I loved Dr. Black's last book on the events following the Chicxulub impact that killed the dinosaurs. Dr. Black takes a similar narrative structure in When the Earth Was Green, providing little vignettes through time of the environment, this time including plant life. While her writing remains beautiful and well formed, I find myself much less appreciative of this format this go around.

Dr. Black focuses on particular examples of focus on in crafting the story of each moment in time, with little time spent digging into the science behind it. That is saved for the appendix which makes up a fifth of the book. While that approach worked for me before, I'm not finding it feels disjointed.

Perhaps I've changed as a reader over the last 3 years, but I think there its deeper than that. The impact that killed the dinosaurs was a specific event, where each vignette communicated both a picture of the moment and how that impacted the life present, but each moment was intricately connected in a way that formed a cohesive story. Here, our focus is much broader. The result is a story that feels disjointed, with chapters that don't properly flow. That is exacerbated by the deeper discussion that we are supposed to get from the Appendix, literarily being separated from the actual story.

In short, I don't love the structure. Bifurcating the narrative and the science just feels like a lazy solution. Truth be told, I felt similarly in the last book, but I was able to look past that because the narrative was stronger. Even just appending the science discussion to each chapter would have read better. Although, I think it would have worked better if the focus was more on the science this time, with each narrative merely hooking the reader into the moment and the excitement of learning about what we know and how. Of course, that is easier said then done, and I am disappointed with what we ended up getting.

Thanks to NetGalley for the Audio-ARC, provided for a review. The narration is solid. The narrator isn't my favorite, but she brings the emotion and energy when the narrative calls for it.

This book was such a surprising read. I listened to this book on audio through NetGalley and between the voice actor's delivery and the content of the book itself, you could tell how much passion and research went into this book. This book is so engaging and anyone who is afraid of reading nonfiction for fear it will be dry or boring, should pick this one up. Each chapter is focused on a specific animal or plant living in our prehistoric planet, going chronologically throughout evolution. This book reads like little short stories, or even more so like watching Animal Planet. The notes at the end of the book discussing each chapter in more depth were also critical in providing additional context to the individual evolutionary stories, and though I sometimes skip authors notes, these are a must-read. Black is such an engaging storyteller and I am looking forward to picking up more of their works.
Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book early.

Rating: 4,5/5 stars

<b>ARC Review</b>

<b>Scale information:</b>
<b>1:</b> terrible, awful, I cannot stop ranting about how bad it was; <b>3:</b> this is exactly what I expect from a book of this genre; <b>5:</b> I cannot stop thinking about this book, I must own a copy, I will tell everyone to read it.

I listened to this as an audiobook. I think I had high expectations for this after finishing Black's [book:The Last Days of the Dinosaurs: An Asteroid, Extinction, and the Beginning of Our World|57693295]. I struggled to stay invested in the story, but this is simply because I'm not that interested in plants. Overall, there was a lot of interesting tidbits, and the information was presented in an easily-digestible way. Looking forward to more books by this author!

<i>I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.</i>

This is a wonderful book that examines and explains the importance of the small parts that led to how the world evolved to what we are today. Yes most folks only care about the megafauna of the time...and unfortunately I am one of those people. I work with large animals, plants are so strange to me. While this was interesting it couldn't break down that personal mental block.

This was an absolutely fantastic look into the past of life on Earth. A definite must read for anyone interested in the science of life.

This is an excellent exploration of how plants evolved and influenced the evolution of animals throughout prehistory.

It is written as a journey to the past, beginning when plants first began to move onto land and then moving forward through the millennia as the nature of plants and animals changed. In each time visited, the plants and animals are brought to life in a vibrant portrait of what life looked like during that time. A hungry mosquito gets stuck in amber. An elderly mastodon crunches through trees, trying to conserve its remaining teeth. It's the next best thing to stepping into a time machine and visiting those times yourself.

My science-loving 11-year-old is absolutely enraptured by this exploration of times past and has loved listening to it at bedtime. He has learned a ton, as have I, listening beside him. On the night we finished the audiobook, before we started, kiddo said "Do you know what we should do when this is finished? We should start over from the beginning." That is a sign of a good audiobook - when he loves it enough to immediately want to experience it again.

The science is fascinating, and the writing is stellar. The combination makes for a truly excellent nonfiction reading experience.

The narrator did a great job bringing life to the text and their voice conveys the emotion and drama of the text beautifully.

Riley Black is absolutely going on my must-read list and kiddo and I will be reading her previous books as soon as possible.

*Thanks to St. Martin's Press and Macmillan Audio for providing an early copy for review.

I don’t typically read scientific books like this, but occasionally I try to expand my knowledge base and will try to make it through a non fiction book like this. I listened to the audiobook of this and really enjoyed it. It’s a dense subject but the author wrote it in a storytelling style that made it much more digestible. Very interesting to think about how prehistoric animals and plants evolved through such a delicate and complex process.
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC

I really thought this book was super informative, interesting and a good read if you want to learn more about prehistoric times.

I thought it was written well, laid out good, and made learning so much exciting.

DNF @ 33%

I am always down for learning more about history, the world, plants, and animals, but for some reason I could not bring myself to finish this audiobook.

I found it hard to hold all the information in my head both as I listened and after I finished a listening session. While the information is given to readers in a way that makes sense and is mostly accessible, I found that the ever changing and evolving story-into-information was not as accessible via audio.

I would like to give the physical book a chance one day.

A beautifully written and deeply informative exploration of the vital role plants have played in shaping life on Earth. Riley Black masterfully weaves scientific insight with vivid storytelling, bringing prehistoric landscapes to life while highlighting the intricate connections between plants and animals throughout history. From oxygenating the atmosphere to influencing evolution, the book offers a fresh perspective on the silent but powerful forces that have shaped our world. While dense at times, it’s a fascinating and eye-opening read for anyone interested in natural history and the deep-time story of life on Earth.

This narrative nonfiction book explores the relationships between prehistoric flora and fauna in a series of vignettes that span from the earliest life on earth through to the ice ages. I found these snippets engaging and informative. In some ways, they reminded me of Rachel Carson’s earlier works like Under the Sea-Wind. A couple moments that stood out for me were the sections describing Apatosaurus, mosquitoes trapped in amber, and mastodons. It was interesting to learn about the constant push-and-pull between plants and animals across time.

The audiobook is narrated by Wren Mack. I thought they did a good job bringing the various time periods to life. The narration includes the appendices for the book. I usually skip these because they tend to just be list of sources, which is difficult for me to comprehend while listening. However, the appendices in this book read much more like an extension of the book itself. I found these parts thoughtful and interesting. I thought it was worth the listen.

When the Earth Was Green: Plants, Animals, and Evolution's Greatest Romance contains loads of information about some of the strangest life on the planet.

Riley Black explains the evolution of plants and life, in general. Though science often uses asumption or hypotheses, Black uses concrete data and evidence to back their most obscure and far reaching conclusions. For Black, their nature coming out using the masks of several idenitities that plants use. The characters in this story identify as one being, the Earth. But their differences show individual places belonging on the planet. No one sees nature through the same lens yet we all share the air and water.

An excellent narration and interesting storyline.

Thank you Macmillan Audio and Net Galley for this review copy.

When the Earth Was Green is an engaging and informative romp through the history of plant life on earth. Black takes what could be a dry academic topic and gives it a narrative through line that holds the readers attentions as well as holding the information together. The audio was well done and easy to listen to. I broke it into chapter to give myself time to digest the information and it was a great way to absorb it all. Great for nature and history buffs alike.

When the Earth was Green is a nature nonfiction book that chronicles the evolution of life on earth from the first photo-synthesizers all the way up to our most distant homosapien-like ancestors.

I loved how this book was told through little imagined vignettes of what different creatures may have experienced millions & billions of years ago, and I’m so impressed with how poetic the writing was while still providing lots of scientific detail.

I also loved the connections to queer themes. In the conclusion the author talks about her trans identity and draws parallels between gender (and lack there of) in nature and in the human experience. It made a beautiful point about the importance of diversity in all facets of the natural world, from the beginning of time to modern society.

I listened to the audiobook & highly recommend it! It seriously reads like a nature documentary. And can someone please explain to me why even the appendix was fun to listen to?!

Loved how understandable and informational this book was. I have always enjoyed science but find that when I read a book about physics, astronomy or biology it can feel over my head and I seek out the children's version of the book to better understand the concepts; I did not feel that way with this book!!

Very interesting and kept me intrigued through the book.

The narrator is amazing as well and gives the book movement with her reading.

Calling Tree Huggers!

This narrative nonfiction natural history read (I listened to the audiobook) is all about the evolution of earths prehistoric vegetation and how it was instrumental to support life on this planet. IMO, this book belongs in schools - it’s informative, fun and easy to understand (it’s quite scientific at times) and truly is beautiful written. The narrator is spectacular as well.

This book won the 2024 ‘A Friend of Darwin’ award - and now I want to find every single book that ever won it:)

I highly recommend the audiobook 🌿🌿🌿🌿/5

Thanks to o #netgalley and @macmillan.audio and #rileyblack for this #audiobookarc - I loved it!

When the Earth Was Green was a Macmillan Audio pick. It was intriguing to learn about the relationship between prehistoric plants & how life evolved on Earth. Black begins the book by pointing out that so often we think of plants as the background to “more advanced” life-forms. But plants & other living things didn’t evolve separately, in their own vacuums. Instead, each affected the other. Black says, “Genetics alone are useless. DNA only makes sense in the context of its environment.” This was something I had never really thought of before, but immediately the world around me made more sense.

I cannot express enough how much I loved that in the conclusion of this book, Black makes the science & history of plants & the Earth a little more personal. “A crab apple tree growing in the yard or the roses we give each other to celebrate are plants that contain marks of what we may deem both male & female in the same plant. Betraying our bias to split these identities even when they are very much part of the same organism…. Of course there are plants in which what we designate as male & female parts exist on different individual plants or different parts of the same plant or involve varying expressions over a plant’s life.” Black goes on, “And just as an individual plant may express different sex related characteristics in varying parts of its body or at different times of its life, the same is true of our species. I know, because I’ve lived it.” Black tells us that she is a transgender woman. “Every body, yours included, contains the capacity to express in ways we might think of as male or female in different combinations, all depending upon our life histories & the choices we make for ourselves.”

I truly had no idea a correlation could be made between plants & queerness, despite learning some of the basics of plant reproduction in school. But the fact that Black so clearly displays the benefits of diversity among plants, & other organisms, & applies that same ideology to queerness among the human species really struck me as so important for the future of society, & life as we know it.

I think some of the more scientific language could lose certain readers, but the appendices at the end of the books were also fun & helpful. The narrator was fantastic imo. Despite being a nonfiction science book, Black’s narrative is quite romantic & poetic. This book was five stars for me!

always worry when I listen to a nonfiction book that it will feel like I'm listening to a lecture. I did not feel that way with Riley Black's new book. Wren Mack, the narrator, does a great job with tone and inflections so that it feels more conversational. Instead of droning on, Mack reads the text as someone with a passion for the subject.

Last year, I didn't feel like I read many nonfiction books so I'm trying to do better this year. Like last year, I'm also trying to dapple in subjects that I'm not familiar with. When the Earth Was Green focuses on paleontology. I've never been much into dinosaurs so I count this as stepping out of my comfort zone though a lot of biology is discussed.

Black makes the reader really care about the subject. I never thought I would feel sorry for a mosquito. But when she describes it trying to fly against forceful winds so that it can get a blood meal but it is pushed back towards the tree and into resin, I was actually sad for the mosquito.

I particularly liked the chapter and appendix about cats and catnip. I never thought about whether saber tooth tigers would go crazy for catnip.

It was a quick listen. It's just over 9 hours, but I listened to it in 2 days. It flows really well and held my interest.

You don't need a science background to enjoy this book. If you are curious about the world, then I recommend getting this book.

My review will be published at Girl Who Read on Wednesday - https://www.girl-who-reads.com/2025/02/when-earth-was-green-plants-animals-and.html

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an advanced audio copy of this book!

The author's passion for the subject shines through the narrative, and I enjoyed the narrator's enthusiasm in the audiobook.

My expectations were met based on the description of this book, and I can see many other readers relishing the details shared here of what Earth looked like over 55 million years ago. I've never been as interested in dinosaurs as I am in plants and animals of our time, so I wasn't as engaged in those elements, but I think many other readers will be.

I was surprised by the personal notes the author provided in the concluding chapter (since little of the rest of the book was about the author's personal experience), but I'm here for what she shared, and I appreciated that vulnerability. It provided a new perspective on how to appreciate the interconnections between the human and natural worlds.

I loved the closing line that ended with, "...and acknowledge we're creatures of possibility too."

Overall, this was a thoughtful exploration of ecology, natural history, and how life from the distant past connects to our lives today. I'm glad I read it and will recommend it to others.

Riley Black is what I imagine when I picture an ideal scientist. One who freely acknowledges that humans don't, can't, and won't understand every facet of the world around us - in some cases because we do not physically have a way to see, measure, or understand everything involved. There are questions we'd never think to ask because our bodies lack the method in which to perceive certain information. That's a fact. That she talked about this in the introduction really got me on board and made me trust her perspective.

The book contains gobs of incredible information from a planet's-eye-view of the history of life on Earth. She walks us through different epochs and discusses the effect that the flora has impacted the planet itself, as well as the fauna that developed alongside it. I was absolutely fascinated by the subject matter, and the narrative was very engaging as well. The narrator, Wren Mack, also did a great job making the sometimes dense or very detailed information engaging and easy to absorb and understand.

The deduction to four stars was only for the last chapter that started talking about queerness and trans-genderism that was completely out of left field and unnecessary. It felt SO out of place in a book like this...I'm struggling to understand why it was included at all. Something about the way it was presented was just counter to the way the rest of the book was presented and left a bad taste in my mouth. I'm not saying it should be in ANY book, or that there's anything wrong with what was said, but that it didn't belong in THIS book. I wish the whole book would have been framed to support it more, or have it be left out entirely. A double-gendered flower might be considered 'perfect', but that's because it can reproduce with any other double-gendered flower. Transgenderism & queerness is...not that? Hermaphrodism, maybe, but that was not mentioned. At best, the argument is apples and oranges, and for me, wasn't successful for her purposes, and was very disappointing in a book that has otherwise very compelling science on its side. Four stars is generous considering how much that chapter altered my experience of this book.