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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
This was a pretty good book. Though in the beginning I ended up hating Lauren because she blackmailed her brother, which to me was an all time low. Though the mission in the beginning seemed like it would be boring ended up picking up its pace as I read more.
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Man Vs Beast was yet again another exciting, exhilarating novel by Robert Muchamore that had my heart racing for the entire book. This book redeemed my hope for the series after Divine Madness. Although I enjoy every book Divine Madness did fall a a bit short and Man Vs Beast was exactly what I needed to feel better about the Cherub series in whole. Man Vs Beast had moments where I feared for the characters lives which was an exciting new element. Although the cherub missions have risked lives before this one brought it to a new level entirely. The story showed different sides to the different groups to do with animals. Without spoiling too much, That torture scene was hard to read which I presume was what Robert Muchamore was trying to do. Man Vs Beast was another great Cherub Novel that I enjoyed, despite it having its slow moments. I am very excited to continue reading this exciting series by the wonderful author Robert Muchamore. His writing never fails to make me keep on reading.
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
fast-paced
'I suppose you're a bit young to be an undercover cop'
*eye-rolling ensues*
7/10
The quote I used not withstanding, this, to me, is an outstanding addition to the Cherub series. On par if not better than Divine Madness. There was so much that I felt was done right compared to other books where elements felt limp or underwhelming. Just to list a few things that I will go into: good character development, an engaging story and the high-stakes climax of the book.
If I first address the character development in the book: James and Kyle finally have it out over the homophobic undertones that James has exhibited since Kyle coming out as Gay, Lauren deciding to become a vegetarian after learning about the cruelty of companies such as Malarek and Kyle's conflict over Tom (although this was similar to how James reacted to girls he had met on previous missions aswell). Despite the mission going on throughout the book all three of these examples that I have pointed out felt like they added an extra layer to their characters, despite being fairly minor elements of the book. But it is the small things that make it easier to connect to the characters. For example,James finally admits that he has reservations about Kyle being Gay and his eventual acceptance of it by the end of the novel shows that James is maturing. Lauren becoming vegetarian once again brings the morality elements of these books, Lauren especially debates throughout the book is groups like the Zebra Alliance really are that bad. It is the small character details like this that make, especially side characters, feel real rather than just being there to prop up James.
One part I really enjoyed in this book was the climax during the attack on Nick Cobb, there was something so gripping during the whole scene. Muchamore did a great job of building the tension especially when Kyle had to make a decision on what to do while Nick Cobb was possibly going to die. While in previous books there was always the high-stakes climax but I think what worked so well in this book was the isolation that Kyle and James both had to deal with while also having to worry about what the other was doing as James couldn't jeopardise Kyle and vice versa. I think what also greatly helped the plot was that it was unclear where it was heading, it was never clear what the extremist animal rights groups were planning so as a reader it was hard to guess or predict what was going to happen and when it finally happened it was clear there wasn't going to be any 'deus ex machina ' from Cherub and that James and Kyle had to rely on themselves.
One of my biggest complaints throughout the series has been that a lot of the books have parts that feel rushed and when I started Man vs Beast I was concerned that the joining of the extremist group was going to have the same problem, especially as it seemed like there wasn't enough space left in the book for it to be done organically. However I was pleasantry surprised as I never felt like it was being rushed or unbelievable that they would be allowed inside the AFA.
However I did have a few problems with the book, these are minor gripes but I felt I would need to mention them anyway. There was one section of the book that was written from the perspective of Nick Cobb where he was meeting an ill fan. This seemed very out of place and it didn't feel like it had a purpose, there was no real explanation for it and it didn't enhance the plot or even having a bearing on the readers view of Cobb. Another similar complaint I had is Viv had to miss the mission that would allow them to help with the AFA's big plan, and then with no explanation he was allowed to be part of their mission anyway. This just seemed to not fit in with the motive of the AFA especially when considering how careful they were when recruiting James and Kyle.
When I started re-reading this series I only really remembered the first 3 books and didn't have high hopes for the rest as they didn't grab me as they have done now. But I would happily say that out of the six books I have read so far this and Divine Madness are my favourites so far. I think this book did a great job of continuing the development of characters from minor characters like Rat, Jake and Zara to main players such as Lauren, James and Kyle. As well as providing the most gripping plot in the whole series.
However gruesome this may have been I did love how James and Lauren were together on this mission and their sibling banter does make me laugh! This book reminded me of how much I love this series! In this book James is sent on a mission with the aid of his younger sister Lauren to gather information about the extremist animal rights group.
It was surprisingly good. I never really enjoyed reading those books but this one was diffrent.