Title: Prehistoric Wild: Life in the Mesozoic
Reviewer: Sumaia_Islam
Author: ZacharyDow

[Based on the chapters "The False Crocs," "Champion of the Waters," and "Below the Beasts" ~7,000 words]

Title: 4/5

The title is nice and straight to the point. I like how its wording gives a sense of excitement. However, I'd say the word "Prehistoric" is kind of overused. I've seen various books having the word "Prehistory" or "Prehistoric" in their title, so it gives me a feeling that I've seen something like this before. The rest of the wording makes the title memorable, though.

Cover: 5/5

The colours used in the colour fit with the theme of the book. I like the attention to detail here. The more I look, the more interesting it gets. I can't think of anything that would make it better.

Blurb: 3/5

The first thing that came to my mind when I saw the blurb was, "It's too long." Normally, blurbs aren't supposed to be that lengthy. The blurb should carry a hook, which it already has. Some of the lines felt unnecessary or repetitive, like the first two lines of the 2nd paragraph. Make sure to have just as much information as required to make the reader interested in your work; not more, not less. Other than that, the grammar and overall feel of the blurb are all right.

Creativity/Originality: 8.5/10

The idea of the book is intriguing. The way you put all the elements together is captivating. Each story revolves around a certain species in a certain time, and telling it realistically as you did is a difficult task. What I liked about it is how a certain creature becomes the "main character" in each story; they even have names. Such details make your work unique. But it doesn't feel completely original as it's heavily dependent on the facts; it reads a lot like a nature documentary. Still, the whole idea of representing prehistoric facts through fiction is not seen very often, so it's unique from that perspective.

Flow/Pacing: 5/5

It's nice to see how each story begins with a description of the environment, and then gradually goes from the lower to the higher levels of the food chain. Everything is paced out smoothly. There was just one thing bothering me for a while: Zahra being introduced almost halfway into the first chapter (The False Crocs). However, later on in the chapter, everything fell into place nicely. The other chapters were okay in this regard.

Characters: 5/5

Each story holds the spotlight on one or more creatures, which makes the story immersive. Reading from their perspective was exciting. Their habits and behaviours were well-written. The stories give a deep insight into how every creature struggles with the rest to live, and in the end, the strongest ones survive. What I loved about them was their names. The names immediately made me feel more curious about them. I especially loved Kamal's (in Champion of the Waters) perspective, mainly because he wasn't the strongest of the Himalayasaurs. And yet, in the end, he succeeded in his goal with constant struggles.

Writing Style/Grammar: 4/5

The writing style is simple yet captivating. I could easily visualise the descriptions. A good range of vocabulary is noticeable. The writing also evokes excitement in various parts, especially when the same or different species fight one another for survival. I couldn't find any issues with the grammar. However, I'd suggest doing a thorough proofread to check for typos and minor errors.

Genre Relevance: 4/5

The genre is said to be historical fiction, in which the stories are relevant (literally). Some paragraphs made me feel like I was reading creative non-fiction, probably because of the huge amount of information in them. Those parts were somewhat off-putting for me since I wasn't expecting so much information. I would sometimes forget that I'm reading historical fiction and not non-fiction. The stories somehow become more relevant to the "fiction" part when the star of each story arrives. Other than that, it's also a short story collection. The length of each story was alright.

Reading Enjoyment: 3.5/5

Despite the simple writing style, I had some difficulties following the stories (I'm not talking only about the various terms that are hard to read). Each story began with a description of the ecosystem, and then the creatures ascending the food chain. Before the "main character" arrives, the bulk of information gets a little overwhelming. Afterwards, when the spotlight is on the main character, it immediately feels more immersive. I did enjoy reading when there were descriptions of the environment and the constant comparisons between the past and the present.

Overall: 42/50

Overall I can say that each of the stories is well-polished; they're great for people who are curious about topics like these. The readability might vary from person to person, depending on their interests. The stories are educational in a unique way. I can see the huge efforts made to write them as accurately as possible while keeping them interesting. Each story has its own appeal, which makes it unique from the rest. I had a little trouble reading and understanding things, but it could be just me. There's not much I can say about improving other than the things I've mentioned above; you've done a great job in executing the stories.