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3.57 AVERAGE
3.57 AVERAGE
Review first appeared on my blog: Book Addict 24-7
This is a review of an ARC copy.
The Last Neanderthal by Claire Cameron is an extremely promising book. From the beautiful cover, to the seemingly enticing story, Cameron’s novel sold itself pretty well. However, I was frustrated by various aspects of this novel because I felt like it could have dealt with various issues in a better way, and the jarring use of dual perspectives really took me out of the story more often than not.
The Last Neanderthal follows two women during major events of their lives in two very different times in history. One perspective is a modern day woman who has finally discovered the remains of a neanderthal woman in surprisingly close proximity to a modern day human. The other follows a living neanderthal, Girl, who lives in a time where her family is beginning to change in a way that is increasingly making Girl the last neanderthal. Between the two characters, we get a dual story of change and acceptance.
I admit that I was very intrigued when I first picked up The Last Neanderthal. It looked like a short read (not even three hundred pages), and the prologue held a sort of magic in itself that immediately made me curious. Was this going to have some fantastical elements? Was this going to be an adventure of a read? In hindsight, not reading the synopsis and basing all of my hopes and dreams on a prologue was probably not a good idea.
Instead of addicting, Cameron’s novel began to feel like a heavy, heavy read. A reading slump threatened on the horizon, and I was seriously contemplating DNFing it because I didn’t want to waste my time. For some reason, however, I really wanted to see how it ended. Spoiler Alert: It wasn’t worth it.
My biggest dislike about this book isn’t a theme, or a particular writing cliche, but a character. Rosamund, the present day narrator, was incredibly dull, selfish, naive, and just completely unlikable. Most of her storyline is fraught with her worry that being pregnant will impede on her find. She complains and worries and doesn’t appear to give a damn about those she is affecting, including her partner–the father of her unborn child. There is a particular scene where she is rude (for no reason other than the allusion to her pregnancy hormones being the cause) to him and he literally throws a fit while she sits back and just waits for him to get back in the car. Imagine someone being mean to someone else for no reason, then ignoring how upset they’ve made the other person. This isn’t the worst instance of her being a horrible person, but it stands out clearly in my mind.
Also, Rosamund is constantly certain that she’s being ousted from her find. Despite people assuring her and basically kissing her ass, she is determined that she is being played. Paranoia seems to be a friend of hers as she constantly puts the health and safety of her child at risk because of her obsession about being part of her find.
One of my main reasons for why I disliked Rosamund, other than the above-mentioned reasons, is that her boring storyline kept interfering with the flow of the novel. I don’t know why the idea of having someone like Rosamund have a voice in a story that could have been deeply compelling was introduced. Girl, the neanderthal, offered a fantastic story of her own. Whenever the risks and adventure rose in Girl’s story, Rosamund came along. I understand the need to build tension, but it was ridiculous. Rather than make me yearn for more of Girl’s story, the interruptions frustrated me. The jarring transitions made me groan aloud and almost throw the book against the wall.
Perhaps of all of my complaints regarding this book, the poor judgment of braiding these stories together is probably my biggest dislike. Two narratives should work off each other in a book. This time, one narrative would have been sufficient, or even one narrative and one omniscient narrative would have worked better.
Girl was admittedly much more interesting to me. Her way of life and the creative way that Cameron tells her story was enough to not give this book a solid one star. The emotional aspects of it, the constant allusions to the coming end, and the continuous discoveries while trying to survive had me wanting more. But as Rosamund was an unlikable character for the entirety of the book, Girl became someone that I disliked by the end of the book.
I understand that certain things need to be done in order to survive. But there were some moments of brutality that didn’t need to happen at the end. It almost felt like gratuitous violence. Girl’s behaviour and actions near the end of the book contradict the character she was earlier on. I know that characters grow and adjust as life changes around them, but it all just felt so sickening. It also felt cheap, like an easy and disturbing way of solving her problems.
The ending of the book was deeply unsatisfying. All we are left with are assumptions. I’m not saying I wanted a happy ending, but I wanted answers. I wanted more than an open ending that didn’t really explore the major topics brought forward at the end of the book. Again, like the deeply troubling actions of Girl near the end of her story, the ending of The Last Neanderthal feels like a copout.
I really wanted to like this book. I almost unhauled it, but kept it because it was short and again, that prologue hooked me. This experience has taught me that I shouldn’t judge a book by its size and that the prologue isn’t always a sign of how the rest of the story is written.
Happy reading!
This is a review of an ARC copy.
The Last Neanderthal by Claire Cameron is an extremely promising book. From the beautiful cover, to the seemingly enticing story, Cameron’s novel sold itself pretty well. However, I was frustrated by various aspects of this novel because I felt like it could have dealt with various issues in a better way, and the jarring use of dual perspectives really took me out of the story more often than not.
The Last Neanderthal follows two women during major events of their lives in two very different times in history. One perspective is a modern day woman who has finally discovered the remains of a neanderthal woman in surprisingly close proximity to a modern day human. The other follows a living neanderthal, Girl, who lives in a time where her family is beginning to change in a way that is increasingly making Girl the last neanderthal. Between the two characters, we get a dual story of change and acceptance.
I admit that I was very intrigued when I first picked up The Last Neanderthal. It looked like a short read (not even three hundred pages), and the prologue held a sort of magic in itself that immediately made me curious. Was this going to have some fantastical elements? Was this going to be an adventure of a read? In hindsight, not reading the synopsis and basing all of my hopes and dreams on a prologue was probably not a good idea.
Instead of addicting, Cameron’s novel began to feel like a heavy, heavy read. A reading slump threatened on the horizon, and I was seriously contemplating DNFing it because I didn’t want to waste my time. For some reason, however, I really wanted to see how it ended. Spoiler Alert: It wasn’t worth it.
My biggest dislike about this book isn’t a theme, or a particular writing cliche, but a character. Rosamund, the present day narrator, was incredibly dull, selfish, naive, and just completely unlikable. Most of her storyline is fraught with her worry that being pregnant will impede on her find. She complains and worries and doesn’t appear to give a damn about those she is affecting, including her partner–the father of her unborn child. There is a particular scene where she is rude (for no reason other than the allusion to her pregnancy hormones being the cause) to him and he literally throws a fit while she sits back and just waits for him to get back in the car. Imagine someone being mean to someone else for no reason, then ignoring how upset they’ve made the other person. This isn’t the worst instance of her being a horrible person, but it stands out clearly in my mind.
Also, Rosamund is constantly certain that she’s being ousted from her find. Despite people assuring her and basically kissing her ass, she is determined that she is being played. Paranoia seems to be a friend of hers as she constantly puts the health and safety of her child at risk because of her obsession about being part of her find.
One of my main reasons for why I disliked Rosamund, other than the above-mentioned reasons, is that her boring storyline kept interfering with the flow of the novel. I don’t know why the idea of having someone like Rosamund have a voice in a story that could have been deeply compelling was introduced. Girl, the neanderthal, offered a fantastic story of her own. Whenever the risks and adventure rose in Girl’s story, Rosamund came along. I understand the need to build tension, but it was ridiculous. Rather than make me yearn for more of Girl’s story, the interruptions frustrated me. The jarring transitions made me groan aloud and almost throw the book against the wall.
Perhaps of all of my complaints regarding this book, the poor judgment of braiding these stories together is probably my biggest dislike. Two narratives should work off each other in a book. This time, one narrative would have been sufficient, or even one narrative and one omniscient narrative would have worked better.
Girl was admittedly much more interesting to me. Her way of life and the creative way that Cameron tells her story was enough to not give this book a solid one star. The emotional aspects of it, the constant allusions to the coming end, and the continuous discoveries while trying to survive had me wanting more. But as Rosamund was an unlikable character for the entirety of the book, Girl became someone that I disliked by the end of the book.
I understand that certain things need to be done in order to survive. But there were some moments of brutality that didn’t need to happen at the end. It almost felt like gratuitous violence. Girl’s behaviour and actions near the end of the book contradict the character she was earlier on. I know that characters grow and adjust as life changes around them, but it all just felt so sickening. It also felt cheap, like an easy and disturbing way of solving her problems.
The ending of the book was deeply unsatisfying. All we are left with are assumptions. I’m not saying I wanted a happy ending, but I wanted answers. I wanted more than an open ending that didn’t really explore the major topics brought forward at the end of the book. Again, like the deeply troubling actions of Girl near the end of her story, the ending of The Last Neanderthal feels like a copout.
I really wanted to like this book. I almost unhauled it, but kept it because it was short and again, that prologue hooked me. This experience has taught me that I shouldn’t judge a book by its size and that the prologue isn’t always a sign of how the rest of the story is written.
Happy reading!
Let me just make it clear: there is no real suspense in this novel. That isn't to say this novel isn't engrossing - it is. But the blurb for this novel basically gives away 50% of what happens in the story. However, this doesn't in any way diminish the story's compelling voice. My favorite narrative was that of Girl, for obvious reasons. Neanderthals have long been thought to be primitive and less developed compared to us, and having this author (and Gale) show us otherwise was just fascinating. I think the true magic in this story is how real the Neanderthal narrative was; you could feel the emotions, and their experiences came alive on the page. I don't think I've ever felt so connected to Neanderthals - and they're part of our genetic makeup. No, but with all seriousness, the author did a fantastic job in her portrayal of the Neanderthal family and Girl's struggles to survive. My problem was with the modern day portrayal. I didn't really care for Dr. Gale; I found her petty and weird and just ... not that personable. Her narrative didn't really do anything for me and it really didn't do much for the story, either. Since Gale's narrative makes up half of the story, it made me only like part of the story, which is why I'm giving this novel a 3/5 stars.
For more reviews, visit: www.veereading.wordpress.com
For more reviews, visit: www.veereading.wordpress.com
In brief: Girl is a young Neanderthal woman whose world revolves around the Family and their survival. Rose is an archaeologist who’s discovered Girl’s remains in context with a modern human and whose battleground is academia. Their stories parallel each other in interesting ways.
Thoughts: I’m still not entirely sure how I feel about this book. On the one hand, Cameron’s done a fantastic job translating the latest discoveries about Neanderthals into people and a culture and a good story, and she brings up feminist issues (especially women in academia feminist issues) and handles those well too. And she has a nice literary style.
On the other hand, I couldn’t help feeling like the simpler language of the Neanderthal sections made them feel a little more … animal? Child-like? than Cameron was maybe intending going by her preface and end notes, and while I connected to Rose for her scientific outlook and feminism, I lost a lot of that towards the end, with her feelings about pregnancy and babies. It was almost like Cameron was forcing the parallels with Girl there at the expense of Rose’s character—but what do I know, I’ve never been pregnant.
Humanising Neanderthals is pretty clearly Cameron’s intent and she succeeds with that. She succeeds with the feminism too, for the most part, and with portraying the differences between Neanderthals and modern humans through their actions. The book was an enjoyable and interesting read, but I didn’t find it super engaging and suspect it’s not going to be a memorable book for for me.
Warnings: There’s research out there about a link between Neanderthals and autism and this book can definitely be read that way. Autism rep! Hurrah! But note: simple language, multiple comparisons of Neanderthal life to the way animals do things, and “autistic” characters who, while human, also kind of aren’t. Cameron’s also drawn on more recent hunter-gatherer cultures for her Neanderthal one, which is understandable but at the same time, those are POC cultures and her Neanderthals are white, and again, there’s that simple language thing…. Neither of these issues is blatantly, horrifyingly there, at least to me, but … caution needed, I think.
6.5/10
Thoughts: I’m still not entirely sure how I feel about this book. On the one hand, Cameron’s done a fantastic job translating the latest discoveries about Neanderthals into people and a culture and a good story, and she brings up feminist issues (especially women in academia feminist issues) and handles those well too. And she has a nice literary style.
On the other hand, I couldn’t help feeling like the simpler language of the Neanderthal sections made them feel a little more … animal? Child-like? than Cameron was maybe intending going by her preface and end notes, and while I connected to Rose for her scientific outlook and feminism, I lost a lot of that towards the end, with her feelings about pregnancy and babies. It was almost like Cameron was forcing the parallels with Girl there at the expense of Rose’s character—but what do I know, I’ve never been pregnant.
Humanising Neanderthals is pretty clearly Cameron’s intent and she succeeds with that. She succeeds with the feminism too, for the most part, and with portraying the differences between Neanderthals and modern humans through their actions. The book was an enjoyable and interesting read, but I didn’t find it super engaging and suspect it’s not going to be a memorable book for for me.
Warnings: There’s research out there about a link between Neanderthals and autism and this book can definitely be read that way. Autism rep! Hurrah! But note: simple language, multiple comparisons of Neanderthal life to the way animals do things, and “autistic” characters who, while human, also kind of aren’t. Cameron’s also drawn on more recent hunter-gatherer cultures for her Neanderthal one, which is understandable but at the same time, those are POC cultures and her Neanderthals are white, and again, there’s that simple language thing…. Neither of these issues is blatantly, horrifyingly there, at least to me, but … caution needed, I think.
6.5/10
3.5 stars
(From www.pingwings.ca)
Received from the publisher, for free, for review consideration. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
I loved the concept of this book! And overall, The Last Neanderthal was really interesting, and was a fairly quick read.
I was really interested in the story of Girl and her family, set 40,000 years ago. And while I did enjoy the modern-day story also taking place, as the book went on I was much more interested in Girl’s story. Every time the story switched, I was impatient to get back to Girl’s timeline.
So I didn’t love this one, but I did like it and really liked parts of it. Recommended.
(From www.pingwings.ca)
Received from the publisher, for free, for review consideration. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
I loved the concept of this book! And overall, The Last Neanderthal was really interesting, and was a fairly quick read.
I was really interested in the story of Girl and her family, set 40,000 years ago. And while I did enjoy the modern-day story also taking place, as the book went on I was much more interested in Girl’s story. Every time the story switched, I was impatient to get back to Girl’s timeline.
So I didn’t love this one, but I did like it and really liked parts of it. Recommended.