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minaf22 's review for:
The Last Neanderthal
by Claire Cameron
This book is most enjoyable if you *don't* have a broad understanding of the subject material. Otherwise, the glaring oversights will bother you.
Pros:
* The Neanderthal chapters were truly well-written. Raw and unabashed, they were definitely the stronger chapters in the novel. The descriptions of the family's day-to-day life were fascinating (albeit, embellished) and I found myself caring for every character
* The premise is unique and I enjoy the thematic parallels made between the Neanderthal protagonist and the modern one
* The exploration of competition in academia, particularly the issues women in academia face, was compelling and I'm glad the author made it a central theme
Cons:
* They seriously dumbed down the science. I mean, seriously, it breaks immersion how "middle school" an approach an evolutionary biology academic takes in describing her research
* Rose is not likeable. I don't need my protagonists to be my best friends, but it made me feel like I was slogging through her chapters just to get to the good Neanderthal stuff
* This might be nit-picky considering that this is a work of fiction, but the entire plot rests on the foundation that Neanderthals could 100% do anything AMH's can do, which is a bold assumption since our current understanding of it is "there's some compelling evidence, so there's no reason to doubt they couldn't"
Pros:
* The Neanderthal chapters were truly well-written. Raw and unabashed, they were definitely the stronger chapters in the novel. The descriptions of the family's day-to-day life were fascinating (albeit, embellished) and I found myself caring for every character
* The premise is unique and I enjoy the thematic parallels made between the Neanderthal protagonist and the modern one
* The exploration of competition in academia, particularly the issues women in academia face, was compelling and I'm glad the author made it a central theme
Cons:
* They seriously dumbed down the science. I mean, seriously, it breaks immersion how "middle school" an approach an evolutionary biology academic takes in describing her research
* Rose is not likeable. I don't need my protagonists to be my best friends, but it made me feel like I was slogging through her chapters just to get to the good Neanderthal stuff
* This might be nit-picky considering that this is a work of fiction, but the entire plot rests on the foundation that Neanderthals could 100% do anything AMH's can do, which is a bold assumption since our current understanding of it is "there's some compelling evidence, so there's no reason to doubt they couldn't"