*Received an ARC via NetGalley in return for an honest review*

A disappointing, lacklustre collection of tales that seems to be unsure of its audience.

Levine has written before, focused on young children, and it seems perhaps the author was unable to fully understand and develop the content to an older category of children who would be sharing these stories at sleepovers. By the time kids are interested in sharing scary stories, the rudimentary storytelling and lack of suspense no longer makes this collection of tales right for it's demographic. Each short story is no more than a page or two in length, and seem to be structured around a 'and then this happened and the character felt like this' prose which is uninspired at best and lazy at worst. It seems that perhaps some more attention was needed when researching what kids in the target category are truly interested in interacting with. There also seemed to be a lot of overlap with names and characterisations with popular 'dinosaur' media, which felt a little lazy because it evokes the feelings we already have surrounding these characters without doing any of the actual leg work to understand the new characters themselves.

The art was, unfortunate. Whilst there is an artist listed, m0st of the artwork gives off a distinctly AI-generated feel, with the dinosaurs and people seemingly being quite different in style from the backgrounds. In the rise of AI capitalising off of actual artists who go unpaid, it seems to be an unfortunate addition to this collection of stories. Whilst I cannot say for certain whether these images were generated with AI, the fact that the style seems to replicate the 'machine made' feel and often has dinosaurs and characters missing digits and other strange parts seems to give a lingering distaste towards them all in general.

A book that will be appreciated by dino fans or people who love horror stories. it's a mix and it's well written and entertaining
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Publishing date: 01.10.2024
Thank you to Netgalley and BookBuzz.net for the ARC. My opinions are my own.

I had high expectations for this book ... Sadly, I was let down.

The overall feeling of this book was "stories around a campfire". I think most can agree. It is fast paced, leaves out the more boring stuff and goes straight for the jugular.
Most stories go like this: Going somewhere - getting chased - safe for a little - getting chased - make up a plan to escape - successful escape
This kind of story can work, but not when every single story follows the same exact format with the main difference being the type of dinosaur chasing you. It got old very quickly.

What would be nice is the artwork with each story, except for one thing ... It is seemingly touched up AI art, and for me this is an immediate no-go. I could tell something was off about the proportions and anatomy of the dinos, and got my suspicions confirmed directly from the artist page.

The book suffers from, what I would like to call it, a lack of effort. Not enough meat on the bones so to speak.


Final ranking and star rating?
1.5 stars, F tier. This was just a miss. It is sad to see. I will not be recommending this book when I know that with a little effort in both art and writing it could be so much better.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for letting me review this book. The drawings were great and added depth to the book. Kids that are into dinosaurs will like this spine tingling book.

Haunting dinosaur stories indeed. 17 short stories of survival against prehistoric creatures that should not be alive today, this middle grade novel is perfect for kiddos getting into reading scary stories. Each chapter is a quick 3-4 page story of friends, family, or scientists running into dinosaurs and trying to escape the bad situation.

While I think this is a good starter books for kids, I do wish there was more variety to the stories. Each was very repetitive with the same story arc. The characters do not talk to each other, and the action is told in only a step by step narrative. Example: The ran to the shed to hide. The dinosaurs chased them. They distracted the dinosaurs and escaped to the forest.....etc... It's very linear with little to no story development. I wished there was a little bit more of that. I grew up in the Goosebumps age, so I feel like kids that would read this book would benefit from having a little more depth to their stories. The drawings that accompany each short story are beautiful black and white drawings. The style pairs perfectly with the books themes.

Little younger than what I normal read but hello dinosaur !!
I loved it
Its definitely unique like nothing I’ve ever read
I read it in one sitting
Fantastic

This was fun! Maybe not as scary and chilling as I was promised--but likely that's just me. I will say that because there are quite a few stories packed into quite a short book, they weren't as meaty or as memorable as I would've liked, and lacked the characterization that would've truly let me be immersed. It's hard to connect to characters when you're not given the time; hence, some of the scare factors felt thin and cheap. Mostly, though, this was a rip-roaring, heart-pounding read that I read in literally one sitting. The illustrations were also a standout. More dinos, please!

59,955 kb

4 stars

This book is written for younger readers, perhaps pre-teens to early teens.

That being said, the stories in this collection are relatively short and interesting. The language is easy for a youngster to understand. They are hopeful and have a sense of adventure. I recommend this book for any youngster who loves dinosaurs and/or adventure stories.

I want to thank NetGalley and the author, Chris Levine, for forwarding this good book to me to read, enjoy and review. The opinions expressed in this review are solely my own.

It’s a fun romp of dinosaur stories, mixed with ghosts and even a pirate!
It feels like someone is telling you the stories around a campfire!

Jurassic Terrors"is a masterful collection of 17 chilling dinosaur tales that takes readers on a heart-pounding journey through the Mesozoic Era. Each story, paired with stunning black-and-white illustrations, captures the primal fear of facing these ancient predators. I found the mix of suspenseful narratives and eerie artwork truly immersive, making it impossible to put down. This book is a fantastic read for anyone who loves a good scare and wants to explore the prehistoric world.

I grew up loving Jurassic Park and dinosaurs in general so I was excited to read this collection of short stories. I enjoyed most of the stories even though they were clearly written for a younger audience. If you have children that love dinosaurs, they'll love this collection.

The book promises short tales of people unexpectedly encountering dinosaurs with lots of illustrations to go along with them. In that sense, the book delivers. However, it's rather repetitive as the stories mostly feature a family/group of friends, often "adventurous," exploring jungle/forest/abandoned village/ocean, and suddenly they find dinosaurs, mainly Velociraptors, frequently ghosts/spirits. I'm also not sure who exactly the target audience is. The very short length and simplicity lean towards young children, though the language and subject matter seem geared toward at least preteens, if not teens. The artwork is impressive, but the content is a bit too simplistic. I guess if you have children with short attention spans but who love dinosaurs, this would be the book for them. 2.5* for being "OK."

🦖👻 Ready to get your spine tickled and your imagination roared awake? Jurassic Terrors is your ultimate ticket to a bone-chilling prehistoric adventure! This collection of dinosaur stories will have you looking over your shoulder and wondering if those ancient roars are real. With its creepy-cool artwork and tales that will make your heart race, it’s a total must-read for anyone who loves a good scare with their dino fix. Grab it, read it, and prepare to be terrified! 📚🦕

I love dinosaurs and Jurassic Park is one of my favorite movies and books, so I was excited to read this collection of stories. Each story had that dinosaur element that I wanted and was hooked from the first story. It was written in a way that worked overall and glad I was able to read this. This collection had everything that I enjoyed about Jurassic Park and glad each story was so well done.