Bumpy Oak Books

2 stars

** I received an electronic copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for honest review.**

This book was not at all what I expected from the synopsis.

I expected to follow Nikki, an archeology grad student who makes an unprecedented find while on a dig site in South America. Little did I know, she would only feature in the prologue and epilogue. I assume her story gets picked up in the sequel to this book, but who knows at this point.

Instead, a time skip and a hop and we are introduced to Rogaan and Pax. Best friends, who live in an unidentified ancient time during which big, nasty beasties run about and attack folk, each other, and whatever else they fancy. I’m still on board for the story at this point. Unfortunately, there was just really awkward pacing, some odd inconsistencies, and a disproportionate amount of time describing physical aspects of the setting rather than truly world-building or developing characters. I had to force myself to finish the book, and will not be tuning in to find out more.

Ultimately, some really cool concepts and some really wonky execution leave me feeling disappointed and disgruntled. Perhaps this one just wasn’t for me, and I hope other people are able to enjoy it better than I did.