Melody Harp

So this is going to be a little different from book reviews. Mostly because I literally just finished the book after reading it for 3 hours and need to let off some steam. These are just my thoughts right now, and may change my tune as I go through it a second time in preparation for my book review.

The Good:

I’m happy to see ShadowClan is in the forefront again. I've grown used to seeing them over the course of Violetpaw’s POV. 

So that’s where SkyClan went? Between ThunderClan and ShadowClan? Now the question is if they can stay there.

Blaze is adorable

I’m always curious about kits named after Clans. We’ve had a Windflight in ThunderClan, and now we’re getting Shadowkit in ShadowClan

Shadowkit is most likely going to be a medicine cat, thank goodness. Puddleshine needs help.

I’m glad they finally wrapped up the TigerDove arc so we can concentrate on more, non-Romeo and Juliet-related things

Outsiders with different names for things are always fun, especially when cats get to see more of Twoleg activities (even religion!)

I’m glad we got descriptions for the BlossomThorn kits because I had no idea how to tell them apart.

The Bad:

Character development. In The Last Hope, Dovewing lets Tigerheart go while remaining by Bumblestripe’s side. This was symbolic of her understanding that they could not be together, and that she would move on. She was also choosing ‘light’ rather than someone who was wandering the dark. Before Bramblestar’s Storm, we had no idea that she would be questioning this decision. Dovewing’s Silence had her completely over Tigerheart, and she and Bumblestripe actually worked together. I understood why she broke up with him in Bramblestar’s Storm, as she felt she no longer trusted him to keep secrets, but Tigerheart? Really? Does she really need a mate to be complete?

Tigerheart felt like every other Warriors Super Edition protagonist. He was whiny, bossy, and ended up rising in power in the end. Also he made assumptions about Puddleshine’s prophecy and stopped Puddleshine before the medicine cat could explain he was wrong. I honestly believe that Tigerheart leaving ShadowClan ruined the Clan.

“Leaders can step down.” Um????? No they can’t???? Do you remember what happened to Brokentail and Nightstar???

“It’s been done before.” WHEN???? ARE YOU REFERRING TO BROKENTAIL AND NIGHTSTAR BECAUSE THAT WENT SO WELL

They mixed up Twigpaw and Violetpaw too, when they were explaining who went to SkyClan. The Allegiances AND Ivypool both said that Twigpaw remained in ThunderClan while Violetpaw went to SkyClan, but instead someone mentioned Twigpaw being in SkyClan.

Also, when did that happen? When did SkyClan get lands? When did Mistystar close her borders? WHY DIDN’T WE GET INFORMED OF THESE?

By the way, if they mention all of that in the coming book that would be very poor planning on their part. They release Super Editions according to how well they fit into storylines, if at all.

Why did Rowanclaw die and why did he change his name? Who was leading ShadowClan in Tigerheart’s absence?

How did three ThunderClan medicine cats miss a pregnant queen? And why wasn’t Leafpool mentioned while naming ThunderClan medicine cats? She’s still listed as one in the Allegiances.

Fierce was an idiot, but Tigerheart literally bossed around cats that he knew for a total of I think three moons (one moon of Dovewing carrying kits, two moons before the kits could travel. I think.)

Spire (who has an odd name for a wild cat, by the way) is literally a mixture of Skywatcher and Goosefeather and I still can’t decide whether I love him because I love crazy cats or hate him because he’s a copy of two great characters

Tigerheart died but it’s okay because hours later they stuck him in a holy puddle and he got eight lives and an evil name

Additional Note:

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA CROWFEATHER IS THE DEPUTY OF WINDCLAN I FREAKING CALLED IT WHY ERINS WHY DID YOU DO THAT HE’S NOT DEPUTY MATERIAL 

Yes, this is much different than how I usually do things. I try to be a lot more classy and less... pessimistic about what I write. That’s because this blog and YouTube channel are changing, and this is actually one of the last posts I’ll write as ‘Melody Harp.’ More updates soon!

Disclaimer: I mean no offense to the author or any fans of the series, ESPECIALLY TigerDove fans! These are just my opinions.

Who’s Clarissa Hutton?! She isn’t an Erin Hunter I’m aware of. In fact, I looked her up and she has never written a Warriors book. No matter why the verb ‘said’ was used in this book instead of ‘meowed.’

Don’t get me wrong: I loved the beginning of the Dawn of the Clans arc. But the characters never seem to grow up. Especially Thunderstar.

Thunderstar is a leader, for StarClan’s sake! And yet his characterization remains that of a child. Sure, he leads. But he does not try to solve his cat’s problems, and he blindly leaps into danger. When the dogs entered the ravine, he barely did anything to help his Clanmates and, when they left, offered no word of comfort to his Clan. Instead, Violet Dawn comforts him.

His characterization during Violet Dawn’s pregnancy is as follows: “What if my kits don’t like me?” I’m sure every father has that fear, but it’s all he thinks about. He keeps saying that he’ll end up like Skystar, but Skystar is actually a good father to his new kits.

Thunderstar’s decision to take only himself and Lightining Tail to fight the dogs was stupid. Of course they both died; did anyone expect any different? ThunderClan even mentioned that the dogs were huge and vicious. Why wouldn’t they bring anyone else? Thunderstar hasn’t learned that he needs to trust his fellow warriors?

I remembered when Firestar took his nine lives. He said he wasn’t ready to be leader, but went and became the greatest leader and did what he had to as quickly and efficiently as possible. Thunderstar, on the other hand, said he wasn’t ready to name a deputy and proceeded to wait for a few days before naming a new deputy. I know the warrior code did not mention naming the deputy at moonhigh yet, but my goodness what a long time to leave your Clan without full power!

This was Hutton’s debut in the Warriors universe, and she blew it. The only reason why I gave this novella a 1.25/5 is because the pacing, while not the best, is fine and the scene in which Lightning Tail and Thunderstar are in StarClan together is interesting.

That’s all.

Who is Hutton, and why is she writing a book in a series she has no part of? Honestly the language and style she uses is so alien to the Warriors universe that this feels nothing like a Warriors book. Because of the poor characterization and the use of ‘said,’ this seems much more like a fanfiction from a beginning writer.

These are, of course, my opinions and reflect my years of reading Warriors and growing tired of the same plots over and over again. I mean no disrespect to the authors or the fans, and only wish to express what I thought of the books.

There were so many fanfictions of Pinestar’s decision to become a kittypet that I felt exasperated that the Erins were trying to make a canon version of it. Regardless, I was interested in this novella mostly because I like to see what the Clans looked like in terms of Allegiances.

I have to say: as far as Legend of the Clans go, this was my favorite. There was no Dark Forest intercepting Pinestar’s own decisions, and no supernatural powers that made his character weaker than it already was.

What is interesting is how Pinestar’s father is Oakstar, the father of Birchface, who played a prominent role in Mapleshade’s Vengance. We got to see this ThunderClan as the villains during Mapleshade’s story, but now we can see them as the friendly cats we’ve expected from ThunderClan. It’s also fun that we get to see what happened to Mapleshade’s story- elders are now telling it to the kits and apprentices the tale.

I’m wondering why good cats were telling the younger cats about the Place of No Stars and yet it seemed like a new realization that it existed in the main series. Of course the Dark Forest was a new invention as of the second series so I can’t really find fault with it. Regardless, it would have made more sense if the Dark Forest was kept secret by the living cats who visited, and all other cats had no idea it existed.

The time leap between Pinepaw saving the mother kittypet and him being deputy was a little sudden and confusing, but because this is only a novella I will forgive it.

There is a glaring mistake during Pinestar’s nine lives ceremony: Pearnose is called a male.

The interaction between Pinestar and Jake is adorable, and we get to know more about Jake’s history. We also get some characterization of Quince, who was just a minor character in everything we’ve seen. I still don’t understand why Jake, who was chasing Quince through a lot of the novella, gave up and went with Nutmeg (Firestar’s mother), but at the rate the Erins are going I’m sure there will be a novella about her soon enough.

The fact that everyone had a warning about Tigerkit was insane. Why would you tell someone to kill their own son? I honestly don’t blame Pinestar for leaving; clearly he is a more peace-driven cat, and both his medicine cat and StarClan were telling him to murder his child. That alone would be reason enough to make me leave.

Yes, I believe Pinestar should have stuck around and guided Tigerkit into becoming a less-bloodthirsty warrior. But it would not have fit his characterization.

When Pinestar decided to live with Shanty’s Twolegs after she died, I almost felt admiration for him. He could have stayed with his best buddy, Jake. He even could have been a loner. But he decided to suck it up and let the Twolegs he was scared of pet him.

Not all of the novella was perfect, of course. As I mentioned before, the pacing is terrible. I would have loved to know why Pinestar was so against fighting; maybe showing his warrior life and his deputyship could have helped with that. The fact that both Pinestar and Goosefeather knew about Tigerkit’s future and neither of them did anything about it made no sense. Shanty’s death was sudden- too sudden for me to feel any grief for her poorly-characterized character. The Erins also introduced a cat, Tyr, and never did anything about him. Is he supposed to be Sasha’s father or something? I don’t understand why he’s there.

I also don’t understand why Thunderstar was at Pinestar’s ceremony. Why would he give a life to a cat who would leave his Clan, and not to Firestar who would save all the Clans many times?

This was one of the better books of the newer Warriors books. It’s refreshing to read Holmes’ writing, which is much more mature than the other two Erins.

These are, of course, my opinions and definitely do not reflect the opinions of the entire fandom. I’m always interested in hearing a disagreeing opinion! I mean no disrespect to the authors or the fans, and only wish to express what I thought of the books.