Boy, with Accidental Dinosaur

by Ian McDonald

Come one, come all to the dinosaur circus!

Tif Tamim wants nothing more than to be a dinosaur buckaroo. An orphan in search of a place to rest his head and a job to weigh down his pockets, Tif has bounced from circus to circus, yearning for a chance to ride a prehistoric beauty under the sparkling lights of a big-top.

To become a buckaroo, Tif needs to learn the tools of the trade, yet few dino maestros want to take a scrawny nobody from nowhere under their wing. But when Tif frees a dino from an abusive owner and braves the roving gangs of the formerly-American west to bring the dino to safety, he catches someone’s eye. And boy, how those eyes dazzle Tif from the back of a bucking carnotaur.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Novella, Dinosaurs, Adult, LGBT, Fiction

117 pages, Paperback

First published February 3, 2026

About the author

Ian Neil McDonald was born in 1960 in Manchester, England, to an Irish mother and a Scottish father. He moved with his family to Northern Ireland in 1965. He used to live in a house built in the back garden of C. S. Lewis's childhood home but has since moved to central Belfast, where he now lives, exploring interests like cats, contemplative religion, bonsai, bicycles, and comic-book collecting. He debuted in 1982 with the short story "The Island of the Dead" in the short-lived British magazine Extro. His first novel, Desolation Road, was published in 1988. Other works include King of Morning, Queen of Day (winner of the Philip K. Dick Award), River of Gods, The Dervish House (both of which won British Science Fiction Association Awards), the graphic novel Kling Klang Klatch, and many more. His most recent publications are Planesrunner and Be My Enemy, books one and two of the Everness series for younger readers (though older readers will find them a ball of fun, as well). Ian worked in television development for sixteen years, but is glad to be back to writing full-time.

Reviews

[James · Rating 1 out of 5]

Great concept, great cover, great title, but holy hell, the writing style is impenetrable.

Seriously, I really wanted to like this book because queer dinosaur cowboys (!!!) but it was like trying to hold a bar of soap under a waterfall. Every time I thought I maybe understood what was happening I would come across some completely unfamiliar term or baffling dialogue and it would all slip out of my head.

I also kind of wonder about the choice to have this character/world based strongly in Hispanic culture and language. It would be one thing if it was incorporated into the narrative (for example, our cultural idea of cowboys largely draws inspiration from Mexican rancheros in the late 1700s to mid 1800s, despite cowboys often being depicted as White All-Americans) or if the author was Hispanic (he is Irish and Scottish). As it is, it just makes the text harder to follow because it's loaded with Spanish and culture-specific terms. Again, I don't usually have a problem with this and don't think authors of color should scrub their culture or language from their books to make it easier for people outside those cultures to read, but this book is not exploring/celebrating that culture and the author does not belong to that community as far as I can tell. It's not my place to say whether this is a real issue or offensive—I can only say that it makes the already-difficult reading experience even more frustrating and I don't understand why the author made that choice.

The dino nugget thing was a little funny, I'll give you that.

[Gerhard · Rating 5 out of 5]

'So Tif stands under the awning in Prince’s hand-me-down black pants with the silver frogging dancing down the seams while Memphis adjusts his camisa, studs the cuffs and collar, ties his cravat. The sleeves are too long, but the chamarra fits smartly and the soft-soled buckaroo boots are still an aching size too small. But he is magnificent. He is shadow and light. He is a buckaroo of the Tatterdemalion Circus in the Traje de Luces.'

McDonald taps into Ray Bradbury's nostalgia and melancholy with grace and transgression. And a liberal addition of rhinestones and dinosaurs. The pitch-perfect ending is achingly romantic.

[Cyrus · Rating 1 out of 5]

I think this may be one of the worst books I have ever read. I rarely say this. I read a lot of bad or mediocre books, but it is rare that one is so terrible I consider it one of the worst.

I love Westerns and "Weird West" concepts. Dinosaurs in Westerns has always been a fun notion, so I was excited when I saw this book at work. I was promised dinosaur rodeo, I did not get dinosaur rodeo. I mean, the main guy definitely works for a dinosaur rodeo but that is definitely a background concept to the point that I sat there wondering why the fuck dinosaurs were even in this book, because it kind of has nothing to do with anything. It's bizarre. It would basically be the same book with a regular rodeo.

This book is complete nonsense. The worldbuilding is barely intelligible. A lot of it doesn't make sense, and what does make sense feels like a retread of many other dystopia books. I was confused for a good chunk of the book because so much is thrown at you with no rhyme or reason. And there's no anchor in the story. The characters aren't likable or interesting because there's nothing to them. There's insta-love for characters who have had 1.5 conversations at most and then it gets dropped and is never brought up again.

I don't like the main character because he's nothing. He gives us nothing the whole time except being kind of pathetic. The love interest might be a vampire but it's so confusing I'm not really sure what McDonald was trying to get at with him being unable to go in sunlight. Characters come and go from the story and you're supposed to care but you know nothing about them so it doesn't really mean anything.

Main guy doesn't even ride the fucking dinosaur he's with for 99% of the book. The first time he does dino rodeo is the very last page of the book and he learned how to do it in like four days.

The fact that this book is a novella is to its severe detriment. Instead of it being a fast-paced, tightly woven short tale, it feels like it's short because the author doesn't know what he's talking about and certainly doesn't want to develop or explain anything he's set up. He keeps throwing ideas at the wall and hoping they stick, but each one makes less sense than the last. It's difficult to consider this a book when it's more like a tangled mess of extremely underdeveloped ideas, plots, and characters.

I dislike the prose quite a lot. I think the confusion stems also from the very vague and strangely-worded prose. The dialogue is cringe-inducing, clunky, and even childish at points. He throws in a lot of smatters of Spanish, but I feel like it's done in that way of someone who doesn't really understand how bilingual people talk in real life so it's just random words and phrases thrown in haphazardly. Doesn't add much. I wouldn't take any issue with that if I felt the execution was sensible-- of course lots of people in the American West and people involved in vaquero culture speak Spanish. It just doesn't work in this book at all because it is not well-executed.

There's a semen tarot card. I don't know where else to put this information.

I think the premise is interesting, but that's it. The novella does nothing with it any of it. I never thought it'd be possible for a book that's about 100 pages and some change to waste my time from start to finish, but this book is truly and utterly a complete waste of time. I can't recommend this to anyone.

[Kara Jorgensen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings about this one. I think I set my expectations a bit high because I love dinosaurs and want more fantasy with dinosaurs. I liked the idea of this (dino rodeo, the ethical implications, etc.), but the author being from Europe is obvious when writing about a dystopian near-futuristic America.
I can suspend my disbelief about many things, but using the metric system in America is not one of them. I also think the amount of time between places is greatly underestimated and wouldn't fit the timeline of the book.
Overall, I wanted to like it, but I feel like it was too short for what it was trying to build and the main characters ended up flat(ish), which is a bit of a drag for me as the characters are what I care about over world-building.

[Nicholas Perez · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a post-apocalyptic America, teenager Latif "Tif" Tamim wanders the desolate landscape with a Carnotaur, trying to both make a name for himself and give the dinosaur a better home. He soon finds himself at a dinosaur circus where a woman named Memphis lets him him join her team. Memphis' troupe consists of the kind dinosaur-whisperer (for lack of a better word) Matilda, a Silver Clown (a kind of cyborg person) with a private past, and the handsome buckaroo Prince. They don't just perform shows with the dinosaurs, they also take care of them and take them back to the time travel portal when it's time to send them back to the prehistoric past. Tif wants nothing more than to become one of the buckaroos and to be a proper guardian of the dinosaurs. But when he catches Prince's eye and starts reflecting on his past and ambitions, Tif realizes the path he takes won't be so easy.

This was nice, short read. It's set in post-apocalyptic America and has dinosaurs. What more could I want?

The plot is fairly simple and the pacing is fast. I don't agree with some of the other reviews that say that the prose in this impenetrable. Sure, I had to look a few words a few times, but it's fairly accessible. It will say that there's a lot of short sentences, especially in the beginning, so it can feel stop and go at times, but I was able to overcome that.

Tif himself is the real delight of this novella. He's young, inexperienced, but just so endearing. He makes some mistakes and has to learn from them in order to grow up. Going into this, I did not know that he was queer, but I very surprised and delighted by it--the blurb on the back didn't really give it away. His crush towards Prince was very cute and well done, but I won't tell you how that all ends. Honestly, his interactions with the other characters were what made him grow, especially with the Silver Clown, Prince, and Matilda. Like any teen, he's a bit stubborn, but what these three people teach him makes me him realize he needs to grow up. His moments with Prince are a learning lesson in love and expectations. His moments with Matilda, which were my favorite, were a lesson in being responsible and how to take care of the dinosaurs. It's kind of bittersweet, as the setting of Boy, with Accidental Dinosaur is a harsh one. We don't often see too much of the world, or even know how it got to its current state other than a rip in time and space causes dinosaurs to come to the future, but it's filled violent gangs, controlling political groups, and occasional zealots. In this harsh world, the best thing Tif can do is be kind the the dinosaurs.

This leads me to one criticism. Tif starts out with the Carnotaur and has a sort of bond with it and the conclusion of the book is a tender moment between them. However, after Tif joins Memphis' group, this Carnotaur just disappears from the narrative for a time. Tif does interact with other dinosaurs, which was good, but I felt like the Carnotaur in question could've had a bit more of a presence. All of the dinosaurs could have! I liked the moments Tif had with other humans, especially when he reunited with a longtime friend, but I wanted a bit MORE dinosaurs. I think this book could've been a little longer.

None the less, a quick, fun read.

[Sophia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A dystopian land where factions fight over commodities and territory- and where dinosaurs perform in circus and rodeo because of a time portal discovered in what was once known as the US. Ian McDonald, a new to me author, drew me in with his coming-of-age tale of a young man with a long-held dream of becoming a dinosaur rodeo star and the lessons he learns along the way in a quick-read novella format. And, yes, I freely admit that the dazzling cover was what drew me in at the outset.

Tif has blundered terribly and gotten himself fired from a prestigious dinosaur rodeo company. A mysterious Silver Clown provides him with a biometric bike as his sole possession and it carries him to his next adventure where he acquires an abused aged carnotaur that must be taken to the time portal rift and returned to its own time (that’s what one did when the dinos got too old or feeble to perform).

So, the Boy, With Accidental Dinosaur travel together and encounter a small rodeo group of misfits, learn a lot about people and life, and draw ever nearer to the moment when a Silver Clown’s mystical prediction will see Tif making a few life-altering important choices and the choices made will determine if he ever gets to become a Dinosaur Buckeroo, riding a dino under the big lights of the rodeo before a crowd.

Boy, With Accidental Dinosaur is a whimsical piece that is not grand or sweeping, yet it boasts a journey adventure, a winsome cast of characters, mystical moments, action, and emotions plenteous enough to draw in readers of this niche story. I’m calling it dystopian because of setting and flavor, but time traveling dinos, coming of age, pains of first love, and mystical elements are also there making it sci-fi and fantasy, as well, which is why it will hold appeal to a niche audience.


I rec'd an eARC via NetGalley to read in exchange for an honest review.

My full review will post at Books of My Heart on 2.25.26.

[Oleksandr Zholud · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a standalone novella set in the fractured USA of the near future, where a specific and peculiar time machine is invented, one allowing bringing Dinosaurs from their age to our time. And the only serious usage for them is shows with buckaroos. I read it as a part of the monthly reading for August 2026 at SFF Hot from Printers: New Releases group. The novella was published in 2027 and may be nominated for next year’s SFF awards.

The story starts with a 17- to 18-year-old boy on a bike with a dino next to him, travelling on one of the US motorways. Then readers get more info about the hero - Latif Tamim, who shortens it to Tif, to avoid xenophobic people around. He was just fired from a supermarket because one of the dino went loose during his shift. In this future, carnivorous dinos aren’t an everyday sight, but aren’t rare either. There are also strange beings called Silver Clowns, whose faces (if any) are hidden behind screens – are they robots or humans? Why are they always in their covering silver suits?

Losing a job, Tif hits the road and soon gets a task to deliver an old dino to B2T2, a kind of portal to send dinos back to their times. He also joins a local buckaroo circus and falls in love with their leading buckaroo.

Overall, the story has potential, but as is, it is a mix of inchoate ideas.

[RetroRaptorPF · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNFed at 5%
WOW did not see that coming. ZERO STARS! MINUS ZERO STARS!
I figured out why I have never seen this book before.

You would think this is a book for the younger audience. The plot is quite a juvenile story, I was desperate for a dinosaur novel, so I bought it, thinking “OH! This is cute!”
But no. I was not even 5% in and there was an F BOMB! CAUGHT ME OFF GUARD.
THIS IS WHAT I GET FOR NOT DOING RESEARCH. AGAIN.

TURNS OUT WHEN I LOOKED IT UP THE COWBOY IS GAY AND THE STORY IS ABOUT THESE TWO GAY GUYS. The main character is a gay, Arab-American COWBOY!? How does this even work? My mind cannot even put that thought together 😭
The WHOLE PLOT is that he must keep his homosexuality a secret from “oppressive fundamentalist militias.”
NONE of this was mentioned on the cover.


Also, by far the worst written book I have ever read. A child could do better than this. I had even looked up if it was written by an AI.

I THREW THIS BOOK IN MY FIRE. I WAS SO UPSET I KID YOU NOT IT! IS IN ASHES RIGHT NOW!


At this point I don’t think I will ever find a good dinosaur novel aside from Jurassic Park 😔

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun read that's both a love letter to Westerns and has dinosaurs. Though I was continually thrown by the British spellings in a Western, I enjoyed the writing style and the characters.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was in a Barnes & Noble and I wanted to buy something out of guilt for using the store as a showroom to get ideas of things to buy used. I picked this book because I liked the cover and was pleasantly surprised later to find out the Boy from the cover is gay.

So there are gay boys and dinosaurs and rodeos, and to be honest I think that would've been enough to get the job done in an achingly sweet way. But the book is only a hair over 100 pages and there's also time travel and time laws, militia gangs, toxic bikes, post-America American politics, Canadian politics, people called Silver Clowns that I couldn't figure out what the fuck they were, and probably other things I was too mind-boggled to remember. The excessive world-building muddles the vibe, which I think wants to be more character-based, a story about love and family and belonging.

The writing also fights you, or at least it fought me. I don't like McDonald's writing style.

Still, for a book where it feels like a lot isn't working, a lot of it works. Maybe even somehow *all* of it works, taken together. It's a head-scratcher, for sure. But a nice one.

[Robiok · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ian McDonald writes in a way that does not allow u to be distracted, u have to focus on the words and work for the image that they paint, but it’s always worth it.
I may have rated this a high 4 stars but i saw some very infuriating reviews and i said over my dead body.
The language in this novella is a work of art, the characters are bright and alive despite how little pages they had to show themselves to the reader and the story is evocative, sad and triumphant.
One day i’ll keep my promise to myself to pick up the Luna Trilogy and see what an author of this caliber than do in full lenght novel space

[Kara · Rating 5 out of 5]

absolutely loved this vibe-based book. could read pages and pages more of Tif living with his ragtag circus found family

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

genuinely distressed i can’t give this a higher rating because i LOVE the premise but it just doesn’t deliver

[Karin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Come for the dinos, stay for the spare, poetic prose. Worldbuilding, back stories etc perfect for novella length. It's about yearning. (Also: if you liked River of Teeth by Sarah Gailey.)

[Melissa · Rating 1 out of 5]

EDIT: After sitting with it even more, yeah I hate this book lmao. If I hadn't been so excited for it, I don't think I'd hate it as much as I do. But boy, the sheer disappointment that I continue to feel when I see this damn book.

My review will have spoilers in it so probably avoid beyond this if you care to read it. Although, if I'm frank, I don't recommend it.

The premise is a young boy finds a Carnotaurus that has been abused, in a western-style post-apocalyptic world, and he really wants to be a dinosaur buckaroo, the best he can be. So I thought this was going to be a story of him and this Carno growing and learning together for him to achieve this dream. Instead what I got was a wonky coming-of-age story where the dinosaurs are mostly background characters. This is a novella, so it's only 116 pages, but I think it should've been longer. The pacing is whack, some aspects of the lore doesn't make sense, and I just don't think this coming-of-age story works well in this short format. At least, not how it's done here. The world was admittedly somewhat interesting, with the USA now just a bunch of fundie "kingdoms" and such. But for some reason, the Spanish language is utilized for a lot of words. It's never really explained why, just a bunch of people speak Spanish now. They created this machine, the B2T2, which can go back in time but only to the paleo ages. So they get dinosaurs from those eras, bring them to live in our world for like 7 years or so, and then put them back exactly where they came from to "protect the timeline." It's a bit odd, but had the rest of the book been good, I could've forgiven it.

I also just did not care about Tif. He's like 17 or 18, and while I understand he's still a dumb horny teenager, there were times when sexual comments were made that had no place being there. One of the characters is using tarot cards with textures on them, and for some reason, we're told one of them feels like semen. There's another moment when he sees his best friend from childhood again, and we're told that he thinks he came in his pants. Like...what? It makes zero sense when we're told these things, and it very quickly got old. Because the pacing is so whack, I didn't feel like he really was getting closer to these circus folk. By the end of the story, he sees them as family, but I never felt that way. He experiences his first love (he's queer) with one of them named Prince, but I guess he breaks his heart because he...walked off? We're told he doesn't like super bright light, and they were near a light or something, and Prince is TERRIFIED. He tells Tif "its not you" and I guess that's him calling things off with Tif? For some reason? Maybe I'm stupid, but I don't understand what on earth happened. I also find it very strange to establish that these circus people care about their dinosaurs to where letting them go is hard. But then they exploit more anyway so it's like...what was the point?

If you were looking for a Western themed dinosaur book, I'm sorry to say that this is not it. The dinosaurs are hardly there. Hell, I forgot this kid even had a Carno because he didn't really do anything with it. Needless to say, a VERY disappointing read.

[Julie Alberts · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wanted to read this as a fun little palate cleanser and boy was it definitely NOT THAT. I never thought I would feel so stupid reading a book about gay dinosaur cowboys and yet, I did.

[Erin Aley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to Tor and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.

Boy, with Accidental Dinosaur by Ian McDonald is a science fiction novella set in a post-apocalyptic version of the United States that has found a way to bring dinosaurs from the Cretaceous period to the present day. It follows Tif Tamim, an orphaned boy who grew up wanting to be a dinosaur buckaroo and is traveling to return a dinosaur to the time it came from.

I was really excited about the concept of this book and very drawn in by the cover art and title. A queer man riding dinosaurs in the future sounded right up my alley. However, I was not quite as enamored with the book as I had hoped. Tif Tamim is a very interesting character, as pieces of his story are revealed, however I think that maybe due to the writing style I could not entirely immerse myself in the world and relate to the characters. As I continued to read the book, the language used began to click more but because it was such a short book, I didn’t ever fully feel settled. I would have loved to get to spend more time with Tif as he explores his relationships with the characters around him, and I also to get more about his queer identity.

I would recommend this book to people that may be more attuned to how Ian McDonald writes, or who read more dystopian fiction than I do.

[Andrew Kline · Rating 3 out of 5]

A tear in time-space exists where dinosaurs can appear in the present day. A boy with dreams of training in dinosaur rodeo escorts an aging dinosaur to the rift to return to its time. A mix of story-specific language and Spanish phrases made it a little hard to get started, since you're thrown right into the world, but it is a sweet, abbreviated coming-of-age story in a unique setting. The cover and the tagline "Mad Max meets How to Train Your Dragon" are pretty deceptive, though; I didn't get vibes from either of those stories.

[Mandy Beyers · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm as obsessed with the idea of a dinosaur rodeo as the main character in this story. The entire setting is intriguing, with the dystopian governments and the two timelines next to each other. My only quibble is that I could have used a little more - I wanted more about Prince, more time with the dinosaurs, and more back story overall. I felt like I understood the world just in time for the novella to end. But, the way Tif's Tarot card fortune played out was perfect. 3.5 stars

[Dan Trefethen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't help but feel this is an homage to Ray Bradbury.

Ian McDonald doesn't usually write about teenage boys. He doesn't usually write about dinosaurs and time travel. He doesn't usually write about circuses. Bradbury has done all those things, and this short novel feels very 'Bradburyian', if I can use the term.

It's not billed as a YA but could easily fit that category. This doesn't denigrate it from being a perfectly enchanting story of a young man trying to find his way in the world and save an aging dinosaur from execution, and returning it to its proper time and place.

[Kai Forbes · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, I guess that technically was a book

[Jeremy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the concept of this story. Who wouldn’t love a story about a dinosaur buckaroo in a world where dinosaurs come out a hole in the timeline, allowing for dinosaurs to be extracted from the past. They return them to the past once they’ve gone around on the rodeo circuit for a while. I could not find myself caring much for Tif, our main character, who is actually not yet a buckaroo, but just wanting to be one. There was a some good queer rep in this, which was a nice highlight for this book.

3.5 stars

Thank you to @tordotcompub for my eARC. All thoughts are my own.

[Carissa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Never in my life did I expect to give a QUEER COWBOY ROMANCE with DINOSAURS one star… but here we are.

Nothing about this novella was remotely decent. The writing was clunky and unbearable and the characters were barely coherent. I’m not sure what the author was trying to pull off but it was not effective. A true and utter mess of a story.

[AmbushPredator · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book, far too short, though, opening just as I like them - straight into the story and the world, no exposition, leaving the reader to discover how dinosaurs can exist in this strange fractured America.

The one glitch, hadrosaurs described as carnivorous!

[Stacy K Shera · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. This story has an interesting premise and a lot of potential...but it fell short for me.

[Kit Garton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for a review.
Even more ridiculous than the summary led me to expect! I loved it! A very timely dystopia and DINOSAURS!!!

[Emiko Dooley · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’ve peer reviewed essays of illiterate teens better than this book.

[KatieLee · Rating 4 out of 5]

the fundamental difference between Tif's world and ours is the existence of the B2T2. a literal hole in the timeline, the B2T2 allows technicians to extract live dinosaurs from the distant past; and to return them to the same second they stole them from approximately seven years down the line, once they've been ridden into the ground for the rodeo circuit.

yes, I said rodeo circuit. the dinosaur rodeo circuit, of course. I have complicated (and overwhelmingly negative) feelings about our current timeline, in-real-life rodeos, so you can imagine that wrapping my brain around this version was staggering. but the book gentles you into it; the book holds your hand and tells you about the different rodeos and their caravans, the tremendously bizarre existence of Silver Clowns, the emergence of buckaroos and parades. honestly there's not a whole lot of world-building but I thought for this novella it worked. all Tif cares about are the rodeos; why should we learn about anything else?

the beginning of the book sees Tif on a long walk with an old carnotaur who needs to be returned to his original timeline. you might think you know what to expect from this book. you might be thinking: this is an easy equation. boy plus dinosaur equals riding in the rodeo! but no. it's swiftly explained that the carnotaur is simply too old, that riding him would be a death sentence, and that actually, Tif isn't a buckaroo at all, because he's never been trained.

in order to return the carnotaur, Tif must find a circus that can bring both of them to the B2T2. he ends up running with Memphis Red's Tatterdemalion Circus when Memphis herself offers them a spot. here he meets Prince, one of my favorite love interests of all time.

"And Tif is in love. In an instant, for all time. His heart stolen by the wink of rhinestone."

making Prince a lowkey terrible person was such a fantastic choice for this book. he's awful and gorgeous and sleeps all day because he's allergic to the sun. he rides the dinosaurs with an ease that suggests he can talk directly to them. he's the best buckaroo this circus has seen for a long time. and at one point, everyone has been in love with him.

"He really is the most beautifully selfish creature. He can't help it."

the rest of the crew includes the so-named Silver Clown, mysteriously trained and never seen without his trademark silver outfit, Whistling Matilda, a Canadian whose country has not devolved into feudal kingdoms and/or dinosaur rodeos and so kind of wants to go home, Memphis Red, leader of the pack and collector of strays, and Prince himself. the found family vibes are lovely.



🌈 queer rep: queer/achillean mc, queer/achillean love interest
thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the arc ✨

[CIK8A · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one let me down.

I'm not sure I can even explain why coherently but I'll try. Maybe I'll come back and edit this if I can word it all better.

First:
The dinosaur is not accidental, he's taking it to be taken back (to the proper time period) and he never rides it? He rides a different dinosaur entirely on basically the last page. It's mostly a coming of age story. Which is totally fine! But that's not quite how it's pitched on the back.

There really isn't enough explanation for anything, especially the (lack thereof of) government? A half dozen names and denominations are thrown at you and that's it. Most of them sound like violent extremist groups with territories? I guess.

It's like the author wanted to get a bunch of ideas on the page but not flesh them out. Everybody speaks little bits of conversational Spanish, so much so you'd think the main character is Mexican. Or ANY characters are Mexican...
No, I went back to the page to be sure he says "I'm Arab." Now I can't find the page, of course.

He wants to keep his identity but does nothing? Aside from repeat his real name, the name he uses for the entire book? Not the name the boy's home tries to give him that we hear ONCE.

It's dangerous to be not white in parts of the former US (I mean it is NOW) but how has it gotten to that point? So Tif is harassed or has to hide, and there is a human smuggling ring in the north getting non Cishet or non white folks and liberals to safety in Canada.

Characters routinely cross great distances with little time passing? Maybe this is because the author is not American, but I never really knew where they were. It's set in a largely hot and dry place, with a lot of Spanish spoken, so the South, Southwest? But at one point coming back from the Midwest they're in South Dakota. So is this in a post apocalypse or far future where climates have changed or did they have to hit the Dakotas for political reasons? Tif's never seen a boat?

See, this is why I'm confused.

He's is in love for 3 pages, and then it literally never matters again.

Earl only matters in the last few chapters. Suddenly he HAS to go get him.

I honestly wanted much more about the possibly actually magical rodeo clowns? Why are they so mysterious and cool??

It feels like a draft that is supposed to get fleshed out with more detail and then just gets published as is.

The writing is not bad, the book isn't bad, it's just not good.

[Delaney Ott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Queer sci-fi dino rodeo western. Perfect little read.