Book Review: The Storm by Dayna Lorentz (Dogs of the Drowned City #1)

 

A book I've been interested in reading like forever. Spoilers ahead.

Shep is a former fighting dog who loves his life in his human family and especially his boy. But then the humans leave him behind one day. Shep breaks out of his house to find the entire city abandoned: All humans have left their pets behind. Shep now takes it upon himself to free the other dogs trapped in their houses and protect them. But then disaster hits.

A solid animal xenofiction. I think that this is one of the better "post-apocalyptic canine xenofiction"-type books I've read. It does do a lot of setup in this first book, but it's still a good story in its own right.

I think the highlight here was Shep and his character development. He truly does learn to become a more social dog who is a true leader who protects his people (dogs) over the course of this story. He isn't bland, nor is he unlikable (like Lucky from Survivors). He does have his moments where he isn't as likable when he looks down on the little dogs, but he does overcome this by the end of this story. I also liked Zeus, he isn't a great guy but he has a well-written arc as well, especially as he's kind of an opposite to what Shep becomes by the end of the book.

If I do have gripes, it'd be the following: There are too many side characters, and the plot in the middle third does feel a bit slow and repetitive. The first one is simple: We meet a lot of dogs Shep meets, and while some are distinct and memorable enough, a lot of them also feel like they're just there to be a part of a crowd and don't feel significant or distinct in any way. 

The second one is just that in the middle third there's a lot of (kinda repetitive) scenes of Shep and his growing pack freeing dogs from their homes. It was okay at first, but eventually it does start to get old, especially when, like I said before, not many of these characters leave much of an impression.

But overall I did genuinely think that this was an engaging story with a great lead. Looking forward to book two.

Rating: 4/5