What do you think?
Rate this book
Warriors Super Edition #17
Ivypool’s Heart
It’s been many moons since Ivypool lost her daughter, Bristlefrost, to the Dark Forest, yet Ivypool can’t bear to move on. Even being named Deputy of ThunderClan feels meaningless in her grief.
When Whistlepaw has a disturbing vision—one that could spell disaster for all the Clans—a group of cats is selected to go on a quest to investigate. Ivypool is happy to join their mission. Perhaps being away from her daily responsibilities will help her escape the painful memory of Bristlefrost’s death.
The cats set out on an arduous journey, facing everything from painful hunger to bloodthirsty dogs. But nothing can prepare them for what they find: a disgusting twoleg den that’s caging a series of strange animals, including two who may have surprising ties to the Clans.
In order to complete their quest and right a terrible wrong that goes back generations, the five Clan cats must help these creatures find their true home. But first, Ivypool must let go of the past, and her grief, if she is to have any hope of ensuring a future for the Clans—and for herself.
When Whistlepaw has a disturbing vision—one that could spell disaster for all the Clans—a group of cats is selected to go on a quest to investigate. Ivypool is happy to join their mission. Perhaps being away from her daily responsibilities will help her escape the painful memory of Bristlefrost’s death.
The cats set out on an arduous journey, facing everything from painful hunger to bloodthirsty dogs. But nothing can prepare them for what they find: a disgusting twoleg den that’s caging a series of strange animals, including two who may have surprising ties to the Clans.
In order to complete their quest and right a terrible wrong that goes back generations, the five Clan cats must help these creatures find their true home. But first, Ivypool must let go of the past, and her grief, if she is to have any hope of ensuring a future for the Clans—and for herself.
376 pages, Hardcover
Published September 3, 2024
257 people are currently reading
3661 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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 106 reviews
September 8, 2024
A mixed bag for sure.
Bullet review:
+Ivypool makes for a great protagonist still. She was one of my fave cats in OotS and I'm glad she finally got her own POV book. Her arc about processing her grief and growing into her role as deputy more was well-handled.
+Great character interactions! I love the main group here and they played off of each other really well.
+Some of the new side characters were fun and decent. Nothing groundbreaking, but they were decent enough.
*A lot of new lore introduced. I'm kind of neutral on all this, how I feel about it mostly depends on what they do with it going forward. If it is actually utilized effectively in future books I'll be okay with it, but for now all this new lore and the just seems to be kind of there for this book and doesn't seem to be very connected to the main plot of the current arc. I will change my opinion if they do somehow manage to tie this back, but for now it seems pretty isolated.
-Oh, goodie. It's another traveling book. And the traveling is just as well written (see: poorly) as in other Erin Hunter books. Seriously, the journey here was very boring even with all the new concepts introduced.
-Plot feels rather meandering and the pacing is S.L.O.W.
Overall there is some really good stuff to be found here but it's held back by the painfully boring traveling sections. I like the character writing but is it really worth to sit through all this dull slow-paced story just to get to it?
Full review at: https://skybookcorner.blogspot.com/20...
Bullet review:
+Ivypool makes for a great protagonist still. She was one of my fave cats in OotS and I'm glad she finally got her own POV book. Her arc about processing her grief and growing into her role as deputy more was well-handled.
+Great character interactions! I love the main group here and they played off of each other really well.
+Some of the new side characters were fun and decent. Nothing groundbreaking, but they were decent enough.
*A lot of new lore introduced. I'm kind of neutral on all this, how I feel about it mostly depends on what they do with it going forward. If it is actually utilized effectively in future books I'll be okay with it, but for now all this new lore and the just seems to be kind of there for this book and doesn't seem to be very connected to the main plot of the current arc. I will change my opinion if they do somehow manage to tie this back, but for now it seems pretty isolated.
-Oh, goodie. It's another traveling book. And the traveling is just as well written (see: poorly) as in other Erin Hunter books. Seriously, the journey here was very boring even with all the new concepts introduced.
-Plot feels rather meandering and the pacing is S.L.O.W.
Overall there is some really good stuff to be found here but it's held back by the painfully boring traveling sections. I like the character writing but is it really worth to sit through all this dull slow-paced story just to get to it?
Full review at: https://skybookcorner.blogspot.com/20...
August 30, 2024
⭐️2.5 stars⭐️
Well, this book was absurd. Oftentimes it felt like fanfiction. I think that the whole StormClan thing was honestly ridiculous. Like, the idea that two Clans would agree to combine is pretty bizarre and it's weird that most of ThunderClan and WindClan were okay with it. And nobody remembering it? I know there's an explanation but it really feels like a retcon (which is because it is lmao)
Like, to introduce something this big in a side book with no setup? Not the best idea
They also brought back the idea of fading in this book, which they have pretty much ignored since OotS and I've never been totally fond of, but I do kind of like how it's executed in this book? The idea that they're still around, just among the elements is comforting. I don't like the "living cats forget so so does StarClan" thing though
Things I did like? The concept of two Clan leaders falling in love. It has a lot of potential. I think if I were to write this plot, I would have them try to combine their Clans, but have only a few cats from each Clan agree and the rest would drive StormClan out. Also Galestar is a great name
I loved the characterization of the questing cats, mainly Icewing and Dovewing! Dovewing can be tactless and doesn't always say what's best, but she's tough and can be sassy. It feels like she's coming into her own since being in ShadowClan. And Icewing was stoic and good at keeping everyone together
Also I loved the introduction of the wildcats! I'm pretty sure they are European wildcats, I originally thought they might he bobcats but I'm pretty sure they would have drawn attention to their short tails if that was the case. I think having the Clans interact with other cat species is cool, even if I found the StormClan thing contrived
They do have extremely stupid names though. 'Stalk Purr'? 'Prowl Sleek'? I know warrior cats isn't know for having names that always make sense, but these really take the cake. I like the naming system of kits getting named after their spirit Guardians but it results in terrible names
I haven't said a lot about Ivypool in this review. I like her, I guess? I like how she gets angry and is grieving? I like her relationships with the other journeying cats, and her eventual acceptance of Bristlefrost being gone, but kind of still there?
Anyway, I am curious and cautiously hopeful for the next super edition. I hope it's from Whistlepaw or Icewing's perspective
Well, this book was absurd. Oftentimes it felt like fanfiction. I think that the whole StormClan thing was honestly ridiculous. Like, the idea that two Clans would agree to combine is pretty bizarre and it's weird that most of ThunderClan and WindClan were okay with it. And nobody remembering it? I know there's an explanation but it really feels like a retcon (which is because it is lmao)
Like, to introduce something this big in a side book with no setup? Not the best idea
They also brought back the idea of fading in this book, which they have pretty much ignored since OotS and I've never been totally fond of, but I do kind of like how it's executed in this book? The idea that they're still around, just among the elements is comforting. I don't like the "living cats forget so so does StarClan" thing though
Things I did like? The concept of two Clan leaders falling in love. It has a lot of potential. I think if I were to write this plot, I would have them try to combine their Clans, but have only a few cats from each Clan agree and the rest would drive StormClan out. Also Galestar is a great name
I loved the characterization of the questing cats, mainly Icewing and Dovewing! Dovewing can be tactless and doesn't always say what's best, but she's tough and can be sassy. It feels like she's coming into her own since being in ShadowClan. And Icewing was stoic and good at keeping everyone together
Also I loved the introduction of the wildcats! I'm pretty sure they are European wildcats, I originally thought they might he bobcats but I'm pretty sure they would have drawn attention to their short tails if that was the case. I think having the Clans interact with other cat species is cool, even if I found the StormClan thing contrived
They do have extremely stupid names though. 'Stalk Purr'? 'Prowl Sleek'? I know warrior cats isn't know for having names that always make sense, but these really take the cake. I like the naming system of kits getting named after their spirit Guardians but it results in terrible names
I haven't said a lot about Ivypool in this review. I like her, I guess? I like how she gets angry and is grieving? I like her relationships with the other journeying cats, and her eventual acceptance of Bristlefrost being gone, but kind of still there?
Anyway, I am curious and cautiously hopeful for the next super edition. I hope it's from Whistlepaw or Icewing's perspective
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 20, 2024
This super edition is wild, because I appreciate what it's trying to do. Especially when most Warrior cats super editions simply rehash events that we've already seen play out in the main series, it's refreshing to see an ambitious project that tackles something completely new. However, I don't think it did a very good job.
The writing felt very flat, and Ivypool's emotional journey didn't come across that well. Yes, the narrative explains exactly what she's feeling at any given point in time, but it doesn't seem believable, you know? Or rather, it didn't move me or make me feel anything while I was reading it. I think part of this has to do with the fact that we never saw Ivypool's relationship with her daughter Bristlefrost while she was alive. So while it's nice that the authors are retconning it by saying, "Don't worry, Ivypool did care about Bristlefrost, and they were very close," it's hard to digest that and even harder to have an entire book founded upon that imaginary relationship.
Essentially, the authors told us rather than showed us what Ivypool was feeling and what her relationship with Bristlefrost had been. If we had seen this story from another cat's POV, would any part of it have registered? Maybe it would have once the characters started talking to one another. But much of the dialogue in this book seemed artificial, like the characters were saying stock phrases just to move the plot along. At times, they showed a degree of emotional maturity that honestly felt like it was coming out nowhere.
Perhaps I would feel differently about the dialogue and inner monologues if I had listened to the audiobook version instead. I love McLeod Andrew's narration for this series, and he might have delivered the lines in such a way that made them more believable. But alas, I wasn't able to move past the weak writing to the heart of the text while reading it myself.
I'm also disappointed that Ivypool's narration didn't feel more unique to her personality. Yes, the authors got some facts about her past correct, which is surprising in a series that struggles to remember its own history. But I'm not going to commend the writers for acknowledging who Ivypool killed in cat hell several years ago when I didn't feel engaged for the majority of the novel.
I think of the book series "Wings of Fire," where every narrator is unique and brings something special to their story. But "Ivypool's Heart" doesn't feel all that different from other books in the Warrior cats series. There's a blandness to it that makes many of the narrators feel generic or archetypal, like when readers compare the traumatized medicine cat personalities of Alderheart, Shadowsight, and Frostpaw or the overdramatic edgelord personalities of Hollyleaf, Ivypool, and Nightheart. It's not that these characters are all the same but rather that the authors don't differentiate them as well as many other series do. It's like they have their default style that applies to everyone, without any regard for how certain characters' personalities would shape the narration.
(It is probably worth noting that I read this book immediately after finishing "The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet," which likely influenced the way that I judged the writing quality and characters personalities in "Ivypool's Heart." Atomic bomb versus coughing baby, or whatever the teens say nowadays. How could a Warrior cats book hope to compete with a Becky Chambers novel?)
At any rate, I found the first half of this super edition to be quite boring. It was a slog to get through, and things didn't pick up for me until we met the wildcats. I thought they were tigers at first and was very confused, although this isn't new for me. I don't usually enjoy scenes in Warrior cats books that defamiliarize readers with human things, because more often than not, I have no clue what I'm supposed to be picturing. That happened even more than normal in this book, and I had to look up the wildcats once I finished to verify that they weren't actually tigers. (I would have looked it up sooner, but I was afraid of seeing spoilers.)
I did enjoy the StormClan drama and the attempts to build up the lore surrounding StarClan and other forms of the afterlife. And I did like Ivypool's overall conclusion, that if a cat doesn't go to StarClan, their consciousness diffuses and they become a part of everything. This was special to me, because I've never been able to relate to the concept of StarClan. It's more of a "wouldn't it be nice" situation, although then I start to think about shows like "The Good Place," which make me question how the organization of StarClan is even sustainable.
All this to say, while I always get teary-eyed over death scenes where characters see their deceased loved ones coming to guide them to StarClan, I appreciate how Ivypool is faced with a situation closer to what most humans experience. We don't have concrete proof of an afterlife, and we don't have confirmation that we will ever see our loved ones again. Of course, some people have faith in the existence of heaven and whatnot, but that's different from seeing your president/Clan leader die and be resurrected by your ancestors multiple times before your very eyes. StarClan is a fact for warriors in a way that heaven is not for humans.
So yes, I did cry in the final pages of this book. What Ivypool realized is something that I would very much like to believe myself. But just because this book made me cry doesn't mean that it's well-written, and while "Ivypool's Heart" does some things better than most Warrior cats books, I rate the stories I read based on my enjoyment of them. And seeing as I kind of hated reading 50% of this book, I can't go higher than a 2-star rating.
I'm still looking forward to the conclusion of "A Starless Clan," though, and while I would never tell someone to skip this super edition entirely (especially seeing as it might factor into the main series quite heavily), I would also warn them not to get their hopes up too high. I like Ivypool, but I could argue that this super edition doesn't do her character justice. Where the plot succeeds, the writing fails, and it's often quite hard to look beyond that, at least for me.
The writing felt very flat, and Ivypool's emotional journey didn't come across that well. Yes, the narrative explains exactly what she's feeling at any given point in time, but it doesn't seem believable, you know? Or rather, it didn't move me or make me feel anything while I was reading it. I think part of this has to do with the fact that we never saw Ivypool's relationship with her daughter Bristlefrost while she was alive. So while it's nice that the authors are retconning it by saying, "Don't worry, Ivypool did care about Bristlefrost, and they were very close," it's hard to digest that and even harder to have an entire book founded upon that imaginary relationship.
Essentially, the authors told us rather than showed us what Ivypool was feeling and what her relationship with Bristlefrost had been. If we had seen this story from another cat's POV, would any part of it have registered? Maybe it would have once the characters started talking to one another. But much of the dialogue in this book seemed artificial, like the characters were saying stock phrases just to move the plot along. At times, they showed a degree of emotional maturity that honestly felt like it was coming out nowhere.
Perhaps I would feel differently about the dialogue and inner monologues if I had listened to the audiobook version instead. I love McLeod Andrew's narration for this series, and he might have delivered the lines in such a way that made them more believable. But alas, I wasn't able to move past the weak writing to the heart of the text while reading it myself.
I'm also disappointed that Ivypool's narration didn't feel more unique to her personality. Yes, the authors got some facts about her past correct, which is surprising in a series that struggles to remember its own history. But I'm not going to commend the writers for acknowledging who Ivypool killed in cat hell several years ago when I didn't feel engaged for the majority of the novel.
I think of the book series "Wings of Fire," where every narrator is unique and brings something special to their story. But "Ivypool's Heart" doesn't feel all that different from other books in the Warrior cats series. There's a blandness to it that makes many of the narrators feel generic or archetypal, like when readers compare the traumatized medicine cat personalities of Alderheart, Shadowsight, and Frostpaw or the overdramatic edgelord personalities of Hollyleaf, Ivypool, and Nightheart. It's not that these characters are all the same but rather that the authors don't differentiate them as well as many other series do. It's like they have their default style that applies to everyone, without any regard for how certain characters' personalities would shape the narration.
(It is probably worth noting that I read this book immediately after finishing "The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet," which likely influenced the way that I judged the writing quality and characters personalities in "Ivypool's Heart." Atomic bomb versus coughing baby, or whatever the teens say nowadays. How could a Warrior cats book hope to compete with a Becky Chambers novel?)
At any rate, I found the first half of this super edition to be quite boring. It was a slog to get through, and things didn't pick up for me until we met the wildcats. I thought they were tigers at first and was very confused, although this isn't new for me. I don't usually enjoy scenes in Warrior cats books that defamiliarize readers with human things, because more often than not, I have no clue what I'm supposed to be picturing. That happened even more than normal in this book, and I had to look up the wildcats once I finished to verify that they weren't actually tigers. (I would have looked it up sooner, but I was afraid of seeing spoilers.)
I did enjoy the StormClan drama and the attempts to build up the lore surrounding StarClan and other forms of the afterlife. And I did like Ivypool's overall conclusion, that if a cat doesn't go to StarClan, their consciousness diffuses and they become a part of everything. This was special to me, because I've never been able to relate to the concept of StarClan. It's more of a "wouldn't it be nice" situation, although then I start to think about shows like "The Good Place," which make me question how the organization of StarClan is even sustainable.
All this to say, while I always get teary-eyed over death scenes where characters see their deceased loved ones coming to guide them to StarClan, I appreciate how Ivypool is faced with a situation closer to what most humans experience. We don't have concrete proof of an afterlife, and we don't have confirmation that we will ever see our loved ones again. Of course, some people have faith in the existence of heaven and whatnot, but that's different from seeing your president/Clan leader die and be resurrected by your ancestors multiple times before your very eyes. StarClan is a fact for warriors in a way that heaven is not for humans.
So yes, I did cry in the final pages of this book. What Ivypool realized is something that I would very much like to believe myself. But just because this book made me cry doesn't mean that it's well-written, and while "Ivypool's Heart" does some things better than most Warrior cats books, I rate the stories I read based on my enjoyment of them. And seeing as I kind of hated reading 50% of this book, I can't go higher than a 2-star rating.
I'm still looking forward to the conclusion of "A Starless Clan," though, and while I would never tell someone to skip this super edition entirely (especially seeing as it might factor into the main series quite heavily), I would also warn them not to get their hopes up too high. I like Ivypool, but I could argue that this super edition doesn't do her character justice. Where the plot succeeds, the writing fails, and it's often quite hard to look beyond that, at least for me.
December 14, 2023
The Erins began really leaning towards fan favorites and put them into the fan's expectations (see Squirrelst*r and Ivypool for deputy). I absolutely don't understand her grief, she has never shown any interest in Bristlefrost (hell, she didn't even want to be in the nursery!), only after she passed and she approached Rootspring about her.
The plot seems to be fun, I'm excited to see who will go on the journey, and maybe if they'll ruin ivy's character even more. Only reason I'm not pumped for this one is the fact that it's ivypool, I hold a huge resentment towards this fictional cat.
The plot seems to be fun, I'm excited to see who will go on the journey, and maybe if they'll ruin ivy's character even more. Only reason I'm not pumped for this one is the fact that it's ivypool, I hold a huge resentment towards this fictional cat.
May 29, 2025
you already know i’m giving 5 stars to little momma ivypool <3 so much loss in her life, and a must read to get the backstory for icewing
September 25, 2024
Ivypool's Heart was one of the first books I picked up again after taking a long break from reading this series, as I felt I had grown out of it, but this book narrowly reminded me of why I love this series and how much I enjoy seeing characters from the past grow.
The book is emotional, heartfelt, and really hones in on the prospect of a mother's grief in the loss of a child- the spirituality and understanding of this book branching into this and making it so much more worthwhile to experience. Seeing Ivypool's growth from that tiny, easily swayed, and temperamental apprentice to the Deputy of a clan who then takes charge in a group reminded me once more of why I love her and why I love seeing her in situations.
This book was so anticipated, and whilst it may not delve too deeply into her life as a deputy in Thunderclan, it's a really impacting book to read after the loss of Bristlefrost in the Dark-Forest.
The language in this book and the development of writing over the years has been so drastically different from what we're used to, and it's such a breath of fresh air to see so much more in the world utilized in these books.
I highly recommend this book :)
The book is emotional, heartfelt, and really hones in on the prospect of a mother's grief in the loss of a child- the spirituality and understanding of this book branching into this and making it so much more worthwhile to experience. Seeing Ivypool's growth from that tiny, easily swayed, and temperamental apprentice to the Deputy of a clan who then takes charge in a group reminded me once more of why I love her and why I love seeing her in situations.
This book was so anticipated, and whilst it may not delve too deeply into her life as a deputy in Thunderclan, it's a really impacting book to read after the loss of Bristlefrost in the Dark-Forest.
The language in this book and the development of writing over the years has been so drastically different from what we're used to, and it's such a breath of fresh air to see so much more in the world utilized in these books.
I highly recommend this book :)
September 6, 2024
Whelp this is an interesting one. Overall I found Ivypool’s grief believable. I liked the wildcat premise but the idea of Stormclan was a bit odd. Also the Bristlefrost resolution just didn’t work for me. It was close but there just was something not quite satisfactory for me. Still overall a good story. And I do feel it is a nice epilogue to The Broken Code, but readers should understand this isn’t a book 7 to that arc even though it tries hard to be. It really is a story of its own, though a bit clunky. 3.5 stars rounded to 4.
October 26, 2024
→ 4.25 stars (★★★★.25)
i read (and love) warrior cat books for the characters and for nostalgia, not for quality, but this book surprised me with its complex themes and how well it was written! plus, it's about my childhood favourite character, Ivypool, so that made me love it even more.
Ivypool's grief is explored in this book with more depth than it has been in previous books, as her loss is more permanent than it is for most cats. i really enjoyed seeing her journey as her mourning slowly grew into acceptance. also, the cast of characters was wonderful; the group dynamic was so supportive and warm, and i was excited to meet new cats from the Clans' forgotten history.
(TL;DR: i am a huge warrior cats nerd and this book was great)
i read (and love) warrior cat books for the characters and for nostalgia, not for quality, but this book surprised me with its complex themes and how well it was written! plus, it's about my childhood favourite character, Ivypool, so that made me love it even more.
Ivypool's grief is explored in this book with more depth than it has been in previous books, as her loss is more permanent than it is for most cats. i really enjoyed seeing her journey as her mourning slowly grew into acceptance. also, the cast of characters was wonderful; the group dynamic was so supportive and warm, and i was excited to meet new cats from the Clans' forgotten history.
(TL;DR: i am a huge warrior cats nerd and this book was great)
Read
August 4, 2025really good
—
second review: loved the group they chose, some of my favs & new favsss Ahhhsvsgqhhavwgahshbds
—
second review: loved the group they chose, some of my favs & new favsss Ahhhsvsgqhhavwgahshbds
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Read
September 11, 2024This didn't feel like a warrior cat book at all. The writing style was different. The way the cats spoke was different. And the elements added into the story such as a zoo was different. I'm not sure who wrote this book... But it didn't feel like any of the previous writers.
This book was also supposed to focus on grief and healing from it... But it didn't do a great job of showing this. It did tell me...over and over and over and over again. (To the point it felt annoying.) But I never felt anything. Which is sad. Because I really liked Bristlefrost and I felt sad when she was "lost" in a previous book. 💔
This book was also supposed to focus on grief and healing from it... But it didn't do a great job of showing this. It did tell me...over and over and over and over again. (To the point it felt annoying.) But I never felt anything. Which is sad. Because I really liked Bristlefrost and I felt sad when she was "lost" in a previous book. 💔
December 19, 2024
i like the exploration of grief.
August 31, 2024
That was so unhinged???
November 13, 2024
Honestly I think this is one of the best-done traveling books in a long time, and I really enjoy TNP so that's maybe saying something, haha.
Ivypool's journey with her grief is so brutal and real, and while sometimes her griping and groaning grated on me, it did feel realistic for her to take the whole book to come to terms with her grief.
I'm OBSESSED with older she-cats and anxious little tomcat and perfect little Whistlepaw traveling party. They're so sassy and their chemistry is wonderful together. I love them all so much.
Even though Riverstar's Home was weak, imo, I really enjoyed the callbacks to that book and the lore and stories established there.
And the new worldbuilding!!! It gives me hope for the series moving forward!!
A great time, not overdone, and I think just under 400 pages is the absolute perfect length.
Ivypool's journey with her grief is so brutal and real, and while sometimes her griping and groaning grated on me, it did feel realistic for her to take the whole book to come to terms with her grief.
I'm OBSESSED with older she-cats and anxious little tomcat and perfect little Whistlepaw traveling party. They're so sassy and their chemistry is wonderful together. I love them all so much.
Even though Riverstar's Home was weak, imo, I really enjoyed the callbacks to that book and the lore and stories established there.
And the new worldbuilding!!! It gives me hope for the series moving forward!!
A great time, not overdone, and I think just under 400 pages is the absolute perfect length.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 10, 2024
This is, by-far-hands-down, the worst super edition I have ever read and I have read them all. I don't know who wrote it but it was obvious from the start that they are not familiar with ANY Warrior Cat characters or the Warrior Cat world as a whole. I thought the story was ridiculous and the spiritual stuff was just stupid. Blekky. I'm going to do my best to forget about this book and pretend it never happened. Ivypool deserved better because she is a fine Warrior and, as we all know, WARRIOR CATS RULE!!!!
September 29, 2024
STORMCLAN?????
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 7, 2024
Nueva entrega de los Warrior Cats. Llevaba dos años sin leer las nuevas super ediciones, pues la novela de Riverstar no me llamaba lo más mínimo y a Onestar lo odio con toda mi alma, pero ahora venía el turno de mi protagonista femenina favorita de la saga y debo decir, que bastante decente la verdad.
Ha tenido momentos que me han dejado al borde de las lágrimas y tanto los personajes como sus relaciones han dejado lecciones que considero bastante sanas. ¿Entonces por qué le das solo tres estrellas? Porque es un libro de viaje y como siempre que hacen un libro de viaje en esta saga se acaba haciendo pesado. Intentan justificarlo con la lección que dejan, pero no logran compensar el tedio habitual de cuando usan este arquetipo de historia.
Genuinamente quería darle más nota, pero no puedo ignorar los fallos. Aun así sigue estando en la parte buena de la franquicia. Mi niña no ha decepcionado y yo estoy feliz.
Ha tenido momentos que me han dejado al borde de las lágrimas y tanto los personajes como sus relaciones han dejado lecciones que considero bastante sanas. ¿Entonces por qué le das solo tres estrellas? Porque es un libro de viaje y como siempre que hacen un libro de viaje en esta saga se acaba haciendo pesado. Intentan justificarlo con la lección que dejan, pero no logran compensar el tedio habitual de cuando usan este arquetipo de historia.
Genuinamente quería darle más nota, pero no puedo ignorar los fallos. Aun así sigue estando en la parte buena de la franquicia. Mi niña no ha decepcionado y yo estoy feliz.
May 29, 2025
I don't understand why everyone thought it was bad writing. Calm down and enjoy it. I know they retconned yet another clan in (StormClan kinda strange but will we hear from them again? I wish we had gotten full books about the Tribe of Rushing Water and the Sisters). Anyway, this book was mostly about grief and Ivypool's journey with it. She learns to accept that her daughter is gone, but she learns through her journey that her daughter is not truly gone. Bristlefrost was a gift and Ivypool cherished her. It was a gift to raise Bristlefrost and see her succeed and save the Clans. Ivypool learned that it was oka to grieve and Bristlefrost may not be in the afterlife she knows, but Bristlefrost is somewhere and that comforts her. Bristlefrost will not be forgotten.
December 31, 2024
This was a bit boring throughout most of it, but these books are so short and go so fast that the ending kind of made up for it. The story of a grieving mother ultimately finding peace in new forms of spirituality gave this a nice heart that ended really nicely.
October 26, 2024
This one didn't rip my heart out for a change, it was actually very hopeful and healing.
June 7, 2025
Not often do you get middle grade stories about a mom coping with the recent death of her child. I really appreciate how tactfully the narrative handles it, and I’m especially glad (and relieved) that Bristlefrost didn’t get an express pass to StarClan.
HOWEVER, these books are just. Not written well.
HOWEVER, these books are just. Not written well.
August 10, 2025
One cat from each Clan goes on a quest when Whistlepaw has a disturbing dream. Ivypool hopes the quest will help her find a way to move on from her grief.
December 8, 2024
2'5-3*
I am feeling like lately the Erin Hunters are producing lots of books but with lower quality. Most of them are full of filler, move slowly forward and keep going back and forth and back again with different concepts in, I guess, an effort to occupy more pages.
I would prefer less series and less books in exchange of higher quality ones with more worked out plots.
I am feeling like lately the Erin Hunters are producing lots of books but with lower quality. Most of them are full of filler, move slowly forward and keep going back and forth and back again with different concepts in, I guess, an effort to occupy more pages.
I would prefer less series and less books in exchange of higher quality ones with more worked out plots.
June 11, 2025
The warrior cats writing team said they were so excited for this Super Edition and the one to follow it and this is the best they can come up with?
Maybe Cherith wasn't really on board with this one, because her writing felt lackluster and not as involved as she usually is.
This story just felt so rushed. The concept and the execution of StormClan was hastily done. This Super wasn't even as long as most Supers are, so there was plenty more room to expand (yes, I understand that Super 18 will delve more in depth into StormClan, but this one needed more work). Warrior Cats traveling sequences have always been one thunderpath crossing, one dog chase, and one rogue encounter after another, but there is so much going on at every turn that I can't remember what happened at what time. Thank goodness for the updated map of the area for this journey. That really helped me to get a visual for exactly what was happening where, especially when they had to backtrack.
At the beginning of this book, and continuing on from the previous book Wind, we know that Night, Sun, and Frost were spying on RiverClan. However, they didn't come back to ThunderClan the next day. Squirrelstar lets 3 days pass by worrying about this prophecy from another Clan's medicine cat and didn't send out a search party for her warriors? She also let Ivy leave on a whole patrol outside of Clan territory and didn't say a word about the missing 3 cats, besides the halfhearted conversation that she believes they'll be fine that she had with Ivy the morning after they left for RiverClan. I think after 3 days you should do something, especially considering how dangerous you know Splashtail to be. It doesn't make any sense. The Splashtail plot of this arc was pushed aside to make room for the absurd StormClan plot, which feels like a fanfiction fever dream (we'll get there, don't worry).
There was a lot of exposition of the cats observing twolegs and what they were doing, and somehow out of all the cats we've read about, this particular group of cats could describe it in detail. There was so much emphasis from Ivypool's inner thoughts on what the twolegs were doing and how she could tell what they were feeling. It's like the writing team wanted to stress that for some reason. It was a, "What if we described what us humans do, but from the cats point of view, and in a way that they could understand? How cool would that be?!" kind of thing that was so overused to the extent that it was getting on my nerves. The actual best example of the cats understanding what twolegs were doing and relating to them emotionally was when Leafstar was back at the gorge and she and some warriors helped a twoleg kit who was stuck under some rocks. I'm pretty sure that was in SkyClan's Destiny, and that example sticks in my mind as the best one for the cats understanding how twolegs feel.
As for the actual story of StormClan, I can see what they were wanting to do with a lost clan being found again (Enter: SkyClan. But wait! It's not like this has already been done before. Exit: SkyClan. Enter: StormClan), however, are you really going to retcon all of StarClan forgetting about this and not a single cat remembering what happened? It's so convenient to have them remember because Galestar sent the vision to Whistlepaw who then linked StormClan to StarClan. That's how this book felt - convenient. Whistlepaw had a feeling that the circus animals were important, which was very convenient. She also had a feeling that the wildcats would be important, also convenient. Galestar was the one who was sending her the visions, and she wasn't associated with StarClan. I would have loved for Galestar to be more like a guide for Whistlepaw. Like how Ashfur was talking to Shadowsight and being his guide, albeit an evil one. Breaking out of the chains that StarClan usually uses to communicate, you would think. That would have been more interesting. But Galestar gave the same vague StarClan-type of visions with the fox mountain and the gull feather and then Whistlepaw just had to rely on her keen inner compass to lead them the right way. And they happened to stumble across the wildcats in the circus who lead them to the Star Tree, where they were able to properly communicate with Galestar.
It was enough after Dawn of the Clans was written that the current clan cats suddenly remembered the founders of the clans and now have stories passed down from them, but are they really going to do the same for StormClan who wasn't relevant until this story that popped them into existence? The clan founders were always relevant, because the clans had to start from somewhere, and we know from Jayfeather's time travel in POT and OOTS that they originated from the lake and then left to be the tribe. I can understand that the clans now know more about the founders than they did in the first books of Warrior Cats, considering that StarClan always meant for there to be five clans. They sent Alderheart on a quest to find SkyClan to bring everyone back together as it should be. Even StarClan is united now, with the past members of SkyClan being with them again. They even had Firestar go back and make them a clan again ages ago before they brought them to the current clans, just so that they wouldn't be completely forgotten! That means that SkyClan was never truly forgotten in StarClan's eyes. I mean I guess that since StormClan should have never happened that it was convenient (look how this word is here again?) for StarClan to forget this taboo and only be reminded of it because Galestar wanted her debt to be paid by the clans and sent these cats to do it. When Ivypool was with Galestar in StarClan and was explaining to them what had happened to StormClan, a cat had said, "Now that we speak of it, there's something at the back of my mind. I almost remember two Clans combining and calling themselves StormClan. I feel something terrible must have happened." What an easy way to write in a retcon. And why meld StormClan's drama with the drama already happening in RiverClan? As well as all the journeying cat's to have the vision of Frostpaw dying with the message of, "it's too late"? Did StarClan send that vision to them, or did Galestar? It's like the writing team knew that this plot was stupid and they had to remind the characters to come back to finish the actual plot of saving RiverClan so they could end this arc.
What is crazy to me is I have literally had dreams about alternate reality Warrior Cats where our familiar characters are going through new trials, becoming new clans, and journeying to different territories, and I can't stress just how much this book feels like my dreams. It's uncanny; strangely uncanny. I was getting deja vu from all the StormClan backstory. Besides my overactive brain playing out "what-ifs", StormClan feels like a weird fanfiction. These are the kind of things that come out of a hyperfixated middle schooler's chicken-scratch-cat-stickered notebook, hunched over in the back of their math class as the other popular kids are talking about the latest Marvel movie. I'm sorry but your StormClan fanfic isn't good.
So it seems like, in the Warrior Cats Cinematic Universe, cats who were in some sort of afterlife (StarClan, The Tribe of Endless Hunting, The Place of No Stars, the wildcat afterlife, etc.) who were killed for the second time end up losing their bodies and their souls become part of the earth; whether it be in the wind blowing, the leaves falling, the water rushing, or any other part of nature. It took Ivypool speaking with two sets of cats who believe in this afterlife, the Sisters and the wildcats, for her to finally find peace with Bristlefrost's lost spirit.
To sum up the Warrior Cats Cinematic Universe afterlife, we have: StarClan, The Place of No Stars/Dark Forest, The Tribe of Endless Hunting, the wildcat afterlife, wherever Barley and Ravenpaw and other loners/rogues/kittypets go when they die, ghost cats who don't get an afterlife and their spirits are doomed to walk the Earth for cats like Rootspring/Tree/the Sisters to find, all cats who have died twice/are forgotten or don't have a particular afterlife and become part of nature, and that's it I think...? So faded cats, like what we originally thought of the clan founders/ancient cats, cats like Mapleshade who are slowly being forgotten by the living clans, and cats like Spottedleaf/OG Tigerstar who were killed after already dying once, are now part of the group that becomes part of nature? I get it and it doesn't seem too much like a retcon to me, because how would the clans know where they went? All they know is that they aren't in StarClan anymore. So to them they are "faded". They needed groups like the Sisters and the wildcats to explain to them that they aren't faded, they just are part of the earth now, because their spirit isn't in the afterlife. Which isn't too farfetched considering we do have the Sisters who can literally feel the earth and speak with spirits.
As to Ivypool's character in this book, she came across as unbelievable to me. She didn't feel like her usual stoic self. She was so moody it was painful. Several times we were reminded that yes she trained in the Dark Forest; the writers haven't forgotten about that. She has killed cats before, but losing Bristlefrost changed her. She was giving Millie vibes with how hard she was worrying about her kit that was dead (disabled, in Millie/Briarlight's case) and hardly thinking at all about her other kits who were alive and well. For the handful of times that she would think about Thriftear and Flipclaw and be grateful that she still had them, she would constantly despair and dwell on Bristlefrost and how it hurt her so much to lose her. I understand that this book had the goal of Ivypool confronting her grief on never being able to see her daughter again, but stressing their relationship so much when it was hardly built upon when Bristlefrost was alive? It didn't feel genuine. It felt like an agenda the writing team was pushing because, "yeah Ivypool is Bristlefrost's mother, and Bristlefrost was important in the last series, and people like her, so let's make Ivypool like her." Also, I am biased, I didn't like The Broken Code or Bristlefrost. The most interesting thing about that series was how Ashfur was able to communicate with Shadowsight, break the barrier to StarClan, and take over Bramblestar's body. I could care less about Bristlefrost's bland character or how her relationship with Rootspring made cross-clan romance mainstream. Also Ivypool, please grow up. You can't get annoyed at Rootspring for considering a new mate now that he's trying to move on from your daughter. I understand why you would feel that way, but that's toxic. Don't project your feelings onto him.
With The Broken Code series and the new rules to the warrior code on cross-clan romance, I feel like this StormClan storyline is going to finally reinforce the thought of, "we should have made cross-clan romance legal from the beginning! That way nobody has issues!" which totally disregards the point of having multiple different clans. But, it feels like Warrior's is going in that direction. Maybe with the new arc Changing Skies it's going to turn into the clans moving from the lake because of twolegs yet again and to them all merging together in one large clan and no longer following StarClan, instead being hippie cats who become part of the earth when they die. With the issues of RiverClan's broken leadership being the priority in this current arc, and Bramblestar's being last arc's, and even Onestar's being in the arc before that, I feel as if Warrior Cat's is going down the lonely road of, "should we even have multiple clans if they will only ever have flawed leaders?"
Surprisingly, I didn't notice any typos/mistakes in this one.
What I did like:
Whistlepaw, who is an awesome protagonist. She's incredibly smart, sweet, and determined, and I would love a book from her point of view. She has a lot of potential. She reminds me of Leafpool when she was an apprentice. She deserved to be the one to bring StormClan (as stupid of a plot point as they were) back into StarClan, since she was the one who received the vision from Galestar.
I enjoyed seeing Ivypool bond with Dovewing again, and even with Icewing, realizing that they would make great clanmates if they were in the same clan together. All three of them were able to bond about their kits who had died. Icewing was even in the same situation as Ivypool, with her kit Beetlewhisker dying in the Dark Forest, never to be seen again. Ivy learned how to open her mind and listen to others who had experiences similar to hers. I did like that growth from her.
Icewing is a strong she-cat, who definitely deserves to be the leader of RiverClan. She is wise and fully capable, not being too old but not being of the younger generations of cats.
The River of Spirits where you can traverse between afterlifes was such a great way to connect the Warrior Cats Cinematic Universe. But as Galestar said, "It isn't easy to travel between afterlives. The wildcats have accumulated this knowledge over generations and generations." Then explain to me how Feathertail would go from StarClan and The Tribe of Endless Hunting? Or how Spottedleaf and Yellowfang would go to the Dark Forest to pull Jayfeather and others out of there?
The wildcats themselves are just okay, I guess? Their names are kinda dumb but also cute at the same time? They are only there so we can introduce a new species. And now we have domesticated cats/european wildcat hybrids running around which is cannon. That is interesting. I have a theory on how the ancients and the Sisters started around the lake and how the wildcats go into that, but I'm gonna wait for StormClan's Folly to come out before I write it out for myself
TLDR: Ivypool didn't feel the same as a character and cried about her lost daughter Bristlefrost whom she hardly had a relationship with. StormClan is stupid and retconned because finding a lost clan and having everyone suddenly remember them has already been done with SkyClan, and that was done better. The Erin's writing team is running out of ideas. As someone who has been reading the books since the first one was released in 2003, I am respectfully saying that this series needs to end. This feels like fanfiction. I have read fanfiction better than this.
Maybe Cherith wasn't really on board with this one, because her writing felt lackluster and not as involved as she usually is.
This story just felt so rushed. The concept and the execution of StormClan was hastily done. This Super wasn't even as long as most Supers are, so there was plenty more room to expand (yes, I understand that Super 18 will delve more in depth into StormClan, but this one needed more work). Warrior Cats traveling sequences have always been one thunderpath crossing, one dog chase, and one rogue encounter after another, but there is so much going on at every turn that I can't remember what happened at what time. Thank goodness for the updated map of the area for this journey. That really helped me to get a visual for exactly what was happening where, especially when they had to backtrack.
At the beginning of this book, and continuing on from the previous book Wind, we know that Night, Sun, and Frost were spying on RiverClan. However, they didn't come back to ThunderClan the next day. Squirrelstar lets 3 days pass by worrying about this prophecy from another Clan's medicine cat and didn't send out a search party for her warriors? She also let Ivy leave on a whole patrol outside of Clan territory and didn't say a word about the missing 3 cats, besides the halfhearted conversation that she believes they'll be fine that she had with Ivy the morning after they left for RiverClan. I think after 3 days you should do something, especially considering how dangerous you know Splashtail to be. It doesn't make any sense. The Splashtail plot of this arc was pushed aside to make room for the absurd StormClan plot, which feels like a fanfiction fever dream (we'll get there, don't worry).
There was a lot of exposition of the cats observing twolegs and what they were doing, and somehow out of all the cats we've read about, this particular group of cats could describe it in detail. There was so much emphasis from Ivypool's inner thoughts on what the twolegs were doing and how she could tell what they were feeling. It's like the writing team wanted to stress that for some reason. It was a, "What if we described what us humans do, but from the cats point of view, and in a way that they could understand? How cool would that be?!" kind of thing that was so overused to the extent that it was getting on my nerves. The actual best example of the cats understanding what twolegs were doing and relating to them emotionally was when Leafstar was back at the gorge and she and some warriors helped a twoleg kit who was stuck under some rocks. I'm pretty sure that was in SkyClan's Destiny, and that example sticks in my mind as the best one for the cats understanding how twolegs feel.
As for the actual story of StormClan, I can see what they were wanting to do with a lost clan being found again (Enter: SkyClan. But wait! It's not like this has already been done before. Exit: SkyClan. Enter: StormClan), however, are you really going to retcon all of StarClan forgetting about this and not a single cat remembering what happened? It's so convenient to have them remember because Galestar sent the vision to Whistlepaw who then linked StormClan to StarClan. That's how this book felt - convenient. Whistlepaw had a feeling that the circus animals were important, which was very convenient. She also had a feeling that the wildcats would be important, also convenient. Galestar was the one who was sending her the visions, and she wasn't associated with StarClan. I would have loved for Galestar to be more like a guide for Whistlepaw. Like how Ashfur was talking to Shadowsight and being his guide, albeit an evil one. Breaking out of the chains that StarClan usually uses to communicate, you would think. That would have been more interesting. But Galestar gave the same vague StarClan-type of visions with the fox mountain and the gull feather and then Whistlepaw just had to rely on her keen inner compass to lead them the right way. And they happened to stumble across the wildcats in the circus who lead them to the Star Tree, where they were able to properly communicate with Galestar.
It was enough after Dawn of the Clans was written that the current clan cats suddenly remembered the founders of the clans and now have stories passed down from them, but are they really going to do the same for StormClan who wasn't relevant until this story that popped them into existence? The clan founders were always relevant, because the clans had to start from somewhere, and we know from Jayfeather's time travel in POT and OOTS that they originated from the lake and then left to be the tribe. I can understand that the clans now know more about the founders than they did in the first books of Warrior Cats, considering that StarClan always meant for there to be five clans. They sent Alderheart on a quest to find SkyClan to bring everyone back together as it should be. Even StarClan is united now, with the past members of SkyClan being with them again. They even had Firestar go back and make them a clan again ages ago before they brought them to the current clans, just so that they wouldn't be completely forgotten! That means that SkyClan was never truly forgotten in StarClan's eyes. I mean I guess that since StormClan should have never happened that it was convenient (look how this word is here again?) for StarClan to forget this taboo and only be reminded of it because Galestar wanted her debt to be paid by the clans and sent these cats to do it. When Ivypool was with Galestar in StarClan and was explaining to them what had happened to StormClan, a cat had said, "Now that we speak of it, there's something at the back of my mind. I almost remember two Clans combining and calling themselves StormClan. I feel something terrible must have happened." What an easy way to write in a retcon. And why meld StormClan's drama with the drama already happening in RiverClan? As well as all the journeying cat's to have the vision of Frostpaw dying with the message of, "it's too late"? Did StarClan send that vision to them, or did Galestar? It's like the writing team knew that this plot was stupid and they had to remind the characters to come back to finish the actual plot of saving RiverClan so they could end this arc.
What is crazy to me is I have literally had dreams about alternate reality Warrior Cats where our familiar characters are going through new trials, becoming new clans, and journeying to different territories, and I can't stress just how much this book feels like my dreams. It's uncanny; strangely uncanny. I was getting deja vu from all the StormClan backstory. Besides my overactive brain playing out "what-ifs", StormClan feels like a weird fanfiction. These are the kind of things that come out of a hyperfixated middle schooler's chicken-scratch-cat-stickered notebook, hunched over in the back of their math class as the other popular kids are talking about the latest Marvel movie. I'm sorry but your StormClan fanfic isn't good.
So it seems like, in the Warrior Cats Cinematic Universe, cats who were in some sort of afterlife (StarClan, The Tribe of Endless Hunting, The Place of No Stars, the wildcat afterlife, etc.) who were killed for the second time end up losing their bodies and their souls become part of the earth; whether it be in the wind blowing, the leaves falling, the water rushing, or any other part of nature. It took Ivypool speaking with two sets of cats who believe in this afterlife, the Sisters and the wildcats, for her to finally find peace with Bristlefrost's lost spirit.
To sum up the Warrior Cats Cinematic Universe afterlife, we have: StarClan, The Place of No Stars/Dark Forest, The Tribe of Endless Hunting, the wildcat afterlife, wherever Barley and Ravenpaw and other loners/rogues/kittypets go when they die, ghost cats who don't get an afterlife and their spirits are doomed to walk the Earth for cats like Rootspring/Tree/the Sisters to find, all cats who have died twice/are forgotten or don't have a particular afterlife and become part of nature, and that's it I think...? So faded cats, like what we originally thought of the clan founders/ancient cats, cats like Mapleshade who are slowly being forgotten by the living clans, and cats like Spottedleaf/OG Tigerstar who were killed after already dying once, are now part of the group that becomes part of nature? I get it and it doesn't seem too much like a retcon to me, because how would the clans know where they went? All they know is that they aren't in StarClan anymore. So to them they are "faded". They needed groups like the Sisters and the wildcats to explain to them that they aren't faded, they just are part of the earth now, because their spirit isn't in the afterlife. Which isn't too farfetched considering we do have the Sisters who can literally feel the earth and speak with spirits.
As to Ivypool's character in this book, she came across as unbelievable to me. She didn't feel like her usual stoic self. She was so moody it was painful. Several times we were reminded that yes she trained in the Dark Forest; the writers haven't forgotten about that. She has killed cats before, but losing Bristlefrost changed her. She was giving Millie vibes with how hard she was worrying about her kit that was dead (disabled, in Millie/Briarlight's case) and hardly thinking at all about her other kits who were alive and well. For the handful of times that she would think about Thriftear and Flipclaw and be grateful that she still had them, she would constantly despair and dwell on Bristlefrost and how it hurt her so much to lose her. I understand that this book had the goal of Ivypool confronting her grief on never being able to see her daughter again, but stressing their relationship so much when it was hardly built upon when Bristlefrost was alive? It didn't feel genuine. It felt like an agenda the writing team was pushing because, "yeah Ivypool is Bristlefrost's mother, and Bristlefrost was important in the last series, and people like her, so let's make Ivypool like her." Also, I am biased, I didn't like The Broken Code or Bristlefrost. The most interesting thing about that series was how Ashfur was able to communicate with Shadowsight, break the barrier to StarClan, and take over Bramblestar's body. I could care less about Bristlefrost's bland character or how her relationship with Rootspring made cross-clan romance mainstream. Also Ivypool, please grow up. You can't get annoyed at Rootspring for considering a new mate now that he's trying to move on from your daughter. I understand why you would feel that way, but that's toxic. Don't project your feelings onto him.
With The Broken Code series and the new rules to the warrior code on cross-clan romance, I feel like this StormClan storyline is going to finally reinforce the thought of, "we should have made cross-clan romance legal from the beginning! That way nobody has issues!" which totally disregards the point of having multiple different clans. But, it feels like Warrior's is going in that direction. Maybe with the new arc Changing Skies it's going to turn into the clans moving from the lake because of twolegs yet again and to them all merging together in one large clan and no longer following StarClan, instead being hippie cats who become part of the earth when they die. With the issues of RiverClan's broken leadership being the priority in this current arc, and Bramblestar's being last arc's, and even Onestar's being in the arc before that, I feel as if Warrior Cat's is going down the lonely road of, "should we even have multiple clans if they will only ever have flawed leaders?"
Surprisingly, I didn't notice any typos/mistakes in this one.
What I did like:
Whistlepaw, who is an awesome protagonist. She's incredibly smart, sweet, and determined, and I would love a book from her point of view. She has a lot of potential. She reminds me of Leafpool when she was an apprentice. She deserved to be the one to bring StormClan (as stupid of a plot point as they were) back into StarClan, since she was the one who received the vision from Galestar.
I enjoyed seeing Ivypool bond with Dovewing again, and even with Icewing, realizing that they would make great clanmates if they were in the same clan together. All three of them were able to bond about their kits who had died. Icewing was even in the same situation as Ivypool, with her kit Beetlewhisker dying in the Dark Forest, never to be seen again. Ivy learned how to open her mind and listen to others who had experiences similar to hers. I did like that growth from her.
Icewing is a strong she-cat, who definitely deserves to be the leader of RiverClan. She is wise and fully capable, not being too old but not being of the younger generations of cats.
The River of Spirits where you can traverse between afterlifes was such a great way to connect the Warrior Cats Cinematic Universe. But as Galestar said, "It isn't easy to travel between afterlives. The wildcats have accumulated this knowledge over generations and generations." Then explain to me how Feathertail would go from StarClan and The Tribe of Endless Hunting? Or how Spottedleaf and Yellowfang would go to the Dark Forest to pull Jayfeather and others out of there?
The wildcats themselves are just okay, I guess? Their names are kinda dumb but also cute at the same time? They are only there so we can introduce a new species. And now we have domesticated cats/european wildcat hybrids running around which is cannon. That is interesting. I have a theory on how the ancients and the Sisters started around the lake and how the wildcats go into that, but I'm gonna wait for StormClan's Folly to come out before I write it out for myself
TLDR: Ivypool didn't feel the same as a character and cried about her lost daughter Bristlefrost whom she hardly had a relationship with. StormClan is stupid and retconned because finding a lost clan and having everyone suddenly remember them has already been done with SkyClan, and that was done better. The Erin's writing team is running out of ideas. As someone who has been reading the books since the first one was released in 2003, I am respectfully saying that this series needs to end. This feels like fanfiction. I have read fanfiction better than this.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 16, 2024
Certain elements feels... fanficky, and not in a good way, esp the StormClan backstory... I feel like it'll get better fleshed out, but I did appreciate the lore. Seeing other species of cat is interesting (Sharptooth and legend clans don't count)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 11, 2024
Solid three stars. This book was the definition of mid.
The writing style was typical Erin stuff, though I did feel like it was less detailed than usual. I’m not sure if that’s good or bad; I think it worked to both ends. The book also felt a little weirdly paced. The ending was brushed over and rushed, and the middle traveling part dragged a lot.
But that’s the inherent flaw with this book: it’s another book about walking. Why do they keep doing this; they KNOW the fandom hates these types of books.
With that out of the way, my actual biggest issue with this book is that almost the whole thing feels recycled. The traveling has been done (far too many times) before, and the grief plotline with Ivypool has also been done a bajillion times (just in the Super Editions, Moth Flight, Bluestar, Tallstar, and Crookedstar had most, if not all, of their book about this exact same conflict). Not to mention, the weirdly quick writing style made the whole StormClan thing feel so strongly like fanfiction. . . And also the Erins completely forgot how to make events feel like they’re in the past, so that just made it worse. Basically, StormClan and that lore was a mess, and I have neither the time nor energy to dissect why. But I will say that screwing up the timeline, or at least the feeling of it, makes the world feel tiny (when I think the whole wildcat plotline was supposed to do the opposite) and I’m quite annoyed by it, since I feel like it then detracts from Dawn of the Clans, which is one of my favorite arcs.
Anyways. Characters. Hooray.
Ivypool, if we take JUST what we get in the book, is nice. She has character development that takes its time and feels realistic, and she has relationships with other characters, which is pretty unusual for Warriors. I liked her interactions with Rootspring especially, and I wish we got more of her and Icewing together. But unfortunately, with this being over the 100th Warriors book, we can’t just take her character from the book. And with that, she becomes awful. Ivypool had 0 relationship with Bristlefrost (except like two extremely out of character and out of nowhere scenes in the last two books of TBC) before this book. There is no reason for her to be having this plotline. And the plotline, like I already mentioned, is super boring since it’s been recycled ten million times already. I’m sick of these cats all going through the same grief cycle and having to read at least 300 pages about all of them experiencing the same thing, only for it to be completely irrelevant in EVERY book that follows. Ugh.
I don’t even know if there are any others to talk about. Rootspring, Dovewing, and Icewing were actually great side characters to Ivypool’s arc, but not much more. I liked Rootspring the most, definitely, but that’s kind of it.
Whistlepaw feels like a weird side character that keeps getting more focus than the leads (in this book and ASC), which in my opinion has only been exacerbated by the strangely breezy writing style.
The wildcats have no personality aside from ‘basic Warriors throwaway side character’ and ‘plot convenience’, so I’m not even going to bother with them.
I am interested in what will happen to Galestar and Stripestar in the afterlife, but if that ever gets mentioned it’ll be in the alleged upcoming companion Super Edition to this one, so it’ll be a while.
And that’s it. There aren’t any villains, or egregious writing decisions to talk about. This book was boring, but it tried to expand the lore and world, so I can appreciate the effort. Hopefully the next one is more interesting, at least.
The writing style was typical Erin stuff, though I did feel like it was less detailed than usual. I’m not sure if that’s good or bad; I think it worked to both ends. The book also felt a little weirdly paced. The ending was brushed over and rushed, and the middle traveling part dragged a lot.
But that’s the inherent flaw with this book: it’s another book about walking. Why do they keep doing this; they KNOW the fandom hates these types of books.
With that out of the way, my actual biggest issue with this book is that almost the whole thing feels recycled. The traveling has been done (far too many times) before, and the grief plotline with Ivypool has also been done a bajillion times (just in the Super Editions, Moth Flight, Bluestar, Tallstar, and Crookedstar had most, if not all, of their book about this exact same conflict). Not to mention, the weirdly quick writing style made the whole StormClan thing feel so strongly like fanfiction. . . And also the Erins completely forgot how to make events feel like they’re in the past, so that just made it worse. Basically, StormClan and that lore was a mess, and I have neither the time nor energy to dissect why. But I will say that screwing up the timeline, or at least the feeling of it, makes the world feel tiny (when I think the whole wildcat plotline was supposed to do the opposite) and I’m quite annoyed by it, since I feel like it then detracts from Dawn of the Clans, which is one of my favorite arcs.
Anyways. Characters. Hooray.
Ivypool, if we take JUST what we get in the book, is nice. She has character development that takes its time and feels realistic, and she has relationships with other characters, which is pretty unusual for Warriors. I liked her interactions with Rootspring especially, and I wish we got more of her and Icewing together. But unfortunately, with this being over the 100th Warriors book, we can’t just take her character from the book. And with that, she becomes awful. Ivypool had 0 relationship with Bristlefrost (except like two extremely out of character and out of nowhere scenes in the last two books of TBC) before this book. There is no reason for her to be having this plotline. And the plotline, like I already mentioned, is super boring since it’s been recycled ten million times already. I’m sick of these cats all going through the same grief cycle and having to read at least 300 pages about all of them experiencing the same thing, only for it to be completely irrelevant in EVERY book that follows. Ugh.
I don’t even know if there are any others to talk about. Rootspring, Dovewing, and Icewing were actually great side characters to Ivypool’s arc, but not much more. I liked Rootspring the most, definitely, but that’s kind of it.
Whistlepaw feels like a weird side character that keeps getting more focus than the leads (in this book and ASC), which in my opinion has only been exacerbated by the strangely breezy writing style.
The wildcats have no personality aside from ‘basic Warriors throwaway side character’ and ‘plot convenience’, so I’m not even going to bother with them.
I am interested in what will happen to Galestar and Stripestar in the afterlife, but if that ever gets mentioned it’ll be in the alleged upcoming companion Super Edition to this one, so it’ll be a while.
And that’s it. There aren’t any villains, or egregious writing decisions to talk about. This book was boring, but it tried to expand the lore and world, so I can appreciate the effort. Hopefully the next one is more interesting, at least.
June 13, 2025
LUV U IVYPOOL!!!!! 🫶 💗 ❤️
September 30, 2024
This book seemed somewhat like the second arc with all the walking. It was boring for the majority of the book and adding in another clan seemed unnecessary, not to mention, Galestar and Stripestar kind of sound like OC names. It was nice that the symbols for the clans were simi-mentioned. Honestly Icewing seemed like an entirely different cat which was so weird but I now am 99% sure she will become leader. Adding in wildcats was interesting but they were really dislikable and didn't trust that Ivypool and Icewing were clan cats even though they knew about Galestar. They also knew the symbol but still aren't believed. I feel like Warriors is going too deep into what happens after death for my liking but it opens up more opportunities so I doubt that there won't be more about what happened to Bristlefrost. This book was still amazing and definitely not what I expected.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 3, 2025
Brother, eeeeew
I skimmed around because I already know what this is about for 30 mins. It's just as bad as I thought. I don't feel like reading a long winded story of "fan fiction" StormClan. I don't need another group of cats with random ties that's never mentioned or been a real plot point.
Also kinda icky how a former main character thinks that the future love of his life needs to stack up to his former dead gf. I'm also pretty sure this is the shortest super edition and that's probably because they had nothing to actually say.
I skimmed around because I already know what this is about for 30 mins. It's just as bad as I thought. I don't feel like reading a long winded story of "fan fiction" StormClan. I don't need another group of cats with random ties that's never mentioned or been a real plot point.
Also kinda icky how a former main character thinks that the future love of his life needs to stack up to his former dead gf. I'm also pretty sure this is the shortest super edition and that's probably because they had nothing to actually say.
September 20, 2024
September 20, 2024
I was immediately concerned for the quality of this story when I saw how short this was. Let's put things into perspective. Firestar's Quest is 510 pages. Most other Super Editions are also over five hundred pages. Most of the normal-length books are somewhere in the neighborhood of 300 pages. River is a pathetic 250 pages, while The Sight is 363. How long is Ivypool's Heart? 376 pages. That's barely longer than The Sight. I don't know if I can count Ivypool's Heart as a Super Edition in my mind.
All of that aside, I'm going to steal the wording of another reviewer and call this a mixed bag. The basic plot of the book is that Whistlepaw, the WindClan medicine apprentice, has a terrible vision that the river will run with blood and the Clans will be destroyed. In her vision, she sees kits trapped in a cave by the sea somewhere, and she sees a strange symbol that no one else recognizes. The Clans pick one cat from each Clan and send all of them on an investigative journey. Whistlepaw, Ivypool from ThunderClan, Rootspring from SkyClan, Dovewing from ShadowClan, and Icewing from RiverClan head on out and have some weird adventures on their travels. Along their journey, they meet two young toms, Slate and Beach, who have been cast out of the Sisters. They're so sweet, and I felt Ivypool's frustration that they would just be cast out of the group because they're toms, and with no real-world survival skills. They deserved better than that. The traveling cats also encounter crabs, seagulls, what I think is a nature reserve, and maybe horseracing or something, I dunno. It's funny how their response to anything new that they see is "Who knows why Twolegs do the things that they do?" Oh, and I'm going to scream if I hear one more cat yelling, "Run!" That grated on my nerves! It's used so many times! I ought to have kept track of how many times the cats yelled at each other to run!
Eventually, the cats come to what I think is some sort of zoo, and they meet "wildcats," who are bigger than them. I'm not sure exactly what type of cat they are, because the text won't tell me what color they are other than the fact that they're large tabbies, but oh well. These cats have really stupid names: Tumble Leap and Stalk Purr. I get the fact that you want to be unique when creating new societies and belief systems, but there comes a point when it's just plain ridiculous. I kid you not, there is a cat named Hunt Growl in this book. Hunt Growl. HUNT FREAKING GROWL. WHAT IS THIS NAME?!
Anyway, the Clan cats find out that there was once a Clan called StormClan. Galestar, the WindClan leader, fell in love with Stripestar, the ThunderClan leader, and in order to be together, they merged their Clans. They were then driven out when the prey became scarce and the other Clans were turning on them. Galestar and her kits ended up stuck in a cliffside, and since everyone else thought that she was dead, they left her. Other cats unburied her, and they all survived. I actually liked this bit of the story, and I wish that this had been the main story instead of Ivypool's journey, which was boring and meandering.
A main problem in this book for me is that I don't care about almost any of the cats. I haven't read a book with Ivypool or Dovewing as the protagonists in years. I never cared about Rootspring (or Bristlefrost, for that matter, so Ivypool's mooning over how brilliant her daughter was never did anything for me), and I had almost no idea who Icewing was prior to this book. And Beetlewhisker? Who the heck is that? You see, since I don't know half the characters and don't care about the other half, it made it incredibly hard for me to care about anything through which these characters go. I would have been happy to read about an entirely new cast of characters so that I can get to know them better instead of reading about ones whom I'm clearly supposed to know but don't really. Remember when a six-book series kept one perspective in one Clan, instead of three perspectives in three Clans with forty cats each? I miss those days!
Final verdict: It's a book. It was slow in the beginning, but once it got to the wildcat part, it picked up in pace and actually became interesting. It reminds me of Firestar's Quest, but that book did it better.
I was immediately concerned for the quality of this story when I saw how short this was. Let's put things into perspective. Firestar's Quest is 510 pages. Most other Super Editions are also over five hundred pages. Most of the normal-length books are somewhere in the neighborhood of 300 pages. River is a pathetic 250 pages, while The Sight is 363. How long is Ivypool's Heart? 376 pages. That's barely longer than The Sight. I don't know if I can count Ivypool's Heart as a Super Edition in my mind.
All of that aside, I'm going to steal the wording of another reviewer and call this a mixed bag. The basic plot of the book is that Whistlepaw, the WindClan medicine apprentice, has a terrible vision that the river will run with blood and the Clans will be destroyed. In her vision, she sees kits trapped in a cave by the sea somewhere, and she sees a strange symbol that no one else recognizes. The Clans pick one cat from each Clan and send all of them on an investigative journey. Whistlepaw, Ivypool from ThunderClan, Rootspring from SkyClan, Dovewing from ShadowClan, and Icewing from RiverClan head on out and have some weird adventures on their travels. Along their journey, they meet two young toms, Slate and Beach, who have been cast out of the Sisters. They're so sweet, and I felt Ivypool's frustration that they would just be cast out of the group because they're toms, and with no real-world survival skills. They deserved better than that. The traveling cats also encounter crabs, seagulls, what I think is a nature reserve, and maybe horseracing or something, I dunno. It's funny how their response to anything new that they see is "Who knows why Twolegs do the things that they do?" Oh, and I'm going to scream if I hear one more cat yelling, "Run!" That grated on my nerves! It's used so many times! I ought to have kept track of how many times the cats yelled at each other to run!
Eventually, the cats come to what I think is some sort of zoo, and they meet "wildcats," who are bigger than them. I'm not sure exactly what type of cat they are, because the text won't tell me what color they are other than the fact that they're large tabbies, but oh well. These cats have really stupid names: Tumble Leap and Stalk Purr. I get the fact that you want to be unique when creating new societies and belief systems, but there comes a point when it's just plain ridiculous. I kid you not, there is a cat named Hunt Growl in this book. Hunt Growl. HUNT FREAKING GROWL. WHAT IS THIS NAME?!
Anyway, the Clan cats find out that there was once a Clan called StormClan. Galestar, the WindClan leader, fell in love with Stripestar, the ThunderClan leader, and in order to be together, they merged their Clans. They were then driven out when the prey became scarce and the other Clans were turning on them. Galestar and her kits ended up stuck in a cliffside, and since everyone else thought that she was dead, they left her. Other cats unburied her, and they all survived. I actually liked this bit of the story, and I wish that this had been the main story instead of Ivypool's journey, which was boring and meandering.
A main problem in this book for me is that I don't care about almost any of the cats. I haven't read a book with Ivypool or Dovewing as the protagonists in years. I never cared about Rootspring (or Bristlefrost, for that matter, so Ivypool's mooning over how brilliant her daughter was never did anything for me), and I had almost no idea who Icewing was prior to this book. And Beetlewhisker? Who the heck is that? You see, since I don't know half the characters and don't care about the other half, it made it incredibly hard for me to care about anything through which these characters go. I would have been happy to read about an entirely new cast of characters so that I can get to know them better instead of reading about ones whom I'm clearly supposed to know but don't really. Remember when a six-book series kept one perspective in one Clan, instead of three perspectives in three Clans with forty cats each? I miss those days!
Final verdict: It's a book. It was slow in the beginning, but once it got to the wildcat part, it picked up in pace and actually became interesting. It reminds me of Firestar's Quest, but that book did it better.
December 1, 2024
Mixed feelings on this book.
The bad:
- The first 10-12 chapters are boring travel filler. So boring and pointless and I strongly considered not finishing. I did skim through a large chunk of this and only persisted because others told me it got better later on.
- I was generally hesitant because Ivypool is one of my favorite characters, and one of the only characters I've developed extensive headcanons around, and I was worried this book would walk all over those. Also, I really didn't understand why a POV character needed her own arc in the first place. I think the story justified itself in the end, but it was pushing it for a while.
- Not sure if this is a minus for this or Star, but Star really does not explain what was going on when this book was taking place, and if you hadn't read this book you would be incredibly confused about why four cats randomly disappeared to go on a totally unrelated journey. In fact, Frostpaw was incredibly confused about that, and it's never really explained to her what's going on. Lol.
-The existence of StormClan and other long-ago things established in this story really screw with the entire timeline of Warrior Cats. I don't care about this too much but if that sort of thing bothers you then this book will really suck.
The good:
- WarriorClan mention!!!! Yes!!!!
- Super cool worldbuilding. The wildcats were awesome, and learning about their history was super cool. StormClan was also fun to learn about.
- In my mind, Ivypool has dealt with so much loss (the comradery she found with the Dark Forest, Dovewing, Dovewing again, Twigpaw, Bristlefrost...) so seeing her dealing with her grief - to be the first POV cat we get to see truly wrestling with grief, in a series where cats often forget about their loved ones after a chapter or two? I really appreciated that. I know some people felt like her grief felt unearned but I am a sucker for it and I liked it.
- Also, everything about the wildcats' afterlife system and how Ivypool overcame her grief was beautiful and genuinely very touching.
- Seriously. This was the first warrior cats book to make me cry since I read The Last Battle for the first time several years ago.
- (I may have read this book with an upcoming death anniversary of a friend, which did influence my feelings. But! My point still stands.)
- Also, getting some character development for Icewing was good. I knew whoever showed up would end up being the new RiverClan leader, so it was nice to get her fleshed out a bit and seeing her and the other moms bond over grief was touching. I know it's a bit of the trope of the mom characters only being defined by being mothers, but... I think we see that a lot in kit-rearing and not so much in the grief? So I appreciated that.
Overall, front half of the book is terrible, back half was very fun for a WaCa book. Many such cases.
The bad:
- The first 10-12 chapters are boring travel filler. So boring and pointless and I strongly considered not finishing. I did skim through a large chunk of this and only persisted because others told me it got better later on.
- I was generally hesitant because Ivypool is one of my favorite characters, and one of the only characters I've developed extensive headcanons around, and I was worried this book would walk all over those. Also, I really didn't understand why a POV character needed her own arc in the first place. I think the story justified itself in the end, but it was pushing it for a while.
- Not sure if this is a minus for this or Star, but Star really does not explain what was going on when this book was taking place, and if you hadn't read this book you would be incredibly confused about why four cats randomly disappeared to go on a totally unrelated journey. In fact, Frostpaw was incredibly confused about that, and it's never really explained to her what's going on. Lol.
-The existence of StormClan and other long-ago things established in this story really screw with the entire timeline of Warrior Cats. I don't care about this too much but if that sort of thing bothers you then this book will really suck.
The good:
- WarriorClan mention!!!! Yes!!!!
- Super cool worldbuilding. The wildcats were awesome, and learning about their history was super cool. StormClan was also fun to learn about.
- In my mind, Ivypool has dealt with so much loss (the comradery she found with the Dark Forest, Dovewing, Dovewing again, Twigpaw, Bristlefrost...) so seeing her dealing with her grief - to be the first POV cat we get to see truly wrestling with grief, in a series where cats often forget about their loved ones after a chapter or two? I really appreciated that. I know some people felt like her grief felt unearned but I am a sucker for it and I liked it.
- Also, everything about the wildcats' afterlife system and how Ivypool overcame her grief was beautiful and genuinely very touching.
- Seriously. This was the first warrior cats book to make me cry since I read The Last Battle for the first time several years ago.
- (I may have read this book with an upcoming death anniversary of a friend, which did influence my feelings. But! My point still stands.)
- Also, getting some character development for Icewing was good. I knew whoever showed up would end up being the new RiverClan leader, so it was nice to get her fleshed out a bit and seeing her and the other moms bond over grief was touching. I know it's a bit of the trope of the mom characters only being defined by being mothers, but... I think we see that a lot in kit-rearing and not so much in the grief? So I appreciated that.
Overall, front half of the book is terrible, back half was very fun for a WaCa book. Many such cases.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 106 reviews