I have the same issue with this book as i have with most aquatic science books, there is far too much about the authors backstory. I have to admit, as a marine naturalist who's always trying to learn more about the fish and aquatic creatures of our world, I'm getting a bit tired of these books also being stories about cishet white men. Almost every aquatic science book is written by one, and they all have some angsty backstory. I genuinely enjoyed learning about the Devils Hole Pupfish, and all of the little tidbits that came along with learning about it, as in how it was originally collected and how scientists were able to learn about the different verities of pupfish, and how this specific one is unique. I just wish that had been the only focus in the book. This book thankfully didn't have as much of the "backstory" as a lot of other books do, but it was still there and still evident. It would be nice for a change if these books were written by women or LGBT+ folks or POC (or someone at all those intersectionalities) so if a backstory is needed it's not the same one we see constantly.

Thank you to NetGalley and to University of Nevada Press for this ARC.

All you ever wanted to know about an unexpectedly interesting subject: how Devils Hole Pupfish survived into this century. They keep coming up in things I read, and I guess there's a bit of a theme right now, so I think that's why I requested this book from NetGalley?

Not as tight as I would have liked; the chapters are written rather like individual articles that came together for a book, common with academic reads. It results in some repetition (some would generously call it reinforcement), which had me skimming. There are useful graphs and photographs throughout. The author also goes into a lot of detail about US law to explain an important case (Pupfish vs Cappaert), which I mostly didn't absorb, but which is probably relevant.

I feel I would like to meet these fish at this point, not just because they may become extinct at any point, but also because they have caused such a ruckus and that's to be respected! Their story is a good reminder of what's going on while we're not watching; but, again, I'm left wondering if some extinctions are not natural, and not evolutionary inevitability.

Not exactly a top read for me for the reasons above, but interesting and well-researched. Recommend.