I think this will be the second book by Montgomery that I read? Ah well, spoilers ahead.
Rebel is a dog who lives a simple life on a farm with his beloved owner, Tom. But when Tom goes off to join a rebellion against the King, Rebel leaves his comfortable life behind in hopes of finding Tom and bringing him home safely. On his journey he's joined by a wild dog named Jaxon.
I wasn't really sure if I was going to like this going in, but yeah, honestly, this was a really solid read. I finished it in the span of a day and just kept going and going and never really wanted to put the book down.
The main draw of this book is the characters for me. Rebel is a very likable character and you really just admire how much he's willing to do everything for his owner. But he also goes through changes as he sometimes starts to doubt whether Tom still loves him or not. He also grows and becomes more capable across the story. His blossoming friendship with Jaxon is also nice. The duo don't get along at first, but throughout the story they become genuinely really close and it was just wholesome to see.
Jaxon is also a very likable character, with a tough exterior but a softer and more lonely interior. There's also some side characters like an elderly donkey, a mouse who lost his mate, and a pig whom Rebel frees before he goes to the slaughter. All just very distinct and enjoyable characters, even if they're not the most rounded or anything.
Tom himself is less of a round character as well, being more so a goal for Rebel to work towards rather than a very three-dimensional character. He does have a minor arc of figuring out what he wants in life and deciding he doesn't want to be with the rebellion anymore after getting badly injured, but that's pretty much it for him. He does have a wholesome bond with Rebel, though.
The story itself is also rather interesting. At some points I was worried that the human plot of the rebellion was going to take over the canine parts of the story, but no, thankfully the book does manage to keep its focus where it should be as a dog xenofiction. I've read some xenofiction books where the animal protagonists get thrown aside in favor of a human plot and human characters. Here, the human subplot is definitely relevant to the story as it's the inciting incident and the reason for Rebel's journey, but the focus is thankfully kept on the dogs throughout the entire story and it never truly becomes about the human or anything. Which, if you're an animal xenofiction, is what you're supposed to do, at least if you ask me.
If I do have a minor criticism here it's that I do think Jaxon's change going from disliking Rebel to being his closest friend went a bit fast. I can see it from Rebel's side as Rebel was acting overall pretty amicable towards Jaxon, however the wild dog himself was at first very insistent on disliking Rebel and everything he represents. I can of course buy the two growing closer over the story, that's not the issue. The issue is that I think Jaxon's change in attitude towards Rebel just kinda happened on a whim. Like they'll suddenly be besties quite out of nowhere. There's very little shown of Jaxon warming up to Rebel, it just kinda happens at the snap of a finger.
I also do think it's funny how easily Rebel's and Jaxon's friendship could be interpreted as a romance. I do not think this is the author's intention, but the way they talk about each other after a while, even saying blatantly that they love one another at one point, can easily be read as romantic. The book does end with them going their own separate ways, but I don't know, these dogs were acting pretty gay to me. Which I'm honesty all for, I just don't think that was the author's intention when writing their friendship.
Overall this was a really solid book though. The plot kept me thoroughly invested, I liked Rebel and Jaxon a lot, the side characters were fun, the journey was perilous, it was just overall a good read.
The book does have a mostly closed off ending, however there is definitely potential for a sequel here. The war against the King has really only just begun and there's also a line where Rebel mentions he thinks he'll see Jaxon again after the duo parted. I don't see this book being listed as part of a series on Goodreads, but if there is a sequel I'll probably check it out at some point.
Rating: 4/5
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