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Reviews tagging 'Animal death'
The Last Days of the Dinosaurs: An Asteroid, Extinction, and the Beginning of Our World by Riley Black
7 reviews
twistedflower2357's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
4.5
I simply adored this book. Black offers a fresh and unique perspective on the K-Pg extinction that, rather than getting caught up in the tragedy of one of Earth’s greatest losses, highlights the beautiful resilience of life. Her technique of weaving a fiction-adjacent narrative is novel and immersive—serving as both a gateway that inspires earnest imagination, and a built-in acknowledgement that our current understanding of the late Cretaceous and Paleocene periods will become increasingly outdated in 10, 20, 50 years (so why not commit to the picture we have now, filling in the gaps with extrapolation?). At some points while reading, I felt that this approach doesn’t go far enough, thinking “if this is meant to read like a fantasy novel, it reads like a very exposition-y one”. In these moments the prose seems to grind it’s gears a little too much, where additional environmental storytelling could have instead smoothed out the narrative. In that way, the central gimmick of the book fails to reach its full potential.
That being said, Black’s perspective is too valuable and, honestly too magical, for me to say these flaws took away all that much from the experience. The concluding chapter drives home that this book isn’t just a Paleocene romp, but a heartfelt journey through grief and recovery—the grief that any dinosaur lover feels over the loss of this world. It definitely had me crying for reasons I couldn’t have predicted when I was picking the book up at the library. I would definitely recommend it to anyone interested who is okay with working through a few more tangents than expected.
That being said, Black’s perspective is too valuable and, honestly too magical, for me to say these flaws took away all that much from the experience. The concluding chapter drives home that this book isn’t just a Paleocene romp, but a heartfelt journey through grief and recovery—the grief that any dinosaur lover feels over the loss of this world. It definitely had me crying for reasons I couldn’t have predicted when I was picking the book up at the library. I would definitely recommend it to anyone interested who is okay with working through a few more tangents than expected.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury
flaminggecko's review against another edition
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
paladinosaur's review
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
I’ll be the first to admit this wasn’t my favorite Riley Black book (that honor still goes to My Beloved Brontosaurus) but that sure doesn’t mean The Last Days of the Dinosaurs wasn’t good. The way the book progressed, from hours to days to millennia after the K-Pg extinction was really well done and enthrallingly well written. My favorite chapters were the one with the dinosaurs, before the extinction, and the epilogue/conclusion. As a transgender dinosaur enthusiast like Riley, I related a lot to what she wrote in that final chapter about having to go through loss to create yourself. I enjoyed her anecdotes about her journey to the extinction boundary . I’d definitely recommend this book to most people looking for a unique book about prehistory, and I’m glad I took the time to read it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, and Grief
Moderate: Blood
abomine's review
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
rampagingrabbit's review against another edition
Depictions of animal death were too much for me
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
aardwyrm's review
informative
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
Raptor Red meets Wonderful Life with vibes powerful enough to put you on your childhood couch, watching Walking With Dinosaurs for the first time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
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