A Warrior's Choice

Warriors Novellas #19-21

by Erin Hunter

Discover untold stories about three cats of the warrior a ShadowClan leader’s path to redemption; a ThunderClan cat forced to choose between her past and future; and a young warrior’s choice to defy her leader for the good of all five Clans.

Genres: Fantasy, Middle Grade, Animals, Childrens, Cats, Short Stories, Fiction

352 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 6, 2021

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

[Silverwillow · Rating 5 out of 5]

First things first, as a Warriors fan, I loved this book, and as a reader, I loved it too. :)
These stories about three warriors, where the narrator reflects upon their choices leaving it up to the readers to debate on whether they are making good choices. There were three stories for this book, and I loved them all, with Spotfur's Rebellion as my favorite story, with Daisy's Kin as a close second. Overall, these novellas are to give us a better understanding of what goes on in a warrior's life, and that the things they are doing is completely out of the ordinary for the average warrior. Again, these stories were all amazing, and I love how the author went more in depth with the choices our beloved warriors made for the sake of themselves and the clans. Instead of doing negatives and positives, (because this is a 5-star review, I liked everything) I'm just going to list the stories down and say what I loved. <3

Daisy's Kin (4.7 stars)

I believe that Daisy needed more attention on her point of view, and this book didn't fail to do that. Her choice was on whether she should leave ThunderClan to spend time with Smoky and his kits, or stay in ThunderClan and continue taking care of the kits. Daisy needed to make a decision based on whether she wanted to be loyal to her clan, or loyal to her ex-mate, and this decision was quite difficult for her, but in the end, she chose well. I said 4.7 because overall, this story was quite simplistic, there was drama and emotion to make the story more interesting, and on top of that, no StarClan to influence Daisy's decision on whether she should stay or leave. The plot itself was just excellent, relationships in the book were portrayed really well and not stereotypically (like Daisy and Coriander being the best friends on the planet and that they haven't talked since Coriander got with Smoky), and Daisy made the decision that I'm sure any loyal warrior would make. Daisy isn't exactly a warrior, (sorry to the Daisy fans out there) but she has proved herself to be a true warrior, and I actually like her in personality, and she is a well-rounded cat. Again, I loved this story, it was really cute and emotional at the same time, and it was like the other light-hearted but also sad stories that Erin Hunter likes to create.

Spotfur's Rebellion (5 stars)

This was my favorite story out of all the stories in the book. It was really cute to hear about Spotfur's apprentice days, and how she had grown to be a strong and independent warrior. Also, it was wonderful to hear about Spotfur, and her point of view towards Bramblestar as an impostor, and it also helped us understand what she had to endure, and how much she sacrificed to have StarClan back, and a normal life with her mate, Stemleaf. This also helped us see how much Bramblestar affected her life, because in Broken Code, I only got to see Bristlefrost's POV, and she was his follower. So, seeing how the average warrior saw Bramblestar, it really helped me with understanding Broken Code and the storyline better. I got to see how rebelling against fake Bramblestar began, but I don't love how they spoke about him. Bramblestar was talked about as a "good listener" and "noble warrior", because of one part where he said he wanted more reasonable punishments for misbehaving apprentices. He was never described as that in the other books, not Bramblestar's Storm, or any of the other books, he's more loyal to his clan and has the traits of a strong, capable leader, I wouldn't really say caring. Maybe to his kits or to his mate, but I haven't seen him express much kindness to any other cat, it was more courtesy and morality than anything else. Although some things were dwelled on a bit too much, like scenes from Broken Code, the story was still wonderful because I felt like I could relate to how Spotfur felt about the impostor.

Blackstar's Reckoning (4 stars)

There is quite a lot of controversy regarding this story, because of how Blackstar has good intentions but is still so naive to the point where he is a loyal follower to not one, but two evil cats. Now, I'm not rating the cat's personality, I'm rating the story, and I liked the story, but I still didn't understand its purpose. Leaders like the old Tigerstar and Brokenstar got a pass, so I don't know why it was so surprising to other people that this one cat did too. I felt like this story about him getting the nine lives was just a big wake up call on how Blackstar is a bad cat, but he's learning to form his own opinion, and to be a strong leader, which was nice. Blackstar clearly has sympathy, but I don't think he learned to think for himself, which was clearly an issue that StarClan wanted to fix. He's ashamed of the choices he's made, and I've read enough books to know that he wasn't a good cat, but a decent leader who learned compassion. I personally can't complain, there were good scenes throughout the story, giving him sympathy as a character trait was a very smart move for the authors to make, so then it doesn't look like it's his fault that he made all of those bad decisions in his life. He was simply blinded by the status of other cats, and this backstory gives the readers a bit more information on the older books, so that's why I gave this story 4 stars.

These stories were amazing, and I recommend for Warriors fans, I hope they loved them as much as I do, and I cannot wait to review another book from the Warriors series!

[Carissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the better novella collections in my opinion. In fact, I'd consider this my second favorite, just below Shadows of the Clans.

-Daisy's Kin (4 Stars)

I wasn't expecting much from this novella. Daisy's always been mostly a meh character for me, and I was never a fan of the focus on pregnant cats dying painfully in childbirth in the books. However, the focus on the dilmena over what to do with kits who's lost their mother was actually pretty compelling. This plot's already been kind of done before in A Vision of Shadows, but it was a lot less messy and involved a lot less drama with the Clans being absolute morons and deciding to treat Twigkit and Violetkit like their personal property.

The book is about Daisy's former mate, Smoky, who asks her for help with his new mate, Cordiander giving birth to new kits. When Coriander unexpectedly dies in childbirth, Coriander asks Smoky not to take the kits to the Clans. However, this turns into a conflict between giving the kits to the Twolegs to give them a chance to survive, at the cost of never seeing them again, or... the obvious solution of letting another queen nurse the kits until they're big enough, with some added suspense of Coriander whining about Daisy taking away his kits, which... she'd only done to keep them away from Twolegs all the way back in The New Prophecy, but instead of defending herself, she lets Coriander keep screaming at her.

Overall, this was a solid novella, but I wouldn't consider it the best.


-Spotfur's Rebellion (3 Stars)

Spotfur is arguably my favorite TBC character. However, I can't give her novella a lot of credit. The novella didn't focus on the 'rebellion' aspect of Spotfur as much as I wanted, and half of the book ended up basically being an overview of Spotfur's life. It didn't really offer much from what we already knew in Veil of Shadows. While it wasn't specifically flawed or badly written compared to the other books, I feel like this novella didn't serve that much of a purpose.


-Blackfoot's Reckoning (2 Stars)

Definitely my least favorite novella. Blackfoot's never been my favorite character in Warrior Cats, and I was wondering how they'd pull off his redemption arc, and... I won't lie, I was pretty disappointed. The concept of him getting flashbacks of significant moments in his lives and some of the bad things he's done as he gets his lives was interesting, but I don't think it was executed well. Since his leader ceremony took up the entire book, instead of the readers seeing his redemption arc, we honestly only saw an overview of Blackfoot's life, and apparently, getting a bunch of flashbacks from StarClan are enough for someone to entirely recognize their faults and become a better person in the future.

And the question of 'Why StarClan forgave Blackstar' is kind of idiotic in my opinion since if they can give cats like Tigerstar nine lives and let Ashfur ascend to StarClan, it seems pretty obvious that StarClan really doesn't give two s*ts, but whatever.

Honestly, I was expecting more from this novella instead of Blackstar supposedly learning from his mistakes from a bunch of flashbacks, because it just seems like a rushed and lazy way to excuse his previous actions, and I was pretty bored for the majority of this book.

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3 out of 5 stars. Definitely better than most novella collections, but not great.

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Daisy's kin 5 stars
Spotfur's rebellion 1-2 stars
Blackfoot's reckoning 4 stars

More about my opinion on May 27, 2021 here https://youtu.be/A43jKt2poy0

[Areej Khan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow. Just wow. This novella didn’t disappoint.
A power-packed novella with some lessons! 😁

Daisy’s Kin - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
If there is one thing I love about clan cats, it’s family. Daisy is a very family-oriented person and I understood her feelings and perspective every step of the way. I like the way she wasn’t insecure or immature about her situation and made the best of it. This was a good story, it stuck to the facts (almost), and had a positive ending. A real loyal clan cat is always a clan cat in the end.
Interestingly though, Daisy mentioned the fact that Mousewhisker was her only blood kin left even though Berrynose had two kits, Molewhisker and Cherryfall. Odd that she didn’t mention them. Maybe she forgot? 🤔 #daisyisagranny

Spotfur’s Rebellion - ⭐️⭐️
I personally wasn’t really looking forward to this story anyway. It was a ton of déjá vu and I always understood Spotfur’s perspective through Bristlefrost’s point of view in the main series so there was a lot of repetition. When the story lead up to Stemleaf’s and Spotfur’s love story, I could see how it happened. It did make sense, however, that Stemleaf treated Bristlefrost like a sister and how she must have misunderstood his actions. Anyway, this story might have been a filler ... not too enthusiastic about it.

Blackfoot’s Reckoning - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
It is true that the phrase “don’t judge a book by its cover” (or in my case - title) has a reason for its existence. I thought this story would victimize Blackfoot or show how Blackfoot grew up. Boy was I in for a surprise!! This book was very very accurate in past historical events in the warriors series’ timeline and also brutally retold Blackfoot’s past gruesome actions. I was very impressed with how his mind worked and how he actually made all of his decisions. It was relatable and made his overall character more realistic. Blackfoot was definitely a better leader that his predecessors and that has been shown many times throughout the books.

Overall I enjoyed this novella. It was worth the wait and excitement. I finished it in a day and with a smile on my face... Can’t wait for the next one! 😄

[Miranda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, I think this novella collection was just ok.

Daisy’s Kin: 4 Stars

This was a sweet story that gave me a bit more respect for Daisy. I’ve never been a big fan of her, but I think the Erins managed to put together something good here.

Spotfur’s Rebellion: 2 Stars

Yawn. I feel like I’ve read this novella before. Oh wait, that’s because I basically have. The ability of the Erins to write the same damn thing for what, four books straight? Is pretty astonishing at this point. At least we got to know more about some of the side characters like Spotfur and Stemleaf.

Blackstar’s Reckoning: 4 Stars

I know this is probably a bit controversial, but this is probably my favorite novella of the collection. StarClan granting Blackstar nine lives makes far more sense when they gave Tigerstar nine lives. I wonder when we’ll get that novella. Anyway, back to the point... I don’t think this story is so much as “BlackStar was bad but now he’s kinda good I guess” as much as it was “Blackstar was a weenie but this story tells the tale of him coming to his own and learning to think for himself.” Yay, character growth!

So yeah, decent read but not the greatest of novellas in my opinion.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t think any of these characters needed these novellas. They were nice and all, and kinda deserved them but really. Daisys purpose is to take care of kits the reader knew that, and her family knew that, but she… hadn’t yet? Black stars was great, but really should have been with Sol, how he was convinced by a rouge to change his whole clan! Spotfurs was great too and really affirmed her romance with Stemleaf, which was sweet but unnecessary. All the stories were very intriguing and interesting, and I liked them but they could have been a little better.

[Celeste · Rating 5 out of 5]

Daisy's Kin: 5 Stars. I love this. It properly deals with and portrays a mother's and father's losses and how they express their own grief, as well as the nature of broken families, while keeping enough of the action to make it your typical Warrior Cats. The novella and its plot points are also affected by the time period it is set in and what is happening in the main books at the time; subtle enough that you don't have to read them to understand the novella, but well enough that the character's decisions intertwined with current events make sense and impact the story. It's lovely. I thoroughly enjoyed following Daisy through this prompt and nicely paced novella, and adored reading the conclusion she deserves.

Spotfur's Rebellion: 4 Stars. This is a good book. We follow Spotfur from the beginning of her apprentice journey to where Stemleaf is killed in the main series books, and we get from her perspective how everything has unfolded in the current arc and how truly close she was to Stemleaf. I love learning more about side characters and getting to know their values, priorities, and personality. It doesn't have the umph that makes a story 5 stars, but is definitely a nice read.

Blackfoot's Reckoning: 5 Stars. I love the concept of a leader's entire life being laid out while getting their nine lives from StarClan, and the Erin's executed it perfectly. Not only was it nice to travel back to the first series' storyline, but I've always been a fan of Blackstar, and loved getting to know him better and read about his experiences, judgements, and how they changed over time. It's just such a neat and satisfying layout of a story and development of Blackstar's personality and character arc as he learns to take accountability for his actions instead of denying any responsibility of other cats' pain. Not to mention the novella is just really well written in showing how messed up Brokenstar and Tigerstar's leaderships were. Blackstar is so interesting, too. Due to the fact that he was rejected as a kit because of his lineage, all he wants is acceptance, and he will do anything for his leader to have it. He's turned from a loyal, albeit blindly ignorant deputy to a pained but understanding and accepting leader. That's true growth, in such a short time, too. Warriors has never had such a grey character and I love it. The Erins really are getting better with their moral ambiguity when it comes to their characters instead of everything just being black and white. And, of course, the conclusion was just as satisfying and amazing as the story itself.

[Michelle Kobus · Rating 1 out of 5]

Daisy's Kin is probably 2* on its own, it's fine because, if you've been keeping up with the series, she hasn't been the center of attention for a long time and it gives her something more to do. It's not great, either imo, but it's harmless.

But Spotfur's Rebellion and Blackfoot's Reckoning, on the other hand, are just a retelling of events covered in the main arcs. They're told from different perspectives than the main arcs, but they really don't add anything worthwhile enough to justify writing and reading a whole "new" story about them. You don't feel for the characters any more just because you see their side. It's literally just recap, basically.

[₊˚ ⁀➴ kenzie ⠀❦ jacks’ version · Rating 3 out of 5]

My favorite part of this book was Daisy’s backstory with Smokey’s kits. The other two stories were all right to read, and my favorite character in this book was Spotfur. Overall, I liked the backstory.

[Chantal Kloth · Rating 5 out of 5]

never cared too much about these characters, but i do more now after reading this book. i really enjoyed

[Jack · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 (rounding up for Daisy) - Honestly shocked that infidelity is canon now

[Analie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sometimes it’s nice as a reader to return to familiar characters, just like settling into a favorite TV show. I didn’t love the first two novellas, but I did enjoy Blackstar’s Reckoning. The lessons Blackstar learns with each life he is given build into a really profound part of his story and add a nice message for the reader to ponder as well.

[Kriska]

Blackfoot's Reckoning

05/21/2026 - 05/25/2026

The back of the book asks why did StarClan forgive Blackfoot and grant him a leader's nine lives. Even though he made several wrong choices, he did them because he thought what he was doing was right. Even though he had been misguided by Brokenstar and Tigerstar, his heart was in the right place of wanting to protect his clan. He was not questioning leadership even though he should have been because he thought since it was the will of StarClan to give these cats the nine lives, that he needed to follow them no matter if it did not seem to make sense. Each time Blackfoot was about to receive a life, each StarClan cat asked him right before if he wanted to receive this life, and if he chose not to they would stop there. But each time he pressed on and it was not until chapter 10 that he finally was able to truly answer "I do" with complete certainty. All these memories did help Blackfoot realize his choices were wrong and that he should have questioned. StarClan once again stated that his choices matter. They can only see certain details of the future but it is the living cats decisions to decide exactly what paths will be chosen and taken. Firestar even stated before he went to the moonstone that he would do well to learn from the mistakes of his predecessors. In the end Blackfoot does realize he needed to not make those same mistakes they had one. Before he went to the moonstone and during, Blackfoot constantly questioned is he fit to be leader and it was said by Nightstar that he would no be a good leader if he did not constantly question his own leadership as no other cat will do this for him. Nightstar tells him every leader has made choices they regret. It isn't necessary for a leader to be perfect. But it is important that you can learn from the past, and change. Blackfoot had chosen Russetfur to be his deputy, even before he went to the moonstone. Sagewhisker told Blackfoot in the beginning that the next leader of ShadowClan must be strong and honorable, or ShadowClan will fall into oblivion. If ShadowClan falls, the other Clans will fall, too, even StarClan. There must be a balance in the forest. In his first flashback given to him by his parents, he relives learning that Blizzardwing is in fact his father, but Hollowflower and Blackfoot never reveal the secret since Blizzardwing had already had a mate, Featherstorm. Not sure why the extra drama of a cat so-called cheating was necessary in the storyline. If I wanted that kind of drama I would be reading that sort of book. I read these books mostly for the fact that they are cats and their many adventures. Gray Wing much like Sagewhisker tells Blackfoot, we created the Clans to be separate, but we also understood that the Clans must work together to stay safe and strong. As a future vision, Shadowstar leaves him with the vision of how their current territory will be destroyed by monsters and them living in a new territory, the lake.

The lives he was given and who gave them are as follows:

1. Hollowflower and Blizzardwing, his parents: Acceptance
2. Raggedstar: Trust
3. Badgerfang: Perspective
4. Gray Wing: Unity
5. Rosetail: Compassion
6. Bluestar: Judgement
7. Stonefur: Integrity
8. Nightstar: Loyalty
9. Tall Shadow/Shadowstar: Quality that his Clan will need above all others in the long days to come. Leadership.

Daisy's Kin

05/25/2026 - 05/29/2026

Daisy mainly in this story felt she was not needed since her Clan was experiencing very large unfortunate difficult times. Bramblestar is missing and his body is taken over by an evil cat from the Dark Forest. There were no kits in the nursery and that was Daisy's sole purpose in the Clan, to help the queens with their kits. This made her question if she still belonged not only in the nursery but in the Clan since she was not good ay anything else such as hunting or fighting. She never trained to do those tasks and never had an interest. She was still used to having a somewhat comfortable life of not having to hunt or fight battles since she came from the horseplace. It's funny this story explains what happened to Daisy because all in the Broken Code it had vaguely mentioned that Daisy was not in the ThunderClan camp and was staying with the Sisters without explaining why, and I had questioned this in my review for that Arc. Now I got my answers. It is also funny because Mousewhisker and his apprentice, Baypaw with Sparkpelt who escorted Smoky into the ThunderClan camp saying he needed to speak to Daisy. He knew Daisy helped with kitting and wanted and needed her, plus a medicine cat to help his new mate, Coriander kit their new arriving litter. She was having birthing complications. I say it is funny mostly for Mousewhisker, because Mousewhisker is Smoky's son. Smoky is unaware because he does not know what his son looks like since Daisy had taken them to ThunderClan, he learns this later. Berrynose was Smoky's son, too. Squirrelflight gives permission for her, Alderheart, Mousewhisker and Sorrelstripe to go with Smoky to the horseplace to help them. Along their journey they do run into WindClan. They at first are a little protective and on edge because of the current events, but realize it is only Daisy with Alderheart and Smoky who pose no threat. Once they arrived to the horseplace they headed to the den where Coriander had already started giving birth. Alderheart and Daisy knew there was much to be worried about. They knew something was going to happen whether she lost her kit or her own life. In this case, it was both outcomes. She did give birth to a dead kit and she ended up losing her life leaving Smoky a single parent. They needed a nursing queen who could help nurse the kits and Smoky brought up the kittypet, Coco, since she had kitted recently. It is funny she is brought up to because in Pebbleshine's Kits, she was a bit unfriendly to Pebbleshine. But with her recently kitting maybe her crabbiness calmed, or because she kitted it could have went the other direction and made her more aggressive. But we will never know, because on their trip to go and try and find her, they ran into a kittypet called Tom-Tom and informed them that her house-folk sent her away when she had kits. When they returned to the horseplace, they thought the next best thing they could try is taking Smoky and the kits to SkyClan because they think a queen had recently kitted there. Again, on their way, they run into another WindClan patrol, this time Breezepelt in the lead. They did not give any trouble when they saw kits were in desperate need. The Clans have gotten much better about being helpful to others no matter if another Clan, rogue or loner in the matter of situations involving kits. Then, because the kits were so weak, a hawk had tried attacking them all. It was the Sisters who helped attack the hawk with Daisy while Smoky and Mousewhisker were protecting the kits. Snow, who is now leading the Sisters, tells them that their Sister Sunshine had recently kitted and she could help out with nursing. Which is why Daisy had been staying with the Sisters. Alderheart and Mousewhisker left after staying for only a little while to return to ThunderClan. Sorrelstripe had already returned when they initially stopped there first, before their journey to SkyClan. Smoky asked Daisy since the kits were doing so well now, if it was now a good time to name them. He decides to the name the tom, Coriander, after his mom and the she-cat, Daisy, since Daisy was so brave and helped him through all this ordeal. After staying with the Sisters for a moon and half, Snow had told them it was time for Daisy, Smoky and the kits to move on. The kits would were now strong enough to survive and had been properly weened. Daisy was not ready to return to ThunderClan just yet. She still did not feel she was needed there and with everything still happening, she wasn't even sure if ThunderClan would exist. Now not only Bramblestar still missing, Squirrelflight had ended up going missing. Still no kits in the nursery and she was partly torn with staying at the horseplace. She constantly wondered what life would have been like if she had never left and stayed with Smoky. She was a little envious of how good a father Smoky was being to his current kits. She was also a little jealous of how Smoky loved his new mate, but yet she states in the end of this story that she is not in love with him, but considered a very good friend since they had both had history and been through some tough times. Smoky wants her to return to the horseplace, too, to continue helping him with the kits and since she felt needed, she decides to go along with him. A moon had past and Mousewhisker, Sparkpelt and Sorrelstripe came to check on Daisy then asked if she would now be returning. Daisy was still unsure, but she learned that Spotfur had kitted and had no mate to help raise them, and Daisy was now needed there. She wasn't really needed with Smoky. She also felt like she had always been a Clan cat, and eventually decides that she does need to return, with the promise that she would visit them with Mousewhisker. In the end, she had concluded that ThunderClan would always be her home.

Spotfur's Rebellion

05/30/2026 -06/04/2026

Spotfur had a crush on Stemleaf from the very start. It makes since now why, Stemleaf ends up with Spotfur. They had grown up together. Apprenticed together. Became Warriors together. Not sure if Stemleaf felt the same way from the very beginning. Spotfur was a bit of a troublemaker, from the start. Rebellious, from the start. It makes since why she was the one of the first cats to see that Bramblestar was not himself. She didn't know the exact reasoning, but she knew something was not quite right. Spotfur was almost headed in the wrong direction because she liked to get into trouble. She even said she'd rather get into trouble than be treated like an ignorant kit. While she was very young and still learning, she didn't take things seriously enough, not realizing that possible consequences that can happen from her actions, even if she is so called playing. Stempaw did find amusement in Spotfur and Spotfur noticed. He even told her she was brave for getting so close to WindClan's territory. This also shows how Stemleaf liked that she was a troublemaker. He probably would have done it to if he weren't so afraid of getting into trouble, but later he pays the final price when he disobeys orders, which is unfortunately his life. Stempaw also told her that she was brave and rebellious. Bumblestripe corrects her behavior by telling her how ThunderClan needs strong, honorable warriors, not rebels. Which is funny because when they all start figuring out that Bramblestar isn't himself, they all have to be rebels. This is what provokes Spotpaw to follow Bumblestripe and Shellpaw to spy on their training lesson. Spotpaw even tries to show off to all of them, Bumblestripe, Shellpaw and Stempaw that she could sneak up on a senior warrior. To Spotpaw's surprise, Bumblestripe was able to protect himself by throwing her to the ground and almost attacking her. Perfect example of a young apprentice being over confident and she learned her lesson. Bumblestripe was so angry and upset about the whole situation that he slightly took it out on both of their mentors, Leafshade (Spotpaw) and Rosepetal (Stempaw) for not making their apprentices behave. And because of Spotpaw's actions, she was prevented from training with Stempaw for the rest of her apprenticeship, and she had to clean out Bramblestar's den for an entire moon. Spotpaw, before her parents talked to her, still thought that it was Bumblestripe who was embarrassed that she could sneak up on him. Cinderheart and Lionblaze went to her to have a parent kit conversation. And because of that conversation, it did help Spotpaw to understand the difference of being a troublemaker and becoming a good warrior. Cinderheart compromised and agreed with Spotpaw that it is important to stay alert, but it is more important to be loyal to her Clan. Cinderheart explained how Bumblestripe would have felt if he had seriously hurt her. How hurt he was that he could have possibly killed her or injured or for no reason because she was "playing". Cinderheart explained that Bumblestripe is an excellent fighter and a fully trained warrior. It was Lionblaze who explained how he would possibly become less reliable as a fighter always in fear that someone is only trying to play a trick on him. A Clan where cats don't completely trust one another is a weak Clan. Spotpaw does admit how she didn't think of any of that, which is a good start. Cinderheart told her how good warriors have to think about the consequences of their actions. Cinderheart and Lionblaze even use the example of Rowanstar being a weak leader. Allowing apprentices to disobey their mentors. How the stage was set for Darktail to easily take over ShadowClan. Cinderheart has a lot of good advice. She tells Spotpaw that a strong Clan depends on strong warriors. Spotpaw imagined herself one day being leader, a strong one like Bramblestar and Firestar. At the end of that pep talk, Spotpaw had decided she would be good. She started with being the best apprentice, she had even been the first to spot a ShadowClan patrol on the other side of the border. Bristlekit comes into arrives into life and even had moments with Spotpaw. Bristlekit had told her that when she is a 'paw, she is going to help her Clanmates, too, just like her. Spotpaw even gave Bristlekit words of encourgment by saying she believed she would be a great apprentice. It is coincidence, too that Bristlepaw ends up with the same mentor as Stemleaf. Bramblestar has a conversation with Spotpaw while she was cleaning out his den telling her how he, too tries to follow Firestar's example and hopes to be half the leader he was. Spotpaw shows bravery for the real first time by saving Flipkit from being stuck during the never ending rain storm when they were evacuating camp. During their temporary stay at the makeshift camp, this is when Spotpaw really starts wanting to be mates with Stempaw. Thriftpaw had been punished for digging in the medicine den for herbs when she should not have been and it was Spotfur who had suggested to no longer send any cat out at night alone putting cats in danger. She was brave and even went to Bramblestar to talk to him about it, and he agreed. Another piece of information comes into light in this book that was not given in The Broken Code arc, Stemleaf does talk to Spotfur of how he knows Bristlefrost is sad because she confessed her love for him but he does not return it. I liked that he was honest with Bristlefrost, and Spotfur. When Bramblestar did lost a life, what gets me, all the senior warriors, who have seen what it like for a leader to lose life and come back, they know what is normal. Now, I do understand StarClan was not communicating with them currently, but this seems a bit much for a leader to experience when losing a life. Squirrelflight especially, had seen her own father lose a life. Graystripe has seen multiple leaders lose a life from Bluestar, Firestar and now Bramblestar. Spotfur seems to notice it first. Having some rebellion past experience and the fact that she is not a close to Bramblestar as Squirrelfight, it is easier for her to see something is wrong. We all know when sometimes you are too close to the situation, you are blind to it, goes with the popular phrase, love is blind. Spotfur notices how much harsher Bramblestar was acting. Spotfur compliments Bristlefrost on how level headed and had common sense. Lionblaze tells Spotfur she is wasting her breath when she thanks StarClan for being able to catch prey, but then right afterwards he does the same thing when they capture a rabbit crossing into WindClan territory. Spotfur was right to stand up to Bramblestar, reminding him that every cat there has broken the code at some point, some worse than others but they had been punished and forgiven. No cat on the planet can go through life perfectly. It's part of life, breaking a rule and learning from it. I'm not saying for everyone to go out there and break all the rules, but there are times when you do "break a rule" and a good intentioned person knows the difference. Spotfur knew this was one of those times. Spotfur says being loyal isn't just following one cat. It's working together to make the Clan better. Even if that means standing up to the leader. She learned that from her mother back from when she was a 'paw. Spotfur and Stemleaf had created the rebellion group. In The Broken Code Bristlefrost was tormented with the fact that she thought all the rebel cats might have thought she was once again spying for Bramblestar because got help when Stemleaf's group attached him. Squirrelflight did in deed tell them all that she had asked Bristlefrost to promise and protect him, to not let anything happen to his body so they could return the real Bramblestar to his body. It was when Stemleaf only died though, that she realized why Squirrelflight was trying to protect her mate's body. If it were Stemleaf, she would want to protect his body, too. Squirrelflight is also an amazing deputy. She is intelligent by not blaming the group for their bravery of trying to do what they believed was right for their Clan. Squirrelfight is also mature enough to tell Spotfur that ThunderClan is more important than any one cat. That she will fight for it with whatever happens, meaning she knows at some point, she may have to do the very thing she does not want to do, in order to save the Clan and that means losing her mate, forever, until they meet again, in StarClan. The back of this book asks what made Spotfur risk everything to defy her Clan's Deputy. Just like when she was a younger kit and tried to make decisions herself, they turned it badly. When she thought she could show off and sneak up on Bumblestripe, that didn't work out for her. She decided to go against Squirrelflight and agree to attack Bramblestar with the group and she lost her mate. Had that been more planned and a Clan effort, and not just a rebel group effort, it would have turned out differently. While she did mean well, she should have just waited like Squirrelflight had been saying. It was to preserve her mate's body, but he is just not her mate, he is also their leader and as Deputy, she was putting her position first, by trying to protect her leader's body, and not just her mates.

[Charlie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay! This was certainly one of the better novella collections out there, both for choosing characters that are pretty iconic, but also ones that have been sidetracked and given some pretty realistic stories. Lets part them into three! Spoilers ahead!

Daisy

Always a fan of stories focused on queens, so even if I've always kind of ignored daisy, my own interest and the plot she was given here made it interesting and fun. Her relationship w Smoky was really interesting, in how even though both of them have moved on long ago, they still have strong feelings for each other, and the fact that they were able to be adults about it and keep themselves in check when needed was so great. I always love plots that involve kits and the muddled emotions of new parents making bad decisions before getting it together for the kits.

Honestly though, if the clan hadn't been in a state of chaos with leaders missing along terrible corruption and so much nepotism, I'd have rooted for the ending where daisy returned to the clan to do what she loved - but that was exactly the clan that awaits her. Yes the clan needs strong loyal warriors to survive this, and i don't doubt daisy can do it, i just doubt that the erins will continue to write her as complex and kind once she returns to background status for all the precious mains.

Spotfur

I really thought this was going to be another boring look through a cat´s life, until i was reminded of how much Spotfur was part of the resistance from the start, and then i got really into it. Sad that a lot of it was just repeating scenes from a new perspective, some details cool but others just meh. Spotfur was given a very focused and direct personality that i enjoyed a lot, but because of the already established plot, the Erins ofc couldn't deviate a lot from what happened, and that sucks.

Sidenote: Hated how old bramble was portrayed as kind and patient and a good listener, when he has not been any of the sort throughout the series. Clearly a lot of it was written to line up, but it just makes it feel empty. Bramble was a bad leader and mate even before ash, and doesn't deserve to be spoken of like he was a noble warrior.

Blackstar

For once this time skipping thing was actually done well, and that's bc blackstar wasn't somecat we knew much of to begin with. It did feel a bit cheap to reshape him as "soldier who just followed orders but sometimes felt bad about doing mean stuff," but i get why they went with it.

Giving him a sympathetic heart is smart, and i loved that he didn't take the leader role bc he wanted to, but bc he knew someone had to do it, and he was most trusted. Knowing what he'll turn into fits that, and honestly, he's my favorite of the shadowclan leaders, resembling the most what Shadowstar set out with; A reasonable leader able to make tough decisions, even if he doesn't personally agree, but sees the benefits for his clan.

I liked that he was self-conscious and nervous, and that his shame was what kept him going through each life. We don't get to see many leader ceremonies outside of Thunderclan, or without their involvement, so this was interesting. Gray Wing and Shadowstar being two of the lives felt both forced and fitting. Fitting by their own reasoning, that this was the mark of a new time for Shadowclan, and also forced by that reason. Personally i think they just didn't have enough significant cats in his life to pull at, but it gave for some good scenes, so i cant complain too much.

All in all, it was a nice read, especially compared to the last novellas, so here's to hoping for the future!

[London Green · Rating 4 out of 5]

Daisy's Kin:
I'm surprised by how much I enjoyed this novella! It was nice for Daisy to take the spotlight, and we get to view the motherly instincts and her duty as a queen through her eyes. It's easier to sympathize with her, and though it didn't have much to play in the overall plot of the series, it worked well as a side story. I couldn't help but feel bad for Daisy as she reflected on how she had lost all of her kits but one, and her boredom and conflicted emotions over where she belongs are understandable and help develop her character. I liked the interactions she had with Smoky and how Mousewhisker slowly grew closer to him and accepted him as a father, and of course I felt bad for Coriander's kits. I was actually hoping that Daisy would choose to stay at the horseplace with Smoky and his kits (though that's probably just because I think ThunderClan's overpopulation is a problem) but the ending was satisfying when she was pulled back to her Clan due to Spotfur's kitting. My only complain was that the part with the Sisters was a little rushed, and I actually think she could've considered staying with them as well, but overall, it was a good read.

Spotfur's Rebellion:

Though I had a couple of minor problems with this novella, I ended up liking it for the most part. It was cute to see Spotfur in her apprentice days, and the troublesome streak and determined personality she showed was really likeable. However, I feel like her point of view and motives were portrayed well enough in the Broken Code arc even though we only get to see this from Bristlefrost's eyes. It touched a bit more on her relationship with Stemleaf, which I enjoyed, but for the most part, there was a lot of backpedaling and reflecting on events that we already got to read about in the earlier half of The Broken Code. Definitely not a must-read or a key part to the arc, but if you like Spotfur and don't mind seeing some key events from her point of view, then this is satisfactory.


Blackfoot's Reckoning:

Out of the three novellas, this one has to be my favorite for several different reasons. I loved going through Blackstar's past and reliving his memories of his blind obedience to the dictatorship of both Brokenstar and Tigerstar, and he proves to have grown as a leader while realizing the mistakes he made. It was surprisingly accurate in continuity to the time it took place. I was worried Blackstar would either be victimized or have inconsistent motives, but surprisingly, all of his actions made sense and made for an interesting backstory. The only problem I had, though entertaining, was how StarClan was putting him on trial so he could be accepted. However, StarClan doesn't have a lay in who or who cannot lead the Clan, as we saw them grant both Tigerstar and Brokenstar nine lives. Besides that little inconsistency, I thoroughly enjoyed this novella.

[Kaylee · Rating 3 out of 5]

BLACKFOOT’S RECKONING:

SPOTFUR’S REBELLION: Low three stars. This novella was ok, I guess.
The idea of telling how Spotfur became a rebel leader is cool in theory, but in execution I think it underdelivered. I’ve always felt that for a rebel leader, Spotfur is VERY underwhelming in TBC, and I felt it even more here. Not only does she spend half of the book doing EXACTLY what Bristlefrost did in Lost Stars (padding after Stemleaf- but worse because she has no unique personality or traits whatsoever), but she also is just a bland, flat character that doesn’t really develop at all aside from making her rebel dreams a reality. Moreover, the downside to having less pages is that discussions need to be shortened and summarized, which makes it feel as though Spotfur isn’t involved in being a rebel at all.
Warriors novellas always struggle with telling rather than showing, and it was especially noticeable in this one. Even worse, most of the actual showing was spent on scenes in the beginning of the story when Spotfur was an apprentice. It’s good that the Erins tried to set up her personality and starting point, but then they don’t have any space left for payoff. It was just poorly paced in my opinion.
Overall, this was not a great novella. Spotfur was a boring character and the short length of the story really screwed the writing over.

DAISY’S KIN: Mid four stars. Again, since this is a novella, the short time constraint definitely stunts the possibility of showcasing character development in a meaningful way.
However, this was much better than Spotfur’s Rebellion. Daisy’s Kin focuses on a specific time period (though the small time jumps were a bit annoying) and a specific goal, which I think gives it a chance to be more developed. I liked getting to see what Daisy thinks and feels, especially after having her be a semi-important background character for several arcs now. I liked how her reasoning for leaving ThunderClan briefly and her journey to discover where she belonged felt very different and unique compared to Graystripe’s. Bringing Smoky back was a great idea, and I also loved the relationship between him and Mousewhisker.
I will say that it was annoying that the kits barely got a chance to talk, and I thought Daisy herself could have done just a bit MORE to feel like she had a presence, especially in the beginning. But Daisy was active for most of the story, and I understand that the novella had to be short, so there wasn’t much room for new characters.
Overall, I think that this was a very good exploration of some side characters, finally giving them the attention they deserve. This is probably one of my favorite Warriors novellas, aside from Ravenpaw’s Farewell.

[Mia Stewart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful novellas! Loved every single one.
Daisy’s Kin- I loved reading through Daisy’s POV and seeing how she was dealing with the situation with the Clans(and the death of Berrynose). I also liked seeing more of Mousewhisker’s character and seeing their interactions with Smoky. I’m sad Coriander died, she seemed very nice ):

Spotfur’s Rebellion- IT WAS AMAZING!
Spotfur is such a complex interesting character- seeing through her apprentice years and how her rebellious attitude developed into her & Stemleaf creating the rebellion later on. Stemleaf & Spotfur’s Love Story was beautiful to read about; they’re one of the best couples of the arc!
Hearing their hope for their future together was so heartbreaking, and seeing his death through her POV )):
But knowing that Spotfur was pregnant gave a hopeful end, knowing that Stemleaf wouldn’t die in vain.

Blackstar’s Reckoning- This was very interesting.
I had a hard time liking his character before because of his past actions, but reading through his POV, I felt sympathy and more understanding of him. Hearing his thoughts and feelings as he looked back on his memories really showed how Brokenstar & Tigerstar’s sheer manipulation molded him before.
The nine lives ceremony was so unique and beautiful as you find out more about his past.
An amazing novella!

All of these were beautiful complex and interesting novellas that didn’t fail to catch my interest! 11/10!!!!😆

[Lara Vehar · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good book - not the best but it was a good book.

DAISY'S KIN
I liked this one a lot. I love Daisy and I loved seeing her grow and make a choice between living a safe life in a barn or going back to Thunderclan. There are also some really sad parts in this book- seeing her thinking about cleaning her dead kit's fur after the battle.... that was heartbreaking to read about.

SPOTFUR'S REBELLION
To be honest I don't care about Stemleaf or Spotfur - they are barely in the new books - especially Stemleaf before he died so I didn't really get attached to either of them - they are just.... there. And this story was just .... there. It existed. It's the longest of the three, it dragged a little bit and I didn't particularly care about this one.

BLACKFOOT'S RECKONING
This one was easily the best of the three. The entire story is just him receiving his nine lives which would be boring but instead each cat that grants him his lives shows him a painful memory related to them and him and he has to choose to accept or reject the life. If he wavers and doesn't accept the life they will pick a new leader. I also love that two cats he killed are two of the cats that give him two of his nine lives and I love that they don't just instantly forgive him but they stay mad at him and they aren't sympathetic. This one made me love Blackstar much more than I loved him before.

[Bailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

So at first I did 3 stars, then changed to 4. It was because I was sitting here mad that I hate Blackstar and Daisy. And then I realized if I hate them that the Hunters wrote well enough to make me feel something for them...lol.

So my issue with Blackstar is that he never should have been made a leader after all the awful crap he did. His blind loyalty killed Stonefur and contributed to killing Badgerfang, and other events as well. And he was still defending himself during his leadership ceremony. Like stfu no.

Daisy is whiny and awful. It’s not a permanent nursery position I have gripes with, it’s her being whiny and lazy and dense when there were no kits/queens in the nursery. Ferncloud helped repair camp, hunted, etc. Daisy’s all “I’m so bored.” Stfu. Your own damn fault. And she was trying to push a relationship between Smoky and Mousewhisker. Like, dude, they’ll talk and stuff if they want, who died and made you boss?
Regardless of this, I felt so bad for Smoky and was invested in their story to see where they ended up. So good read.

Spotfur...I like her. I never thought about her much until reading this, and this made me appreciate her character and the growth she’s had.

[Judah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Blackfoot's Reckoning was my favorite of the three, as it offered the most new material and character insight. I enjoyed getting some insight to a cat who had done some genuinely horrible things! I think the format of the novella was really great, as well; it worked a lot better than if they had, eg, had 9 disconnected snippets of his life and ended with his leader ceremony.

Daisy's Kin was sweet, as I like Daisy and appreciated the chance to learn more about her. I don't have much else to say about it!

Spotfur's Rebellion was the weakest of the bunch imo, which is sad because she is my favorite of these three characters. It was basically the story we already knew from TBC, but told from a different viewpoint without adding much new information. I liked the first few chapters most, because they were about a period in her life we hadn't seen yet (her apprenticeship), and I actually felt like they included some really cute characterization moments.

I liked it more than some other warriors books I've read lately [coughtbc5cough], but still only 3 stars because even the best warriors book is only of middling quality compared to the other stuff I read, lol.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I definitely enjoyed these stories. Especially Spotfur's and Blackfoot's. Daisy's was pretty good, too. It's always fun to get more perspectives, and I'm looking forward to Leopardstar's Honor.

[Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Since this is a collection of three novellas, I will briefly review the novellas and then the rating of this book will be based off of the average of the three's scores.

Daisy's Kin: 3/5

This was a sweet and simple story, but honestly really forgettable. I really liked Daisy's dilemma about her place in ThunderClan because it was realistic and made sense for her character. However, the story doesn't necessarily leave much of an impact on the reader and is very forgettable. I like Daisy, but I kind of wished that we got a slightly more interesting story with her.

Spotfur's Rebellion: 2/5

This story was basically pointless. Novellas are a great way to flesh out characters or events, but this did neither. Almost everything we know about Spotfur we know from the current books, and we already knew what was happening with her rebellion because main characters were involved in it. I was hoping that this story could maybe focus more on her relationship with Stemleaf, and while it kind of did, it was underwhelming. They just kind of became mates without much thought. I did enjoy the first few chapters though; they added new content and characterized Spotfur nicely.

Blackfoot's Reckoning: 4/5

Easily the best novella of this collection. I've always found Blackfoot to be an interesting character and this book doesn't disappoint. I was a little bit scared of the narrative disregarding the bad things that the character did (*cough* Leopardstar's Honour *cough*), but it thankfully didn't! I love how Stonefur and Rosetail don't forgive him, and the narrative treats it as an ok and good thing to do. I think this message of people not always deserving forgiveness (even if they're sorry) should be more prevalent in media. Aside from that, I thought this book did a clever way of going through important events in Blackstar's life. Usually, novellas will just have them time jump between chapters, which makes it feel rushed and somewhat confusing, but this book did it as him reliving his memories. I liked that, as it felt less confusing and more cohesive. Anyways, the biggest flaw of this novella is Nightstar excusing Blackfoot's crimes by saying that everyone makes mistakes. Uh, no Nightstar. Killing people isn't an 'oopsies' mistake.

[eve._.lyn reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

💜🐈🐾A WARRIOR'S CHOICE🐾🐈🧡
When Daisy's former mate Smoky asks for her help, his new mate Coriander is giving birth and she needs help. Daisy must find out about her purpose with her clan while her loyalty is tested.
Spotpaw is a apprentice finally, with her growing friendship with Stempaw, they build affection towards each other. Spotpaw now Spotfur, and Stempaw now Steamleaf, lead a rebellion against the false Bramblestar.

🐾🐈🧡DAISY
2.5 stars
Daisy's novella was ok, I don't actually know a lot about her because I've only read around a quarter of all the warrior books. All I knew before is that she spends times nurturing and watching kits grow up. This book takes place during the events of Broken Code, after losing many of her kits with only Mousewhisker left, Daisy is dealing with grief unsure of her purpose. I did think it was very lame that Daisy thinks that without any kits she has no purpose with no kits to raise. Smoky her former mate has had 3 mates, Daisy, Coriander, and Floss, and kits with each of them 🙄. It was really interesting to see Daisy's grief, regret, and anger at Smoky, and the tension between them. I liked the tension between Daisy, Mousewhisker, and Smoky and it was sad when Smoky would sometimes dismiss Daisy-or say things like he has no kits left when Mousewhisker is still there. I overall liked the story Daisy wasn't a bad character.

🐾🐈💙SPOTFUR

This was my favorite one in the novella, we actually got to see Spotfur and Stemleaf's affection for eachother and better understand how they became friends. This one took place during the Broken Code too, there are a few time jumps. We get to see Spotfur as a young apprentice, and a new warrior. I really loved getting to know Spotfur more, she has a rebellious, righteous, and loving personality. It was really interesting seeing events or conversations that happened in the Broken Code but in another perspective. I liked getting to know Stemleaf better too. Spotfur's grief made it easier to understand in her perspective.


( I did't read the 3rd short story because I don't know who Blackfoot is-and it takes place in a time period that I haven't read yet).

[Cami · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed all of the novellas in this collection. "Daisy's Kin" addresses the ramifications of characters deaths that have largely gone unremarked upon. (What happens to side characters whose families have been torn apart by off-screen deaths and used as fodder for raising the protagonists' stakes?) "Spotfur's Rebellion" gives its title character more voice and personality than "The Broken Code" by showcasing her rebellious attitude from the earliest days of her apprenticeship. (I appreciated this, because the title led me to believe that this novella would simply rehash what "The Broken Code" already showed of the false Bramblestar's reign, but from a different perspective.)

I was most dubious about "Blackfoot's Reckoning," because I have no fondness for the ShadowClan leader and don't think that Warrior cats portrays character development well. Usually, it comes across as characters being defined not by their own personalities and choices but by the demands and convenience of the narrative. (Mothwing bullies Shadowsight to garner sympathy for the protagonist; Mistystar exiles her own cats because someone needed to be the villain once Bramblestar had been deposed; Sparkpelt begins voicing conservative beliefs to generate conflict between herself and Alderheart; etc.) I was dreading another narrator who might spend the entire story justifying his actions and attempting to earn sympathy even though he was one of Tigerstar's supporters in the first series, or worse, pretend that he had never done wrong.

I was pleasantly surprised to learn that Blackstar's novella is centered on his leadership ceremony, instead of his earliest war crimes in the old forest. The scenes where cats receive their nine lives from StarClan are often emotional and some of my favorite moments in the series. This story adds an interesting spin to it by accompanying each life with a chapter-long memory. I'm not sure whether I like Blackstar anymore after this novella, but at the very least, I appreciate how his tale was formatted. It could have been a lot worse!

[Ant Hermes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Daisy's kin: 4/5 stars. Actually really good. It was nice having a fresh look at a character that really isn't focused on that much. All her thoughts, motivations, and choices made sense. Her struggle with feeling needed when her clan was going through so much was interesting, and her realising her clanmates will always need and want her around was really sweet. Truly thunderclans grandma

Spotfur's rebellion: 3/5 stars. I liked the little glimpses into spotfur's life, and how it shaped her world view. But it didn't really add much more detail into the rebellion it's self, which is what the title lead me to believe. There was also a couple instances of formatting errors and characters, including spotfur, being called the wrong names. I feel like warriors is too big of a franchise to be having that happen. It annoyed me.

Blackfoot's reckoning: 3/5 stars. I enjoyed the format of reliving a memory with every life he got, with the memory being relevant to the cat giving the life. I also appreciated that cats like Rosetail and Stonefur didn't forgive Blackfoot. But Blackfoot didn't contemplate his mistakes enough for my taste. He doesn't reflect on the possibility that even if the lies brokenstar said had been true, that driving out windclan, putting kits in deadly situations, and stealing kits from thunderclan still would've been wrong.
I have no idea where they got the allegiances, but they weren't right. The main mistake I noticed (I didn't take too close of a look) was gorsepaw still being listed as onewhiskers apprentice, despite being dead at this point, but with the description of being a white and grey she cat. I assume that that's meant to be the description of Onewhiskers second apprentice. Who I'm pretty sure also wasn't around at this point. It's just weird.

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this so I could understand the description of the book. For instance with Daisy's kin, I read it to find out what "How did Daisy decide if the rouge from her past should be part of her future.?" I was curious what that meant. What happens in the story didn't have anything to do with the description. In the store Daisy gets a visit from Smoky her former mate, his new mate dies giving birth. I thought that Smoky was rather stubborn about how his kits should survive, they could of gotten a two leg to take care of them, but rather then do that he puts his kits at risk of dying to avoid that. Then in the end he goes to live with two legs anyways and live in a barn. :/ yea okay then..

The second story was about Spotfur and why she decided to disobey the traitor and her clan in order to prove that Bramblestar wasn't himself anymore, even to the point she causes the death of two cats including Stemleaf who she loved. The description is say "What made Spotfur risk everything to defy her clans deputy" Well the deputy had nothing to do with anything. :/ sure I guess, but this store wasn't really needed, because we already knew this reading Broken code series, this story was wasted and I thought unnecessary.

So the last story is about Blackfoot. Well do we really need this story? I mean we know he becomes the leader.. We know he made mistakes. Yea, I think it was also unnecessary as well.. They ask the question why Starclan forgives him, its like duh.. of course, he made mistakes, but he was always trying to do what he thought was for the good of Shadowclan. :/

[Gracie · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMG I LOVE THIS NOVELL IT IS 1# TIER YAR <3


I honestly liked Daisy's section of pov first but im gonna subject this to Blackfoot for the first rating

3/5 for Blackfoot, I really never knew who he was, The sadest thing was Badgerfang dying, Im pretty 100% sure it brought people to pouring rain of tears, im gonna hop of Blackfoot's topic cuz im still confuzled.

Spotfurs was the one i was interested in, but i feel bad for Bristlefrost, imagine just getting to have courage to face your crush and he says he like someone else? Its natural tbh but off of the Stemfrost point. I never liked Spotfur i felt sympathy for Bristlefrost wanting to give her an imaginary hug, But i also feel bad for Spotfur, She lost her mate and she was expecting kits, I think Stem was only with her for 1 moon, I just feel bad for her. I still dont like her but she didn't deserve to lose her mate to Brambleash (Imposter name i wanna call him)

Last subject on the last pretty cat, Daisy, I LOVE daisy, and i also feel bad like spotfurs glance. Daisy has Been with Smoky before, but i would be mad if my ex-mate had got alot of mates and they died, But coriander's situation reminds me of silverstreams, they both died giving birth and the thing that made me cry was when they named the kits daisy and coriander, i forgot the other dead kits name but im pretty sure they never had a named or a name subjected around them. But i still feel bad and i hope they wont cut off Daisy's life like they did to many other cats in the books.


^^ overall amazing book

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Daisy’s Kin
“’I’m called Tom-Tom.’
That’s the weirdest name I’ve ever heard!...It’s like if my name were She-cat-She-cat!”
-
This story is: arguing with your ex, but you don’t love each other anymore, it’s just familiarity.
-
I haven’t read the newest series yet, so this book spoiled a bit for me, and I was like WTH when I read about the weird events with impostors. Also, I guess the Sisters from the other novella fits into the new plot, too.
-
I had always considered Daisy not really fitting in. Now that her kits are grown and there are no new kits in ThunderClan, she feels useless. Smoky, her previous mate from the horseplace (he had like, three mates, btw), comes for her to help Coriander give birth. Daisy feels needed (and guilty about taking their kits away from him). Coriander doesn’t make it and Daisy helps Smoky for a while. It was super weird when Smoky named his kits after his ex and his dead mate…
-
Spotfur’s Rebellion
“’It’s always been you.’” – ah this line will never not get me <3
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Hehe this one starts off with cute apprentices flirting :3. Spotpaw was a little prankster and it was kinda embarrassing. Also…is StarClan silent because the moonpool is frozen…? Bramblestar impostor/possession decrees no one talk to Spotfur for a moon (or quarter moon?). Maybe the impostor is just the extreme, legalistic version of him, because Bramblestar is kinda really into loyalty. Anyways, the ending of this story was tragic, my heart is broken because Stemleaf.
-
Blackfoot’s Reckoning
“Every leader has made choices they regret. It isn’t necessary for a leader to be perfect. But it is important that you can learn from the past and change.”
-
This one was really good. It was nice to read something during the time period of the old series. While it’s been awhile since I’ve read those, they are engrained in my memory because I’ve read them multiple times. This story goes through Blackstar receiving his nine lives. Each life brings back some regretful memories, when he had followed Brokenstar. All the ShadowClan drama came back to me and wow such good stories!

[River Bailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm going to split this review into the three sections it is split in, since my opinion is different on each despite overall a pretty good opinion

Blackfoot's Reckoning - Out of the three this is probably my least favorite but I do still think it's good. I appreciate seeing this character who supported bad people and doesn't regret it. He blindly followed Brokenstar. He blindly followed Tigerstar. And he doesn't hold guilt and regret for it. He just moves forward with life. It's rare to see characters so morally gray but still able to hold their position as leader and lead the clan not too bad. Getting to see the perspective of this morally gray character is not bad. Frusterating as Blackstar can be

Daisy's Kin - Daisy is so sweet. It's rare seeing a character so family orientented with such a love for taking care of kits and raising them. Family and friends matter so much to her, and her clan does too. I like her a lot for that. I think this story could've maybe went through other ways of making her realize her place in the clan and appreciate life and her role in it but seeing the barn cats she was friends with in the past wasn't bad at all, and I loved seeing her journey in the book

Spotfur's Rebellion - You go girl!! I love Spotfur, I don't really have much to say outside of that. It's nice seeing her background and her growing connection with Stemleaf, especially after seeing how heavily she grieved for him in The Broken Code after his death. Gives her more depth than she already had

Overall on of the novella collections I liked more than others

[Cinnamon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed these 3 novellas. Having just finished TBC, it made reading the first two novellas in order more special.

Daisy's Kin -
There was forgiveness on both ends, Daisy and Smoky 's, which complimented Daisy's general character arc through the series. She still found it in her to return to her Clan, even if it meant abandoning the closest thing she's had to family (the kits Coriander and little Daisy, along with her previous mate) after her kin died... finding her role as a part of ThunderClan more important.

Spotfur's Rebellion -
Having the brief few chapters in the beginning build on her relationship with Stemleaf added to the quality of the narrative when it came back to TBC Spotfur. Again and again, Spotfur and Stemleaf chose each other. She suffered the ultimate price of helping her Clan by losing Stemleaf in the sudden attack against the imposter Bramblestar, yet she managed to bounce back.

Blackfoot's Reckoning -
It may be a more unpopular opinion, but I liked the memories taking Blackfoot (becoming Blackstar) back to his life as a warrior before leadership. Even with the gravity and weight of following Brokenstar and Tigerstar so obediently, he stuck through his leader ceremony and reflects during that he's made many mistakes. Having that said, I think he deserved his leadership since he had that mentioned self-awareness, setting him up for how he behaves in the narrative of TPB.