This book is billed as a YA DaVinci Code meets Jurassic Park, and I think that’s a perfect description of the vibes of this book! Molly, a high school student, is interning at a paleontology dig in Montana for the summer when she and the team find what appears to be a dragon fossil. This discovery sends them on an epic adventure around the globe to uncover the truth.

The plot for this book is really fun and moves quickly and the author is an experienced paleontologist and it shows. It felt really different from anything else I’ve read, so it may stick with me! Unfortunately, those are the only positive things I can say about this book. The writing was simply not very good, so it was tough to get through despite the fast pacing. I probably would have DNFed, but this is my first NetGalley book and I was feeling stubborn. There’s a lot of technical detail towards the beginning that was a bit dense, and it felt awkward when a group of knowledgeable paleontologists were explaining things to each other that they definitely would have all known just for the sake of the reader. The book is told from multiple points of view, which can be a great device when used well, but it felt really unnecessary in this case. Maybe I just feel that way because I found all of the characters annoying.

This is YA so I’m not the target audience for this book. It’s a fun and original premise, so I hope it finds the right audience and works better for younger readers than it did for me!

This review will also appear on my Goodreads page. This one was interesting. I was invested in the beginning. I thought it was a YA-style Jurassic Park-esque story. The descriptions of paleontology was interesting, but it almost began to feel like the definitions and explanations were pulled right from a dictionary. I started to lose interest. I'm not sure if I was the right market for this one. The story started to take a wild turn. One reviewer compared it to the 39 Clues and I kind of agree with that. I think I just went into it expecting something different and unfortunately this one didn't work for me.

3 stars. I was one of those children that wanted to be either an archaeologist or a paleontologist when I grew up so I thought I was pre-dispositioned to like this book. I really enjoyed the overall premise but found the first-person jumping storyline a bit confusing and detracted from the narrative.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early peek at the novel. My views are my own.

I received an arc of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I really really wanted to like this book. I loved the idea of paleontology being a huge premise of the book and having a bit of mystery in there. I can tell the author either did a lot of research or this is her profession as there was a lot of specific information in the book. While most of it was interesting, it did feel a bit like info dumping at times.

It was the characters though that ruined the book for me. There were too many points of view. Especially, when they all sound the same. I kept forgetting whose's point of view the chapter was in. This should have just been written in third person honestly. The characters were a bit one-dimensional as well. It's like the author picked two personality traits for each character and that was their whole persona. There was no depth or really any character growth.

With the mystery aspect of this book, it felt way too easy. Everything either came naturally to them or they had just amazing luck and stumbled upon clues. I didn't get to feel like I was solving a mystery about their unknown dinosaur bone.

The idea was there. If the characters were a bit more developed and the plot a bit more thought out, I think this would have been an amazing read. Overall, if you are easy to please and like fossils, this is the book for you. It just wasn't enough for me.

The concept sounded awesome, and I had just read some of Naomi Novik's books about dragons, but I just could not get into this one. The writing style didn't grab me and it felt like an infodump about dinosaurs at times. The sentences were short and choppy, and the book didn't draw me in. I love the idea for the plot, but like several other readers, I was less impressed with the execution.

Unfortunately, I won't be finishing this one--DNF at 35%

I found the writing style not one that I connected with. It was simultaneously too immature and too dense. The author clearly has a wealth of knowledge and passion for paleontology and I applaud her for that. The glimpses into a working paleontologist's life were fascinating. However, those glimpses came because of knowledge/information dumps. I wish an editor had helped the author rework those. They really slowed the book and decreased my excitement. Also, I really wasn't connecting with Molly: the voice the author wrote her in was just...it never rang true and sounded merely immature, honestly. Again, something I wish an editor had helped the author with.

Thanks to NetGalley and Inkshares for the opportunity to read this ebook ARC. All opinions are mine alone.

This is an excellent read! I live mixing science with fiction stories so the reader is actively learning and I learned so much from this. Every child loves dinosaurs and this book goes several fascinating steps beyond that. An excellent book that I highly recommend!

I wanted to like this. I really did, but there was too much info dumping and not enough story. It might appeal to some, but it left me wanting a whole lot more.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

OVERALL:

I don't hate this book and I will absolutely read the rest of the series. I may not be not sleeping at night waiting for the day it releases, but I enjoyed it enough to want to know what happens.

There are many many pros to this book, and a few cons but overall it was a decent book. I will go over both at the same time within different categories.

Characters and Character Building

PROS:
-I really could relate to Molly (my BFF is named Molly and is obsessed with dinosaurs) and although annoying at times, Oliphant was realistic for a self obsessed person.

CONS:
-The book didn't touch too much on Sarah until the end, even though she turns out to be a pretty important character. I am assuming more of her will appear later in the series.

- It seemed like Molly, although very smart, seemed to figure out everything. latin? She knows. Random riddle? she knows that too. It didn't seem too realistic that a 16 year old would figure out everything 98% before a bunch of very intelligent and well known paleo people.

- Fransworth mentioned he is only a few years older than Oliphant, yet the author makes him seem kinda air-headed - like he knows nothing about technology, or the latest trends, yet he is this amazing fossil dealer and is involved with black market stuff. I don't really understand that. Logically sounds like he should be pretty cunning per his background.

WRITING:

I read this book in just around 6 hours over two days. It's a very easy read and I didn't mind the style as much as some people didn't. It's very YA.

PROS:
- The author has a background of paleontology herself, and she incorporated that a lot, and I absolutely loved it. It was pretty visual in the beginning, and her facts about dinosaurs were right on. I enjoyed learning a lot myself about certain dinosaurs. Some may find it fact heavy, but I thought it was great. Erin (author) also used real place locations and people which she explained in a break down in the end - and that was super cool.

CONS:
- FOR THE LOVE OF GOD PLEASE LET US KNOW THE POV THE CHAPTER IS WRITTEN FROM. I love different POV writing, but I don't like having to figure it out myself over the first couple paragraphs. I often found myself saying "okay, well it's not Sarah because she was mentioned.. It wasn't this person because.."... It's small but heavily weighted on my enjoyment - especially since it seemed very random over the four main characters.

PLOT:

PROS:
- this was such a great plot line for a neat story. it has great "bones" (heh get it) to be a great series. I do see some people getting amped up (both negative and positive) about the whole God/Evolution thing, but I didn't mind it.

CONS:
- it seemed to "national treasure" for me. What I mean is that, the characters get a bunch of hints and they need to travel on what seems like with unlimited money, to different countries, ultimately just getting kidnapped by a company in the end which explains the situation. Why couldn't this company just reach out to them in the first place? I am assuming the author did this for many reasons including making it more believable for both reader and characters to go through this wild goose chase and making sure the are not with 'the order' but the execution didn't jive with me much.

- Some things also seemed... "how were they not discovered already - ish".. You are telling me no one explored that cave before Molly? No one thought to enter that dirt pile mound thing and discover a body?

- nothing really happened until the last 20 pages. it was a very slow build. I feel like this book is just an ultimate slow build to the rest of the series. I just wish it had a little more 'oomph'. I found myself really hoping *something* would happen eventually.

Again, in summary, I enjoyed the story for what it was, but I hope the author fixes the POV view with labeling the chapters, and making some more exciting things happen :)

Thanks to NetGalley for provding the arc for an honest review!
Unfortunately I did not enjoy this book as i expected to, the synopsis had me interested but sadly I don't think the writing style was for me. I'm sure anyone really interested in paleontology or academia will appreciate this more but sadly I did not dig it.

I just didn't enjoy most of the characters and the plot was quite slow. Really interesting concept but wasn't a fan of the story itself.

2.25 stars

"the bone wars" could be effectively summarized as a wishy-washy conspiracy theory.

its been a while since i have landed myself into such a hot mess
all the stars for the first part (about 75-ish pages) and the first part only. though some of the trivia was pretty cool. but trust me even as a nerd i couldn't interest myself in all the information the author was blatantly throwing my way like yay for paleontology and dinosaurs but there's a lot of random stuff in here (that too in the same book where it is highlighted some of the characters don't know GOT and Hercule Poirot).

PS - i really really wanted to like this and im kinda sad i didn't.

Thanks to NetGalley for the Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) for an honest review/feedback.

This is definitely a five for me even with the problems I noticed.

First, I would like to say that it was very hard sometimes to figure out which chapter was who, because it changed all the time and the point of view and character wasn't always clear.

Other than that, I didn't have any problems or lack of enjoyment.

I've always loved archeology and paleontology in general, not to mention mythical creatures.
When I picked this up I was so excited for it.

It took me a bit longer to read than usual, I'm not really sure why because I full out enjoyed it.

The relationship between all the characters was something I enjoyed immensely. And those characters are my life right now. Derek and Oliphants bickering and bantering. Not to mention watching those characters grow!

Easy to read and with a beautiful cover to match.

I can't wait for book two!!!

This was a fun read. There is a lot of real science woven into the fantastical parts of this story.

The adults in this story make unbelievable decisions to include Molly in adventures and danger that felt almost nonsensical in its irresponsibility but kids will love it.

The POV shifts every chapter and the author doesn’t identify the speaker so the first several paragraphs of every chapter is wasted figuring out who is speaking .. The ending feels somewhat abrupt and is clearly meant to be the beginning of a series. The author leaves the reader with mostly unanswered questions.

As an adult, I struggled with the unrealistic behavior of the adults. I loved the premise and the weaving of the mythical and the scientific. The teens who use my library will enjoy this title..

Una gran premisa pobremente ejecutada. Así es como definiría a este libro.
La idea me pareció genial, me emocionaba muchísimo leer algo que mezclara la ciencia ficción y la fantasía de esta forma, pero desgraciadamente a medida que el libro iba avanzando, esa emoción inicial se perdió y me encontré batallando por terminarlo.
Creo que los múltiples puntos de vista jugaron en contra de la historia. Algunos no aportaban tanto y me encontré varias veces aburrida cuando leía algunos de ellos.

Puntuación final: 2.5/5

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

A great premise poorly executed. That is how I would define this book.
I thought the idea was great, I was really excited to read something that mixed science fiction and fantasy in this way, but unfortunately as the book progressed, that initial excitement was lost and I found myself struggling to finish it.
I think the multiple points of view played against the story. Some of them didn't add that much and I found myself bored several times when I read some of them.

Final Rating: 2.5/5

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this early access in exchange for my honest review.

I would like to start off by thanking NetGalley and Inkshares for providing me with an ARC of this book.

The Bone Wars has taken my childhood dream of being a paleontologist and breathed life back into it. I felt as though I was living vicariously through Molly Wilder and her gang. This book feels like a thorough mix of Jurassic Park meets National Treasure.

The story mainly focuses on teenage Molly Wilder and the summer paleontology internship that she has scored through a big corporation. While her summer dig site starts off fairly normal it soon gets turned on its head as she seemingly discovers a new type of fossil. This added layer of geomythology gave the book a welcome twist and set up for the rest of the series. This book also offers secret societies, a mystery to unravel, and lots of hasty trips to famous museums and other archaeological locations.

While the story does have an air of predictability I enjoyed the banter between the characters. Great for readers who enjoy the found family trope. This book is a good way for young adults and children to learn more about paleontology without feeling like they’re reading from a textbook.

The only real gripe I have with this book is that it does not label the POV at the beginning of the chapter. This made it a little complicated for me at times and I was forced to use context to put it together. For the first installation of the series I feel like it did a great job of setting the groundwork for Molly and co’s future adventures.

Definitely an interesting read. Not particularly for me, but I can see how fans of science fiction and fantasy would appreciate this unique spin on the genre itself.

The story centers on a 16-year-old Molly and her compelling adventure as a future paleontologist. On a rare internship opportunity, she gets to experience a dig where they just might discover the impossible...in more ways than one.

I loved the little found family in this book, and of course the multiple POVs of each character in the interesting and diverse cast.

“The Bone Wars” by Erin S. Evan had so much promise. How could a story that blends paleontology and dragons go wrong? Because it tried to do too much.

Buried in the acknowledgement section, Evan wrote, “I’ve tried to make the science, folklore, and geomythology as accurate as I possibly could…[and also] tried to bring in real people and real historical locations.” It’s clear that the author did their research, but unfortunately it comes across as if we’re reading Evan’s study notes rather than a book. There are pages upon pages where the characters are discuss paleontology concepts in thorough detail. Although it makes sense for the context of where the characters were at the time, it was handled in a manner too off putting for casual dinosaur enthusiasts like myself.

The discussions bring up another problem I identified with the version I read of “The Bone Wars”—it relied too much on dialogue. There are few times I can remember descriptions of locations or actions or even characters’ thoughts. It was all dialogue. At the beginning, we even had several pages of the transcription of a fictional TED talk, which did not seem to be relevant later in the story, given the amount of time and detail spent on it.

The characters suited the story, but instead of the four main characters we had, it could have been condensed into three. One of the main characters, Sarah, seemed almost superfluous until the last 50 or so pages of the book. Had that character’s relevant attributes been distributed among the other characters, it would have tightened up the story and made for a more compelling read.

The character of Molly Wilder, the teenage intern, was also a strange addition to the cast as she was so much younger than the other characters. It seems too much of a suspension of disbelief that a teen would win a prestigious internship and be allowed to work on a dig for a whole summer.

It is a further suspension of disbelief that sixteen year old Molly is the most competent one of the whole book. She’s the one to identify what the mysterious fossile is, she’s the one to uncover a larger conspiracy in the paleontology community, she’s the one who deciphers clues on their globe-trotting adventures, she’s the one that helps them escape from danger multiple times, etc. The real mystery of “The Bone Wars” is not the black fossile uncovered in Montana, it’s why Molly needed any of the adults to do anything for her beyond purchase her many tickets.

“The Bone Wars” was a tremendous struggle for me to finish because, despite the fact that the book has such a compelling premise, it was so amateurishly produced. There’s a lot of work that needs to be done by Evan and her team before it’s ready to be published.

The summary of this book is interesting (which is why I wanted to read it, of course!), but the execution of telling the story leaves much to be desired.

This is a tough book to get through for several reasons:

-It's just accepted that Molly is a smart kid, or some type of prodigy. She displays a lot of practical knowledge and intelligence, but I didn't find it believable for some reason. It also seems like have a minor on a professional dig site is an insurance and liability disaster.

- All of the adults, at the top of their profession, needed a child to connect the dots?

- The author obviously knows a lot of paleontology and how dig sites work, but the technical aspects of language will be unknown to a lot of readers.

I just didn't find the book enjoyable and it was a serious slog to get through. Only finished it because I owed the publisher a review; if I had purchased this or borrowed from the library I would have quit at 30% in.

At the start of a summer internship at a dig site, Molly discovers a strange fossil that doesn't quite fit the description of any species of dinosaur ever found before. However, based on her obsession with mythology, Molly was able to notice striking similarities between the creature and a dragon. Before the team of paleontologists can even begin to work on identifying the creature, the fossil, along with all of their research and other finds, are stolen by a group posing as government agents. This leads Molly, Sarah, Derek Farnsworth, and Sean Oliphant on an international adventure to identify this revolutionary discovery before all evidence of its existence is destroyed.

I loved how this book seamlessly bridges the gap between paleontology and mythology with the use of actual people and locations. Throughout the book there are fake letters between actual scientists at the top of their field, such as Charles Darwin. It was a bit slow going at first. I felt like the first 50 or so pages was extremely paleontology heavy in ways that didn't add anything to the story line. With the characters backgrounds in paleontology, certain jargon and paths of thinking are expected; however, this was a bit excessive in my opinion. After the 50 page mark, I feel like there was a better balance and that the science related information actually benefited the plot.

The book switches between the viewpoints of the four main character with a change each chapter. I feel like making the POV clear at the beginning of a chapter would be beneficial. At the start of each chapter, I had to spend a page or two trying to figure out which character's POV it was. I don't thin that that type of guess work should be needed when reading a book.

I feel like the future installations of this series will be much better than this one, but I don't think that is entirely uncommon of series. This book introduced the larger problem to be faced in the upcoming books during the characters' adventures.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review from the publisher, which has not altered my opinion of this book. I would like to thank NetGalley and Inkshares for the advanced copy.

The whole concept of this book was so fascinating to me and sounded so interesting, I was very excited to read it when I got approved for a copy. However, right off the bat, within the first few chapters, I knew that this book would not be receiving any more than a 3 out of 5 from me. Unfortunately, between the pacing, the scientific info dumping, and the main character, this book was all over the place as far as what age it was written for and the intended audience.

It is obvious from reading the beginning that the author has some experience with actually participating in digs, which is awesome! They went into details and I really did enjoy that, however, for the ya genre I think it got a bit too wordy.

I also don’t know if it was because my version is an ARC, but there was nothing to indicate that there was going to be a POV change until it happened and it took me a second to figure out what was going on. I assume that will be changing in the final version, but for me it was confusing and took me several switches to get used to.