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I'm convinced it's the artwork that kept me reading this series. It's SO beautiful. I was amazed at the expressiveness in some of the panels. It's enough to make you stop reading and just stare for a few seconds.

Koharu ends up in a polygamous marriage with a man who already has two wives. I don't have any issues with polyamorous relationships. I know people in healthy relationships with multiple partners. The thing is is you're not in a relationship with one person who's also in a relationship with 1 or more other people. Not in the kind of situation in this series at least.

It took quite awhile for the wives to start bonding and talking about how they deal with the tensions their relationship can cause. Throughout most of the first book this lifestyle is portrayed in a manipulative and abusive way more than I was comfortable with. Yes, I understand that there needs to be drama, tension, and humor to keep readers engaged, but I think these things could have been accomplished without the seemingly unnecessary unhealthy actions of the characters at certain times. This series may be aimed at men, but the story could have still progressed without manipulation and extortion of women. Then again, we haven't seen every motive as this series is till ongoing. Perhaps I'm looking for the best in characters when I shouldn't be. Remains to be seen.

I had to regularly keep in mind to look past the culture differences of gender roles. If you're able to do that then this series is rather engaging. Again, the art!

DNF 2.2% I'm cringing that I already know this won't be for me.

I went into this thinking it would be a bit like Waterworld, but with nonstop rain. It's not. There seems to be plenty of land left. An older guy and a teenage girl manage to go from land to land almost every day in a run-down canoe. Why don't they have a better boat? Everything's wet and soggy but there's still enough wood to make fires. How is this possible?

We aren't going to get enough science to satisfy my requirements to keep reading. I can't suspend my belief so much as to tolerate that she just doesn't care enough to ask or try to figure out what happened to the world to make it rain constantly. She doesn't even seem to care about the one person she's relying on in life.

This was a 3.5 review worth rounding up. It would have been higher but one character was so annoying I actually wanted them to be eaten or slapped.All around interesting and solid dinosaur scifi thriller with a decent attempt at science. At 45% of the way through I had to stop and rewatch the movie, which is incidentally about where the book starts to differ quite a bit. It's probably sacrilegious but I think the movie was better. I could rewatch the movie over and over; once was enough for the book.The acknowledgements mention [a:Robert T. Bakker 68286 Robert T. Bakker https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1303492859p2/68286.jpg]. I recommend checking out his book [b:Raptor Red 117710 Raptor Red Robert T. Bakker https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1533437168s/117710.jpg 986300].

So, the summary doesn't really do this book justice. Of course this book is kind of cliche and cheesy, but it has characters that have their own separate personalities and it totally worked for me. It was a fun little read. Don't expect any insane out-of-left-field drama or obstacles. Things are more realistic and relatable. Actually, on that note, I was hoping for more friction from the nasty nanny. Maybe there'll be a sequel and that snake can rear her head.

Some stuff I loved

• The pacing was perfect at first. The characters set eyes on each other more than 2 times before getting it on. Their first date was right on. I've been there, done that. Towards the middle I started getting impatient. I wanted even more Blair and Declan but there was more Blair and Raine. Towards the end things started to move really fast between Blair and Declan. Like, a little too fast. Then I realized that's kind of how it happens in real life. To commit, or to not commit.

• Can I be Raine's friend too? She's kinda awesome. It's the simple touches that made me identify with her. Like a text from her that reads, “Why can't I ever learn the difference between lay and lie?” I don't know, but it's one of my few common grammar second guesses. I feel you there Raine.

• This book passage
“Boys will be boys and all that.” I looked up from the blinking cursor on my screen.“I hate that phrase. It's just an excuse for boys to be dicks and explain their way out of it,” I said.

• Literary pop-culture references. Hello, Harry Potter.

Some stuff I didn't like

• The sort of stalking. That made me uncomfortable. Bad idea. Abort!

• Where they hook up. Do people do that?

• Blair taking a shower around Declan after being all dolled up, and having no makeup on from what I gathered. Oh, and then going straight to work still in her date dress. Yeah, right...

• Typos or little misses in editing. I had the ebook version, but still. They became a little more frequent in the last half.

• The thing I hated the most was all the food. How much are you going to scarf down Blair?! No, you're not a big girl because you were born that way, or that's just how you are and it's no big deal. You're overweight because you overeat and it's some pretty unhealthy fare. Plus, little to no exercise. Treats are nice. Splurge on dates. But cut those portions in half and don't eat multiple ice cream bars or plates of cookies at a time. Blegh.

DNF at 38%

Flock: Spotting a Fuckboy for Dummies

This steaming pile of crap triggered some PTSD and made me feel nonstop rage making me remember all the shitty boys who ever pursued me or I was dumb enough to date. Literally every character sucks. They're all assholes or stupid af. Sean is one constant red flag after another. He is everything I do not want in a man in reality or my books. I've dated my fair share of Sean's. He can go get hit by a bus. Rapey creep. Fuck off and die.

Where's the line to slap some sense into Cecelia? I tried so hard to give her some leeway since she is so young and dumb with the most oblivious parents on the planet. I just feel mad on her behalf and sorry for her. My dad would have taken Sean by the back of his neck and told him if he came sniffing around again he'd be eating his own teeth.

If a boy breaks your personal belongings kick him to the curb.
If a boy has terrible friends, he's just as terrible. Pun intended, birds of a feather flock together.
If a boy doesn't defend you, news flash, he doesn't really like you. He's not worth any more of your time.

While reading this I realized I'd read it in my early teens, but I barely remembered it. This was actually probably the book where I learned the word coitus. Who needs sex ed. when you've already read most of it in books?

Anyway, I certainly know a few things bothered me this time around. Elizabeth Marshall Thomas definitely writes somewhat unbelievable events and disjointed actions by characters to clearly further the plot. That being said, this is actually still worth the read. Just be warned that you may find yourself skimming a page or two to get back to the story line you're actually interested in.

List of things that bothered me (and yes, I have to spoil all over the place):
• The main character Yanan dies, becomes a spirit, and you learn this really early on. So the only reason to keep reading is to figure out how she dies I guess.• Spirits can turn into animals. Thomas makes us read unnecessary side plot sections of the spirits as animals. Skim skim skim.• Yanan knows basically nothing about sex. Seriously nothing. You don't grow up hunting or being around animals without figuring out a little birds and the bees. WHY would no adult ever explain menstruation, pregnancy, or birth to a girl who is expected to eventually experience it? If you want the next generation to survive you teach them everything you can. When a girl gets married you take her aside and explain everything if she hasn't already seen it first hand from watching the adults.• Yanan is pregnant and no one older figures it out. I find it almost impossible to believe that people can live in a lodge in close proximity depending on each other for survival without being all up in the minutia of each other's lives almost constantly. When someone starts puking everyone else would pay attention. People would notice someone else being exhausted and sick. You'd have to be blind and deaf to not notice someone acting differently, especially in winter when you're in close proximity even more. And I bet unobservant people died a lot faster 20,000 years ago.• Combining the last two points here. Childbirth is horribly dangerous. Explain and help prepare a first time mother for it. Then maybe Yanan wouldn't have thought it was a good idea to go off to give birth alone. Why not take advantage of the knowledge of older women who have done this before? Oh, because they might make fun of her. Yeah... right. Sure.

I spent almost the entire time reading this wanting to throw it across the room. First because I was frustrated with the style and then because of the actual plot.

I quickly got tired of hearing how fair a maid Evangeline was and how Gabriel was the noblest of all the youths. We get it: they're gorgeous people who're destined to be together. Except...

Cruel Fate has torn them apart. Yeah, that's depressing. Really frustratingly depressing. But this only worked to make me angry, not sympathetic. There are times I'm too literal to just accept certain things and go along with the flow of the story. This happens to be one of those times. Sucks for me.

Poor Evangeline treks across the land following rumors trying to catch up to Gabriel. You know what my parents always taught me when I got lost? Stay in one place. Don't wander. It makes it harder for you to be found. So what does Gabriel do? He wanders. And the only time he stays in one place is when Evangeline stays in one place too hoping he'll come back to that location. Ugh! So much anger. Why does Evangeline hear all these rumors and searches for him but he doesn't seem to be hearing anything about her?

Here's the only passage giving any indication of Gabriel being upset about being parted from Evangeline. And yes, I'm aware that this poem is following Evangeline so we don't get Gabriel's perspective, but still.

“‘Be of good cheer, my child; it is only to-day he
departed.
Foolish boy! he has left me alone with my herds and my
horses.
Moody and restless grown, and tried and troubled, his
spirit
Could no longer endure the calm of this quiet existence.
Thinking ever of thee, uncertain and sorrowful ever,
Ever silent, or speaking only of thee and his troubles,
He at length had become so tedious to men and to
maidens,
Tedious even to me, that at length I bethought me, and
sent him
Unto the town of Adayes to trade for mules with the
Spaniards.'”

I raced through this book in 3 days. Super easy reading even though it doesn't really get interesting until half way through. Right when I started to get frustrated at the lack of much magic a whole heck of a lot of magic happened!
So, the magic part is awesome. I had this book described to me as a bit like adult Harry Potter living and using magic in the real (muggle) world. They have the same first name and they're both a little snarky, but that's about where my comparison ends. That's ok though, this is good for its own magic world.
I'm looking forward to continuing the series as long as the female characters are written a whole lot better here on out. Every single woman was attractive and almost everything they did revolved around their looks or sex. Except for detective Murphy. But it was hard to take her seriously because of comments made about her. You can describe someone physically pretty without reducing them to a useless simpering fool. Strong female characters are good. You can write them without reducing the strength of your main male character.
And really, I spent a good bit of the book thinking Dresden was more a-sexual than not. Turns out he isn't, just really freaking awkward. Felt like Dresden is quite a reflection of the author. Made me pretty uncomfortable most of the time. I probably wouldn't like Harry Dresden if I met him because I'd probably catch him leering at me. He's not “old fashioned”, he's just a chauvinist who thinks he's a nice guy.

I can't read any more. I can't spend every page hating every character. I just can't! I love sci-fi. I love space sci-fi. I freaking love sci-fi where a freaking planet is conquered. I don't care how much I want to read about Mars. I refuse to sit around gnashing my teeth constantly hoping it'll get better. Love triangles can take a hike; I hate them. Maybe this just isn't for me, which is why I don't really want to put a rating. Either way, from what I did read Chalmers is like the homicidal Holden Caulfield of Mars. Fuck them both.

I don't think The Scarecrow's Queen was supposed to make me think of The Wizard of Oz at all, but my brain kept going there anyway. Really, how many popular scarecrows are there to picture? My brain just couldn't help it. I struggled to find Hollowstock sexy because in the back of my head there was always this other goofy scarecrow from my childhood. Unfortunately sometimes I had the ick reading this which is really unfortunate because the general premise is pretty darn good. I'm chalking this up to it's-me-not-you.

DNF at 27% because I lost interest due to the somewhat dated writing style. I bet the story really picks up right after where I left off too. That'd serve me right. But I'd already picked up other books holding my attention more so I'm setting this aside. Not going to rate this though. It's not a bad read. I just didn't click with it the way I wanted to.

I honestly seriously debated if I should keep reading this a few times throughout the first part. I so almost quit. I was frustrated. Some things just didn't make sense. The author seemed to contradict his own writing, didn't explain things as well as I would have liked, or seemed to write things just because. But I pushed through. I told myself that maybe the world building just took time to fully grasp. Maybe it would get better. Thank fuck, it did!
Once I hit the second section I pretty much didn't put this down until I was done. I ate while reading. I fed my dogs with one hand because I was holding my kindle. This isn't a perfect book, but it'll keep you reading as it's consistently well paced.

Obvious influences and references I picked up on:
- Greek and Roman mythology to the max
- Harry Potter (People in houses based on personality and intelligence? Do you need the sorting hat?)
- Lord of the Flies (But also with girls.)
- Ender's Game (There's an actual reference to Wiggin by name.)
- Divergent (Factions, but even more caste system like.)
- Battle Royale and Hunger Games (Goal isn't to kill to win, but there aren't rules against killing to win.)