She's still taking orders from Tunstall, following his orders and his lead. It feels as though she's reverted all her progress and returned to being the unsure trainee she was at the beginning of Terrier. And surely, now, after three years of training and working as a Dog, she's more confident and competent, and really come into her own as a detective. We've had this build-up from Elena Cooper that she accomplished this great feat for the realm that history remembers her for. Mastiff was supposed to be Beka's triumph. Beka necessarily has to undergo some personal growth, become less dependent on her more-experienced partners, more confident in her skills, etc. I didn't like Bloodhound as much, but it was still a great read. Sure, she's got a bit of magic, but most of her great accomplishments result from her own dogged determination. Beka started out, in Terrier, with the trappings of a great Pierce heroine like Keladry. It's a complete departure from virtually everything Pierce has written, including Terrier and Bloodhound. I love basically everything Tamora Pierce has written, with maybe the exception of the Trickster books (not bad, just not my style) - but Mastiff is out-and-out terrible. Hopefully I don't make anybody too mad, because I've been needing to vent about this for months.
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