Take a photo of a barcode or cover
critter 's review for:
Survivors: The Gathering Darkness #1: A Pack Divided
by Erin Hunter
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book has the same issues as the previous does in that it is very mean spirited and character development does not truly exist. There are ways to create tensions to divide the pack and build distrust in ways that are not cruel and actually creates tension in the story. This series also continues to show prejudices against Dobermans while putting in minimum effort to show readers that they are not evil and violent dogs.
Most of the Erin Hunter series have a degree of ableism to them, but Survivors has been the most blatant display of ableism. The three legged dog, Twitch, is pretty much infantilized in this book as well as treated as if he cannot possibly fight his own battles. This conflict that makes him Third Dog, is very infuriating to me, especially because he could handle himself in the previous books. He was a leader of the hunting dogs for a reason, yet he somehow cannot fight or hunt. When he is challenged for his position as a leader of the hunting dogs, Storm and the other dogs believe that he cannot defend himself in the fight and somehow during this it is brought up that he can't keep up with the other dogs, even though this has never been shown. The treatment of Twitch as a character is deeply frustrating and despite having been shown in the past to be able to take care of himself as well as be a leader of his own pack, he is infantilized and treated as if he is helpless because of his disability.
Most of the Erin Hunter series have a degree of ableism to them, but Survivors has been the most blatant display of ableism. The three legged dog, Twitch, is pretty much infantilized in this book as well as treated as if he cannot possibly fight his own battles. This conflict that makes him Third Dog, is very infuriating to me, especially because he could handle himself in the previous books. He was a leader of the hunting dogs for a reason, yet he somehow cannot fight or hunt. When he is challenged for his position as a leader of the hunting dogs, Storm and the other dogs believe that he cannot defend himself in the fight and somehow during this it is brought up that he can't keep up with the other dogs, even though this has never been shown. The treatment of Twitch as a character is deeply frustrating and despite having been shown in the past to be able to take care of himself as well as be a leader of his own pack, he is infantilized and treated as if he is helpless because of his disability.