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kit8 's review for:

The Land of Painted Caves by Jean M. Auel
3.5
adventurous informative reflective slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

after 14 years and a month, ive finally finished this series. i planned to finish it in 2019 with a big reread leading up to me visiting Chauvet pont d'arc myself, but slowed to a dead stop because of the shelters of stone. i cant say this one made me feel any differently, and maybe i feel is even worse than i remember tsos being.... its unfortunate that a saga i find so beloved was finished on a note that feels so half assessed.

All of the insane repetition, dragging plot, and soap opera level interactions I found myself yearning for because at least it meant something was Happening, led to a disapponting end to a series I adore. But I did enjoy visiting beautiful caves literarily, seeing Ayla do her thing and invent stuff like fatherhood, sex education, homo sapiens, and Christianity. I can't say I was impressed, but I did love having another chance to see the characters I love back again. 

At one point I skimmed over one paragraph at the beginning of a chapter and missed the "four year" skip just barely added in for context and all of a sudden a newborn baby Jonayla was talking and riding horses. And for a few pages I actually just accepted it could be plausible and kept it going.