I honestly couldn’t make it past chapter 3. Didn’t like it. Didn’t dislike it. It’s whatever. Give it a try! You might like it better than I did.

The premise of the story is fascinating, and the book follows through on its promise of getting deep into paleontology and walking the line between science and myth. In many ways, I was reminded of Deborah Harkness's All Souls trilogy in that the author's expertise clearly comes to bear in the text, but whereas Harkness's expertise is in English history and literature, and her book series is clearly geared towards adults, Evan's expertise is in paleontology, with a primarily YA audience.

The YA label is tricky for this book, however. The plot largely follows Molly Tanner, a sixteen-year-old girl from California who's chosen for a summer internship to work at a dig site in Montana. The book, however, doesn't stay in Molly's point of view, but cycles through the other adults in her life: Sarah Connell, the graduate student she's interning for; Derek Farnsworth, the commercial fossil hunter who's helping on the dig; and Sean Oliphant, a famous scientist (and science communicator) who is Sarah's graduate advisor. As I read through these alternating points of view, I found myself distracted by the sameness of the four characters' voices, even though Molly is significantly younger than the rest of them. It took a while to figure out whose perspective I was in during each chapter change, and that significantly slowed down my reading in a way that, at times, felt frustrating. This could have been a fast-paced, thrilling ride, but the beginning especially felt quite bogged down in details from the other characters.

Granted, I am technically outside of the target age range for this book (though when the "right" age to read YA seems to be continually in flux). As a teacher, if I were to assign this book, there is still quite a bit I might draw out of the text with my students. I might ask about intellectual property. I might ask about ageism. I might ask about the story of science history they've learned in other classes, and ask about their awareness of the social influences of scientific discoveries. Though I have some reservations about the craft of the book, it might be the kind of story, like *Jurassic Park* or something similar, that would inspire a reader to dive further into the field of paleontology.

My rating is generous given that this is an ARC.

I couldn't resist reading a story about paleontology and cryptozoology. I love dinosaurs so the blurb had me hooked. Unfortunately, the story left a lot to be desired.

There are a lot of details about paleontology, digs, the technical and scientific aspect of the process of unearthing dinosaur fossils. There is also a sort of trbute to the history of paleontology, the forefathers of the science who lived in the 19th century and sometimes don't get the recognition they deserve.

Sadly, the story had two big issues for me:

- the characters are bland, I didn't find myself to care about any of them. The author tried to highlight Molly's value by making the actual scientists look...naive? stupid? The "help" Molly provided was...Googling myths and history? If she wanted to make her remarkable, she should have upped the research challenges.

- the plot regarding the historical trail looks it's inspired by Da Vinci Code, but only at the surface and is very basic. There is minaml depth, the motives of both the good guys and the villains are quite simplistic.

A fair rating would be closer to 2 stars, but I'm giving it the benefit of the doubt since it's not to be published until next year.

Thank you NetGalley and Inkshares for the ARC!

I found this book difficult to get invested in. While I think it’s admirable that someone with real knowledge of paleontology weaved real science and facts throughout the narrative, I found it a bit boring at times. Maybe I am not the ideal audience for the book! It definitely reads as extremely YA.
I would recommend this book toward an audience looking to read a book about dinosaur facts with some fiction added.
The writing was not bad, overall. I just think this book was not for me!

**Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy in exchange for a fair and honest review**

Well, this was a fun read - a science-fiction / fantasy / thriller/ mystery / adventure story with twists, turns and beytrayals.

Ancient secret societies! Frenemies! Mary Anning! Dragons ("Dinosaurs!")

It set itself up very nicely for a sequel, I'll look out for it.

4.5 stars

This was such a fun, informative adventure novel that would be a great read for people of all ages. This would make a fantastic family read.

I did read an arc of this novel. I hope that for publishing, the name of whose POV the chapter is in will be added to the chapter title as it does get a little confusing.

I loved this book: the characters, the excitement, the adventure, the factual information about dinosaurs and paleontology, the fun. This book was so fun to read! I can’t wait to read the next novel in this series! (But this can definitely be read as a stand alone story.)

Thanks to NetGalley and Inkshares for this digital arc in exchange for my honest review, which is not affiliated with any brand.

I have a feeling that to really love this book, u need to be interested in dinosaurs. I like dinosaurs, i find them interesting, but i wouldn’t say I absolutely love them. Which I think needs to be the case to give this book a five star rating. The writing is good and the story is fine as well. I finished it rather slowly for my taste, would recommend to people who are in love with dinosaurs!

Unexpected and exciting, "The Bone Wars" gripped my imagination with a novel setting and exciting new characters. When 16 year old Molly Tanner begins her paleontology internship in the badlands of Montana, she doesn't expect the summer to take a dark and magic turn. After discovering a new type of dinosaur that looks suspiciously like a dragon, Molly and the Montana crew are suddenly chasing mysterious forces across the world. If revealed to the public, the fossil they discovered rock the science world and bring forth dark secrets.

Filled with mystery, action, and long forgotten magic, Evan creates a compelling first novel wherein I was left hungry for more. While some elements felt unrealistic, such as a 16 year-old being on a dig site in Montana, I overall liked the concept enough to suspend my disbelief. I appreciated the fresh and novel take on the myth of dragons.

I almost didn’t finish this - the switching of character POVs was not clear and at times, I think there were mistakes made in the telling - at one point the narrator says something like “‘blah blah’ said Molly. And then a sentence or two later, it’s shown that Molly is the narrator at that time, so why was she talking about herself in the 3rd person when that didn’t happen other times in the book.

There was a lot of in depth knowledge about dinosaurs that I just…skimmed through to be honest. I did find the question of what would be the implications and effects of finding proof of “mythological” creatures interesting, but I didn’t particularly find the set up of the Order vs SV very fascinating. I also thought that the characters were flat and could tell from early on what the twist with one of them would be.

Received this on netgalley.

To say I absolutely loved this book is an understatement. From just the synopsis I was intrigued. Every moment of this book was so thoughtout, so many details and tidbits of history perfectly blended in. I read this book over 2 days, had I not needed to be at work, it would have been less time. I'm so excited for book 2. Like most people I love dinosaurs after seeing Jurassic Park and all its sequels but the details of previous time when different fossils were from it sparked a desire to learn more. I have so many of the references books listed in the back if the book now on my to-read list. Erin Evan will now forever be on my authors to follow. 10/10 would recommend every single time

4 out of stars

This book was very dense in the beginning, but picked up pace around page 92.

While I enjoyed the plot, the POV changing almost every chapter was confusing, especially since there was nothing to indicate who the POV is. You have to figure it out yourself, which is annoying.

Molly is a fiery protagonist and I would read the 2nd book just to see her more. Farnsworth and Oliphant are both kind of annoying because they have their own history that interferes with a lot of the groups adventure.

The PLOT TWIST THOUGH, I did NOT see that coming and neither will you!

I encourage perspective readers to push through the first few chapters because it's truly worth it.

ARC Provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

(Thank you NetGalley for giving me the chance to review this novel)

This book kept me captivated the entire time. If you enjoy reading science-fiction or adventure, watching Jurassic Park, or love dinosaurs/paleontology, you will really enjoy this book. I don't want to give too much away, but I did appreciate the touch of the fantastical in this novel
thank you to the author

the summery for this book was incredibly fascinating. unfortunately, i didn't enjoy the execution. before i get into what didn't work for me, i would probably recommend this to someone who has an intense interest in dinosaurs and paleontology. i still have my other problems, but maybe it'd work better there.

i like both of those topics, but not to the extent needed for this to work for me.

the first quarter of the book was really rough. the author has actual experience in digs and a degree in geology, and you can tell. but unfortunately it felt too... dry, to be frank. the beginning felt too technical. it gets more normal once you get past that point, but there was something really off about how the writing felt in the introduction.

my other big issue was the characters. i already knew i'd have some doubts about molly because she's only sixteen, but i spent a huge part wondering what set her apart so much that she'd earn an internship at a dig so young, and i don't think i was ever convinced. and when we moved past that to other situations, she was also a lot of the times the only one putting stuff together which - just not realistic. the group was made up from top-of-their-field scientists, but it was the 16 year old teenager connecting the dots. the characterizations also felt a bit all over the place with... all of them, to be honest. and lastly, there was one character who barely got any page-time (despite being present for all of it, but they were never the focus) before suddenly becoming extremely important and doing something crucial for the plot. it just didn't have much impact.

there were other smaller stuff that bothered me (there were one too many times where the characters just stumbled across the stuff rather than figure things out themselves; little depth in certain topics; the actual roles being stated which was a bit... baffling), but the plot idea is good. i think that's what was mainly frustrating with this read. i very very much like the idea behind it.

i just didn't enjoy half of the characters, and the other half felt very shaky in their characterizations. this could have been good, and i wanted to like it so badly, but unfortunately it didn't work for me.

Thank you NetGalley and Inkshares for providing me with a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review. All the views and opinions expressed are purely my own and not affiliated with any brand.

This was a fun book. It's sort of Jurassic Park meets National treasure. Erin S. Evan writes a fun and thrilling adventure story that is also very informative. There are a lot of facts in this book which reminds me of The Martian. The facts just add more to the story and I didn't ever feel bogged down by all the information.

My only criticism is that the narrator of the book changes and sometimes it would take me a minute to figure out which character was talking. I just wish that the name of the character was after the chapter title so that it wouldn't take so much time to figure out who was talking.

Overall I thought it was a fun story and I really hope there is more to come. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes adventure stories!

I had a hard time getting through this one. Conceptually, it was a great idea and I wanted this to be great. Unfortunately the author seemed to hesitate at leaning into their concepts. I think a lot of the mistakes and characterizations will be resolved by the next book which I look forward to reading.

I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own

Unfortunately, I had a hard time getting into this book, let alone finishing it. I had to stop with about 100 pages left. I am bummed because I really was looking forward to reading it due to the premise and myself being a huge dinosaur enthusiast. I felt like the characters and story fell flat and that the book was targeted toward kids, but because of the long/scientific text throughout, I don’t know if the book would be understood by or hold the attention of a kid.

The Bone Wars
The Pirates of Montana
Erin Evan
In The Bone Wars we meet Molly a sixteen-year-old taking part in a dig based in Montana. Molly was using a drone when a gust of wind whips it out of sight. Molly rushes to find it when she takes a fall. She ends up at the bottom of a hill. She enters a cave to get out of a storm and can’t resist exploring. Inside she makes an important discovery. She discovers a skull with horns, black bones and a wing structure. Molly believes she has discovered a dragon. After the fossil is stollen Molly, her supervisor, Sarah, fossil Hunter Derek and paleontologist Dr. Oliphant give chase across continents determined to retrieve the bones.
The characters in this tale lack depth and come across as if they were immature adolescents. While Molly appears to be the smartest character she comes across as disrespectful. The villains were even worse. If you like paleontology or geology you would probably enjoy at least part of this book for it is chockful of scientific information about dinosaurs, fossils, and other scientific stuff. A lot of the plot was predictable. The changing point of views was confusing. This book has great potential but falls short. I do believe that author Erin Evan is a talented writer with a bit more work she can be a great writer.

Please fix the review ebook. I find the pages are totally blank. I am eagerly waiting for the copy.

Hope it gets fixed soon.

This book kept me captivated the entire time. If you enjoy reading science-fiction or adventure, watching Jurassic Park, or love dinosaurs/paleontology, you will really enjoy this book. I don't want to give too much away, but I did appreciate the touch of the fantastical in this novel for what the "Montana Monster" turned out to be. This story played out in my mind along the same lines of Dan Brown's novel, the "Da Vinci Code", or like the movie "National Treasure"; by this, I mean a group of four paleontologists are chasing down clues and trying to solve the puzzles that have been given to them, all the while they are being chased by a secret society that is dead set on keeping this secret buried-- for all eternity. Without giving too much away, I will say that I personally felt it was predictable about who was responsible for leaking the information; however, I was wrong about how they went about doing it. With that said, I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys this genre/storyline. If you are an active/practicing paleontologist, I am sure you will find flaws in the storyline, but I did appreciate that the author did seem to put forth an effort into learning about fossils, rocks, and dinosaur species.

Is the writing perfect in this novel, no. One thing that I found confusing was that the novel is written in the first person; however, the story is told from various people's point of view. This isn't a bad thing, but the way it is done leaves the reader to sleuth through the first page or two to figure out who is actually telling the story. I think this could be remedied by mentioning the person in the chapter title.

(review will also posted on IG @slowerlowerliving and Goodreads soon)

Thank you Netgalley, Inkshare and author for providing me with this copy. My thoughts are my own.

First of all I love this book idea and the plot describes. The intriguing mystery mixed with paleontology stuff ? Sound very unique and peaking my interest. I instantly falling for the worldbuild, but extra digging will make it stronger background for the stories.

The plot itself is fun but less dept. Extra interactive narrative will keep the readers interest to reading till the end. The MC kinda childish and generic. But my 10y son like this book better than I do, so I think his opinion as real target reader is matter the most.