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2.76k reviews for:

The Lost World

Michael Crichton

3.77 AVERAGE

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No
adventurous tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated
adventurous dark tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

A very solid book. I really liked the time on the island and the way the different stories/characters would interact and part and come back together, the flow was really satisfying. 
I do think the pacing was a little uneven, it seemed a little slow at the start but then was it kicked off it KICKED OFF! 
I am not sure I am able to forgive the "Oop, he ain't dead" element from the start... But I guess I will move on and focus on the rest of the book which I did really enjoy and will definitely come back to. 
adventurous dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No
adventurous tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No
adventurous medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No

Meh
adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

I didn't like this book nearly as much mostly because I never really liked Ian Malcom not that's he's a bad character it's just that sometimes he reads a little like a self insert which can be grating 
adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
adventurous challenging dark informative reflective tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

I definitely don't like this one as much as Jurassic Park that's for sure 😅 This one was much slower (it took AGES for them to get to the island) and had soooo much more exposition. Don't get me wrong, Crichton loves to go off on a ramble about ethics in science, and I appreciate that for the most part. But there were several spots in this one where I was like oooookay let's move on or just straight up forgot this was actually a character talking and not just Crichton on his soapbox. It also just started slow overall, it was so difficult to get into and want to keep going until they did make it to the island.

Crichton's characters aren't terribly deep, the kids do not seem like kids at all lol, and there were a couple characters I simply did not care about at all 😅 BUT Sarah Harding is waaaay more of a badass in the book than in the movie, and I love how she's a role model to Kelly and becomes even more so, encouraging her to not belittle her own success and to go into something like math that she's been told "isn't for girls." I also love her clapback moment to Levine (sp) when he got all sexist. It was giving Ellie and her "we can discuss sexism in survival situations later" comment which 🤌 love.

I appreciate overall the message of the book, especially paired with Jurassic Park. I feel like JP says no, we can't have this as entertainment wtf GTFO of here, capitalism. While LW says no, we can't even have this for purely scientific purposes either. And to enjoy life as we have it now because it's all we know and who knows when it'll be gone. I could be reading too much into it, but idk it seems like som thing Crichton would be wanting to say lol. 

Lastly, I'm sorry, but I have to say it. I wanted more tense dino moments. The trailer T-Rex one was definitely the biggest highlight—definitely get them including that one in the second movie—but the kid in the age was pretty intense. My all-time favorite has to be Dodgson (DODGSON! WE GOT DODGSON HERE! See nobody cares.)
being not just chomped by a T-Rex but fed to its babies 🤌 It was exactly what I didn't know I wanted, especially after he evaded death once already. Couldn't have happened to a better guy
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