This book spoke to my inner child. I always loved learning about dinosaurs and paleontology. This was a fun book that fans of Jurassic Park and Indiana Jones will enjoy, It was a fun adventure story that did take some suspension of disbelief (what professor is taking a 16 year old on an international trip without parental permission?). It was also a very informative novel; I learned a lot about fossils along the way. Which I enjoyed, but may not be everyone's cup of tea.

The book is told in the first person but switched between four characters perspectives. I did not understand why the author chose that method. I think it would have been better being told in the third person. Some of the character perspectives were annoying and I found myself skimming past some of their internal monologues.

Thanks to NetGalley and Inkshares for this digital arc in exchange for my honest review

This book is great! Would definitely recommend. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

i thought this was a cute story with lots of great science. it was definitely a book i would have loved when i was a middle grade kid!

so disappointingly bad for what could’ve been an amazing book! the concept of palaeontologists finding a dragon fossil is so unique and creative but was just let down by such a poor book.

all the pov‘s read the same - despite the main character being 16 and all the others being fully grown adults! - which made it very difficult to follow who was narrating at the time. constant jargon and info dumps combined with a very very slow first act made it frustrating to read at the best of times.

really wanted to like this as the overview sounded so interesting but it really did not meet the mark.

I love dinosaurs. I love dragons. So why was this book so incredibly boring?
At first I enjoyed the story, I loved the information about the dinosaurs. It’s a really big interest of mine. But after awhile I started to lose interest and then I didn’t want to read it anymore. The characters and plot weren’t very interesting, that was a big reason for my dislike of this book as well.
I could tell the author truly loved writing this and loves paleontology. I just couldn’t appreciate the love like I wish I had.

Being a dinosaur nerd I really loved the book! And dragons too! Wow, great read,the only disappointment was that now I have to wait till the next book,please say there’ll be more! Five stars from me!

Reading this book felt like reading info dump after info dump. Not only did characters stop to think to themselves about what a certain dinosaur was or when a period of time was, but they'd explain to each other when both already knew. And sometimes it felt outright condescending.

The main character did not sound like a sixteen-year-old. And I found it hard to believe that she was supposed to be one of the smartest characters there or that they'd entrust her with so much so quickly.

The characters felt one-dimensional to me, especially Farnsworth who seemed to be grumpy and insulting for the sake of being grumpy and insulting.

Unfortunately, this book was not it for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Inkshares for an ARC of this book.

I think this was just a poorly written book. It had very little appeal for anyone who isn’t a teenager and even teens with a more distinct palette wouldn’t love it

While I enjoyed it, one should know this book seemed like a combination of Indiana Jones meets the DaVinci Code. Those fans of paleontology, dinosaurs and history will enjoy this. The story moves back and forth between four main characters and does take some time to get used to.. it also moves back in forth in time with the background history. it sets itself up for a potential sequel I should think..

DNF at 40%

Usually I don't rate or review books I DNF as I think it's not fair since I haven't read the book in its entirety, but I received an ARC via NetGalley and feel obligated to give feedback.

At 40%, the book is just NOW starting to pick up and get interesting, which should've happened much earlier at the 20-25% mark. The beginning was hard to slug through. The pacing was just so slow. The author is obviously knowledgeable about paleontology and this shows with the terminology and background information shared, but it can be a bit too much and come off as boring info dumps at times. I do think the author is a competent writer, just this aspect of the storytelling could be greatly improved.

The other POVs don't add anything to me, especially because Molly is still present. I think the book should just follow Molly. And, not buying that she's 16 doing all that. 18, maybe. It seems her age is so just to market it as YA because the adult POVs take up as much if not more of the book as Molly's.

All in all, I did not want to continue reading. Had it began at a faster pace, maybe because it really is starting to get really good and "page-turny," it should just not be happening so late in the book.

Writing: 4/5
Character Development: 3/5
Subject Knowledge: 5/5

Warnings: None

Themes: Dinosours, Adventure, Mystery

POV: Multiple

This book was so much fun to read. There was not much character development or world building, but most of the fun was in the Paleontology. It was like watching a documentary if we lived in a world where fairytale creatures were possible with a storyline added to make it more entertaining. Molly was my favorite to read. She was a strong teenager who refused to give up on her beliefs even if others with more knowledgable were telling her no. The writing was great and you could tell Erin S. Evan has a lot of knowledge on the subjects.

I would definently recomend this to anyone who loves dinosours, adventures and that possibility of fairytale creatures actually existed.

I was provided with an ARC of The Bone Wars by Erin Evan via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the publisher, the author, and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book!

First and foremost, I LOVED this book. If you are a fan of dinosaurs, fun facts, and adventure this book is for you!

The book follows a girl named Molly who finds herself heading to the Hell Creek Formation to dig up fossils for a summer after winning an internship. If that isn’t cool enough, she makes a groundbreaking discovery that sends her, and the other paleontologists she is working with, on an epic adventure far from their dusty dig site in Montana.

The author does a fantastic job of melding fact with myth. I loved all of the paleontology facts and history throughout the book and it really helped to work the fictional elements in nicely.

Throughout the book the point of view switches between Molly and the other paleontologists she is traveling with. The change in view helped get a more well-rounded picture of events; however, it would have been nice to get a bit more perspective from the opposing force working against them as the story went on.

Overall, 10/10 will read again. I really hope the author is working on a second book in the series. I can’t wait to read it and see what comes next!

No! Why did this book end so quickly. On a serious, THIS-BEST-PART-IS-GOING-TO-BE-FANTASTIC note!! 😂

For some reason, when I applied for this ARC it thought it was some sort of thriller. To my surprise, it turned out to be a Young Adult novel encompassing some mystery and a little fantasy.

The book starts out being narrated by a 16 year old girl who knew from the age of four, that she loved to dig. This, of course, led to her interest in paleontology - the study of fossils. With already two years of field work under her belt, she applied for an internship which she won and was sent to Glasgow, Kentucky, to work with paleontologist in the field, who had, too, won this award. They start digging and the paleontologist, Sarah, shows her Tyrannosaurus vertebrae she found along with a fantastic tooth that belonged to an unknown species It was different to any other fossil tooth ever found.

The girl then stumbles across a large fossilized skeleton in a cave, something even bigger than the biggest land walking apex predator on earth. When a government agency swoops in on confiscates all evidence.

Sarah and her team set off to figured out what it is that they are trying to hide by destroying this new species. And the journey leads them down a magnificent path.

This book had so many twists and turns, it was constantly interesting and taught me so much history of real paleontology - a field I have always loved myself. I love how the author was so dedicated to creating a full back story that included real great historical legends in the scientific world.

I also loved the author's style of writing. It flowed beautifully and I could not put the book down.

This book was FANTASTIC and I cannot wait for the sequel!!

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this novel before publication date in exchange for an honest review.

I have always thought that going on a dinosaur dig would be fun, even with the heat and seemingly tedious work. I was so excited to come across this YA book that combined the science of paleontology with the action-adventure that reminded me a bit of books like The DaVinci Code. I will for sure keep an eye out for the next installment.

For those of us who love anything dinosaurs or archaeology, this will be a treat. There is so much history, drama, and wonder in this book. There were so many things I didn't know and I appreciated the author's references at the end of the book.
There is a lot of adventure and excitement intertwined with the historical references s which keeps the book moving along.
I was surprised with the number of adults in the book. I don't know why I expected there to be younger characters - there was only one. She was the catalyst who linked everything together. I enjoyed her interactions with the adults but would have liked to see more teen characters.
All in all an interesting read..
Enjoy!

This book was a bit difficult to get through. I can’t say I fully enjoyed it, but I also didn’t quite dislike it either. It has a few issues: the chapters are narrated in first person by the different characters we follow, but it is unclear who is narrating when you begin each chapter. There’s some tense switching that I found a little distracting, as well. The prose itself is alright, nothing to write home about, and it is quite easy to read.

The book takes it time to start, which is a shame. It’s very clear the author cares intensely about the science aspect of the book, which I commend, but this is showcased in the book using up pages after pages of expository dialogue and prose about the ins-and-outs of paleontology. This is interesting, but it very quickly becomes tiresome when it seems the plot just won’t start until we are all fully informed about this.

There’s a character that very clearly lacks prominence before she turns out to be vital to the plot towards the end. I think this could have been done better because this character’s absence just started to be distracting. Another thing that bothered me a little was that Molly is constantly outsmarting every (highly-educated!) adult around her, pulling skills out of thin air at the most convenient of times. At a certain point it just became hard to believe this teenager would be that competent in comparison to the people around her.

The concept of this book is interesting, but the execution is just sloppy. None of the conflicts are given enough depth to be interesting or profound: things seem to just happen, one after another, with little thought or explanation. I congratulate the author on the passion she puts on display here when it comes to paleontology, because I think the book does offer a very interesting way of mixing that field of studies and fiction. I just wish the book managed to deliver its plot in a more elegant way.

Unfortunately this was a DNF for me. The plot of the story sounded awesome, but the amount of information spewed at the beginning felt like reading an encyclopedia. Also, the characters were not likeable at all. I usually can connect with one or two but not here.

DNF - 53%

No geral, esperava mais. A premissa me cativou deveras, logo que vi do que se tratava fiquei interessado em ver seu decorrer. Em contraposição a minha ansiedade e curiosidade, não precisou muito tempo de leitura para narração/descrição tirar de mim o que me trouxe a esse livro em primeiro lugar. Não diria que é uma escrita amadora, de fato não chega a isso, porém, foi, sem dúvidas, uma leitura lenta e arrastada até meu coração decidir que era hora de parar de me torturar e procurar algo que me divertisse. Uma pena.

Obrigado, NetGallery pelo arc./Thanks, NetGalley for the arc.

The first part of the story was about the description and discoveries of ancient fossils. Was told in the first person but somehow switched into the other characters which I felt lost in the middle and towards the end.

Overall the story and characters felt flat for me.

ARC from Netgalley & Inkshares Publishing.

2.9/5 stars

This one is a slightly odd mix of almost-science-fiction, historical-conspiracy thriller, and hard-core paleontology, with a substantial flavor of Michael Crichton, "The Da Vinci Code," and Indiana Jones threaded through it. There are four main characters: There’s Molly Wilder, California high school junior and dinosaur geek, with considerable volunteer field experience already under her belt. Now she’s won a summer internship at as very hot dig in Montana crammed with dinosaur fossils. There’s Sarah Connell, doctoral candidate and Molly’s crew boss on the dig. There’s Derek Farnsborough, a freelance paleontologist who sells the fossils he discovers on the open market -- which is perfectly legal, but his activities make him no friends in the academic community. He also has ambitions to build a museum in Montana. And there’s Prof. Sean Oliphant. Sarah’s academic supervisor and overseer of the dig, and a general p.i.a.. He and Derek have been at odds for a long time, naturally.
Molly has only bee on the site a couple of days when she stumbles over a mind-blowing find -- the almost perfectly preserved remains in the back of a shallow hillside cave of the very large dinosaur that seems to be a relative of T Rex, only bigger and with wings. The teeth and the clawed feet ought not to appear on the same animal, and the whole thing is black. It’s perfectly obvious to Molly what this thing is: It’s dragon. Ir at least it’s the creature the world’s dragon myths are based on. So they use very high-tech, ground-penetrating radar to record the details of the find and a cutting-edge 3-D printing to produce a smaller model, and it’s all very exciting.
But then government agents burst in, take everything in Farnsworth's warehouse, including the model, steal the original find, and destroy everything else on the site -- a huge amount of work, gone forever. They claim to be Bureau of Land Management and say the dig is on protected public land, but it doesn’t take long to disprove that. Of course, it’s now too late. But while the four of them are trying to figure what’s going on and what to do about it,they begin receiving surreptitious messages and clues by email, and the next thing you know, they’re off to London and the British Museum. And there they uncover more secrets and mysterious notes about the ancient Order of St. George, which appears to be behind the raid in Montana. And so the fast-paced adventure gets under way as the quartet take on the Bad Guys. And it’s not bad. The interplay among the characters is mostly well handled and the action scenes are semi-cinematic.
But there are problems. First, the action frequently pauses while the characters explain the history of paleontology to each other for the benefit of the reader. This sort of data-dump is a common failing among first-time novelists. Second, there are occasional bizarre infelicities of expression, like “A smile graced my lips,” that stopped me in my tracks. Also, I’ve never heard of anyone going into a pub in the British countryside and ordering “a set of fish and chips.” All of these things would have been red-penciled by any developmental editor.
Worse, though, is that each chapter is seen through the eyes of a different character (though not always as the narrator), but no indication is given of which person that is -- and it’s often difficult to figure out, except by slow elimination of each the others. Often, yore halfway through a chapter before you’ve figured out who’s talking. Not a good thing. The author should have put the speaker’s name in italics beneath each chapter title.
Finally, it’s just hard to believe that Molly, at sixteen, n matter how dedicated she might be to her studies, could be as deeply knowledgeable about the field -- and a great many other things in various subjects -- as she appears to be. (Oliphant even makes a sarcastic comment about her “Jeopardy-level knowledge.”) She knows details of the personal and professional lives of a large number 19th-century scientists, just offhand, that a college graduate in paleontology would expect to have to look up. And this only the first volume of a projected trilogy.