Everyone has a picture in their mind of what the world looked like when the dinosaurs were the kings of the world. Most of those pictures are based on movies such as Jurassic Park which may mix and match dinosaurs who didn't live in the same environment or at the same time. Regardless an event happened that annihilated all the dinosaurs simultaneously.
Most people believe this was a meteorite. Black shows evidence of one that hit that was seven miles wide which is hard to even imagine. A blow of that sort created intense fires and then with all the particulates resulting from that, a blocking of the sunlight and dark days with frigid temperatures. The dinosaurs could not hide nor find food and they died. Some living creatures survived, such as those small mammals or amphibians that could shelter under water or in dens far below. They would reinhabit the world along with plants that were again different from what existed before.

Riley Black is a paleontologist who has written books and magazine articles about the dinosaurs and their demise. Her work has been featured in publications such as National Geographic, Nature and Sierra. In this history, she explains what happened immediately after the meteorite hit, then what was the state of the world a year out, ten years, a hundred, a thousand. In each of those chapters, she discusses what organisms were alive, how they survived and what they are. She also states that some scientists believe that the widespread demise came from other sources but her belief is the meteorite was the culprit. This book is recommended for nonfiction readers interested in dinosaurs and how the world changed since then.

4-4.5/5 stars

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for granting me an audio-arc. I thought it was a solid narration, but nothing too exceptional.

The Last Days of the Dinosaurs by Dr. Riley Black is a unique and captivating book that tells the story of the dinosaurs' extinction through the lens of individual animals and their experiences during the different phases of this catastrophic event. The book's structure is a remarkable feat in storytelling, as it focuses on points in time that get progressively closer to the present day. This approach allows readers to understand the context of each moment in time, the conditions that prevailed, and how life had to adapt and respond.

One of the most impressive aspects of the book is how Dr. Black weaves her own trans identity into the narrative. She discusses how the societal norms of gender identity and expression have evolved and changed over time, paralleling the changing environment and conditions that the animals faced during the extinction event. The author's own experiences give the book a personal and emotional dimension that is rarely seen in scientific writing.

Dr. Black's use of individual animals to illustrate the changing conditions of each time period is a stroke of genius. By focusing on the story of one creature at a time, readers can understand how environmental factors, such as climate change and the impact of the asteroid that led to the extinction, affected the entire ecosystem. The book's structure creates a powerful and emotional arc that keeps readers engaged and invested in the fate of each animal.

While the book is accessible and enjoyable to a general audience, the last section of the book delves into the science behind each narrative. Dr. Black provides a detailed explanation of the research and data that went into crafting each story, making it an excellent resource for those interested in the more technical aspects of the subject.

As a planetary scientist who studies impact cratering, I found the book's intersection of this process with life on Earth to be particularly fascinating. Dr. Black's ability to seamlessly integrate different fields of study into a coherent narrative is a testament to her skill as a writer and scientist.

In summary, The Last Days of the Dinosaurs is an excellent example of a well-executed science book. Dr. Black's ability to combine personal experiences, scientific research, and storytelling creates a compelling and creative read. The book is accessible to a broad audience while still providing detailed scientific explanations for those who seek them. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the story of the dinosaurs' extinction and the intersection of science and personal identity.

I used ChatGPT to help write this, but used my main thoughts as the foundation to the review.

Very detailed summary of the changes in biology and topography that would have happened after the asteroid impact that led to the extinction of the dinosaurs. While it was easy to get lost in the depth of the details, there was so much interesting stuff covered and the details really brought the world to life.

This is another great nonfiction read. There weee some parts that felt a bit slower paced. I also thought there were some parts where a but more excitement could have been shown.

This was such a fascinating read! I wasn’t sure at first, but I listened to the ALC audiobook, and was so intrigued by the story of the dinosaurs that roamed the Earth, and what happened to them during their final days. It was written in a fictional present tense perspective, and the author did a wonderful job at setting up what likely happened, as an asteroid hit modern day Mexico. While I typically read scientific books like this, I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed it!

*many thanks to Macmillan Audio/Netgalley for the gifted audiobook for review

I wasn't into the book at first, but it slowly grew on me. The author did a good job of writing so that readers could visualize what was going on. She also did a good job of providing context and justification for her choices in the appendix. Overall, a good listen about how dinosaurs went away and mammals rose to dominance.

I was fascinated by much of this narrative history of the last days of the dinosaurs and the time after their extinction. Some parts felt a bit slow and redundant, but there was so much that was interesting that I still loved it. I switched back and forth between the book and the audiobook and would recommend both.

In <i>The Last Days of the Dinosaurs</i>, Riley Black takes readers through what likely happened to dinosaurs and other creatures at the end of the Cretaceous period, when a miles-wide asteroid crashed into modern-day Mexico. She gives as many scientific facts as possible while presenting what the days, years, and millenia following the asteroid’s impact would have been like through the eyes of selected animals alive during the time.

For me, viewing the events through the eyes of specific animals really brings the book to life. This is a scientific book (that the author freely admits may end up being partially refuted as scientific discoveries advance) that reads as fiction. It was engaging from beginning to end and is written at a level that the average lay person can understand. In the note at the end of the book, Black explains what portions of the book are hard science and what she speculated on to draw a complete picture. Her love of the subject she studies comes through in this book. I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in reading about the fall of the dinosaurs and what came next. Christina Delaine did a wonderful job narrating the audiobook.

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me an audio ARC of this book.

This is written using fictional present-tense vignettes from the perspectives of various dinosaurs through their last days. It's an interesting concept that's almost entirely undone by the very very long post-script at the end of the book, in which the author's commentary about the self just goes on and on.

I think we as people who live now have not nearly enough of an understanding about how far apart a lot of this stuff happened, from the asteroid itself, to the extinctions, and then the evolution of life now, and this was good at expressing the absolutely vast periods of time involved.

The narrator of the audiobook is Christina Delaine; she's fine, no complaints.

I received a copy of the audiobook for free from NetGalley and Macmillan Audio in exchange for an honest, voluntary review.

I thought this was a thoroughly fascinating read. Black paints spectacular images in the readers head through her writing and I was completely engrossed. The only thing that I didn't love that was on the audiobook version, it isn't easy to flip to the appendices and therefore it is hard to determine what is based on speculation and what is based on the scientific literature.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Riley Black for an ARC audiobook copy to review. As always, an honest review from me.

Like:
- Learn new things about dinosaurs beyond the basics
- Really get a sense of a day in the life of a dinosaur and other creatures living in that time period - fascinating and eye opening

Love:
- Reminds me of the magic school bus book where they went back to the time of dinosaurs but an adult version
- The look into how each plant, animal or environment changed, survived, or perished related to each step of the meteor strike 66 million years ago. Watching the fight for survival with each species was a fascinating look at the topic that I hadn’t really considered in detail before.
- The author’s passion for this topics- it’s very evident through their writing and makes for a very good reading experience

Dislike:
- The graphic description of the T. rex eating from the dead body of their pray - realistic and kind of gross

Overall, an interesting look at the time before, during and after the meteor explosion that killed the dinosaurs from the perspective of the dinosaurs and others creatures. A fascinating and unique story being told in detail and perspective that we don’t often get when discussing this topic in history and science.

Although I typically listen to fiction when I'm enjoying audiobooks in my car. Non-fiction is typically for curling up at home with a book when I have more ability to focus on details. However, this one got me in my zoologist's heart. Learning more about how this world changed immediately and then slowly over the course of millions of years, very interesting information!! And telling stories essentially from the viewpoints of the dinosaurs, giving you a feel for what their lives were like and even how they FELT, it went a long way to immerse you in their story and get a better understanding.

I also enjoyed hearing personal snippets from the author, giving a better understanding of their life's journey and their passion for this topic!

Overall, a really great book from an author who clearly knows their stuff!

(Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for my honest feedback)

Every time I listen to a new book about dinosaurs I am so amazed by the amount we keep earning about these creatures. I do appreciate that this one at least had names that I remembered and recognized along with some new ones that I didn't know. It definitely reminded me as to why I had a childhood obsession with these animals.

The narration style wasn't my favorite, but I still appreciated what it was trying to do. 4 out of 5.

Like many adults, I never quite grew out of my childhood obsession with dinosaurs, so when I saw this available on NetGalley I hit request immediately.

Like the title says, this book is about the last days of the dinosaurs, which means that unlike Stephen Brusatte's big hit from a few years ago, The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs, this book is more an extinction book than a dinosaur book. That being said, I still thought this was fantastic!

Similarly to the previously mentioned The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs, Black takes some liberties in regards to the narration to make it more of a story rather than dry recitation of facts. Personally, I prefer that style especially in the case of paleontology where there are very few hard facts and a lot of 'current theories are subject to change', but it might throw others off.

I will say that I found there to be kind of a lull in the middle of the book where I found it hard to focus. But Black really pulled through in the conclusion and codas. I loved hearing about her fascination with dinosaurs and how she related her field of study to her experience as a trans woman and I wish she would have included more of that.

Most importantly though I loved that her outlook regarding the K-Pg extinction wasn't all doom and gloom. She talked a lot about how life is mostly happenstance and that extinction isn't a sudden thing but rather a slow process and how the K-Pg extinction led to the rise of mammals and I finished the book feeling more hopeful about the future of the planet than I thought I would after reading about a mass extinction event.

I love Black’s previous writing on dinosaurs and this was a joy to read. It’s not as focused on dinosaurs as the cover suggests; the majority ends up being post-extinction but it’s so good that I was still engaged. Each chapter is focused on a moment or day ranging from shortly before the KT extinction to millions of years after. I loved how it would zero in on an individual dinosaur or other creature and fleshed out who they were, what their life was like, and a glimpse in to their daily life. At times it felt like I was reading historical fiction, but instead of a duchess it’s about a T-Rex; Bridgerton season three, take notes! Along with the day to day aspects were dives in to how their species evolved to that point and how they evolved (or why they didn’t) due to the extinction event and aftermath. Every chapter had at least one moment that made me go, “wait what woah” and deepened my understanding of evolution and prehistoric life (as well as some great descriptions like “perpetual resting dinosaur face”). The narration is solid and is at its best when something terrible is being foreshadowed or happening; that narrator loves mess and chewed that scenery in such a fun way. I think it might be a bit heavy for most of my students, BUT it’s perfect for colleagues to better understand the subject (and maybe learn a new way to present teaching dinosaurs) and students with a passion in science.

Thank you to Netgalley, Macmillan audio and St. Martin’s Press for the ebook and audio ARC of this! I switched back and forth between formats while reading.

This was super fascinating and I loved how immersive it was. Non-Fiction can run the risk of making even the most interesting topics seem dry and removed from the reader, but this did not have that problem. The tone was perfect, the facts interesting, and the pacing and organization were just right. Definitely recommend for any dinosaur fans or people wanting to dip their toes into non-fiction. The narrator did a great job!

Like many others I grew up fascinated by dinosaurs and how they became extinct. I thought this book started out strong and enjoyed the first half of the books, but at about the halfway point it started to get boring to me and I had a very hard time finishing it.

I loved this audiobook! It was a mixture of factual information and very pleasing, beautifully painted mental pictures of the ancient world. It took me back to the elementary school fascination I had with dinosaurs and consuming all the content I could about them. Great narrator as well!

The Last Days of the Dinosaurs is a fascinating explanation of how Earth went through a great reset. There were several things I didn't know before reading this book. First, I hadn't considered exactly how long it took for the dinosaurs to go instinct. It wasn't just the meteor crash, but the chain of events that happened as a result that affected the climate of the planet. The book goes into detail about which dinosaurs were able to survive for a time while also talking about those who had no chance to overcome the climate shift. I also learned the concept of Functional Extinction; where an animal is still alive but is unable to breed enough to sustain the species. I had never heard of that concept before and found it interesting. Lastly, learning how the Earth reformed itself and eventually become the planet we know today, was fascinating.

Overall the book was interesting and held my attention. .

Dinosaurs! I really liked the way this book was broken up, with time from the K-Pg event. This was quick and informative.