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Frostpaw has returned to the lake just in time to reveal all she knows at the Gathering—but the Clans are reluctant to believe an apprentice who’s already admitted to lying about her visions in the past, and she is forced to take refuge in ShadowClan as Splashtail seizes control of her home. While the other Clan leaders debate whether to interfere any further in RiverClan affairs, Nightheart has his paws full teaching Clan ways to the two park cats who followed him home, and Sunbeam’s efforts to fit in as the newest member of ThunderClan are hampered by her concerns for her mother, who is paying for her treachery with exile and illness. As Berryheart’s schemes take an alarming new turn—and Splashtail’s ambitions turn toward violence—a few cats’ efforts may not be enough to preserve the peace.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published April 2, 2024
283 people are currently reading
3461 people want to read
About the author
Erin Hunter
277 books10.7k followersErin Hunter is the pseudonym of five people: Kate Cary, Cherith Baldry, Tui T. Sutherland, Gillian Philip, and Inbali Iserles, as well as editor Victoria Holmes. Together, they write the Warriors series as well as the Seekers and Survivors series. Erin Hunter is working on a new series now called Bravelands.
Erin Hunter is inspired by a love of cats and a fascination with the ferocity of the natural world. As well as having a great respect for nature in all its forms, Erin enjoys creating rich mythical explanations for animal behavior, shaped by her interest in astronomy and standing stones.
Erin Hunter is inspired by a love of cats and a fascination with the ferocity of the natural world. As well as having a great respect for nature in all its forms, Erin enjoys creating rich mythical explanations for animal behavior, shaped by her interest in astronomy and standing stones.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 124 reviews
May 10, 2024
I wonder how they'll make WindClan relevant enough to earn this book's name.
(they probably won't, lol.)
(they probably won't, lol.)
April 4, 2024
frostpaw deserves the longest break ever
May 13, 2024
This wasn’t my favorite, as it was repetitive and a bit slow. I feel like Sunbeam didn’t play a big part at all other than her connection to Berryheart, and I wanted her to be apart of it more.
Summary: When Frostpaw and Nightheart get back to the Gathering, they confront Splashtail, who denies that he murdered their last deputy and left the Clan leaderless. The rest of the Clans don’t believe Frostpaw, so Splashtail is made temporary leader until he receives his nine lives. Splashtail also doesn’t want Frostpaw to undermine him anymore, so he exiles her and she goes to ShadowClan. Meanwhile, Nughtheart takes Wasp and Waffle, the park cats, to ThunderClan where they will stay as guests until they prove their loyalty. Sunbeam also hears from WindClan that her mother—the one who left ShadowClan with the rest of her family to be rogues—is sick. In ShadowClan, Frostpaw secretly spies on RiverClan and watches Splashtail battle train the cats. Later, Sunbeam goes to check on her mother, and brings her herbs. Then Sunbeam gets caught walking back through WindClan, and stays at their camp for the night. Frostpaw and the ShadowClan medicine cat, Puddleshine, go to the Moonpool to watch Splashtail at his nine lives ceremony, but nothing happens and Riverstae appears to them, confirming that Splashtail isn’t the true leader of RiverClan. Frostpaw goes to tell this to Squirrelstar, who agrees, while Harestar isn’t sure and Leafstar believes Splashtail. At the next Gathering, Harestar decides that he believes that RiverClan should decide their own leader, and if that’s enough for them, then it’s fine. Frostpaw also has a vision that something bad will happen to the WindClan nursery, so she goes to warn them. Meanwhile, Sunbeam returns to ThunderClan and is punished for getting caught, and Nightheart becomes the mentor of Wafflepaw. A big storm comes right after, and Frostpaw, Nightheart, and Sunbeam make it there just in time for lightning to strike a tree that falls onto the nursery like Frostpaw predicted. Sunbeam helps get a lot out from the wreckage, and when the storm blows over, Harestar tells them that he changed his mind and would help depose of Splashtail once RiverClan makes a decision. Back in ThinderCkan, Wasp, the park cat, decides to return to his old park home before Nightheart, Sunbeam, and Frostpaw go to spy on what RoverClan is up to. They find out that some of the cats who didn’t want Splashtail as leader ran away, and now Splashtail wants them to pay. They also find out that Sunbeam’s mother Berryheart went to join RiverClan and agrees with Splashtail. Splashtail’s deputy, Harelight makes an opposing comment to Splashtail’s plan, and Splashtail kills him right on the spot. Afterward, he makes Berryheart his new deputy, who agrees.
Summary: When Frostpaw and Nightheart get back to the Gathering, they confront Splashtail, who denies that he murdered their last deputy and left the Clan leaderless. The rest of the Clans don’t believe Frostpaw, so Splashtail is made temporary leader until he receives his nine lives. Splashtail also doesn’t want Frostpaw to undermine him anymore, so he exiles her and she goes to ShadowClan. Meanwhile, Nughtheart takes Wasp and Waffle, the park cats, to ThunderClan where they will stay as guests until they prove their loyalty. Sunbeam also hears from WindClan that her mother—the one who left ShadowClan with the rest of her family to be rogues—is sick. In ShadowClan, Frostpaw secretly spies on RiverClan and watches Splashtail battle train the cats. Later, Sunbeam goes to check on her mother, and brings her herbs. Then Sunbeam gets caught walking back through WindClan, and stays at their camp for the night. Frostpaw and the ShadowClan medicine cat, Puddleshine, go to the Moonpool to watch Splashtail at his nine lives ceremony, but nothing happens and Riverstae appears to them, confirming that Splashtail isn’t the true leader of RiverClan. Frostpaw goes to tell this to Squirrelstar, who agrees, while Harestar isn’t sure and Leafstar believes Splashtail. At the next Gathering, Harestar decides that he believes that RiverClan should decide their own leader, and if that’s enough for them, then it’s fine. Frostpaw also has a vision that something bad will happen to the WindClan nursery, so she goes to warn them. Meanwhile, Sunbeam returns to ThunderClan and is punished for getting caught, and Nightheart becomes the mentor of Wafflepaw. A big storm comes right after, and Frostpaw, Nightheart, and Sunbeam make it there just in time for lightning to strike a tree that falls onto the nursery like Frostpaw predicted. Sunbeam helps get a lot out from the wreckage, and when the storm blows over, Harestar tells them that he changed his mind and would help depose of Splashtail once RiverClan makes a decision. Back in ThinderCkan, Wasp, the park cat, decides to return to his old park home before Nightheart, Sunbeam, and Frostpaw go to spy on what RoverClan is up to. They find out that some of the cats who didn’t want Splashtail as leader ran away, and now Splashtail wants them to pay. They also find out that Sunbeam’s mother Berryheart went to join RiverClan and agrees with Splashtail. Splashtail’s deputy, Harelight makes an opposing comment to Splashtail’s plan, and Splashtail kills him right on the spot. Afterward, he makes Berryheart his new deputy, who agrees.
October 7, 2025
Honestly? The A Starclass Clan arc has proven to be one of the best arcs of Warriors in recent history, and this book thankfully continues that trend. I ended up liking it a whole lot, and I was impressed by the ability to actually maintain tension without just...messing around and doing practically nothing. A lot of Warriors books tend to try and overextend a plot, and add stuff for no reason to up the page count. This book, though, didn't seem to have much of that to me. It gave the characters individual conflicts that were interesting to read about and didn't feel like a waste of time.
This is especially Frostpaw, who has now made it her personal mission to help restore Riverclan to what it used to be. The problem is though, no one believes her visions, (which is, in part, due to Splashtail trying to discredit her at every move). The conflict could have definitely become grating over time, especially had they extended it across books. Though they chose to keep it just to this one, and do a great job executing her winning over the favor of the other clan leaders. Especially while having to combat Splashtail. He is one of the best parts of the book in my opinion. Having a villain come from inside the clans is especially refreshing, and by the end of the book, he really cements himself as a legitimate threat. Since we get to actually see him live up to the threats he made when he kills Harelight. Which, being Frostpaw's former mentor, was surprising. I wasn't expecting him to die, but doing so helped a lot to really emphasize that: yeah, this guy means business.
The other two protagonists were good as well, and Sunbeam's struggle with her wanting to take care of her exiled family helped a lot in keeping her from becoming a "generic Warriors girlfriend" for Nightheart. She probably had the second-most interesting plot, seeing her anxiety and split loyalties. Though, part of me wishes they touched back on her rivalry with Cherryfall from the last book. It felt like they were a little too hyper-focused on he conflict outside the clans, but I can see why they went that route. Given the fact that Sunbeam herself is also absolutely hyper-focused on her family.
Nightheart I would probably say was the least interesting character in the book, but that doesn't mean his chapters weren't entertaining. Seeing him genuinely worry about Frostpaw was especially great, given Warrior's previous track record when it comes to non-romantic relationships. Overall I don't have a lot to say about him, besides his friendship with Bayshine. It was cute, I like it. I want more Bayshine, he's great. Though the rest of what he did didn't leave much of an impression on me.
Overall, it was an impressive book for Warriors and managed to keep up with the level of quality of the previous arc. I'm legitimately excited for what comes next, lets hope they stick the landing!
This is especially Frostpaw, who has now made it her personal mission to help restore Riverclan to what it used to be. The problem is though, no one believes her visions, (which is, in part, due to Splashtail trying to discredit her at every move). The conflict could have definitely become grating over time, especially had they extended it across books. Though they chose to keep it just to this one, and do a great job executing her winning over the favor of the other clan leaders. Especially while having to combat Splashtail. He is one of the best parts of the book in my opinion. Having a villain come from inside the clans is especially refreshing, and by the end of the book, he really cements himself as a legitimate threat. Since we get to actually see him live up to the threats he made when he kills Harelight. Which, being Frostpaw's former mentor, was surprising. I wasn't expecting him to die, but doing so helped a lot to really emphasize that: yeah, this guy means business.
The other two protagonists were good as well, and Sunbeam's struggle with her wanting to take care of her exiled family helped a lot in keeping her from becoming a "generic Warriors girlfriend" for Nightheart. She probably had the second-most interesting plot, seeing her anxiety and split loyalties. Though, part of me wishes they touched back on her rivalry with Cherryfall from the last book. It felt like they were a little too hyper-focused on he conflict outside the clans, but I can see why they went that route. Given the fact that Sunbeam herself is also absolutely hyper-focused on her family.
Nightheart I would probably say was the least interesting character in the book, but that doesn't mean his chapters weren't entertaining. Seeing him genuinely worry about Frostpaw was especially great, given Warrior's previous track record when it comes to non-romantic relationships. Overall I don't have a lot to say about him, besides his friendship with Bayshine. It was cute, I like it. I want more Bayshine, he's great. Though the rest of what he did didn't leave much of an impression on me.
Overall, it was an impressive book for Warriors and managed to keep up with the level of quality of the previous arc. I'm legitimately excited for what comes next, lets hope they stick the landing!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 29, 2024
So this is a typical 5th book of a Warriors series. It really sets up the showdown that will be the 6th book. Here we have our heroes getting ready to take the fight to Splashtail.
Overall I liked this book. There were some great little callbacks to earlier works. I also think Squirrelstar is written very well.
I also chuckled at Jayfeather and his opinion of Tree AND in another part of the book the idea of two Harestars. It is almost like the authors were kidding with the reader knowing they have run out of cat names.
This was a very good 5th book.
Overall I liked this book. There were some great little callbacks to earlier works. I also think Squirrelstar is written very well.
I also chuckled at Jayfeather and his opinion of Tree AND in another part of the book the idea of two Harestars. It is almost like the authors were kidding with the reader knowing they have run out of cat names.
This was a very good 5th book.
April 4, 2024
This book feels more like older warrior cats than recent ones, the tangible villain hunting for power and strained clan dynamics. However it took until book 5 to see real action, the first books in A Starless Clan felt very boring and having read Wind it seems a bit disjointed from the beginning of the arc. I really think this is the best book in A Starless Clan.
The tension is coming to light along with the real threat of Splashtail. I do wish we saw more about Curlfeather and her motivations in the story. It seems like the build up of Squirrelstar has fallen flat too. She is being passive and not as assertive as we were led to believe she would be as leader.
Windclan plays a very minimal role in the book for it to be called Wind. We see the branch crush the nursery which leads to Windclan believing Frostpaw with Thunderclan and Shadowclan but that’s the extent of their major involvement. I am interested to see how the last book will end this arc, I hope that they don’t let the tension and threat fizzle out or end up destroying character personalities.
The tension is coming to light along with the real threat of Splashtail. I do wish we saw more about Curlfeather and her motivations in the story. It seems like the build up of Squirrelstar has fallen flat too. She is being passive and not as assertive as we were led to believe she would be as leader.
Windclan plays a very minimal role in the book for it to be called Wind. We see the branch crush the nursery which leads to Windclan believing Frostpaw with Thunderclan and Shadowclan but that’s the extent of their major involvement. I am interested to see how the last book will end this arc, I hope that they don’t let the tension and threat fizzle out or end up destroying character personalities.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 5, 2024
Aaaghhhh I can't believe I have to wait 2 months for the last book! I absolutely ate this story up. Frostpaw is so cool, I love her with my whole heart. And Nightheart's and Sunbeam's chapters are so cutee <3
April 12, 2024
they truly know how to get me to keep buying their books huh
April 7, 2024
This left me DYING for the next book! *I freakin' HATE cliffhangers!!* I knew Splashtail was evil, but... REALLY?? (R.I.P. Harelight!) Berryheart as is stupid! She's stupid! But then again, it's hard for an idiot to determine another idiot's idiocy, because of their OWN idiocy! I know, LONG sentence! :P Overall, very good! Can't wait for Sunbeam and Nightheart's kits! Lol! They'll be SO cute!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 20, 2024
why do these silly little cat books have so much to say about international conflict
August 9, 2025
Eh. I feel like these should’ve stopped at Broken Code. This one wasn’t really great. 🤷🏼♀️
April 6, 2024
Rating: 7 out of 10
I wasn't expecting this book to be better than Thunder, and it wasn't by any means, but I still had fun reading it and it was a pretty solid book by Warriors standards (even if it does fall behind most book fives from other arcs). Spoilers ahead!
I'd like to begin with the things I did enjoy about this book. If there's one thing that the Erins have been doing consistently well this arc it's definitely the characterizations and small interactions between characters. Many of the side and background cats have little moments here that make the setting in general feel much more vivid.
Also, I'm loving both the protagonists and (especially) the antagonists so far! It's a shame that Berryheart was barely there for this installment (although I do understand why the decision was made), but every scene Splashtail was in made me love him more and I'm very excited to see how their character arcs will end in the next book. Nightheart has also grown on me despite me initially not liking him, and Frostpaw and Sunbeam remain great and enjoyable characters as always.
Finally, I generally feel like the writers are slowly learning to take themselves less seriously by being more humorous and writing in a more relaxed tone when the situation calls for it (I still love the overly dramatic dialogue of earlier arcs, and it is still present in some scenes, but I do like that they're learning when it's better to go for a different approach). In my opinion this has been great for the series in general: often in this book I found myself enjoying the usually dreaded hunting and filler scenes a lot more than usual.
Which is a great thing, given that most of Wind felt like a long sequence of filler scenes and moving in circles without actually going anywhere. The constant back and forth about whether to do something about Splashtail reminded me a lot of the impostor debate in Darkness Within, minus all the other interesting stuff that was happening in that book at the time.
While the pacing has definitely improved since whatever the second half of AVoS was, I could still feel them struggle to come up with interesting things to add while keeping enough material for book six (despite this being a lot shorter than most main arc books, there was still a ~10 page training scene. Really?).
However, the thing I had the most issues with was how after the Gathering when they decide to not yet do anything regarding Splashtail, it was as if all the previous tension immediately deflated and died down, which was an odd choice at best and plain bad writing at worst. The whole subplot with Frostpaw's vision and Windclan's nursery also felt very weirdly placed and should've been at the very least foreshadowed earlier to avoid it feeling as abrupt as it did.
None of these issues are helped by the fact that two of the most important plot points of the book (including the final scene!) were spoiled by the Ivypool's Heart prologue and the Star blurb respectively.
In general, though, this was a fine book and one I had fun reading. If Star manages to be as good (or even better!) than the likes of Shadow or Thunder then this might end up being one of my favorite Warriors arcs!
I wasn't expecting this book to be better than Thunder, and it wasn't by any means, but I still had fun reading it and it was a pretty solid book by Warriors standards (even if it does fall behind most book fives from other arcs). Spoilers ahead!
I'd like to begin with the things I did enjoy about this book. If there's one thing that the Erins have been doing consistently well this arc it's definitely the characterizations and small interactions between characters. Many of the side and background cats have little moments here that make the setting in general feel much more vivid.
Also, I'm loving both the protagonists and (especially) the antagonists so far! It's a shame that Berryheart was barely there for this installment (although I do understand why the decision was made), but every scene Splashtail was in made me love him more and I'm very excited to see how their character arcs will end in the next book. Nightheart has also grown on me despite me initially not liking him, and Frostpaw and Sunbeam remain great and enjoyable characters as always.
Finally, I generally feel like the writers are slowly learning to take themselves less seriously by being more humorous and writing in a more relaxed tone when the situation calls for it (I still love the overly dramatic dialogue of earlier arcs, and it is still present in some scenes, but I do like that they're learning when it's better to go for a different approach). In my opinion this has been great for the series in general: often in this book I found myself enjoying the usually dreaded hunting and filler scenes a lot more than usual.
Which is a great thing, given that most of Wind felt like a long sequence of filler scenes and moving in circles without actually going anywhere. The constant back and forth about whether to do something about Splashtail reminded me a lot of the impostor debate in Darkness Within, minus all the other interesting stuff that was happening in that book at the time.
While the pacing has definitely improved since whatever the second half of AVoS was, I could still feel them struggle to come up with interesting things to add while keeping enough material for book six (despite this being a lot shorter than most main arc books, there was still a ~10 page training scene. Really?).
However, the thing I had the most issues with was how after the Gathering when they decide to not yet do anything regarding Splashtail, it was as if all the previous tension immediately deflated and died down, which was an odd choice at best and plain bad writing at worst. The whole subplot with Frostpaw's vision and Windclan's nursery also felt very weirdly placed and should've been at the very least foreshadowed earlier to avoid it feeling as abrupt as it did.
None of these issues are helped by the fact that two of the most important plot points of the book (including the final scene!) were spoiled by the Ivypool's Heart prologue and the Star blurb respectively.
In general, though, this was a fine book and one I had fun reading. If Star manages to be as good (or even better!) than the likes of Shadow or Thunder then this might end up being one of my favorite Warriors arcs!
April 26, 2024
I used to love this books, but lately half of them feel like filler so we can have series of six books where almost nothing happens. The plot stagnates because it doesn't move forward at all. This didn't happen before, maybe they need to do trilogies instead of series of six books or really up the contents/plots.
April 12, 2024
Minus one star for the garbage new duscover. Glossy???? Boo. Otherwise a lovely book about cat murder.
June 18, 2025
This series gives me so much anxiety.
It reminds me how authoritarianism just keeps repeating itself and regurgitating the same bad ideas—and because of that, communities have to remain ever-vigilant to stamp it out.
It makes me sad, too.
So much of what happens in these books parallels real life.
Frostpaw keeps trying to tell the truth about a murderous coup and she just keeps getting drowned out my misinformation and bad faith actors. Sunbeam has an intolerant family member whose hatred has essentially lead to an ultra-nationalist, anti-immigrant strain of thought to infect the clans.
Somehow, Nightheart is the most normal?
He just has some very standard issues with authority and his family’s legacy—but he’s working through them. He’s leveled out.
Anyway.
The clans are on the cusp of war. What else is new?
If anything, I do think this series demonstrates just how easily it is to go from having a few misgivings about someone or a group of someones to sliding headfirst into fascism. It took less than a moon to start talking about rooting out and killing traitors. These hateful beliefs can catch fast if not stamped out quickly.
Anyway, anyway.
Guess we’ll see how this is all resolved in the next book~
It reminds me how authoritarianism just keeps repeating itself and regurgitating the same bad ideas—and because of that, communities have to remain ever-vigilant to stamp it out.
It makes me sad, too.
So much of what happens in these books parallels real life.
Frostpaw keeps trying to tell the truth about a murderous coup and she just keeps getting drowned out my misinformation and bad faith actors. Sunbeam has an intolerant family member whose hatred has essentially lead to an ultra-nationalist, anti-immigrant strain of thought to infect the clans.
Somehow, Nightheart is the most normal?
He just has some very standard issues with authority and his family’s legacy—but he’s working through them. He’s leveled out.
Anyway.
The clans are on the cusp of war. What else is new?
If anything, I do think this series demonstrates just how easily it is to go from having a few misgivings about someone or a group of someones to sliding headfirst into fascism. It took less than a moon to start talking about rooting out and killing traitors. These hateful beliefs can catch fast if not stamped out quickly.
Anyway, anyway.
Guess we’ll see how this is all resolved in the next book~
April 7, 2024
This has really turned out to be one of my favorite Warriors arcs. There was a lot going on in this one, and hardly any tedious moments of drawing out the drama for the sake of a plot continuing for another book or two. Everything felt pretty deliberately planned. It makes sense Frostpaw’s claims would be doubtful after confessing she’d previously made up her visions. I’m a bit skeptical the other leaders weren’t at least somewhat doubtful of Splashtail, but it didn’t feel insane that they weren’t 100% on board with Frostpaw at first either.
I like that she’s finding her place as a medicine cat (especially as one without a Clan, I think that’s an interesting idea that hasn’t been explored before) and becoming more confident in herself, her visions, and her purpose. I especially enjoyed her interactions with Tigerstar and the WindClan cats.
I continue to love Tigerstar. That dude is just always saying what I’m thinking. I, too, would give Squirrelstar a hard time about not letting Actual Child Frostpaw into a Clan when she needs somewhere to stay. Like wtf, girl? Tigerstar gives off such great Dad energy. Totally clocked on that child in need and gave her a place to crash, no questions asked. Totally lets her do whatever she wants, including and not limited to: spying, teenage rebellion, mouthing off at him in front of his warriors, stealing his medicine cat for a night, etc.
I do think it’s interesting Squirrelstar is more of a thoughtful and restrained leader than I thought she’d be. She always challenged Brambleclaw’s decisions when he refused to involve himself in conflicts, but now she’s the one refusing to involve herself. I understand the reasoning in general, but for her character it just seems a bit odd. I have to wonder if she really got it hammered into her during her nine lives ceremony with lives like “think clearly”, “be rational”, “look before leaping”, etc., to the point where she’s like “OKAY I GET IT EVERYONE WANTS ME TO NOT BE IMPULSIVE!! FINE!!!!” That is the only rational explanation to me, haha.
I also enjoyed Wafflepaw?? That’s such a cute name I melt a little inside out of pure glee every time I read it.
I’m also warming up to Nightheart/Sunbeam a lot. They can be really sappy, but their pure-hearted support for each other is very wholesome. So refreshing compared to the doom and gloom (or hopeless drama) of other recent notable Warriors relationships.
I think Splashtail is much less the kind of villain I hoped he would be and will be dealt with rather quickly and decisively in the last installment of the series (which I assume will be called Star). He’s a lot more unhinged than he seemed in the beginning. I thought it was great he totally murdered his new deputy in front of the entire Clan. Real bruh moment. I think it’s not going to be that tough to convince RiverClan they need to get rid of this guy, lmao.
I’m just VERY curious who the new leader will end up being, since we haven’t really seen much set-up for anyone in particular. Except Frostpaw, but it’d be SO WILD if an apprentice was getting set up to become leader. I won’t put anything past the new writing team now though. I’m on the edge of my seat.
I like that she’s finding her place as a medicine cat (especially as one without a Clan, I think that’s an interesting idea that hasn’t been explored before) and becoming more confident in herself, her visions, and her purpose. I especially enjoyed her interactions with Tigerstar and the WindClan cats.
I continue to love Tigerstar. That dude is just always saying what I’m thinking. I, too, would give Squirrelstar a hard time about not letting Actual Child Frostpaw into a Clan when she needs somewhere to stay. Like wtf, girl? Tigerstar gives off such great Dad energy. Totally clocked on that child in need and gave her a place to crash, no questions asked. Totally lets her do whatever she wants, including and not limited to: spying, teenage rebellion, mouthing off at him in front of his warriors, stealing his medicine cat for a night, etc.
I do think it’s interesting Squirrelstar is more of a thoughtful and restrained leader than I thought she’d be. She always challenged Brambleclaw’s decisions when he refused to involve himself in conflicts, but now she’s the one refusing to involve herself. I understand the reasoning in general, but for her character it just seems a bit odd. I have to wonder if she really got it hammered into her during her nine lives ceremony with lives like “think clearly”, “be rational”, “look before leaping”, etc., to the point where she’s like “OKAY I GET IT EVERYONE WANTS ME TO NOT BE IMPULSIVE!! FINE!!!!” That is the only rational explanation to me, haha.
I also enjoyed Wafflepaw?? That’s such a cute name I melt a little inside out of pure glee every time I read it.
I’m also warming up to Nightheart/Sunbeam a lot. They can be really sappy, but their pure-hearted support for each other is very wholesome. So refreshing compared to the doom and gloom (or hopeless drama) of other recent notable Warriors relationships.
I think Splashtail is much less the kind of villain I hoped he would be and will be dealt with rather quickly and decisively in the last installment of the series (which I assume will be called Star). He’s a lot more unhinged than he seemed in the beginning. I thought it was great he totally murdered his new deputy in front of the entire Clan. Real bruh moment. I think it’s not going to be that tough to convince RiverClan they need to get rid of this guy, lmao.
I’m just VERY curious who the new leader will end up being, since we haven’t really seen much set-up for anyone in particular. Except Frostpaw, but it’d be SO WILD if an apprentice was getting set up to become leader. I won’t put anything past the new writing team now though. I’m on the edge of my seat.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 3, 2024
Fav character: Frostpaw
This was surprisingly good
5 ✨
This was surprisingly good
5 ✨
May 2, 2024
what an endingggggg wowowow
May 14, 2024
NAH HOW CAN THEY NOT BELIEVE HER 😔
September 15, 2024
Solid three stars. Once again, I’m not sure what to rate this book.
On one hand, the book was entertaining for the whole time, if nothing else. On the other, nothing important really happened in this book. Almost the entire story is characters talking about what they should do, but nothing concrete ever actually gets done. Of course, this is Warriors, so that’s pretty typical, but it also means that for this to be a good book it would have to have outstanding character work, which, of course, it doesn’t.
That’s not to say any of the characters are bad in this book. I actually think all three leads were pretty solid. But none of them were a standout or felt truly unique, so that definitely knocked my enjoyment of the story.
I guess I’ll start with Nightheart. He was okay in this one. He again functioned more as a support character, which was a bit of a disappointment since he didn’t really get anything last book either. And while I like how he got to actually be with Sunbeam for once, I of course despised how she just forgives him immediately when he gets back without having to explain the whole StarClan message from last book. To reiterate from my last review, it makes Nightheart feel shallow, stupid, and unbelievably vain to abandon his mate to go with a random apprentice to who knows where because he wants to be famous for his own deeds rather than Firestar’s, which hadn’t been an issue for two books at that point. But aside from the beginning, he was neither good nor bad, so I don’t have any other grievances.
Sunbeam also had a backseat role in this book. . . Again. She helps at the end, and she has her connection to Berryheart, which I’m sure will be important now that Berryheart’s in RiverClan (for some inexplicable reason that goes against the entire moral code of that character. . . That better get explained next book). But for most of the book she’s stuck in the same cycle she was in last book, just with new characters. Instead of worrying about Nightheart, she’s worried about her mother. It’s less that Sunbeam was bad this book and more that she didn’t have a chance to showcase what makes her good as a character: her steadiness, calmness under pressure, sharp wit, and maybe a bit of sarcasm. She was just an average Warriors lead for this book, which is quite disappointing.
And finally, Frostpaw. I do think Frostpaw was quite a bit better than the ThunderClan leads, since she actually does some things before the end of the book. And, even better, she’s ANGRY and allowed to be like that at the beginning of the book. It feels good that she’s mad and a little afraid of Splashtail. Not only does it make sense in context, but it also gives us a wider range of emotions for her that makes her feel complete as a person. It’s that little bit extra we get from her that makes me really want her to be RiverClan’s leader. But with how much the whole medicine cat thing was mentioned in this one, I do doubt it. Ugh. But yeah, I liked Frostpaw in this book.
Villains. I HATE Splashtail. He’s a poorly-written wannabe Tigerstar who doesn’t feel threatening, has no logical claim to the clan he took over, and has such poor motivations that are barely mentioned that it’s driving me insane. He feels like a plot hole. I have nothing else to say.
Berryheart. . . Is also terrible. By far my least favorite part of this arc (aside from the glaring lack of Warrior fights- seriously, what ever happened to the fight scenes? They were like the best part of these books!) is the villains. Berryheart isn’t threatening at all this book (albeit for a fair reason), but then just disappears and reappears in RiverClan with no logical explanation. And now she’s plotting with Splashtail? Huh? Character? Motivations? Logic? Hello? It feels like the Erins tried to make Berryheart morally complex or something, but that is not what she reads like to me. I just really dislike her. She also feels like a plot hole.
Another ‘just ok’ Warriors book. Oh dear. I’m really starting to worry for the arc finale. . .
On one hand, the book was entertaining for the whole time, if nothing else. On the other, nothing important really happened in this book. Almost the entire story is characters talking about what they should do, but nothing concrete ever actually gets done. Of course, this is Warriors, so that’s pretty typical, but it also means that for this to be a good book it would have to have outstanding character work, which, of course, it doesn’t.
That’s not to say any of the characters are bad in this book. I actually think all three leads were pretty solid. But none of them were a standout or felt truly unique, so that definitely knocked my enjoyment of the story.
I guess I’ll start with Nightheart. He was okay in this one. He again functioned more as a support character, which was a bit of a disappointment since he didn’t really get anything last book either. And while I like how he got to actually be with Sunbeam for once, I of course despised how she just forgives him immediately when he gets back without having to explain the whole StarClan message from last book. To reiterate from my last review, it makes Nightheart feel shallow, stupid, and unbelievably vain to abandon his mate to go with a random apprentice to who knows where because he wants to be famous for his own deeds rather than Firestar’s, which hadn’t been an issue for two books at that point. But aside from the beginning, he was neither good nor bad, so I don’t have any other grievances.
Sunbeam also had a backseat role in this book. . . Again. She helps at the end, and she has her connection to Berryheart, which I’m sure will be important now that Berryheart’s in RiverClan (for some inexplicable reason that goes against the entire moral code of that character. . . That better get explained next book). But for most of the book she’s stuck in the same cycle she was in last book, just with new characters. Instead of worrying about Nightheart, she’s worried about her mother. It’s less that Sunbeam was bad this book and more that she didn’t have a chance to showcase what makes her good as a character: her steadiness, calmness under pressure, sharp wit, and maybe a bit of sarcasm. She was just an average Warriors lead for this book, which is quite disappointing.
And finally, Frostpaw. I do think Frostpaw was quite a bit better than the ThunderClan leads, since she actually does some things before the end of the book. And, even better, she’s ANGRY and allowed to be like that at the beginning of the book. It feels good that she’s mad and a little afraid of Splashtail. Not only does it make sense in context, but it also gives us a wider range of emotions for her that makes her feel complete as a person. It’s that little bit extra we get from her that makes me really want her to be RiverClan’s leader. But with how much the whole medicine cat thing was mentioned in this one, I do doubt it. Ugh. But yeah, I liked Frostpaw in this book.
Villains. I HATE Splashtail. He’s a poorly-written wannabe Tigerstar who doesn’t feel threatening, has no logical claim to the clan he took over, and has such poor motivations that are barely mentioned that it’s driving me insane. He feels like a plot hole. I have nothing else to say.
Berryheart. . . Is also terrible. By far my least favorite part of this arc (aside from the glaring lack of Warrior fights- seriously, what ever happened to the fight scenes? They were like the best part of these books!) is the villains. Berryheart isn’t threatening at all this book (albeit for a fair reason), but then just disappears and reappears in RiverClan with no logical explanation. And now she’s plotting with Splashtail? Huh? Character? Motivations? Logic? Hello? It feels like the Erins tried to make Berryheart morally complex or something, but that is not what she reads like to me. I just really dislike her. She also feels like a plot hole.
Another ‘just ok’ Warriors book. Oh dear. I’m really starting to worry for the arc finale. . .
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 7, 2024
I've been living this arc so far, but this one felt pretty weak. It seemed repetitive, and the whole book was spent building things up to next book without really being especially engaging or interesting on its own. I liked seeing Squirrelstar, and there were a few other moments I liked, but overall I powered through this book more than I enjoyed it. I still have hope for the final book in the arc though.
May 5, 2024
definitely cat book
June 28, 2024
Too short and did anything really happen? This is starting to be a repeat of the whole series. Nothing new and it's boring.
January 5, 2025
LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!!
June 4, 2025
Bit of a filler entry tbh
July 16, 2025
It was ok.
May 27, 2024
I was considering giving this 3 stars, but compared to the last few arcs it deserves 4 stars in my opinion. It’s very refreshing to see another evil clan cat, similar to Tigerstar
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 9, 2024
I continue to adore this story arc. I really feared that it would go downhill in the second half (books four through six), but so far, I am loving every moment. The first couple of chapters, which covered the Gathering, were the height of entertainment for me. I kept thinking, "Go, Frostpaw, choose the most dramatic route!" and then she did!
I also like how Splashtail is biding his time and building his power in this book, hopefully leading to a climactic confrontation in the sixth and final installment. Having a prologue about him and Curlfeather was great, and I appreciate how it introduced a new dimension to his character: He does not plan on accepting extra lives from StarClan. I was half-expecting that he would go back on this declaration and grab the extra lives while he could. But the fact that he's taking a stand against StarClan and defining his leadership through a single life fascinates me. It'll also make it easier to take him down in the sixth book, which I don't mind at all.
Another detail in this book (and in this story arc more broadly) that I enjoy is the characterization of side characters, such as Whistlepaw, the park cats Wasp and Waffle, and Spotfur's three kittens. I remember how Stormcloud's character had a promising start in "Bramblestar's Storm," with a unique backstory that involved kittypet origins. I've been disappointed to see him treated like an invisible background character, mostly there to fill space in ThunderClan. Similarly, I feel like hordes of kittens have grown up without me getting a feel for their characters and personalities. Lionblaze's many children are a good example of this, but there are plenty of other litters that I can barely tell apart.
Thankfully, Wasp and Waffle both have interesting character motivations, and their personalities and goals are relatively distinct. I like how they play principal roles in this book, and I look forward to seeing them grow even more. As a side note, I only just learned that Waffle is named after a fan's cat, and that fan made a PMV for Frostpaw and Curlfeather that's on YouTube. It's called "The Worm," and I love it a lot!
Spotfur's three kittens are also fairly important characters, being apprenticed to a group of warriors that I've grown very attached to: Bayshine, Finchlight, and Nightheart. (And Molewhisker is there, too, I guess.) We got to see them during Sunbeam's trials in the previous book, and now we get to see them grow up even more, and I finally feel like I'm starting to get oriented in modern ThunderClan.
Whistlepaw, too, continues to be characterized well, in my opinion, and I'm very attached to her now. I love how many relationships between characters are being established and developed: Frostpaw and Whistlepaw; Nightheart and Waffle; Sunbeam and Finchlight; Nightheart and Frostpaw; Sunbeam and all of Spotfur's kittens. I'm a big fan of non-romantic relationships being given time and attention, and that makes Nightheart and Sunbeam's romance easier to enjoy. Their lives seem much more balanced now, and I have a deeper sense of who they are as individuals rather than who they define themselves to be as a couple.
Something else that made me smile a lot while listening to this audiobook was how many conversations seemed to anticipate what I was thinking. There was Frostpaw making things as dramatic as possible during the Gathering, which I mentioned earlier. Then, there was the moment during the new apprentices' training session when the young cats were talking about how smelly all of the other Clans were, and I thought, "This again?" only to have Finchlight lecture them about how it's rude to call other Clans smelly; they're not stinky, just different.
There were also several points where a cat would say something like, "This has never happened before!" only for another cat to cite, at the same moment that I was thinking it, a time that it happened in an earlier Warrior cats book. For example, there seemed to be a widespread idea that StarClan would refuse Splashtail his nine lives if he were a murderer. But what about Brokenstar? What about Tigerstar? The only time I took issue with these in-text reminders was when it seemed as though the writers forgot the chronology of Mothwing specifically. She seemed to say that she remembered the first Tigerstar's reign; but she was sheltered by her mother and didn't live within the Clans until after his death.
I bet there were more mistakes in this book that I didn't catch. I already heard someone mention a moment in which Waffle was referred to as "her," which is hilarious. Surely, it was a typo, but I will accept he/she Waffle as canon now. Still, there weren't any glaring errors that impeded my appreciation of the story (like the double apprentice ceremony of Featherpaw and Stormpaw in "Leopardstar's Honor" or Mistystar and Stonefur being swapped with Feathertail and Stormfur as Graystripe's children in his super-edition; it's as if the Erins target Feathertail specifically to irritate me). The story felt well-constructed and decently edited, although I'm sure that listening to an audiobook (where I have to strain my attention more to catch each word) allows me to miss various inconsistencies.
Overall, I loved this book, and I love "A Starless Clan." It's the first story arc for Warrior cats that I've been caught up for, and I adore looking forward to the new releases. Here's hoping that the release of "Star" later this year lives up to the joy that I've felt while listening to the rest of this series.
WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD
Before I conclude this review, I want to share a brief story that happened while I was listening to the final chapter of the audiobook. Splashtail was acting hostile to Harelight, and he mentioned that Harelight knows how RiverClan used to be run. I thought, "Wait, how old is Harelight?" So I pulled up his wiki page (with the audiobook still running in the background) and was surprised to see that he's only three and a half years old. He seemed much older, both in terms of personality and in terms of how the other cats treat him. Then I noticed that the wiki said "at death" and saw Harelight's cause of death listed: "killed by Splashtail." Sure enough, barely a minute later, Splashtail murdered the guy in my audiobook. It wasn't a big surprise; I kind of figured that would happen. But it was still amusing to be spoiled a split-second before it occurred. RIP Harelight. I liked you a lot, and now Harestar of WindClan will never get a RiverClan leader of the same name.
I also like how Splashtail is biding his time and building his power in this book, hopefully leading to a climactic confrontation in the sixth and final installment. Having a prologue about him and Curlfeather was great, and I appreciate how it introduced a new dimension to his character: He does not plan on accepting extra lives from StarClan. I was half-expecting that he would go back on this declaration and grab the extra lives while he could. But the fact that he's taking a stand against StarClan and defining his leadership through a single life fascinates me. It'll also make it easier to take him down in the sixth book, which I don't mind at all.
Another detail in this book (and in this story arc more broadly) that I enjoy is the characterization of side characters, such as Whistlepaw, the park cats Wasp and Waffle, and Spotfur's three kittens. I remember how Stormcloud's character had a promising start in "Bramblestar's Storm," with a unique backstory that involved kittypet origins. I've been disappointed to see him treated like an invisible background character, mostly there to fill space in ThunderClan. Similarly, I feel like hordes of kittens have grown up without me getting a feel for their characters and personalities. Lionblaze's many children are a good example of this, but there are plenty of other litters that I can barely tell apart.
Thankfully, Wasp and Waffle both have interesting character motivations, and their personalities and goals are relatively distinct. I like how they play principal roles in this book, and I look forward to seeing them grow even more. As a side note, I only just learned that Waffle is named after a fan's cat, and that fan made a PMV for Frostpaw and Curlfeather that's on YouTube. It's called "The Worm," and I love it a lot!
Spotfur's three kittens are also fairly important characters, being apprenticed to a group of warriors that I've grown very attached to: Bayshine, Finchlight, and Nightheart. (And Molewhisker is there, too, I guess.) We got to see them during Sunbeam's trials in the previous book, and now we get to see them grow up even more, and I finally feel like I'm starting to get oriented in modern ThunderClan.
Whistlepaw, too, continues to be characterized well, in my opinion, and I'm very attached to her now. I love how many relationships between characters are being established and developed: Frostpaw and Whistlepaw; Nightheart and Waffle; Sunbeam and Finchlight; Nightheart and Frostpaw; Sunbeam and all of Spotfur's kittens. I'm a big fan of non-romantic relationships being given time and attention, and that makes Nightheart and Sunbeam's romance easier to enjoy. Their lives seem much more balanced now, and I have a deeper sense of who they are as individuals rather than who they define themselves to be as a couple.
Something else that made me smile a lot while listening to this audiobook was how many conversations seemed to anticipate what I was thinking. There was Frostpaw making things as dramatic as possible during the Gathering, which I mentioned earlier. Then, there was the moment during the new apprentices' training session when the young cats were talking about how smelly all of the other Clans were, and I thought, "This again?" only to have Finchlight lecture them about how it's rude to call other Clans smelly; they're not stinky, just different.
There were also several points where a cat would say something like, "This has never happened before!" only for another cat to cite, at the same moment that I was thinking it, a time that it happened in an earlier Warrior cats book. For example, there seemed to be a widespread idea that StarClan would refuse Splashtail his nine lives if he were a murderer. But what about Brokenstar? What about Tigerstar? The only time I took issue with these in-text reminders was when it seemed as though the writers forgot the chronology of Mothwing specifically. She seemed to say that she remembered the first Tigerstar's reign; but she was sheltered by her mother and didn't live within the Clans until after his death.
I bet there were more mistakes in this book that I didn't catch. I already heard someone mention a moment in which Waffle was referred to as "her," which is hilarious. Surely, it was a typo, but I will accept he/she Waffle as canon now. Still, there weren't any glaring errors that impeded my appreciation of the story (like the double apprentice ceremony of Featherpaw and Stormpaw in "Leopardstar's Honor" or Mistystar and Stonefur being swapped with Feathertail and Stormfur as Graystripe's children in his super-edition; it's as if the Erins target Feathertail specifically to irritate me). The story felt well-constructed and decently edited, although I'm sure that listening to an audiobook (where I have to strain my attention more to catch each word) allows me to miss various inconsistencies.
Overall, I loved this book, and I love "A Starless Clan." It's the first story arc for Warrior cats that I've been caught up for, and I adore looking forward to the new releases. Here's hoping that the release of "Star" later this year lives up to the joy that I've felt while listening to the rest of this series.
WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD
Before I conclude this review, I want to share a brief story that happened while I was listening to the final chapter of the audiobook. Splashtail was acting hostile to Harelight, and he mentioned that Harelight knows how RiverClan used to be run. I thought, "Wait, how old is Harelight?" So I pulled up his wiki page (with the audiobook still running in the background) and was surprised to see that he's only three and a half years old. He seemed much older, both in terms of personality and in terms of how the other cats treat him. Then I noticed that the wiki said "at death" and saw Harelight's cause of death listed: "killed by Splashtail." Sure enough, barely a minute later, Splashtail murdered the guy in my audiobook. It wasn't a big surprise; I kind of figured that would happen. But it was still amusing to be spoiled a split-second before it occurred. RIP Harelight. I liked you a lot, and now Harestar of WindClan will never get a RiverClan leader of the same name.
June 9, 2024
Ok the biggest problem with this book is the fact that the bad guy, Splashtail, has literally no followers and he is still running RiverClan. As soon as he killed his deputy a normal reaction from the whole of RiverClan should have been, “Oh this guy is crazy we should probably band together RIGHT NOW AND KILL HIM.” But no they stand there like sniveling kits and just let Splashtail gut Harelight. I’m sorry what???……what the heck was this book?! Tigerstar made sense he had supporters, he was big and strong, he had a cool villain name, and then there is Splashtail……….I miss the old Warriors
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