I’m here for it.
hollypat36's review against another edition
4.0
This book was great. I loved the take on “zoo gone wrong.” It was pretty much non-stop action. I wish that the book had been longer and gone into more detail. Or had less going on and focused more on certain events. Thus, the four stars.
I really enjoyed the writing. A couple adjectives were used frequently and, again, it felt a little rushed. All in all, I enjoyed it and plan on reading the other Cryptid books.
I really enjoyed the writing. A couple adjectives were used frequently and, again, it felt a little rushed. All in all, I enjoyed it and plan on reading the other Cryptid books.
readerxxx's review against another edition
3.0
This was a cryptic Jurassic Park. Just different monsters. Same story, same bad guy.
yoncassius's review against another edition
2.0
The concept was cool enough that I spent six chapters slogging through cardboard characters hoping the plot would save it. I eventually had to call it quits.
n0rmann's review
4.0
A zoo full of cryptids? In a horror novel? Of course you know something was going to go wrong. And It does in a spectacular fashion. SO many cryptids, so much blood, so much destruction. Exactly what I want from a book like this. It delivered the goods.
stierbri's review
3.0
Okay!
This book was okay. It’s another rehash of Jurassic Park, but without the originality of it. Mad scientists create monsters, Locke em up, monsters get out and eat people! The end!
This book was okay. It’s another rehash of Jurassic Park, but without the originality of it. Mad scientists create monsters, Locke em up, monsters get out and eat people! The end!