This may be a minority option here, but I could not stand how cliquey “Ben and the others” seemed by talking bad about Martin behind his back, making snarky comments, and not really ever sitting down with Martin to address their concerns, and perhaps giving Martin a chance to change or at least explain himself.
A real person would sense all the hate surrounding him,
Small spoilers below…
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…and it’s no wonder he took off and stole from them.
This book had some unrealistic elements as well. A tiger… seriously
Yes I know zoos, and escaped animals, but how is it “Ben and the others” comes across every single unlikely thing that could ever happen in the world.
I always ponder the motivations of each mini group that they come across, and I think it’s a huge missed opportunity to not expand on these encounters instead of just killing and avoiding and moving on.
Another book that Ben has serious interior monologue that rehashes all of his previous decisions. A lot of repetition of phrases.