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hidekisohma 's review for:
Into the Wild
by Erin Hunter
Having been on the internet for quite a while, i have noticed this series being talked about A LOT. i've always wondered what the hell was the appeal and decided that I should give the first book and try and see if i can tell what all the hubbub is about. And....i don't really see it.
Now i'm walking into this book as an adult with no nostalgic bias whatsoever so that might be the issue. i didn't read this in my childhood as i was slightly too old for the series when it released and JUST got around to it. That being said, what about the book standing on its own merits?
So first of all, i don't like the main character Firepaw. He's WAY too gungho about leaving his homelife to go live in the wild. like there's barely any thought to this. He has a dream about running free and goes "I'M GONNA GO LIVE IN DA WILD!" and that's about all his internal struggle. It's very basic and not very well written. He's also really quick at picking up stuff and is nearly immediately loved by everyone in the new clan. very Gary Stu-ish.
The plot itself is very basic. There's cat clans and one of the clans called shadow clan is being a dick and trying to take over. Cats die, Firepaw helps save the day. That's really all there is to it.
I really tended to lose track of the cats as there are SO MANY characters that they actually have to have a character legend in the beginning of the book. like there's probably around 30 speaking characters. one dies and i'm like "oh no! not.. (flips back to the character legend) THAT guy!" I get they're trying to show it's a vibrant community, but it gets a little overwhelming at times.
I'm giving this book a TINY bit of leeway since it IS the first book in the series and needs a little time to get going, so i'll read the second book and see if it gets any better without the need to explain everything to the audience.
Not SUPER excited for the next one, but i'll be reading it. I've read better animals being animals in the wild books before. this is a big ol' meh.
3 out of 5.
Now i'm walking into this book as an adult with no nostalgic bias whatsoever so that might be the issue. i didn't read this in my childhood as i was slightly too old for the series when it released and JUST got around to it. That being said, what about the book standing on its own merits?
So first of all, i don't like the main character Firepaw. He's WAY too gungho about leaving his homelife to go live in the wild. like there's barely any thought to this. He has a dream about running free and goes "I'M GONNA GO LIVE IN DA WILD!" and that's about all his internal struggle. It's very basic and not very well written. He's also really quick at picking up stuff and is nearly immediately loved by everyone in the new clan. very Gary Stu-ish.
The plot itself is very basic. There's cat clans and one of the clans called shadow clan is being a dick and trying to take over. Cats die, Firepaw helps save the day. That's really all there is to it.
I really tended to lose track of the cats as there are SO MANY characters that they actually have to have a character legend in the beginning of the book. like there's probably around 30 speaking characters. one dies and i'm like "oh no! not.. (flips back to the character legend) THAT guy!" I get they're trying to show it's a vibrant community, but it gets a little overwhelming at times.
I'm giving this book a TINY bit of leeway since it IS the first book in the series and needs a little time to get going, so i'll read the second book and see if it gets any better without the need to explain everything to the audience.
Not SUPER excited for the next one, but i'll be reading it. I've read better animals being animals in the wild books before. this is a big ol' meh.
3 out of 5.