Fans of the Animorphs

Is anybody still reading the Gone Series by Michael Grant? Anybody like to discuss them?

I'm currently reading 04 "Plague" and I have to say, although they are anything but perfect, and although they are pretty distubing, I still like them a lot. Michael Grant has such a compelling way to write, that I couldn't put them away once I started to read.
What I don't like is that that the books focus on far to many different characters. I get that Drake is the big bad but his scenes are often the ones I'm least interested in (like the part where he went into the mine to find the Gaiaphage). Also some of their relationships and developments come off badly. e.g: I totally didn't realize that Sam and Dekka were such close friends until Sam said "I love you" in Plague. That came out of the blue for me, but I liked it anyway.
I also hate that some of the characters get neglected because of the sheer amount of main characters. Like Quinn. He was a big part of Gone but was barely in Hunger and Lies. Then he was sort of important in Plague again. I also would like to see more of Edilio. Although he is one of the more normal people in the FAYZ, he' s still one of my favorite characters. I did read an interesting spoiler that he turns out to be gay in book 5 and that he even has a boyfriend. I think it's great that he finally is getting some love, but it totally came out of nowhere. I get that he didn't want to tell anyone but to make it credible there should have been some hints for the readers. (Didn't he even have a little crush on Lana in Gone?) But that's just me being pedantic - I hate inconsistency in book series (and in TV shows for that matter).

What do you guys like and hate about these books?

And I liked it a lot, but (as you've already told me a few months ago) it's no Animorphs. The story is gripping (at times also shocking) and it really is a page-turner but none of the characters is as half as interesting as the characters in Animorphs were. I don't know, maybe that'll change in later books, because as for now I've only read Gone and Hunger.

I don't want to say that none of the characters are interesting, I do like some of them. I like Lana, because she is twisted and for some reason I like Edilio a lot. I know he is a rather boring character but I like the simple fact that he isn't involved in any trouble and that he is so loyal and that he is the one person Sam can always rely on. Diana is interesting too and I like Brianna because she is so brave and so committed in the fight.

And for sure I like the story: A town of children but no parents, I know we had that before, but Grant does it well. He knows how to build up tension and the there is a lot of action but still the story makes the readers think, too.
So maybe I should just stop comparing the two book series for I enjoyed both of them in different ways.

I'm thinking about reading the Gone novels by Michael Grant and I would be grateful if some of you guys could share their opinion on them.

I know that Michael Grant was co-writing Animorphs with his wife and that is why I wonder whether the Gone characters are in any way similar to the Animorphs characters? Because, you know, one of the most important reasons I liked Animorphs so much was that it had strong and interesting characters. So are there any similarities between them?

And how did you like the story in general?