3.5/5

A cross between a nature documentary and fiction. Raptor Red follows the titular utahraptor and her family, showing life and survival for her and her family.

- Written by an esteemed paleontologist, Raptor Red is, for the time it was published, an accurate guess at what life would have been like for these predators back in the early Cretaceous period. Of course there is some creative licence and some educated assumptions made but all of it seems plausible, if occasionally outdated.

- I like how Raptor Red herself was characterised and how the reader gets to see inside her head and her thought processes. This took the narrative from documentary commentary to a narrative that makes the reader invested in Raptor Red and care about her.

- The supporting cast of creatures and the environment was well informed and varied. We don't just meet other dinosaurs but pterosaurs, early mammals, sea life and more. Each has a role in the narrative and it doesn't feel forced or like the reader is being taken on a tour but more organic and natural.

I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to other dinosaur and prehistoric life enthusiasts as a dip into the lives of some of these creatures.