A review by dandelionsteph
Predator vs. Prey by Lisa McMann

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated

It's slow in the middle for a while. Several chapters are spent watching the captive scientists, having the characters learn how to operate the equipment to watch them, and planning for an escape. There's not a lot of physical movement or novelty in this part. Maria's bracelet working differently from Charlie's was interesting. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Kidnapping, and Violence

Minor: Blood and Injury/Injury detail

Mac (if I recall correctly) made brief mean joking comments or pedantic but oddly-emphasized references about Kelly being like a male animal (a strutting peacock, a venomous male platypus) not once, but twice. If Kelly, an insecure, unreliable "frenemy" character who [spoiler]threatens their safety in careless ways[/spoiler], was only juxtaposed with a male animal once, this would be nothing, but when it's done twice, it does seem to be going in a vaguely transphobic/gender-nonconforming-mocking way. Admittedly, I don't think any of the characters are actually LGBTQ+, but I don't think it's all that gender-nonconforming/unpleasantly masculine for Kelly to have the venomous heel spurs of a male platypus or, hypothetically, a peacock tail. Even in the show Miraculous Ladybug, the wielder of the Peacock Miraculous (magical artifact powered by a cute animal-themed spirit) was an important female character twice.