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rebel_fairy's review against another edition
4.0
The tension in the pack is rising more than ever. After Whisper's death, the troubkes haven't stopped for the pack. No one knows who to to trust. The climax is building in the series and I can't wait to see where it will lead. Who is the culprit? This book was filled with intrigue and the characters arw well thought out. I can't wait to read the next one.
cassidylynnereads's review
2.0
Is it just me getting older and losing interest in these books, or are the Erin Hunter books that have been published lately not up to the usual standard? I have to admit the ShadowClan story line in the Warriors series has me interested, but even in that series it seems like the characters are irrational and make annoying decisions. I'm starting to feel the same way about the characters in this story, but instead of the main character annoying me it's all of the other characters. It seems like as soon as a new dog takes over all the other dogs seem to be cruel and stupid. I'm all for writing diverse characters with different outlooks and opinions, but to differentiate your characters' voices you shouldn't have to make only the character telling the story rational. Alpha has especially changed for me in this book, and I definitely see the rationality behind Bluestar's choices in the Warriors series of choosing between motherhood and being a leader. Most of the things I want to rant about include spoilers, so if you don't mind them or have read the book and want to see my thoughts in more depth, continue reading.
Spoiler
I have to agree with a lot of people who read this series and say that this book, as well as the one before it, seem like boring filler. I know it's a thing to publish six books per arc when using the pen name Erin Hunter, but if nothing of significance is going to happen in two of the six books, you can condense the series into a trilogy and you wouldn't tarnish the name. Honestly I don't see how this series is going to be dragged out into another three books unless something major happens. The thing that bothered me the most about this book though is that we still don't know who killed Whisper and did all of the bad stuff to the Pack. This particular plot point has dragged on so long it better be a darn good plot twist when the murderer is finally revealed. Or if I'm just dull enough to not understand what the ending was trying to imply and it was showing that the murderer is the Fear Dog himself, then I am going to bang my head repeatedly into a wall. That is probably the dumbest storyline this series could go with just to shield our beloved characters with plot armor and keep them from being "bad dogs" (which, by the way, I don't like as a description for the traitor. They couldn't just call the "bad dog" a traitor or a conspirator? The current description just makes me think of the dog memes going around about being the good boy). I don't mind if the "Fear Dog" and his actions are part of a larger plot, but if there's going to be a traitor implied for two books than I want an actual traitor who I never would have suspected. My second least favorite part of this book was every interaction with Arrow and Bella after they leave the Pack. When Lucky and Storm first go out together to find them, Lucky acts really vague and tells Storm he didn't really ask Bella and Arrow how they were doing, so it seems like he's hiding something but then it turns out he was acting weird for nothing? Then Storm reappears because she walked to their new camp in her sleep, and she revealed that she sleep walks to a very surprised Arrow who shouldn't be so shocked considering he already knows Storm sleep walks and told her that's normal and nothing to worry about. The author definitely needs to reread her own books because she shouldn't be forgetting such obvious things that already happened. It's kind of weird that this is the second book I've read in 2017 where the author has mistaken big plot points because they forgot what they already wrote about in previous books. All of the interactions with Bella seemed really artificial and rushed too, and the only time she actually seemed like herself was when she got in an argument with the Pack over the weasel. By the way in that fight she seemed pretty angry at Lucky, only for the confrontation to be brushed off quickly during their next meeting. Seriously, they acted like it never happened, and it wasn't implied even once that Lucky was forcing himself to act a certain way to Bella after the rest of the Pack confronted her, so there is really no explanation why that tension suddenly dissipated? Was it because of the super convenient coyote attack that made zero sense and was only added to drive Bella away? That attack definitely should have been made more dramatic for it to make them leave. Arrow should have at least been hurt a tiny bit. Also I'm super confused about why Arrow and Bella didn't just join the Pack again since most of the dogs who wanted Arrow gone left the Pack. Sure Bruno wouldn't have been too happy, but Lucky definitely could have brought them back in and there wouldn't have been any major issues, especially since the dogs later admit they treated Arrow unfairly. That brings me to the other point that I hated how the characters acted. Alpha is a wuss who only puts on fancy airs to make herself look good, then backs down whenever an actual conflict arises that needs to be solved. I was kind of hoping Storm would challenge her for position as Alpha, it got that bad. I also find it completely out of character that Mickey and Lucky would just let Bella and Arrow leave. I also find it ridiculous how big of a deal it is that Arrow and Storm are Fierce Dogs in this series. I'm pretty sure the entire final book of the first arc was supposed to dispel those prejudices, but suddenly every dog is against Arrow and Storm, even Mickey who saved Storm and her litter mates without hesitation based on their breed, and Lucky to a degree with his snide comments about Storm fighting against her "nature." That comment made me super angry because it essentially negated the books in the first arc, where Storm was shown to be fighting her violent nature and Lucky defended her every step of the way, insisting that she didn't have to be violent just because of her lineage. So many other details didn't make sense, such as Storm taking notice that Breeze left her out of the story of killing the tusk nose early on. I have suspicions that this might be pointing out that Breeze is the traitor, along with the fact that she was the one who implied the Pack thought Storm sabotaged her own bedding, but why develop those tiny details if the killer isn't even going to be revealed this book? I highly doubt most readers will remember those hints for the next book, and again I'm only guessing about Breeze and if I'm wrong those comments don't make any sense being included at all. The way Snap was written in this book honestly made it seem like the writer forgot she was mates with Mickey. They are never seen together, Snap acts very suspicious of Storm despite Mickey being so close to them both, and the way Storm mentioned their relationship at the end seemed like it was forced in at that spot to make up for the fact that the writer forgot about it. I didn't completely dislike this book, in fact I was thinking of giving it three stars, but I feel like it definitely went a step down from the normal caliber of this series. The plot points that were meant to be dramatic fell flat during the rest of the filler that was this book. The most interesting part was the conflict with the pups, and that didn't even happen until the end of the book. Beetle and Thorn take sibling bickering to a whole new level of annoying and unnecessary (I have two sisters and fights are not as frequent as they make them out to be). Alpha truly does show favoritism to her original Pack. I will say thought that I liked the friendship between Storm and Twitch, and I wouldn't be completely against them becoming mates. I also noticed little hints about Breeze and Beetle at the end, but I may be reading too far into things._michelle_'s review against another edition
1.0
The original Survivors arc was a fun read, even if it lacked depth. This book, though, continues the downward trajectory of the Gathering Darkness arc established in the last 2 books.
Lucky continues to perplex me in regards to his drastic personality switch. Storm was everything to him in the last arc and now it's like she can't do or say anything right in his eyes, when he even makes time to notice she exists.
Alpha (Sweet) infuriates me with her lack of leadership and passive cruelty (she doesn't speak up for dogs being bullied so that they end up leaving the Pack, and yells at the whole Pack for a few dogs being aggressors). Really, though, I can't say it's surprising, since she tried to
Spoiler
help hold Lucky (her mate!) down while a dog maimed his leg under the old Alpha's rule; it was the old Alpha's orders, but she was happy to obligeThis series seems to have some awful hold on me. I usually drop books I dislike so fast it's crazy, and never understood hate reading, but now I just realize it can be dedication to the author and hoping they keep writing books like what made you a fan in the first place.
skylacine's review
5.0
Full review at: https://skybookcorner.blogspot.com/2021/03/book-review-survivors-arc-2-gathering.html
theravenflight's review
4.0
I can't really say anything bad or good about this book; it is just a Survivors novel in the middle of an arc. Nothing extremely important happened in this one...Just a lot of small things that may or may not come back to the plot in future books. Still no closer to figuring out the mystery that surrounds this Pack...
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