“Hi, Trix. Hi, Monty.” I actually lift my hand to wave at them, but it just hangs in the air, a soft-palmed salute. I feel my jaw relax and lower. My Jaw does the same. This must be what it feels like to fall in love for the first time.

Calliope seeing the Tyrannosaurus Rex and Edmontosaurus skeletons for the first time
Flirtasaurus

My name is Calliope and “I bone for a living.” Kidding. I am studying to be a paleontologist though. It’s the only thing I’ve ever wanted to be, and I have finally landed the perfect museum internship to make all of my dino-loving dreams come true. Trouble is, everyone wants me to be a gentle, loving sort of creature, but I’m more of the T-Rex type by nature – the kind who is determined to stomp and tear her way through any obstacle in order to get what she wants. But when a sexy, rumbly-voiced astronomer plummets into my orbit and threatens to break open my hard little heart, my career and my whole way of looking at the world is suddenly on the line. The dinosaurs didn’t see their asteroid coming. And I sure as hell wasn’t prepared for mine.

This book took me on a rollercoaster in terms of liking and disliking it. As a woman who has spend a majority of her career in a male dominated field—first in forensic chemistry and now in IT—I crave more books about woman succeeding in doing exactly that. Flirtasaurus drew me in with the hope that Calliope could possibly be a heroine to look up to—I mean a female paleontologist?—but unfortunately, she did not live up to that expectation.

From the get-go, I found the heroine to be brash and unlikable. Calliope is studying to be a paleontologist, a challenging field for a woman (as she consistently reminds the reader). The book opens with her getting trapped in an elevator on her first day at her new internship—a situation anyone would have a freak out during. So, while she’s trying to give herself a very loud and, quite frankly, over-the-top-crass pep talk, her love interest finds her and keeps her company until she is rescued by the fire department. His name is Ralph, and he’s the new astronomer at the museum, as we later find out when she runs into him again. When she eventually gets free, she then screams at the first coworker she meets for being a sexist pig. To be fair to her, she wasn’t wrong. He was, in fact, being a sexist pig, but screaming at him for it isn’t the way to stand up for yourself or how you act in the workplace—which is exactly what her mentor, Dr. Knowles says to her.

I think my main problem with this book was that there wasn’t any character growth for Calliope. She is the exact same at the beginning of the story as she is at the end: foul-mouthed, self-centered, and stubborn. At no point does she learn from her mistakes, even when confronted head-on with them, whether by Dr. Knowles, by her parents, or by Ralph. Yet, she still ends up getting the guy and a pretty sweet job on an archaeological dig. I honestly didn’t understand it. 

However, there were plenty of characters that I did like. For example, Dr. Knowles; she’s strong, competent, and a little bit frightening. I understand why Calliope looks up to her and wants her to be her mentor. Some of my favorite parts of the book were Calliope’s interactions with Dr. Knowles. The woman is unflappable, even when Calliope goes on one of her numerous (and I mean numerous) tirades with way too many f-bombs for the workplace. I also liked Mabel, an entomologist Calliope meets on her first day that immediately befriends her. Calliope may find Mabel to be too quirky and awkward, but I found her genuine and sweet, and I can’t wait to read the sequel that focuses on her. 

Overall, there were some super cute moments between Calliope and Ralph, and the meet-ugly in the beginning totally grabbed my attention, but I think Calliope as a character just missed the mark with me.