#5 Gregor and the Code of Claw (The Underland Chronicles, #5)

by Suzanne Collins

• ISBN13: 9780439791441
• Publish Date: 25 June 2013 (first published 1 May 2007)
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 8 March 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Cartwheel Books
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 416
• Language: English

Reviews

[mbtc]

Wonderful ending to the Gregor story. The characters in this tale are so charming it's hard not to love them.

[nannah]

As a whole, I've enjoyed The Underland Chronicles. However, I do find myself a little disappointed that almost every series or trilogy ends with a grand war. Or more specifically, a last book where a single war takes up the entire plot. Yes, it does make for compelling reading and I was engaged the whole time, but I feel like it's somehow . . . wrong (?) to need all this violence in order to craft intensity for the climax (i.e. the last book). It also seems like a Collins trademark now, her last books need to be ridiculously war-centered with way too much gore and killing.

This aspect certainly seemed overdone in Gregor and the Code of Claw. I couldn't tell you how much imagery included blood dripping, spurting, running down and mixing with someone else's blood, seeping, etc. Not to mention this is for a young audience. I feel in order to create this emotional and action-packed potency she needed to make everything as violent as possible, and it made me feel like she lost track of the children she was writing for. There was even a scene where a rat ripped the head off another. It just seemed like too much, like she's feeding the stereotype that children need action and violence to be entertained. There certainly was a lot of that here.

All that aside, though, it wasn't all bad. I enjoyed Lizzie's role, and the softer side of Ripred. I felt like the relationship between Luxa and Gregor became a bit planned and awkward (including making Luxa's role "smaller" because she needed to be protected all the time since she was a woman and beloved by the male protagonist, despite her skill).

But all in all this series has some beautiful moments and great story lines that I enjoyed.

[sstaley]

Wow! I really ended up loving this series. I especially liked the way the character Gregor grew and matured. The ending left me unsettled though and Collins left it open, just in case she wanted Gregor to visit the Underland again.

I will be reviewing the whole series soon on my blog.