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amynbell's review against another edition
I have yet to read a pre-history book that's not disappointing. That in itself is disappointing. I think they have the potential to be quite interesting. Both this and [b:Clan of the Cave Bear|1295|The Clan of the Cave Bear (Earth' Children #1)|Jean M. Auel|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1158008569s/1295.jpg|1584694] focus heavily on fantastical spirituality. When you live so close to the land and the smallest things can have large effects on whether your clan survives or goes hungry, I can understand why such a group would be more superstitious, look for signs, and put great faith in both natural and drug-induced dreams. However, I have a low tolerance level for a book that seems to focus ENTIRELY on fantastical spirituality in exclusion to everything else. I also have low tolerance for a book that has characters named Twig and Riddle. Yuck.
[b:Children of the Dawnland|6139096|Children of the Dawnland|Kathleen O'Neal Gear|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255615060s/6139096.jpg|6317922] centers around a girl named Twig that has dreams of impending doom for her clan. The half of the book I was able to force myself to read has her searching for some other girl whose dreams come true in order to ... be taught to dream better? (Sadly, that was never made clear). Unfortunately, the bad guys are also searching for the same girl for some reason. A crazy man is trying to help Twig find the other dreaming girl through doing things that don't make sense like tracking a spruce tree and killing it. Really. The whole book makes that much sense.
Not only is the plot confusing, but the whole book is full of such confusion that I couldn't imagine many children liking this book. New characters are poorly introduced, the storyline doesn't make much sense, I never got a sense of the setting from anywhere except the book's cover and introduction, and the authors never made me care about the plot or the characters. A quick thumb through the rest of the book shows more of the same and I just don't care to waste my time with a book written so poorly.
Note: While I critique both purchased and free books in the same way, I'm legally obligated to tell you I received this book free through the Amazon Vine program in return for my review. Blah blah blah.
[b:Children of the Dawnland|6139096|Children of the Dawnland|Kathleen O'Neal Gear|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255615060s/6139096.jpg|6317922] centers around a girl named Twig that has dreams of impending doom for her clan. The half of the book I was able to force myself to read has her searching for some other girl whose dreams come true in order to ... be taught to dream better? (Sadly, that was never made clear). Unfortunately, the bad guys are also searching for the same girl for some reason. A crazy man is trying to help Twig find the other dreaming girl through doing things that don't make sense like tracking a spruce tree and killing it. Really. The whole book makes that much sense.
Not only is the plot confusing, but the whole book is full of such confusion that I couldn't imagine many children liking this book. New characters are poorly introduced, the storyline doesn't make much sense, I never got a sense of the setting from anywhere except the book's cover and introduction, and the authors never made me care about the plot or the characters. A quick thumb through the rest of the book shows more of the same and I just don't care to waste my time with a book written so poorly.
Note: While I critique both purchased and free books in the same way, I'm legally obligated to tell you I received this book free through the Amazon Vine program in return for my review. Blah blah blah.
ponderinstuff's review against another edition
3.0
Good young-adult book to introduce young readers to pre-history fiction.
markclarno's review against another edition
4.0
I was surprised to get an uncorrected advance reading copy from the library. The Gear's first YA book is almost like a short story compared to their other epic, historical novels. It was a fast read for me in that way and makes me want to dive into another of the adult novels, the First North Americans series and especially the Contact: The Battle for America series. Even though this is YA and is a lot less violent and no sexuality compared to their adult novels, it is still pretty violent. I would not hesitate to read the next in this series if they make one, or another YA Gear story.
michellereadatrix's review
4.0
Nice read. Although this is YA, very similar to other books by the authors. The story is centered around the Clovis people and incorporates the science that speculates that a cataclysmic event occurred in North America around 13,000 years ago.
Parents who have an issue with religions other than Christianity might opt not to buy this for the younger suggested ages due to the prevalence of topics like spirit guides and possession, as well as some fairly gruesome descriptions of death and mutilation.
Parents who have an issue with religions other than Christianity might opt not to buy this for the younger suggested ages due to the prevalence of topics like spirit guides and possession, as well as some fairly gruesome descriptions of death and mutilation.
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