Leafpool's Wish

Warriors Novellas #5

by Erin Hunter

In this seventy-page digital novella from the world of Erin Hunter's #1 nationally bestselling Warriors series, discover the thrilling story behind Leafpool's greatest secret.

Leafpool always knew medicine cats weren't meant for love . . . until she fell for the WindClan warrior Crowfeather. Now she's determined to keep their kits a secret. But to fool all of ThunderClan, she'll need help—from her sister Squirrelflight, and perhaps even from StarClan. . . . Warriors: Leafpool's Wish also includes teaser chapters of Warriors: Dovewing's Silence and Dawn of the Clans #1: The Sun Trail.

Genres: Fantasy, Middle Grade, Animals, Fiction, Cats, Young Adult, Childrens

70 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 22, 2014

About the author

Erin 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.

Reviews

[Diana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this tale. I have always loved Leafpool and Squirrelfight story of "shared" kits, and Jaykit has always been one of my favorite cats. So yeah, not ashamed to say my eyes watered more than once while reading this novella.

[Stormy Summer]

~Warriors Rp ~
Leader -:- Sunsetstar


Deputy-:- Frozenbreeze
Med cat-:- Open
Med cat apprentice-:- Roseleaf
Warriors-:-
Crystalflame
Flamefox
Lilyfrost
Goldensky
Apprentices -:-
Foxpaw(Sunsetfall is mentor)


Ripjawpaw
Queens-:-
None
Elders-:- none

[Chantal Kloth · Rating 5 out of 5]

ugh i don’t care what anyone says i love leafpool and squirrelflight no matter what, and this book just shows how strong their bond is as sisters

[Willemijn jufwillemijnopallstars · Rating 4 out of 5]

Moeilijk om er iets over te zeggen zonder spoilers. Fijn om meer te weten over dit geheim.

[Brinley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this one! It made the whole thing about Leafpool and her kits more believable, and I liked the insight we got into her characters. It did make me sad to see happy Bramble and Squirrel though, their relationship is so sad in recent books. They deserve better

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining fantasy listening 🎶🔰

This is a kindle e-book from my local library.

Liverpool is the medicine cat for the clam. Her lover is from another clan and she is pregnant.

I would recommend this cute novella and author to 👍readers of fantasy family relationships novels 👍🔰. 2023 😀👒☺🐈

[Kate Matson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary:
Leafpool always knew medicine cats weren't meant for love . . . until she fell for the WindClan warrior Crowfeather. Now she's determined to keep their kits a secret. But to fool all of ThunderClan, she'll need help—from her sister Squirrelflight, and perhaps even from StarClan. . .
Plot:
This was probably by far the best Warrior novella I've ever read. It filled in a huge blank before I start The Power of Three. I found out what happens in between. It was great to know how Jaykit, Lipnkit, and Hollykit all came to be.
Characters:
I loved Squirrelflight and Leafpool (as always). I got to see a little character development. There wasn't much more to the characters in this novella, because I had already experienced so much of them in The New Prophecy.
Overall:
This was a great novella, and I found out a lot of useful information...

[Stormy :) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though my Warrior fandom days are long gone, I still felt that this novella was worth my time.

The story of how Leafpool gave birth has always been a tale of mystery, wrapped in secrecy. Leafpool's Wish tells that story, describing the personal struggle Leafpool and even Squirrelight went through during this troubling time.

I've been waiting for this novella ever since the big reveal in long shadows and sunrise. Unfortunately, LW didn't quite meet my expectations. The continuities errors in the story bugged me a bit, but some things such as why Leafpool and Squirrelflight didn't let Brambleclaw in on the whole gig are explained.

It was nice to recede back to a time when the characters were actually in character. Squirrelflight was actually the Squirrelflight we loved in TNP, not the mess in TPoT and OotS. Though I was disappointed that the novella just covered the before part of the situation and didn't go into a great detail about how the Clan accepted the kits into the camp and such. I personally would've like to see more CrowxLeaf and BramblexSquirrel but I'm 70 pages it's hard to fit it all in.

So it was a nice to read a Warriors book that actually felt like a true Warriors book, and I might just consider reading Bramblestar's Storm and see how that turns out.

3.5 stars

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was so glad that they chose right after one of the main book arcs to put the timeline. There was a huge gap there and I loved being able to see that. It’s a little sad, but was really good, and I’m glad I read it!

[Chelsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a good book! I love it. I read it in one go

[syd]

honestly leafpool and crowfeather are one of my dearest OTPs 🫶🏽

[Fathleen · Rating 1 out of 5]

This novella was so bad, the worst Warriors book I think I've read so far in my chronological reread of the series. This was written by Vicky, who as I understood it did a lot of the editing and outlining for the plots while Cherith and Kate did the majority of the writing. It really shows that someone who doesn't typically write for the series wrote this because it's so bad. It feels like a fanfic--actually, that's an insult to fanfic. I've read Warriors fanfic people wrote in the reviews of this novella that was better than the novella itself.

From numerous, major plot-line breaking inconsistencies, to the characters just not sounding at all like themselves, this one was rough to get through.

For starters, the timeline is all jacked up. It starts out the day after Brambleclaw kills Hawkfrost, and Leafpool has a ton of internal monologue about Crowfeather, her situation, Brambleclaw--all of these things she's already worked through by the end of Sunset.

They also suddenly state that Spiderleg is the father of Daisy's kits when that is just entirely untrue. Major plot points in Twilight and Sunset involve Daisy bringing the kits she had with Smoky from the farm to the Clan and then taking them BACK to their FATHER. But now all of a sudden Spiderleg is their father? The cat that is young enough to be her son and one of the newest warriors in the Clan? Yes they have a relationship LATER ON in the Power of Three books, but not too long ago Daisy and Cloudtail were super close and making Brightheart incredibly jealous.

Leafpool is still also still wondering about Cinderpelt and where her spirit is when Spottedleaf literally tells her in Sunset that Cinderpelt has been reincarnated and shows her Cinderkit in the nursery. But ok, we just forgot about that I guess.

I guess we also forgot that Leafpool and Crowfeather mutually agreed to part ways and there is NO REASON why he would realistically expect her to run away with him again after their conversations in Sunset. And I also just do not think that THAT Crowfeather would be angry at her for that, and I don't think Leafpool would growl at him over wanting to be with her either. It's just totally out of character for both of them.

And I think the one thing everyone who rates this one star can agree on: Yellowfang telling Squirrelflight she can't have kits is the dumbest, most half-baked plot point ever written in this series. Not only is that just a straight up lie, but it completely throws out everything previously written about StarClan.

Throughout the entire series, they are consistently inconsistent with StarClan--what they're capable of, what they're allowed to do, etc. Nothing is ever clarified and I get that it's a mystery of the afterlife or whatever but they've gone too far. They've explored and utilized StarClan way too freaking much because now nothing makes sense. If you look at how StarClan has evolved over the arcs it's so wild. Sometimes they're all-seeing and sometimes they're not. Sometimes they're super understanding and sometimes they're really harsh for no reason.

Leafpool is literally pregnant with the Three, what StarClan seemingly believes is the most powerful group of cats to be born in a long time. So why on earth is Spottedleaf so aggressive towards her? Spottedleaf was so gentle and understanding when Leafpool ran away with Crowfeather but is now sneering at her telling her she should've thought about the consequences of her actions? Bluestar, Yellowfang, Spottedleaf, and Lionheart all told Leafpool that these cats were special and important. She's basically like their cat virgin Mary, giving birth to the future saviors of the Clans and she's treated like crap by StarClan. I know that even later Leafpool is PUT ON TRIAL for giving birth to the Three like how does that make sense in ANY universe? What kind of message is that sending to children?

Yellowfang is allowed to just LIE to Squirrelflight to guilt trip her into raising the Three. I'm sorry WHY can't they just tell Brambleclaw? Why can't they tell Sandstorm? Why can't they tell Firestar? I'm sorry but Leafpool and Squirrelflight are the DAUGHTERS of the Clan leader and Squirrelflight is MATES with with deputy. Like, they're in SUCH A PRIVELEGED POSITION. All it takes is one conversation with Firestar, do you think he'd really kick out his daughter and his only medicine cat? They make it seem like there is NO CHOICE but lying but there is ALWAYS a choice.

StarClan is full of plot holes. Yellowfang says that Leafpool is walking an important path and I think Squirrelflight asks Yellowfang if she thinks the code can be changed to allow medicine cats to have kits and Yellowfang gets so aggressive and says its there for a reason. BUT WHY.

That's the THING. THey always say "this is this way for a reason/it's always been that way" ok but WHY. They never explain why things are the way they are. The Erins kind of do in their Super Editions and their novellas but even then the reasonings are really weak and half-baked.

I also want to point out that Vicky uses human words WAY too often and it's incredibly distracting. Brightheart calls Whitepaw her baby. Squirrelflight calls one of the Three poppet and Leafpool constantly thinks "my darlings" when thinking about her kits. None of these words have ever been used in the Warriors series before and it just added to fanfic-y feeling of this whole thing.

Literally the worst one so far, I truly do not understand how anyone could rate this above a 1 star, it's just badly done.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

**Warning: A bit of ranting takes place in this review (and possibly some spoilers), so read at your own risk.

Several things about this novella annoyed me, namely the timeline.

     "One moon had passed since her dream of the three little stars, and leaf-fall was giving way to the coldest season."

First, this novella is supposed to take place right after (and even a little during) Sunset, book 6 in The New Prophecy arc. I literally just finished rereading that book before starting Leafpool's Wish, and I know for a fact it did not end with leaf-fall, but rather just after newleaf arrived—so how the heck? However, that being said, I know The Power of Three arc came out long before Leafpol's Wish, and according to The Sight, Jayfeather, Lionblaze, and Hollyleaf were born in leaf-bare. So it's hardly surprising Leafpool's Wish takes place at the end of leaf-fall. But that just pegs the question: weren't the Erins paying any attention to the timelines? Even before they wrote Leafpool's Wish, how did they fail to remember that Sunset ended in early newleaf? Therefore, Leafpool's kits should have been born in newleaf. Or, they should have orchestrated one more romantic night between Leafpool and Crowfeather months later, in late greenleaf or early leaf-fall, despite their decisions not to see each other anymore.

     "Firestar [...] recovered from losing a life."

Okay, this one I'm not 100% on, but I'm pretty sure, according to the end of Sunset, Firestar did NOT lose a life. At the very least, it never specifically said he did, though I suppose there were times when it didn't mention what Firestar was doing, so I guess he could have lost one and nobody noticed until later, well after the end of the book. But the real reason I think the Erins decided that, for Leafpool's Wish, Firestar lost a life to the fox trap was because, if we say he didn't lose that life, he would have had one extra at the end of The Last Hope (I counted his deaths), and therefore wouldn't have died for good. Or maybe they always intended him to lose a life at the end of Sunset and just failed to say so at the time.

     "She didn't want Sorreltail [...] it was this experienced queen."

Uh, in what way is Sorreltail, young warrior and first time mother, an "experienced" queen? Experience warrior, perhaps, but not queen.

      "I know you saw me in the Dark Forest with Tigerstar and Hawkfrost."

Hmm, actually, Brambleclaw, you didn't know that. You just considered and dreaded the idea that Leafpool might know.

     "Hazelkit was distracted by their father, Spiderleg..."

Uh, Spiderleg isn't their dad. Spiderleg father's Daisy's second litter of kits, not her first.

     "Then she was not back in StarClan, but in a memory of the time she had spent with [Crowfeather]."

Okay, this part I liked. You never really saw this side of Crowfeather in the books, and I absolutely loved seeing it here. I just wish he wasn't such an annoying furball in other books!

     "I think she dislocated her tail."

Me too, Cloudtail. I didn't even know that was possible. o.o

     "Go back to your Clan, Crowfeather. I won't let you ruin everything again."

Great StarClan! Could Leafpool have been any crueler?

     "Squirrelflight, you will never have kits of your own."

Umm... then how do you explain Alderheart, Sparkpelt, Dandelionkit, and Juniperkit? Unless Yellowfang really was lying when she said that, in which case, she's quite cruel herself.

     "Squirrelflight told her, her amber eyes fierce."

Aw, come on! When has Squirrelflight ever had amber eyes?! Everyone knows her eyes are green, like Firestar's!

     "Suddenly he slipped on a wet leaf and bumped his nose against the bark wall."

Teehee, this made me giggle.

     They crossed the border close to one of the tunnel entrances.

Uh, ThunderClan didn't discover those tunnels until The Sight, i.e., until Hollykit, Lionkit, and Jaykit became 'paws.

     "Live well, my darlings. You will always be in my heart."

For this, I would just like to comment that I just happened to be listening to "You'll Be in My Heart" by Phil Collins from the Disney Tarzan soundtrack as I read this line. I thought that was quite good timing. xD

Well, there you go! Several annoyances, but otherwise, another great Erin Hunter story. The second half annoyed me less, and so long as I ignored the little things, I quite enjoyed this.

[Rebecca Su · Rating 5 out of 5]

I expected this book to be more about Crow feather and Leaf pool and it turned out that in this book, Leaf Pool want to hide from Crow Feather.So Crow Feather rarely appear in this book. At first I thought Leaf pool will be together with Crow Feather but after reading this book I found out that Leaf Pool thought that her clan must come first. So she gave up Crow Feather. I chose this book because in the previous series I hoped that Leaf Pool will be with Crow Feather. After reading it, I feel a bit disappointed because they did not be together in the end.

[Emily Schreiber · Rating 1 out of 5]

So many issues with this book it made it almost unreadable. Do the authors even know their own books and plot lines????

[Spalony82 · Rating 5 out of 5]

„Życzenie Liściastej Sadzawki” bardzo mnie zaskoczyło. Sama postać medyczki była mi dość obojętna, dlatego nie miałam wysokich wymagań względem tej noweli, a okazała się ona wybitnie dobra. Po skończeniu książki zaczęłam bardziej rozumieć działania Liściastej Sadzawki i poczułam do niej więcej współczucia, ponieważ jak się okazuje przeszła naprawdę wiele. Pamiętam, że kilka fragmentów wyjątkowo mnie wzruszyło. Moment, w którym Żółty Kieł przyszła pocieszyć Liściastą Sadzawkę mocno do mnie trafił. Tak jak i rozmowa z Pierzastym Ogonem, której się tam w ogóle nie spodziewałam. Czytając o tym, jak młoda medyczka po raz pierwszy zrozumiała, że kocha swoje kociaki i są one darem, a nie przekleństwem, miałam łzy w oczach. Jednak najwięcej bólu sprawiło mi wprowadzenie Lewka, Ostrokrzewinki i Sójka do obozu przez Wiewiórczy Lot.

Tak jak wspominałam, książka zdecydowanie jest warta przeczytania i u mnie trafia na jedno z pierwszych miejsc z całej serii Wojowników.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poor Leafpool 😢
Even though a nasty person spoiled the secret for me beforehand and I didn’t really have that moment of surprise during reading, I really loved the book!
It showed some angst and also great interactions between the characters we love. I personally don’t believe in Leafpool x Crowfeather that much even though it’s cannon but the story itself is very moving. I love the fact that Yellowfang helped and guided Leafpool! 🥺 The feelings from her super edition came back like a flood! Squirrelflight helping her sister and their sisterly bond in general was also a gem to read about! And the lil trio of young kits was so super wholesome!!! 🥺 Lil Jaykit made my heart melt. And the way that the siblings took care of each other from the very start was sooo sweet!
In conclusion, I loved it! Shame that it wasn’t a longer super edition and just a novella but still great!

[Eden · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good book, yes, but did you notice something? Starclan states that Squirrelflight could never have kits of her own. But in later books, we know she has Sparkpelt and Alderheart (as well as the two that died.) So this means one of three things...
1.) Starclan lied to her in order to convince her to help Leafpool with her kits.
2.) Bramblestar cheated on Squirrelflight, and they are not really her kits.
3.) Squirrelflight lied again to Bramblestar, and he nor she are the parents.
4.) Both cats know that they are not their kits, and they are hiding this. But then, whose were they?
Most logically, 1 is the truth. Yet... it doesn't really add up, does it? Comment what you think!

[Sam Meisler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Soooo good

Blazerunner of stormclan here, just another one for Erin Hunter's great books. I did cry at the end of the book. You are mousebrained if you don't like the Warriors books.
P.S. I am a girl!!!

[Svmaxv · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ta nowela zlamala mi serce:((( kocham liściasta sadzawke, jej historie, romans z wronim piórem i ich dzieci... jest mi tak przykro z powodu tego co musiała czuć jak oddawała własne dzieci siostrze i obserwowała jak są przez nią wychowywane, bez wiedzy że Liściasta Sadzawka jest ich matką:((

[Belen A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the book. Definitely fills in on who the Three's real mother is.

[Alex T. · Rating 1 out of 5]

What the fuck Yellowfang.

Full review at: https://skybookcorner.blogspot.com/20...

[Mila Czyta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Moja ulubiona książka z serii wojownicy

[Thale · Rating 4 out of 5]

they could never make me hate you leafpool

[Historyprincess · Rating 5 out of 5]

Premise: It's been a month since Leafpool and her former WindClan lover Crowfeather made an ill-fated attempt to escape their Clans in order to be together. But the young ThunderClan medicine cat has by now discovered that an even more ill fate awaits her. She's expecting Crowfeather's kits, and every Clanborn cat knows that medicine cats are forbidden from having mates and kits of their own. Leafpool knows she can't prevent her kits' arrival. But is there any possible way for her to both keep them safe and hide the truth of their lineage?

Story/Writing: This was a pretty cool (if bittersweet) story to read, knowing that it was published after the "Power of Three" arc wrapped up, and that it was during that arc that Lionblaze, Hollyleaf, and Jayfeather learn that their real parents are in fact Crowfeather and Leafpool rather than Brambleclaw and Squirrelflight. So I can definitely imagine that fans wanted to know how this secret stayed hidden for so long! For me, as someone reading the series in chronological order, there was definitely this kind of tension knowing that what happened here was gonna play a huge role in events to come. I was certainly as curious as anyone else reading this for the first time how the characters involved were gonna keep this huge secret. And they somehow manage to do it in a surprisingly convincing way! That being said, while I knew going in that this is a novella, the pacing did feel a bit jarring at first. Although, I think the main reason for that is because I haven't read a novella from this series in at least a month, the last one I read being "Tigerclaw's Fury." But I soon got used to the pacing, even if I did find some details in the story that kinda forced me to alter the continuity I had going in my head as well.

Characters: Of course, it certainly helps this story to have characters I've now really come to know and love. I totally see now why the characters from the "New Prophecy" arc are some of the most beloved in the series, not in the least because of the dilemmas they're presented with and how they react to them.

Leafpool – Until further notice, Leafpool is probably my favorite medicine cat in the entire "Warriors" series, and one of my favorite characters in the series period. I liked her okay when she made her first appearance (aside from "Firestar's Quest" and the "Ravenpaw's Path" trilogy) in "Midnight." But since then she's proved to be such a great character. She feels sweet and innocent yet at the same time bold and daring. Even as she's dealing with this heartrending dilemma, she still does her best to faithfully carry out her medicine cat duties. Despite her huge lapse in judgment when it came to Crowfeather, you can tell she fiercely loves her Clan and will stick to her commitment to put them first from now on. That said, she's already had to let go of her mentor and the cat she once loved. Now she's going to have to give up her kits as well! I mean, yes, she couldn't have gotten a better foster mother for them than her own sister, and she'll still get to see them every day. But she knows she can never acknowledge them as her own and will likely have to lie to the Clan that she loves for the rest of her life. By the time I got to the end I really felt the tragedy of her situation. And I don't think it'll be going away any time soon.

Squirrelflight – Another one of my favorite characters in any of these books, Squirrelflight probably deserves an award for the best sister in the series! She and her sister have always had this twin-like connection and I've always loved how close they are to each other. Plus, knowing how much of a risk-taker Squirrelflight is, it wasn't surprising to me that she would help her sister out when she needed her most. Yet at the same time, I loved how they had her seriously consider what she was gonna have to do. She'll have to lie to ThunderClan, their parents, and even her mate as much as Leafpool will have to. But in the end, she realizes that, in a bizarre sort of way, this is the right thing to do, and she dives headfirst into it just as she's done with nearly every other huge challenge presented to her. Plus, to be fair, her mate also kept the huge secret of his dream visits from her. So I guess they're even!

Various Other Characters – Before anyone goes harping on about how the characters shouldn't have been so oblivious to Leafpool's pregnancy, let me say this in their defense. In "Sunset," we read about how plump the cats have been getting from the amount of prey they've been able to catch; Leafpool is a medicine cat and therefore has her own den separate from the ones shared by warriors, elders, and queens; and despite her brief fling with Crowfeather, because Leafpool is a medicine cat, it's easy for her Clanmates to see a cat like her as being above reproach. Medicine cats have always been held to higher standards than most warriors, whether or not you agree with that sentiment. Anyway, I liked how helpful Brightheart was and that Leafpool has gotten over her bad feelings toward her. It was great to see Yellowfang again and I thought she was the perfect StarClan cat to advise Leafpool, given she went through the same ordeal, and reading this was like reading her story all over again. And Lionkit, Hollykit, and Jaykit were just adorable! Yet it was also the fact that they were so cute that made it all the more sad when they forget that Leafpool is their mother. I know that was part of the plan, but I felt all the more sad for Leafpool when it happened.

Overall: This was just a touching and beautiful yet tragic story about a young mother forced to give up the ones who mean the most to her. The way they cover it up though was clever, and by the end I was filled with a sense of foreboding of what's to come. Great read in general and, even more so, a great way to transition into the "Power of Three" arc!

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is really just an enlargement on something already contained in another book, still very entertaining reading if a little sad for me.

[Ola Wicher · Rating 5 out of 5]

4,5 🥺

[alexandria · Rating 5 out of 5]

leafpool quite literally did nothing wrong i wish she couldve been their mother all the time the medicine cat rule is so stupid

[Amory · Rating 3 out of 5]

*MASSIVE SPOILERS*
It was nice to have some questions answered here about the logistics of Squirrelflight pretending to have birthed Leafpool's kits. I also liked seeing the main three cats of the next generation as lil baby kittens here. However, it was annoying to have Leafpool still hung up on Crowfeather.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ich hätte mir das Ende noch ein bisschen ausführlicher gewünscht, zum Beispiel Brombeerkralles Reaktion 🙈