The Dinosaur Feather by Sissel-Jo Gazan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Was uncertain how to rate this book. The scientist in me loved the setting in academia with at its heart the debate over whether or not dinosaurs are the predecessors of bird or not. Some Goodreads reviewers I see are put off by the attention given to the detail of this, but I found it fascinating and not a distraction. Similarly I appreciated the book’s questioning of how we perceive and value science and what merits attention and funding or not. I’ve also taken to Scandinavian crime stories, although the unfamiliarity with and similarity between names sometimes makes me forget who’s who. So far so good – 4 or 5 stars quite easily.
So why did I only give 3 stars? I think for two reasons. I found the characters a little one-sided. They’re all coming to terms with traumatic pasts and dealing with the resultant anger they carry around with them. This is of course an issueworth looking at, but too much and it becomes a little tiresome and without other emotions to provide relief it becomes unrealistic. I also found that the story seemed to jump about a little clumsily at times for my tastes.
I enjoyed this a lot, 3 1/2 stars would be fairer if I could give it.
Much More Than Near 