So I'll admit upfront that I cheated. I didn't read this book the way that it was meant to be read because I'd just end up going back and trying to make other choices and it would quickly end up getting confusing. So I just started at the beginning and read it all the way through, which actually worked pretty well because the book mostly follows chronological order (and it's pretty easy to figure out what parts are real and what parts are fiction), and when I got to a later page that had me flip back to a previous page, I just glanced back at that page to remind myself which part it was, since I'd already read it. I think that actually worked better than if I had decided to follow the book's instructions and skip around.

This book was a fun, easy read. There wasn't anything too deep or anything, as expected, but it was just entertaining all around, and it was nice to hear about some of the ~background to things that I'd enjoyed watching, like HIMYM or Hedwig (even though I didn't see Hedwig with NPH). But his voice resonated through the book and made it feel like he was really talking to me the whole time, and it was nice to hear about tidbits from his life and get a glimpse into the man behind it all. Overall, it was a good as a light read, but I don't think I'll be rereading this book any time soon. I'd recommend it for anyone who is looking for something casual to read who is a fan of NPH's work, especially in theatre because he does focus on theatre work quite a bit.

I had heard so many good things about this book before I even picked it up. It's pretty much the epitome of thriller sci-fi, so I figured I had better read it, especially with the new Jurassic World movie having just come out. I found the premise incredibly interesting and it definitely pulled me into the book quickly. The action came quickly and was engrossing and easy to follow (although I mixed up some of the names at first because some of them were kind of similar and they introduced them so quickly).

Unfortunately, after the initial ~oh no the dinosaurs have all broken out and are killing people crisis, I felt like the book kind of began to drag a little bit, and it almost began getting repetitive, with people going out and then getting killed and after I while, I didn't even care much anymore mostly because I never got to know any of these characters other than their name and what their job was. The only people I wanted to survive were Grant, Ellie, and maybe Tim, because at least I saw the first two outside Isla Nublar, so I could vaguely care about them. By the end of the book, I really just wanted the book to be over because I was tired of everyone's incompetence and inability to fix anything (and stubborn refusal to admit that anything was wrong).

I also found almost none of the characters likable other than Grant, Ellie, and Tim. Everyone else was annoying, stubborn, and just plan douchy, and I wanted pretty much everyone to be killed cause they were all so irritating. I especially wanted Lex to die because I just wanted to punch her all the time. None of the characters were round characters, even the main ones, and I couldn't bring myself to think about any of them as real people I was invested in. The characters served the plot, rather than the plot enhancing the characters, and I can never really get into stories like that.

Overall, I'm glad that I read this book. I may or may not read the sequel, although I'm interested in watching the movie and seeing how this translates to the big screen. I thought the idea was really good and original, but the line of tension felt like it was dropped halfway through the book, and I think that Crichton could have done more to sustain it, including making his audience actually care about his characters that he was putting in danger from all these killer dinosaurs.

The last book I never originally wrote a review for this back in 2015. :(

I never originally wrote a review for this back in 2015. :(