Take a photo of a barcode or cover
lesserjoke 's review for:
Dactyl Hill Squad
by Daniel José Older
This is a fun little historical fantasy romp. Dinosaurs in the Civil War era! A mostly-POC cast including a protagonist who can control the animals with her mind! But as with many middle-grade projects, the characters don't always feel like they have much depth to them, and the worldbuilding seems somewhat incomplete. (Surely if prehistoric beasts had survived into the 19th century alongside human domesticators, there would be some pretty noticeable differences from our own timeline.)
I'm also not sold by the decision to use modern language like "aw, man," "super-secret," and "butthurt," which author Daniel José Older explains in an afterword is meant to keep the story accessible but only makes it harder for me to get into the spirit of things here. It's still a solid adventure overall, and I suspect younger readers will like it better than I have, but I'm satisfied to walk away without following the larger plot into the sequels.
[Content warning for slavery and racism.]
Find me on Patreon | Goodreads | Blog | Twitter
I'm also not sold by the decision to use modern language like "aw, man," "super-secret," and "butthurt," which author Daniel José Older explains in an afterword is meant to keep the story accessible but only makes it harder for me to get into the spirit of things here. It's still a solid adventure overall, and I suspect younger readers will like it better than I have, but I'm satisfied to walk away without following the larger plot into the sequels.
[Content warning for slavery and racism.]
Find me on Patreon | Goodreads | Blog | Twitter