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2.92 AVERAGE
2.92 AVERAGE
I really enjoyed the earlier books in the series. If I read this one as a stand alone, it would have made less sense and been less interesting. It did get repetitive at times, but I was still interested enough to focus on the book instead of other things I could have been doing.
Nope. Not what I hoped it would be. Nothing new or interesting happens- not one single thing. I read 700 odd pages to find out... that Ayla's life is now a rehash of everything shes done before. She takes too many drugs, spends some time astonishing people with her control of animals, captures a criminal, fights with Jondalar, exactly like she did in the other five books. What a waste.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Not so much plot-driven or character-driven as descriptions-of-caves-driven. I love this series, but I can't call this a strong finish to it. Had its moments, though.
Knowing what I know now I probably wouldn't read the series but since I'd already started it I felt obligated to finish it.
Love Ayla and her adventures having mixed emotions that it is over. Not my favorite of the series. Lots of repetition from prior books.
Kinda disappointing, repetitive, ended with Jondalar (who isn't my fave). It was still good to see how Ayla ended up though.
All a bit samey by the end, but an enjoyable series. And when I turned the final page, my reaction actually was what ? You can't end now !!
I don't know if I just wasn't in the right mood, or if my taste in books has changed to much since I read the first 5 books in this series, but I just couldn't finish this before it was time to take it back to the library. Maybe I'll give it another go someday.
One of the worst series endings I've ever read.
It was okay up until the last few chapters. Then it just turned into utter trash.
Let me save you the time it takes to read these books:
Ayla has been training to essentially become a shaman (spiritual leader and healer) of her new people. This training, understandably, takes up a lot of her time. When she finally has her breakthrough visionary experience to complete her training, and after she's recovered from having a miscarriage and almost dying during said experience, she can't wait to see her guy--the man she loves and who loves her more than anything and would (supposedly) die for her. Fair warning: five books of epic love story are about to be destroyed. She finds him having sex with his horrible cliche of an ex. And it turns out it's been going on for months, if not years, and *everybody* knew but didn't want to upset Ayla by telling her. Yup. He'd die for her, but he couldn't keep it in his pants.
This awesome revelation is followed by a flashback to book 3, which was basically one long stupid miscommunication after another that kept them apart and miserable until they realized at the end they loved each other and had to be together. Yeah, we get a bunch more of that.
Meanwhile, Ayla finally breaks down and spills her unhappiness to her mentor--the woman who wouldn't stop pushing Ayla to be a shaman when all Ayla wanted was to be a "mate" and mother. What's this wise mentor's advice to Ayla? 'What did you expect would happen when you were so busy all the time--men have needs.' And Ayla actually feels guilty.
But wait--it gets better.
It takes Ayla being at death's door--again--for the guy to actually act like he cares about her and tell her he loves her (lucky because that's what saves her life). And just like that they're happy in love again and all is forgiven (it was mostly her fault anyway). They agree to have sex with only each other from now on to avoid any more jealous meltdowns, but then Ayla tells him that if she's busy and he feels the urge, it's actually okay with her if he wants to hook up with whoever is around (including the horrible ex) because she now knows that he truly loves her and sex is just sex. She even takes him for some alone time at their special spot--where she caught him with his ex--because it was their special spot first.
What a load of crap. I can't even imagine what the author was thinking. I could go on (because there's so much more of this ridiculous nonsense), but there's a character limit on these reviews.
One last note: the book also ends with humanity taking its first step to becoming the dumpster fire it is today. So that was also fun.
The sad thing is, these books really had potential. Early humans (and the ice age in general) is a fascinating topic. The author also clearly did her research, even if a lot of it is outdated now and she has a tendency to spew dry facts all over the story (seriously, your character showing signs of being suicidal is not the time to stop and describe how paleolithic dinner plates were made). Ayla was an engaging character too--I really was interested in her life and what would happen to her. Too bad.
Edit: It's been a couple of weeks since I finished this book and I'm still upset about it. The whole cheating storyline was so completely unnecessary and, frankly, stupid. She destroyed the male character, gaslit Ayla (and by extension, the readers), and completely ruined their relationship--so much for epic love. She also steadily destroyed Ayla's character. Any spark Ayla had, the author wiped out. Every time it looked like Ayla would finally be able to fulfill her potential, the author made a point of holding her back. In the end, Ayla had no personality of her own left--she wasn't even allowed to keep her name. I wish the whole series could be rebooted with a different writer and better editing. What a complete waste of everything these books/characters could have been."
It was okay up until the last few chapters. Then it just turned into utter trash.
Let me save you the time it takes to read these books:
Ayla has been training to essentially become a shaman (spiritual leader and healer) of her new people. This training, understandably, takes up a lot of her time. When she finally has her breakthrough visionary experience to complete her training, and after she's recovered from having a miscarriage and almost dying during said experience, she can't wait to see her guy--the man she loves and who loves her more than anything and would (supposedly) die for her. Fair warning: five books of epic love story are about to be destroyed. She finds him having sex with his horrible cliche of an ex. And it turns out it's been going on for months, if not years, and *everybody* knew but didn't want to upset Ayla by telling her. Yup. He'd die for her, but he couldn't keep it in his pants.
This awesome revelation is followed by a flashback to book 3, which was basically one long stupid miscommunication after another that kept them apart and miserable until they realized at the end they loved each other and had to be together. Yeah, we get a bunch more of that.
Meanwhile, Ayla finally breaks down and spills her unhappiness to her mentor--the woman who wouldn't stop pushing Ayla to be a shaman when all Ayla wanted was to be a "mate" and mother. What's this wise mentor's advice to Ayla? 'What did you expect would happen when you were so busy all the time--men have needs.' And Ayla actually feels guilty.
But wait--it gets better.
It takes Ayla being at death's door--again--for the guy to actually act like he cares about her and tell her he loves her (lucky because that's what saves her life). And just like that they're happy in love again and all is forgiven (it was mostly her fault anyway). They agree to have sex with only each other from now on to avoid any more jealous meltdowns, but then Ayla tells him that if she's busy and he feels the urge, it's actually okay with her if he wants to hook up with whoever is around (including the horrible ex) because she now knows that he truly loves her and sex is just sex. She even takes him for some alone time at their special spot--where she caught him with his ex--because it was their special spot first.
What a load of crap. I can't even imagine what the author was thinking. I could go on (because there's so much more of this ridiculous nonsense), but there's a character limit on these reviews.
One last note: the book also ends with humanity taking its first step to becoming the dumpster fire it is today. So that was also fun.
The sad thing is, these books really had potential. Early humans (and the ice age in general) is a fascinating topic. The author also clearly did her research, even if a lot of it is outdated now and she has a tendency to spew dry facts all over the story (seriously, your character showing signs of being suicidal is not the time to stop and describe how paleolithic dinner plates were made). Ayla was an engaging character too--I really was interested in her life and what would happen to her. Too bad.
Edit: It's been a couple of weeks since I finished this book and I'm still upset about it. The whole cheating storyline was so completely unnecessary and, frankly, stupid. She destroyed the male character, gaslit Ayla (and by extension, the readers), and completely ruined their relationship--so much for epic love. She also steadily destroyed Ayla's character. Any spark Ayla had, the author wiped out. Every time it looked like Ayla would finally be able to fulfill her potential, the author made a point of holding her back. In the end, Ayla had no personality of her own left--she wasn't even allowed to keep her name. I wish the whole series could be rebooted with a different writer and better editing. What a complete waste of everything these books/characters could have been."
This was really tedious with all the repetitions both within and from previous books. I don't mind detail of world building and everyday life; I like that in this series overall, but nobody needs to be told events that happened previously again and again. An editor should have cut a lot of this.