Ort ohne Sterne

Warriors: The Broken Code #5

by Erin Hunter

Eichhornschweif, ist verschwunden – ausgerechnet mit dem Kater, der als Schwindler enttarnt wurde.

Die Zweite Anführerin des DonnerClans, Eichhornschweif, ist verschwunden – ausgerechnet mit dem Kater, der als Schwindler enttarnt wurde. Zwischen den Katzen herrscht tiefes Misstrauen.
Damit nicht genug: Sie kennen nun den Grund für das mysteriöse Schweigen des SternenClans - genau wie die schreckliche Wahrheit über die Gefahr, der sie sich stellen müssen, wenn sie Licht zurück in die Dunkelheit bringen wollen: Es wird Zeit, an den Ort ohne Sterne zu gehen, dem Wald der Finsternis ...

Genres: Fantasy, Animals, Middle Grade, Fiction, Cats, Adventure, Childrens

320 pages, Hardcover

First published April 5, 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

[Carissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Woman writes children's fantasy cat books where a man tries to burn a woman's children alive because she wouldn't go out with him. Online fandom argues for years over whether he was actually evil or just a sexy misunderstood bad boy. New writing team takes over cat books a decade later, sees online controversy, and decides to bring the character back as a villain again, leading to fantastic books with chilling villain scenes and transforming the incel into one of the best-written characters in the series.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Another Warrior Cats book, fun

Darkness Within, the predecessor to this book, was my least favorite book in the arc thus far for numerous reasons.

One of the problems with the book was that several characters (Mothwing, for example) seemed to be completely inconsistent to how they were in the previous books or the previous arcs, which has been a prevalent issue throughout the series for a while, and I don't see that being fixed anytime soon. (Also might be because the first three TBC books were written by Cherith Baldry, and DW was written by Kate Cary, another ghostwriter) The main problem, however, was that there… really wasn't a lot of compelling things about the book at all plotwise either. They travel to find the Sisters to try to get Bramblestar back for the majority of the book, doesn't work, Clan leaders act like incompetent idiots for several chapters, decide to execute Bramblestar's body as if it would do shit, Incelfur kidnaps Squilf, and… yeah.

As a result, I was worried about where this arc was going. It was nowhere near as bad the second half of A Vision of Shadows yet, but I was concerned that the second half of this arc would end up turning into a filler-y mess just like AVoS did.

So, were my concerns valid? The answer is….

yes and no.

Plotwise, this book was definitely an improvement over Darkness Within. Unlike the previous book, there was actually… stuff going on that made the plot compelling. The cats figured out they could dream their way into the Dark Forest to save Squirrelflight, and that's when they figured out Ashfur basically has magic powers and can mind control spirits. And for some reason, they decide to send in one medicine cat instead of sending in several strong warriors at once for some reason, and as a result, Willowshine is dead now! In a normal book series, I'd complain about how this made no sense at all and completely retcons Arc 4, but since this is Warrior Cats, at this point, I try to ignore any semblance of logic and just pretend that this is normal now.

We also get to see a lot of cats from the Dark Forest we've seen before in Arc 4, including Mapleshade, Darkstripe (who finally dies, good riddance), and Snowtuft, the only DF cat who decides to help the protagonists stop Ashfur as a last act of remorse after a life of being bad, which also makes him the most compelling character in the entire book. However, aside from Snowtuft, these DF cats have little to no implication on the plot, and if you were hoping for fun scenes involving either of them, you're going to be disappointed. Honestly, I'm pretty sure the only reason Mapleshade and Darkstripe are still relevant is because of fan service, but moving on.

Now onto the characters. When The Broken Code first started, Rootspring was my favorite protagonist in the arc. His character was that of an insecure cat who had a crush on an older teenage girl, someone who didn't really fit in because of his dad, and was even more insecure when he found out he had weird magic powers, which made his character really compelling for me. However, after Darkness Within, he realizes that his powers are actually important and learns to embrace it, and now, in this book, he really doesn't serve any purpose and I'm pretty sure it would've barely made a difference if this book was in the PoV of another cat, like Squirrelflight. To summarize, after his character arc was more or less complete, he just became a static character and a plot device.

Bristlefrost is even worse. She was a solid protagonist for me at the beginning as well, and I liked her as an ambitious warrior aiming to become deputy, and even Clan leader someday, anxious to grow up and become a warrior quickly and consent to sexual activity

However, after Veil of Shadows, she's been the worst protagonist in the arc in my opinion. Literally EVERY chapter in her PoV in this book was literally her just thinking and worrying about Rootspring, thinking about how he's so handsome and hot, and how it's such a shame they can't be together because they're from different Clans, etc. I literally screamed in the parts like 'Bristlefrost knew he must be able to see all the love in her eyes as she gazed back at him.' It was just… really annoying to see her reduced to a sappy mess mooning over another cat like this (which seems ridiculously out of character compared to the ambitious cat we saw back in LS-TST). BristlexRoot just felt like a really forced ship overall, and I wouldn't be opposed to it had it been executed correctly, but it seems like they just retconned Bristlefrost's entire personality just to force in the sexual tension between them.

Last but not least (anymore), Shadowsight started off as my least favorite protagonist in TBC, but he's unironically my favorite protagonist now. I used to see him as a plot device only relevant because of his powers, but ever since the Clans realized he was manipulated by Ashfur and started gaslighting him, you see this side of him you haven't before. You really start to sympathize with him because you know that Shadowsight was just trying to do the right thing the entire time, and that everything he did was under the best interests of the Clans, but he gets belittled, mocked, and hated for it by other cats starting from DW. This continues in The Place of No Stars, but other cats eventually start to trust him more again, and Mothwing was apparently only an absolute ass to him in the previous book because in reality, she 'cared about him,' which seems like a lazy excuse to me, but Tigerstar is based in this book and it's… honestly really nice to see how much he cares about his son and even though he acts like an overprotective idiot a lot of the time, you know that it's only because he cares about him, and it's actually realistic unlike Mothwing blatantly gaslighting him in the previous book being summed up as some weird 'tough love' shit

We get a decent amount of villain scenes with Ashfur and Squirrelflight, but Ashfur… just honestly wasn't a compelling villain like he was in the previous books. In the previous books, what made him interesting was that he was so chillingly manipulative without any remorse, but in this book, he just mostly acts like a total creep to Squirrelflight and does stuff with his magic powers, but other than that, he just wasn't that compelling as a villain and we didn't really get to see much of his personality compared to the other books.

I know that was a lot to take in, but to summarize, the plot improved from DW, and we definitely might get some fun content in the last book, as it looks like the final book is going to be the Clans' last stand against Ashfur, who plans to use the spirits of the dead warriors and take over corpses of cats with them, but character-developmentwise, I think there's no chance of that being salvaged. Bristlefrost will serve no purpose as a protagonist other than to be Rootspring's sexy girlfriend. Rootspring will serve no purpose as a protagonist other than to be Bristlefrost's boyfriend and maybe his powers. Since Shadowsight is starting to become trusted again by other cats, his arc is effectively over and he probably won't be a compelling protagonist. So, yes, my concerns were valid when it comes to the nonexistent character development, but I think the plot will be fine, which means this arc probably won't be as bad as AVoS, at least.

In conclusion, this book kind of sucked, just didn't suck as much as Darkness Within.

[Judah · Rating 2 out of 5]

This has been my least favorite of the arc so far. While some of the other books might have been equally filler-y and devoid of action, they had enough WTF moments to keep me on my seat and curious about what would happen next. This book was just as filler-y and besides one cool moment (Willowshine dies and Rootspring watches helplessly as her spirit is dragged into the moonpool while she begs for help) I was honestly quite bored. I felt that it didn't expand on the knowledge we already knew - we didn't learn all that much that we didn't know already from the previous books - and I felt like the cliffhangers left at the end of the previous book were all basically swept aside with few consequences. Book 4 was honestly a banger to read because it was hot dumpster fire BUT so many wild and unpredictable things were happening that I was constantly guessing, which kept me invested! This book lacked wild unpredictable things AND not much plot to speak of, making it drag. (I only hope the novellas released alongside this book are more interesting...)

I feel it's worth mentioning that my expectations for these books really aren't high. I'm not looking for a masterpiece, I'm just looking to be entertained for a few hours. I generally find that these books *are* able to do that. I've actually really enjoyed the other books in this series, even though I know other people thought they were so bad they couldn't even finish them! But this one just fell short of that mark for me.

Breakdown of my thoughts ahead, plenty of spoilers here:
The good:
-Consistent characterizations. While I thought certain characterization choices from book 4 were interesting (I loved Mothwing as a mistrustful asshole tbh), they weren't super consistent with how the characters had been set up previously. This book featured a return to relative characterization.
-Character interactions. Wow, the three main characters actually interacting with and thinking about each other?? Who would have guessed! It was touching to see all three have interactions with at least one of their parents (Ivypool learning that Bristle loved Root and immediately getting angry because she was afraid Bristlefrost would leave her just like Dovewing did? That's the good stuff!!)
-Smaller cast. This book takes place over a day or two and primarily either at the moonpool or in the dark forest, so the main characters we're seeing are either the main three, the leaders, medicine cats, the sisters, and the DF cats (& Ashfur). These books are honestly bloated with characters with no personality, so it was nice to have a break from needless whining from cats I don't care about.
-Character development. It was nice to see some of the side characters getting some development too! Tree loving his family, Alderheart struggling with the absence of his father, Tigerstar and Dove struggling to be good parents. I've honestly really enjoyed how this arc and the last arc remembered to keep previous main characters relevant and show us what they're up to.
-Snowtuft. This was maybe the one thing they just threw in there that caught me off guard, lol. Snowtuft is definitely a fan favorite DF cat, and I've heard so many dark, edgy theories about his backstory and how he got that horrible scar... But it turns out he's literally just a guy with barely any personality. All he wanted to do was wander the DF in peace until he inevitably faded away, but then SOMEBODY had to go and be evil, which is just SO INCONSIDERATE, UGH. He doesn't even remember how he got his scar because he doesn't remember anything about his life! So even though he had the potential to be a very neat character, we can't actually have any of the questions we have about him answered?? This was kind of disappointing but in a way that's funny and makes me laugh, so I'm counting it as a plus.

The bad:
-Boooooring. This book is just filler.
-Consequences (or lack thereof). Bristlefrost is just Able to have a crush on Root without anyone seeming to care? In book 4 Shadowsight was hands down the most hated cat in the Clans, and the book ended with him literally helping the main antagonist of the arc escape! Besides a few cats still resenting Shadowsight (which succeeding in dragging the plot along because they felt compelled to argue with everything he said, more than it did actually have interesting consequences), it felt like he got off with barely even a slap on the wrist. It was so boring. I had been really rooting for Shadowsight to stray to the side of Ashfur, since he was the only cat in book 4 who had made any attempt to relate to him and had done a really scarily good job of manipulating him. That basically amounted to nothing here :/ he interacted with so few cats that it hardly mattered.
-"If you die in the dark forest, you die in real life!" Technically an accurate phrase, but I CANNOT hear that sentence and still take whatever I'm reading seriously. Had to put down my book and laugh for a good thirty minutes every time it came up in text (which was more than once?!?)
-Telling, not showing. Okay, this book is for children and written in like two days, so obviously it's not going to be super subtle and intricate. However, it gets kind of boring to see cats like Graystripe do literally nothing but show up and have cats around them telling the reader how awesome and cool he is! And what a great leader he is! Is Graystripe a good leader? I dunno, he never did anything to prove it to the POV cats, who are all too young to know him as anything but an elder. I guess myself as a reader, who read his recent super edition, can be a better judge of that (and it is true that he does have leadership experience), but it is annoying and frankly very lazy storytelling. Graystripe was the most recent example of this, but I've had issues with other characters too (Bramblestar has done literally NOTHING and yet the other leaders seem to worship the ground he walks on)??

I'm tentatively hopeful that the last book will have, if nothing else, a cool fight scene. Hopefully it'll have a satisfying ending to balance out an arc that started out so strongly!

[Loang · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rating: 9 out of 10

I know say this a lot, but this time I'm seriously impressed! This book was, both objectively and subjectively, a great story!

Possibly one of my favorite main arc books in the entire series, The Place of No Stars is an exciting read from start to finish! The pacing was excellent, not too rushed nor too slow, and all the three POVs of the story were interesting in a similar amount! The book flowed nicely at all times and it didn't take me more than a day to finish it.

Now, there were a lot of things I loved about this installment. Not did it only introduce new and fun concepts and characters to the universe, but it also focused on relationships between already established characters; in my opinion, the balance between novelty and development of existing aspects was nearly perfect.

Personally, I found the best part of this book to be the Dark Forest. As the title suggests, it plays a really big role in the story, and works as a setting for a good part of it. Though there are still several things we don't know about it and how it works, what was revealed was very interesting! I loved the idea of the forest changing as one goes through it, the mysterious black lake, and especially the concept of the forest being able to corrupt the cats who go in.

The Dark Forest also brought to a whole new level one of my favorite aspects from this specific arc: the horror! Despite not being extreme, the spooky aspects of this book really made me love it a whole lot more! With the Dark Forest as a major setting, I doubt I would have settled for any less, and I'm thoroughly satisfied with the chilling scenes we got.

Onto the next theme, the characters! This section is gonna be a little longer, so hang with me!

Rootspring, a very fun protagonist as always! I really enjoy reading from his perspective, and his chapters here were some of my favorites. Because he spends most of his chapters in the Dark Forest, a lot of the scenes there were from his point of view, and they were extremely fun to read! A solid 8/10 POV.

Bristlefrost's POV I was less happy with. I like her character, I really do, but this time I felt like her motivations for most of the story were hollow and too focused on her relationship with Rootspring and not enough on Bristlefrost herself.

I wish she had been shown to have more of a connection with the main conflict than just her link with Rootspring, which could have been very easily done by addressing how she had been used by Ashfur while he was pretending to be Bramblestar. Her chapters were a little less gripping than the others as well, mainly due to her not visiting the Dark Forest for nearly as much time ss the other two. She wasn't a bad character, though, and she gets a 6/10 as a POV.

And last but not least in any way, Shadowsight! I may and probably am biased here, as he's my favorite character in the entire series, but I adored his chapters! His struggle with his own thoughts and emotions and his fear of corruption by the Dark Forest and how it clashed with his goals... it was all fascinating, and I loved both his perspective and character. No doubts, his POV deserves a 10/10!

Ashfur wasn't a POV character, but as the main villain of the arc, I'd really want to comment on him. I gotta say that I wasn't entirely convinced he would be a good villain at the beginning of the series, but I've grown to enjoy his absolutely dramatic and over-the-top personality and goals! I'm still confused about how he got as much power in the first place, but that'll probably be revealed in the last book. I hate him with a passion, and that I consider to be a sign of a successful villain.

Obviously, can't move on without talking about Snowtuft! A big part of the fandom (me included!) had been waiting for so long to get more content from Dark Forest cats, and Snowtuft gave me exactly what I wanted! His loyalty and redemption were both very well written, and I'm really fond of him now! I'd love to see a novella from his perspective in the near future, and I hope we get to learn more about him and his past.

And Willowshine, of course! While I found her death to be really sad, I was surprised by the twist her character got! It was quite well written by warrior cats standards, and even though I had already guessed it, I was very pleased when the reveal came.

There's one thing that keeps me from giving this book a full 10 out of 10 and it's Bramblestar. I'll be fair and say the Erins have written themselves into a corner here (a big part of the arc's stakes depend on him) but that doesn't excuse the usual praising and defending he receives from both the characters and the narrative itself. It's uncomfortable to read at best and disgusting at worst, and it really dampened my enjoyment of this book.

Finally, I want to talk about the relationships and character interactions in this book. I felt like they really shone throughout the story and honestly, I was surprised by a few! Some of my favorite interactions were the ones with Tree and Bristlefrost, Bristlefrost and Ivypool (glad they finally acknowledged their relationship!), Tigerstar and Shadowsight (I'm so glad they solved their problems! These two have the best father-son bond in the entire series, hands down) and in special, the relationship between the three protagonists. Differently from other books on the arc, this time they felt like real friends, an actual trio, and I loved that.

Oh! And before I go, one little thing I'd like to remark is the lack of typos! I'm already used to typing mistakes in warrior cats, but seeing a book without them is like a breath of fresh air! I mean, yeah, the bar is that low, but you gotta start somewhere and I feel like this definitely is an improvement.

Overall, The Place of No Stars was a great book! The tension was high during the whole story, the stakes were high, the characters were excellent and the setting was by far my favorite of any Warriors book! Personally, I already consider it to be one of the best warrior cats books written, and I can't wait to read the finale of the arc!

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here’s an update!

Likes:
Root & Bristle’s romance is so adorable
Cloverfoot is a GREAT deputy
Dark forest is back!! WooHoo!
I legitimately gasped aloud when I found out Mapleshade isn’t dead
Snowtuft is an all time fave cat and I’m thrilled he’s back and more important to the plot
Crowfeather is so sassy 😂
Shadowclan perspective is a blessing
Bristlefrost got wayyy better in this book. She’s much more believable
The cats came back to Thunderclan yayy
Graystripe as leader FINALLY
Mothwing improved dramatically and is so sweet in this book
Willowshine’s two plot twists were shocking and well executed
Tree is, as usual, a great dad and cat. Love his relationship with Bristlefrost!
The sisters are hilarious and such a random plot device, but it kind of worked for me

Dislikes:
Really shouldn’t have skimmed over Snaptooth & Flywhisker in the way it did. I need more of their story!
All the weird new names
Berrynose’s death was so anticlimactic! After hating him for 3 full series’s he just died randomly and it’s never discussed. Still hoping he’ll be redeemed in book 6.
Lionblaze seems unnecessarily violent throughout this series
I miss Blackstar’s Shadowclan
Still super disappointed with how Spotfur has been treated.

[Adrian Ramirez · Rating 3 out of 5]

[SPOILERS]

So... this one.
I really was expecting a little more from it, but didn't quite got much.
This book had a big problem, where all action was within Thunderclan, Shadowclan, and a little part of Skyclan, talking about territory I mean. We didn't see much participation from Riverclan, or Windclan at all in this book, and that's kinda sad. (Apart from Willowshine, of course)
And, as much as the Erins try it, I really can't buy Rootspring's and Bristlefrost's relationship. I guess I can get Root's point of view, but I really don't get why Bristle loves Rootspring. It just doesn't makes any sence where or when she fell in love with him.
I get it, the Erins want to make changes about all the warrior code, including romances between cats from different clans. But I don't buy it the way they try to do it. BUT, I think it would be a good change for the future of the series of course.

Now, what's the deal with the characters? I mean, really? Mothwing has NO personality in this book. In the last one she was a mean cat, and here, she just doesn't really care at all. Lionblaze, why... why would you turn Lionblaze into that; I mean, yeah, he needed a personality since Power of Three, but THAT personality? God, it was awful and cringy having to see one of the Three being scolded by his own daughter. And what about Ivypool? I mean, Bristlefrost suggests that she's in love with a cat from another clan, and she gets angry like hell, but then her daughter tells her that she wants to go to literally HELL, and she barely reacts. Seriously? And come on... Bristlefrost isn't doing anything in this book that isn't related to Rootspring. It's like she can't think of anything else.

... But not everything in this book is bad, of course. Graystripe's arrival was like seeing Firestar himself getting into the clan to put some order. Graystripe was one of the best things in this book. So sad that Bramblestar is back and will get leadership back. Tigerheartstar's part in this book is pretty good too. I really understand his way of doing things in this book, I mean, he's a concerned parent. (You could learn about that, Ivypool)

Also, one of the things that I really enjoyed in this book was the action. I mean, every time we were in the dark forest, we saw some good action. Specially with how the Erins wrote the spirit cats, acting like zombies, that was actually really good.

Ashfur?... Ehhh It's good. Not excellent, but is good. I mean, all this mess is just about how he "loves" Squirrelflight, and it's kinda... weird. I don't buy his intentions, but as a villian, is doing a really good job.

Conclusion...
I understand that the Erins are trying to bring change to the Clans. I mean, they really need it. The warrior code is just outdated, and it limits writers' creativity. Conflict is always about tresspassing, prey stealing or territory, and it's getting pretty old and boring. So, change is good, but I'm not sure how good they're doing it. I really hope we get a much better final book for this arc than "The Raging Storm".

I give this book a 7/10

[Henry · Rating 5 out of 5]

I personally LOVE warriors and I am psyched to see the cover of the fifth book of the Broken Code. and I can not wait to read Graystripes Vow, I must say I am a little scared to read it, I just have a feeling that he is going to die. But I may be wrong hopefully I'm wrong.

[Alexandria · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Place of No Stars

Hello there, I'm a 10 year old using my mom's account! This book made me feel sad, happy, and more!
-{~SPOILERS~}-





How I felt: When I read the prologue I was surprised! I can't believe Ashfur came out of the body like that! When I read Willowshine's death, I was literally crying. That's the most recent saddest death I've seen! Willowshine got attacked right when she entered! Ashfur was waiting there! It gave me creeps! Her spirt being dragged into the moonpool? Well that was sad too! Through the whole book, I've felt like I got to make my own oc.. I had one from a few months ago. Diamondfur! (Sadly it's a ripoff of bluestar) I felt like I could jump into the book and Murder Ashfur to ddeath! Ahhhhh


The spelling: The spelling is great in the book! Into the wild had a few mistakes, but place of no stars is better!!



Overall this is my new favorite book! Thank you for reading my review, and Erin hunter , thank you for posting this warrior cat books (on games in warriorcatfanfic xd)

[₊˚ ⁀➴ kenzie ⠀❦ jacks’ version · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fast-paced book with twists and turns. I didn’t expect Willowshine to be under Ashfur’s control the whole time, and I like the ending where Bramblestar was finally reunited with his body. My favorite character was Bristlefrost, and I liked her loyalty and connection with Rootspring. This book was good, and I’m excited to read the final book in the series.

[Isabelle✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good <3

[Iz Reading · Rating 4 out of 5]

The suspense was good

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh Jees. That is a terrifying concept. Heaven is corrupted, so that an evil being controls them all, but is also slowly destroying “the dark forest” TO GET BACK WITH HIS EX. Wow. This is definitely the darkest warrior cats book, (except for Spotted Leafs Heart) and is very blunt about it. It was very interesting and exciting, but a little heavy on the “dark stuff”. I hope the next one evens out a little better.

[Finn_Umbriaco · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although this book had its fun moments, it overall doesn’t deliver on most fronts. Before I go any further, I’m going to go through some of the pros and cons that I found in this book.

PROS:

1. Good action. The mind controlled cats and other convoluted features of the dark forest may have made no sense, but damn were there some fun and explosive scenes utilizing them.

2. Shadowsight. Shadowsight reigns alone as the one protagonist who’s arc didn’t go stagnant in book 3 or 4. Bristlefrost and Rootspring are still fun characters, sure, but they stopped growing and changing. Shadowsight is still going strong, let’s hope he keeps going in book 6.

3. Snowtuft, and Graystripe’s return. Snowtuft was just a plain fun background character to have around, and is actually quite interesting. He’s a dark forest cat who really can’t remember why he wound up there, and decides to help a good cause with the large amount of time he has left before he fades. Graystripe returning was so sheerly ridiculous it was funny, he just exuded such a powerful aura that Bristlefrost was just like “Jesus Christ he’s so damn powerful”. I wish that this arc could embrace that ridiculousness a bit more. (I really hope the Graystripe thing happened in this book and not Darkness Within, I’m kind of muddling them in my mind. Was Lionblaze an out of character ass in this book or the last one? Maybe both lmao)

4. The book takes place over a short period of time. This book could’ve been a bit longer, and could’ve utilized more plot development, but the short format felt like it fit this book quite well.


CONS:

1. Ashfur is not a compelling villain. Every time Ashfur does something evil or villainous, I can’t help but go back to the fact that his singular motivation for doing all of these horrible things is because he wanted revenge at Squirrelflight for rejecting him years ago. He’s been shown to be WAY too emotionally incompetent for me to see him as an effective villain.

2. Ashfur’s powers are not explained at all. You’d think that if all of what he does was always possible, some cat incredibly more malicious than Ashfur would’ve taken advantage of it already, right? I could believe that some cat possessed another earlier in the series without the readers or anyone else noticing, but the sheer magnitude of mind controlling anyone who dies, blocking off StarClan, and slowly destroying the dark forest is too much to warrant zero explanation in the SECOND TO LAST book of the arc.

3. Rootspring and Bristlefrost romance deteriorating both of their POVs and personalities. Bristlefrost randomly started liking Rootspring back at one point, and her interest factor went right out the window in favor of thinking about Rootspring, CONSTANTLY. Her POV adds absolutely nothing to this story. Rootspring’s POV has also somewhat deteriorated, spending more time thinking about Bristlefrost than doing things to advance the plot. That said, at least Rootspring has an interesting perspective that can actually add to the story.

4. It’s just filler. Even if this book was the best book in TBC, it would still be purely filler and fluff. The only purpose this book serves is to advance the plot, to have Bramblestar finally saved from Ashfur. It could’ve been good filler, something like WoF #9(Couldn’t think of a good warriors example off the top of my head, sorry), but it instead chose to be mediocre garbage.

5. Only the protagonists are allowed to dream themselves into the dark forest(This is a small gripe). The only non-protagonist to dream themselves into the dark forest was Willowshine, a medicine cat who was inexperienced with the dark forest, and thus instantly killed. Why couldn’t Tigerheartstar or Ivypool dream themselves in? They actually had experience in the dark forest which could’ve helped significantly.

6. “The dark forest can turn a good cat bad” or something like that. Of course focusing on your negative emotions for hours on end isn’t good, but it doesn’t need to be repeated SO MANY TIMES.


In conclusion, I quite disliked this book. It had some fun moments, but was mostly filler trash. I don’t care if you did like the book though, this is only my potentially flawed opinion after all. All I can say is that I’m apprehensive for book 6, hopefully it’s not as bad as The Raging Storm. I’m slowly losing faith in Warriors’s writing quality as the writing process becomes more and more based in HarperCollins and the editors, and less and less based in the Erins themselves.

[Marisa Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was mostly just disappointing after how exciting and interesting the first few books in this arc were. It slid back into the pitfalls the series always seems to fall into—that being characters constantly arguing for no good reason, characters acting OOC for the sake of plot or drama, and characters more suited for a role in the plot being shunted aside in favor of the main stars.

It’s just lame and so, so predictable. I thought it would’ve been cool if Tigerstar and Ivypool had accompanied their kids in the Dark Forest, since they’ve literally been there before and know the dangers AND the remaining cats there. Especially with Tigerstar being such an overbearing father, plus the type of leader who doesn’t care that he’s leader—he’ll do the right thing, no matter what, and that’s helping good cats out of the Dark Forest. It just surprised me he didn’t think about going into the Dark Forest himself at all.

Ashfur is also turning into more of a classic villain and that disappoints me. He was, by far, the most interesting villain we’ve seen on page since Hawkfrost but now he’s just kind of turning into classic evil guy.

Mostly I’m just disappointed Bramblestar isn’t really dead. I hate that dude and was so ready for him to be done. Squirrelflight (or someone else) deserved to take over ThunderClan from him. And also, Squirrelflight deserves a better partner. I did NOT miss his comment saying, “Ashfur is ready to destroy all the Clans because of his jealousy of me.” Like, no. Ashfur is ready to destroy the Clans because he’s obsessed with Squirrelflight. He doesn’t like Bramblestar, and it was a sick bonus for him to be able to take Bramblestar out of the picture for most of this arc, but his focus is very much about Squirrelflight and not Bramblestar. I thought it was kind of self-absorbed for him to think Ashfur was just jealous of him.

Still giving this three stars because it’s way better than any of the hot garbage from Vision of Shadows, and I love Shadowsight and (shockingly) Snowtuft. Plot still has a great pace, and I especially appreciated the return of Mothwing’s character. I really disliked how she was written in the last book.

Hopefully the last book in the series is good! And I am FINALLY caught up, so I can read normal books again. 😂

[Taylor · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yikes this book was messy.

I went into this one feeling very excited because the last two books were very good. But sadly, this book did not meet the excitement.

The majority of this book consists of the characters just kinda dawdling, and things only really happen in the last 50-60 pages. We are left in the dark about a lot of things, which somewhat makes sense because there's still one book left, but it still frustrates me that we basically have no answers. For example, how do Squirrelflight and Bramblestar manage to get home? This isn't explained, and it should be.

The amount of times the phrase "The Dark Forest can turn a good cat bad" is said gets really irritating. Yes, we get it, this is the message of the book, but it doesn't have to be slapping you in the face.

I also found myself getting bored during this book. As stated before, nothing major to progress the plot really happens until the end and random 'exciting' scenes are just kind of thrown in there with little thought.

The best parts of this book were Tigerheartstar's character development and Bristlefrost's interactions with Tree and Ivypool, though they sadly only take up a very small part of the book. Scenes like this should be more prevalent in Warriors, because it makes the characters more interesting and makes their relationships more meaningful. Mothwing standing up for Shadowsight was also a highlight in this book, and she seems to finally be back to her old self (no more villain Mothwing from Darkness Within).

In the end, this book was underwhelming and disappointing.

[Jooha]

Now I love the warriors series and all...
BUTTTTT
the names are starting to get really cringy, andddd the story plot is getting very exaggerated. Also, the story is too short and doesn't have a lot of climax like it used to. The 4th series was absolutely the best. Anywasss
I hopeeeeee
Bristlefrost and Rootspring gets together runs away from the clans maybe--->
Becomes mates and get kits!
One kit should be named Ashkit,,
as a reminder of Ashfur and also cuz Ashfur looks a lot like Bristlefrost...

I hope Rootspring doesn't die, cause if he doesn't imma cry
poor Bristlefrost
I ALSO noticed
OML I'm writing a lot
I noticed thatttt
The clans are kinda representing democracy and voting and stuff it's kinda really like the society
BAHAHAH

Byeeee

[the_ghostwalker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sehr spannend und fesselnd ...perfekte Fortsetzung zu Band 4 . (Spoiler!!)Auch schockierend auch das offene Ende mit Anspielung auf die Fortsetzung...
Kann es kaum erwarten bis der nächste Teil rauskommt 😍🐱🐈

[Salomé]

ONLY ONE LEFT.

[Chantal Kloth · Rating 5 out of 5]

very refreshing book seeing that the main setting was in the dark forest - love this book and how everything is playing out

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actual rating: 3.75/5

Pros:
-Graystripe
-Interesting, unique timeline
-Recurrence of old characters (Sisters, villains)
-Development of secondary characters (Snowtuft)
-Shadowsight standing up for himself

Cons:
-Everything Tigerstar II says
-Willowshine and Mothwing deserved better
-Inconsistent character decisions (Bristlefrost, Lionblaze)
-Bramblestar commanding a significant amount of power after returning to his body

This book kind of fell into par for what I've come to expect from this arc so far, especially as far as Bristlefrost goes. Her character has always been inconsistent, from barely caring about Stemleaf's death at the end of the last book despite being in love with him for the first two, to essentially being a worse Hollyleaf as far as "that's against the warrior code" goes even though she and Rootspring are openly in love. Her feelings for Stemleaf are weirdly compounded in this book, as she talks in multiple different scenarios about how much she used to love Stemleaf, and at the very end, she focuses on Stemleaf jeering Snowtuft on to kill Rootspring, talking about how "the cat she used to love cheering for the death of the cat she loved", like they're trying to really drive home the idea that she does love him, even though she didn't seem to care about his life or death previously.

The Clans also seem to have completely forgotten that Bristlefrost spent the first three books openly helping the imposter, although Lionblaze exclusively wants to kill Shadowsight for that exact same indirect thing.

Lionblaze's character is entirely out of par as well, with his sudden taste for "harshly punish[ing]" a young medicine cat of a different Clan. It does not seem at all like something Lionblaze would do, especially after standing up against the imposter so fiercely in the books previous. It could definitely be chalked up to the devastation of losing his adoptive father as well as the cat he'd come to know as his mother, but that was never explained or expounded upon, leaving it to feel more like an oversight than a plot decision.

Speaking of plot decisions - Willowshine Deserved Better. Her death was ridiculous and useful only as a plot device, and a way to foreshadow Mothwing's forced return to RiverClan, completely negating and invalidating the decision she made that kept her from RiverClan in the first place. RiverClan holds, for Mothwing, only memories of her brother, her lack of faith in StarClan, her compounded mistakes, and the fact that Mistystar refused to forgive their Clanmates which pushed Mothwing to stand on her own four paws and stand up for her Clanmates, against Mistystar's clear favoritism.

For me, Graystripe's return was honestly the saving grace for this book, with a very deus ex machina entry about midway through the book, scolding the entire Clan for acting like children and essentially taking over (to be the leader he always deserved to be, we were robbed of Graystar), even if it's only temporary.

The way the entire book takes places over the course of only a couple of days, with most of it being the living cats exploring and fighting in the Place of No Stars, was an extremely fresh, interesting take that I did not expect from this arc in particular. The recurrence of old characters - Darkstripe, Snowtuft, Mapleshade - was interesting, especially since it had been hinted up until this point that the Dark Forest was empty. It was interesting to see cats who had been up until this point minor or supporting villains in more main antagonist roles, using the ambiguity of their fates at the end of the Great Battle as plot devices to bring them back.

Snowtuft's development as an assisting protagonist is interesting, and not something I really anticipated but it's definitely done very well. He embodies what the Dark Forest was always meant to be - a place of purgatory, for cats to think on their life decisions - and his acceptance of his fate despite barely remembering his life (how convenient for plot) is, in and of itself, a character development.

Ashfur has absolutely proven himself to be a fantastic antagonist, blinded by his obsession with Squirrelflight and so desperate to control her that he's deluded himself into believing that she absolutely does love him, if only Bramblestar was out of the way. He didn't get to show his full potential as a villain in Power of Three, and they've brought him back around in a big way. I was not sold on him as the villain at the beginning but I'm enraptured with it now.

The direct references to the Super Edition and to the novellas that released between book 4 and book 5 were interesting, especially seeing essentially the combination of Graystripe's journey and the end of his Super Edition play out in the main series.

Overall, it definitely fell below par for what I've come to expect from Warriors, but wasn't out of character for what this arc has set up "par" to be. TBC is easily one of my least favorite arcs in the entire series, but with the corners they've written themselves into thus far, they've done what they're able, and I can't fault them for that.

[Joke Verbeke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Omfg, this book is really good! It has a lot of interesting plotpoints and fits right in with the rest of the broken code. To me, the most interesting chapters were Rootspring’s and Shadowsight’s. But Bristlefrost’s chapters were okay. The only real downside i could come up with is that there are a lot of scenes that repeat themselves. Like, sometimes the dialogue and such is going back and forth to a point where you really just wants to skip that part cause it’s the tenth time the same arguments are used between the same characters.

Spoilers for the book from here on.

There were some interesting plotpoints. Mainly talking about the things that happen inside the dark forest, as, like the name of this book suggests, the dark forest is a big part of this book. Both Shadowsight and Rootspring stay a pretty long time in there, which gives us a lot of information. The things I personally found most interesting are the “Snowtuft is “good”” side plot and the things surrounding Willowshine. The ending of the book also seems to suggest something is up with Rootspring. The only thing I personally wasn’t happy with was Tigerstar’s constantly doing and saying things without thinking which caused huge, repetitive and unnecessary fights and Bramblestar actually coming back in the end. I would have been fine if he just went up and died or something, sadly, that’s not the case.

Over all, this book is great. I liked it better than the previous book, but it definitely wasn’t the best in the series either.

[Arsynis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not... sure what to think about this one.
The entire book must have talked about the smallest amount of time in a warriors book ever, I feel: it has been what, three days? And I didn't feel like the story went anywhere. Sure, we've got Bramblestar back, but all the other situations seem to be exactly the same as they were when we started. The cats going into the Dark Forest was interesting and I liked getting to know more about the place and its residents (Snowtuft especially!) but the ending I found quite anti-climatic, despite it being supposed to have been filled with tension. The Broken Code has started very strong, but I feel as if with every book it's getting weaker and weaker, and it has lost the charm that made the first series so good. It is hardly about the world of warriors now, and while I enjoyed the unfamiliar direction they had been going in earlier, now I don't know how to feel about it. Ashfur is a cool villain though, and I loved the haunting scenes with the spirits.
I will be looking forward to the next book, but not eagerly.

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

So... not much happens in this book. I guess they are under contract to make the series 6 books always, and sometimes they end up with books with little to not much action plot wise, but this one... this one felt like we were reading the same over and over again. We go to the lake, we dream ourselves into the Dark Foret, we leave it and cycle and repeat ad eternum until something happens at the very end (yes, other things do happen previously, but this book was very filler-y and could have been told in half the pages...)

[Juli · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm delusional. This was the worst book in the series yet, but I loved it. 3/4's of it was plain arguing. I could barely stand the mc's they got so annoying and the consistency in Lionblazes character was awful, they totally changed him to a rageful, mean, blood-thirsty cat. I'm upset, but still quite delusional, so I liked this book enough for 5 stars.

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

A penultimate book in a series which remembers the themes of its main characters, however dislikeable those are, which is more than recent Warriors series have achieved.

[Lilli._.Lemons · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LITERALLY CRIED

[Rira · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

[Kaylee · Rating 3 out of 5]

High three stars. Better than Darkness Within, but not great.

I have mixed feelings on this book. There are parts I really enjoyed, and parts that I really hated (see the end of my Darkness Within review where I rant about sexism in Warrior cats). I enjoyed rereading it, it was a very quick read, but I finished it feeling unsatisfied.

Overall, the book flowed well but felt rushed in some parts. I think that mostly boils down to bad pacing. When the cats start doing their usual Warriors arguing stuff, the book crawls by, making the fast-paced Dark Forest scenes feel too quick. Plot convenience is also a huge issue in this one. How does Ashfur’s mind control work? Why is he the only cat that can do this? If the books are going full-on magic (mind control is magic in this universe; it makes no sense), then why does it still seem like the entirety of StarClan is held back by some thorns? Etc, etc, etc. The Erins also completely retconned the way cats get into the Dark Forest, which really bothered me. Their whole religion/afterlife/ is essentially the books’ magic system, which means it should NEVER entirely change unless that is the prime focus or point of the story. Changing a magic system (afterlife system?) feels cheap and confuses readers. It didn’t feel like the way cats dream/enter the Dark Forest was being explained to me, it felt like it was being convoluted and changed to fit the plot of this book.

Ok. I need to move on before I start rambling about the next book, which I’m almost finished at the time of writing this. Characters next! Yay. I think my biggest issue with the characters this book (and next one, actually), is that they don’t feel like main characters, if that makes sense. Rootspring and Bristlefrost ESPECIALLY feel like side characters who shouldn’t be considered important like they are in the books. Rootspring I can kind of understand, since he can see spirits. But Bristlefrost is a normal warrior, and it seems strange to me that most cats treat her like a hero. WE know she did a lot to stop the imposter, but they don’t. And honestly, she didn’t even do much more than any other cat. Shadowsight doesn’t have this problem, since he’s so closely connected to Ashfur, but conversely, he’s treated as a villain in the book when common sense would dictate otherwise. But that’s just Warriors side characters at their finest. With the main trio as a whole, in this book they feel like they should be side characters. It feels like Bramblestar, Squirrelflight, and maybe Snowtuft should be getting POVs instead/as well. Especially Bramblestar and Squilf.
Individually, I guess Shadowsight is the best this time? He feels the most true to his personality, even though he doesn’t do too much. When he’s in the living world, he does feel more important to the plot than Bristlefrost, though.
Rootspring is fine. I have no thoughts on him, which is really sad because he used to be my favorite Warriors protagonist. I really feel like he’s ‘evolved’ into a stereotypical hero who only thinks about his goal and his lover. Physically, he does the most in the story, though, so I do appreciate that aspect.
Bristlefrost is disappointing, but more believable this book. Once again, all she cares about is Rootspring, but at least this time there’s a reason. I have no more comments on her because she does nothing and has no unique character traits anymore.
And now, I am going to talk about Snowtuft, AKA my new favorite character. A Dark Forest cat with personality! Yay! I wish we’d gotten more from him before he died, but I really liked that the Erins tried to show that evil cats can change, and that not everyone in the Dark Forest deserves to be there. I appreciate that Snowtuft admitted to his wrongs (while I would like it better if he remembered those wrongs, I didn’t mind that he couldn’t remember details about his past) and tried to do better. His motives also served as not-so-subtle foreshadowing of the next book. I just really loved Snowtuft, and I’m kind of glad he was killed off. It made his sacrifice seem more tragic. Now if only the next book would wrap it up nicely. . .

Last thing: a brief mention of Ashfur. I think I mentioned in my last review that he is starting to feel underwhelming as a villain, and I stand on this. His creepiness and toxicity is done very well, but he still doesn’t feel like a final boss, if that makes sense. To be fair though, a big part of that might be the unexplained mind control that still really bothers me. All in all, I don’t think he was bad this book (I actually liked his character a lot in this one), I just think his abilities were poorly planned.

To summarize, definitely not the worst Warriors has done, but also not the best. It really just suffered from poor pacing this time around. Onto a Warriors book that I’ve actually never read before! Finally!

This review is pretty short and rambly because I just returned from vacation and don’t remember half of my thoughts on this book! 😅 Sorry to anyone who actually reads this!

[Brienne Melcher · Rating 5 out of 5]

I personally love the book as always i love the warrior cat books and this one really showed how the clans truly act without their guidance and without graystripe :( sense he hasnt returned

[Lucie · Rating 5 out of 5]

je vais aller mourir en attendant le prochain tome

[Celeste · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the story, but the Erins are better writers than this. The plot isn't really compelling when the dialect doesn't engage the reader like it should.

It's a lot of back and forth, repetitious dialogue. You are told over and over again what exactly is happening and how you should feel, when the Erins are capable of doing this without being so blatant. That's the art of writing; manipulating your readers behind the scenes and allowing their imagination to roam a little and make reasonable assumptions that propel the story along themselves. We are smart, we can figure this stuff out without it being shoved down our throats.

I also know the Erins can force the readers to be afraid, which they achieved so well in The Silent Thaw. This Ashfur isn't scaring me like that Ashfur. He feels moreso like a cartoon villain in this novel than an actual threat. You can tell the Erins rushed the book via all of the spelling and grammatical errors present.

Not to mention, there are a bunch of questions about how Ashfur's powers work. We are never told why he is able to do all of the things he is doing, like controlling cat spirits meant for StarClan and bending the Dark Forest to his will. It's just the vague excuse of "He's powerful." I can understand him taking over Bramblestar's body, because that was thoroughly explained and developed, but the writers just keep throwing more and more bizarre circumstances at the readers with less and less explanation. The things that don't need explaining have too much and those that do need explanation have little to none, so you just have to guess based off of the almost non-existent information you're given.

However, the one thing that I'm loving about this Warriors arc is the bond between parents and their children. There is so much interaction and love and growth, I adore it so much. It's just so wholesome and hasn't been explored in the series as well as in this arc, and is executed almost perfectly.

Overall, enjoying the plot and character development, but a multitude of major flaws are dragging the book down for me.