rjsetserauthor's reviews
857 reviews

"I'd follow you anywhere, Robyn, though mostly out of morbid curiosity."

Witty, adventurous, and full of laugh-out-loud moments, The Heart of Pangaea is perfect for readers who love dinosaurs (and dimetrodons, which are definitely NOT dinosaurs). I really enjoyed reading about Robyn and Ed's adventure through Pangaea. There are heartfelt moments, pulse-stopping suspense, brilliant ways of breaking the 4th wall, and just an overall good time!

"Look, I had a more intricate trial planned, but the beta readers didn't like it."

The dialogue is top-tier sarcasm and deadpan, making it an amusing book for readers of all ages. On the more meaningful side of things, Robyn's search for a cure for her mother is heartfelt and makes for many emotional conversations. In a few ways, Ed's comments about his desire to be "real" paired with the heartstring-tugging motivation, I wanted to compare The Heart of Pangaea to The Velveteen Rabbit; though obviously with dinosaurs rather than stuffed animals. It's not a great comp (and certainly a strange one), but the thought crossed my mind several times as I read. 

Overall, I had a great time reading this book and will certainly keep my eye out for future works from this author. I give it 4.5 stars out of 5!

Content disclaimers: There is a bit of light cursing sprinkled throughout the book, somewhere between a high PG rating and a low PG-13. There’s not a lot of gore, considering the theme of the book, but there is some action and scary scenes where we aren’t sure who’s going to make it to the next chapter (appropriate for a middle grade audience, in my opinion). And finally, it is about dinosaurs, so you can expect evolution to be a prevalent topic, so if this bothers you, maybe pass on this one.

I received this book from the author. All comments and opinions are entirely my own and this review is voluntary.

Review & content warnings to come.

 Rating this 5 stars because there are too few books for dads who've lost a child, and this one is very well written. There is a lot of commentary about what it feels like to be a grieving dad (or parent) and as a wife, I related to a lot of what each of these dads said. I was able to recognize my husband's struggle with grief. We went through this book together and I'm glad we did; it opened up conversation topics for us and gave me (the wife) a different perspective and way of helping my husband where other books geared towards women were completely useless.

Cautions: There are a lot of stories, not terribly graphic, but I couldn't read them and neither could my husband. Our story is still too fresh. There is also some cursing, but honestly, I think that made the book more relatable because when you're in this situation, sometimes the only words that encapsulate the right feelings are curse words.

I recommend this book especially to anyone who may know a grieving dad, because as someone on the outside, you might not know how to help someone in this situation. These dads shared both their frustrations and comforts from how those around them responded to them, and most of the time, what you think will "help" might actually hurt very deeply.