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Bravelands: Curse of the Sandtongue #3
Blood on the Plains
Bravelands is in turmoil. With Thorn dead, the animals of the plains desperately search for the next Great Parent, a role Prance is afraid to fill.
Chase hides in plain sight amidst Grandmother's most loyal creatures, praying that the terrible antidote she's discovered will continue to hold the snake's power over her at bay. And Bramble finds himself up against a foe he couldn't have imagined: his own poisoned troop. Can these three unlikely allies stop the great serpent before her venom corrupts them all?
Chase hides in plain sight amidst Grandmother's most loyal creatures, praying that the terrible antidote she's discovered will continue to hold the snake's power over her at bay. And Bramble finds himself up against a foe he couldn't have imagined: his own poisoned troop. Can these three unlikely allies stop the great serpent before her venom corrupts them all?
272 pages, Paperback
First published October 4, 2022
About the author
Erin Hunter
282 books11.1k followersErin Hunter is the pseudonym of five people: Kate Cary, Cherith Baldry, Tui T. Sutherland, Gillian Philip, and Inbali Iserles, as well as editor Victoria Holmes. Together, they write the Warriors series as well as the Seekers and Survivors series. Erin Hunter is working on a new series now called Bravelands.
Erin Hunter is inspired by a love of cats and a fascination with the ferocity of the natural world. As well as having a great respect for nature in all its forms, Erin enjoys creating rich mythical explanations for animal behavior, shaped by her interest in astronomy and standing stones.
Erin Hunter is inspired by a love of cats and a fascination with the ferocity of the natural world. As well as having a great respect for nature in all its forms, Erin enjoys creating rich mythical explanations for animal behavior, shaped by her interest in astronomy and standing stones.
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
February 26, 2023
F*CK THIS ENDING, OH MY GOD.
THEY JUST KILLED OFF THE GREAT PARENT WITHOUT DECIDING ON A NEW GREAT PARENT. WHY?!?! THE SERIES IS OVER, THERE SHOULDN'T BE AN OPEN ENDING.
With that said, they tried to lump four books into one and it clearly shows. We don't really get to understand these characters' personalities the way we understood The Three Heroes. They're rushed out the door because they couldn't be bothered to write a full six books for this series. This might've been the worst ending to a series I've ever read, and I would've happily given this book one star if not for some of the badass scenes that managed to exist in this book. Such as Prance's battle with Grandmother. But again, I love Bravelands so much so this is a huge letdown of an ending. I honestly would've read this series forever if they kept putting out books, such a shame they rushed a trash ending instead 🦍🐆
Edit: OH MY GOD, THERE'S GOING TO BE ANOTHER BRAVELANDS BOOK?! WHAT? I'M SO EXCITED AND CONFUSED. With that said, I'm still retaining my two star review of this book. Felt like the ending to this particular arc really sucked, although I'm SUPER relieved that Bravelands isn't ending just yet. And that we actually get to see a new Great Parent...
THEY JUST KILLED OFF THE GREAT PARENT WITHOUT DECIDING ON A NEW GREAT PARENT. WHY?!?! THE SERIES IS OVER, THERE SHOULDN'T BE AN OPEN ENDING.
With that said, they tried to lump four books into one and it clearly shows. We don't really get to understand these characters' personalities the way we understood The Three Heroes. They're rushed out the door because they couldn't be bothered to write a full six books for this series. This might've been the worst ending to a series I've ever read, and I would've happily given this book one star if not for some of the badass scenes that managed to exist in this book. Such as Prance's battle with Grandmother. But again, I love Bravelands so much so this is a huge letdown of an ending. I honestly would've read this series forever if they kept putting out books, such a shame they rushed a trash ending instead 🦍🐆
Edit: OH MY GOD, THERE'S GOING TO BE ANOTHER BRAVELANDS BOOK?! WHAT? I'M SO EXCITED AND CONFUSED. With that said, I'm still retaining my two star review of this book. Felt like the ending to this particular arc really sucked, although I'm SUPER relieved that Bravelands isn't ending just yet. And that we actually get to see a new Great Parent...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 4, 2024
WOW. So intense!!
June 15, 2024
This series was a bit darker than the rest. It wasn't my favorite, but it was still a good read.
October 11, 2022
Oh this got intense.
Full review at: https://skybookcorner.blogspot.com/20...
Full review at: https://skybookcorner.blogspot.com/20...
April 1, 2025
While I'm glad they finally decided to wrap up an arc in three books rather than drag it out through six like the previous, the ending leaves a bit to be desired. I would have liked more closure on the gorillas and the plains animals .
Chase the leopard had the best chapters in this installment. I liked seeing her deal with conflicted feelings about working for Grandmother the snake . On one hand, she knows what she's doing is evil, but on the other, she's doing it to save what remains of her family. Knowing how hard this series goes sometimes, I was legitimately worried about the cub dying.
Bramble's chapters were fine. Nothing really noteworthy again.
Prance's chapters were also fine. She's too often critically injured and then walks it off by the time her next chapter rolls around. I felt pretty meh about them until the ending. It got pretty good then.
Pretty good book. Pretty good ending.
Chase the leopard had the best chapters in this installment. I liked seeing her deal with conflicted feelings about working for Grandmother the snake . On one hand, she knows what she's doing is evil, but on the other, she's doing it to save what remains of her family. Knowing how hard this series goes sometimes, I was legitimately worried about the cub dying.
Bramble's chapters were fine. Nothing really noteworthy again.
Prance's chapters were also fine. She's too often critically injured and then walks it off by the time her next chapter rolls around. I felt pretty meh about them until the ending. It got pretty good then.
Pretty good book. Pretty good ending.
April 18, 2026
Well, I'm changing my old rating from four to three stars, because I have matured as both a reviewer and a person, and have now read a lot more than I did three years ago, which means I have a much more accurate sense of what is good and what is not. Also, I stopped being nice to books that aren't as good:)
In other words, this is a fine addition to the Erin Hunter canon but not much of a standout. Solid three stars, I'd say.
The writing is fine. It's sufficient to tell the story, and personally, it's pretty nostalgic. That being said, this book teeters on the edge between the old Erin Hunter writing style and the new one, which makes it feel slightly off compared to previous installments. There are also many typos, as usual, which is always disappointing in professionally published books, but not unexpected for this series.
The plot was a little underwhelming for me. I don’t have too much to say, but it felt generally lackluster for all three characters’ plots.
Chase had the most predictable, poorly written ‘forced to be a bad guy’ arc ever, which only lasted a couple chapters anyways. Her attacks against Grandmother were entertaining enough, but not standouts, and not really good fight scenes either. I’m glad she got a happy ending, but it felt almost undeserved when there weren’t really any ramifications for her actions.
Bramble had a serious issue with winning fights this book. He kept having to be rescued, which made him feel weak and also made him unlikable. He also literally did nothing. Bramble did not one single thing in this book that mattered to defeating Grandmother. The only interesting thing that happens with his story is (predictably) accidentally killing his father. But nothing comes of this beyond stereotypical ‘oh no’ sadness, and then the book ends. Bramble’s plot was by far the most disappointing to me.
Prance’s story is helped by the fact that, as Great Mother, she has things to do to prepare for Grandmother coming. But even she doesn’t do much beyond chat with Grandmother and walk with the other animals. This book as a whole really seems to lack initiative from the characters, as well as any sort of ramifications for mistakes or actions. That little giraffe from last book returns in this book (Prance even acknowledges that she forgot him), and it’s completely waved off. This would be fine if every other similar action from all three leads wasn’t treated the same way (for example, Bramble’s failed attempt to kill Grandmother, or Chase being immediately forgiven for working with the villain without giving any real explanation). Also, I personally think the giraffe reappearance was just a quick cover-up for a plothole from last book.
In general, this story felt lackluster on all ends, even if exciting things did technically happen. Part of that also may be the waning description of environments to ground the story; this book brushes right up on the ‘new’ Erin Hunter writing style, and I felt like I could tell. Unfortunately, it probably will just get worse from here.
Character time. Oh boy.
Prance is kind of a nothing character. Her personality doesn't develop, she doesn't have any real moral choices, or, as I stated earlier, repercussions of her decisions to grapple with. I kind of enjoy Prance personally because her story is more interesting/less predictable than the other two, and she has cool powers. But I have to put that 'kind of' there because she's not even really a person at all. She's a character with no character, which seems weird considering how big her half-fakeout death was at the end. Prance was a very cool concept for sure, but as a character she is literally not worth mentioning at all.
Bramble is just. . . ugh. He spends the entire book throwing himself stupidly into dangerous situations because he wants to help, but then has to be rescued from those situations 10 pages later (which is never hard to do; the authors literally just needed to take up some more pages). His fear of tunnels and claustrophobia never return, and he quite literally does nothing of note this entire book. Bramble is by far the worst of the three, which is, of course, incredibly disappointing considering how strong he was in book 1 (if you ignore his abrupt personality switch-up at the end of that one).
Chase was good in theory. Much like the last book, she's doing a lot of interesting things, but she as a character is still stale and bland. I wish at least one of our three protagonists had had a unique personality or some semblance of an arc. Chase also has the most lackluster attempt at the 'forced to work for the bad guys' trope that I've ever read, which just annoyed me and made me want to get her chapters over with.
All three of these protagonists were incredibly boring and disappointing, which sucks because at least two of them were doing interesting things. The Erins really need to work on making actual CHARACTERS instead of the same personality in different fonts.
Grandmother is still the only villain, and she was once again very underwhelming. I'll give the authors credit for what they tried to do; she was a physical threat and did actually do some damage herself. But for the most part, she fell flat to me. When the villain's entire plan relies on using a natural disaster to look cool, it feels cheap to me. Her plan wasn't 'use volcano explosion as a distraction for a smart plan,' it was 'brag while volcano erupts and then watch it do all the work to kill everyone.' That doesn't make for a very interesting story. Not to mention, the herd of animals that gathered to fight her felt unbelievably small- unlike in Blood and Bone, there wasn't logical time to collect a supposed Great Herd, and they weren't described very well, which in turn made Grandmother feel weaker because a small herd allegedly had such a good chance of defeating her. Grandmother's ultimate defeat was satisfying and unique, but that was because of Prance, not really because she did much. I'm just left wishing this villain had been more, somehow.
Overall, I was, once again, disappointed with this arc. The Erins REALLY struggle writing a book series where the later books are as strong as the start; they're quite good at setup, but tend to completely fall off once the plot gets rolling for real. I hope this is something the team tries to work on; I personally think it's much better to have a weaker beginning and a strong end than the other way around- it leaves a sour taste in the mouth to end an arc on a bad note.
Just one more trilogy and I've finished rereading Bravelands!
SERIES RATINGS:
Shadows on the Mountain: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Venom Spreads: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Blood on the Plains: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
In other words, this is a fine addition to the Erin Hunter canon but not much of a standout. Solid three stars, I'd say.
The writing is fine. It's sufficient to tell the story, and personally, it's pretty nostalgic. That being said, this book teeters on the edge between the old Erin Hunter writing style and the new one, which makes it feel slightly off compared to previous installments. There are also many typos, as usual, which is always disappointing in professionally published books, but not unexpected for this series.
The plot was a little underwhelming for me. I don’t have too much to say, but it felt generally lackluster for all three characters’ plots.
Chase had the most predictable, poorly written ‘forced to be a bad guy’ arc ever, which only lasted a couple chapters anyways. Her attacks against Grandmother were entertaining enough, but not standouts, and not really good fight scenes either. I’m glad she got a happy ending, but it felt almost undeserved when there weren’t really any ramifications for her actions.
Bramble had a serious issue with winning fights this book. He kept having to be rescued, which made him feel weak and also made him unlikable. He also literally did nothing. Bramble did not one single thing in this book that mattered to defeating Grandmother. The only interesting thing that happens with his story is (predictably) accidentally killing his father. But nothing comes of this beyond stereotypical ‘oh no’ sadness, and then the book ends. Bramble’s plot was by far the most disappointing to me.
Prance’s story is helped by the fact that, as Great Mother, she has things to do to prepare for Grandmother coming. But even she doesn’t do much beyond chat with Grandmother and walk with the other animals. This book as a whole really seems to lack initiative from the characters, as well as any sort of ramifications for mistakes or actions. That little giraffe from last book returns in this book (Prance even acknowledges that she forgot him), and it’s completely waved off. This would be fine if every other similar action from all three leads wasn’t treated the same way (for example, Bramble’s failed attempt to kill Grandmother, or Chase being immediately forgiven for working with the villain without giving any real explanation). Also, I personally think the giraffe reappearance was just a quick cover-up for a plothole from last book.
In general, this story felt lackluster on all ends, even if exciting things did technically happen. Part of that also may be the waning description of environments to ground the story; this book brushes right up on the ‘new’ Erin Hunter writing style, and I felt like I could tell. Unfortunately, it probably will just get worse from here.
Character time. Oh boy.
Prance is kind of a nothing character. Her personality doesn't develop, she doesn't have any real moral choices, or, as I stated earlier, repercussions of her decisions to grapple with. I kind of enjoy Prance personally because her story is more interesting/less predictable than the other two, and she has cool powers. But I have to put that 'kind of' there because she's not even really a person at all. She's a character with no character, which seems weird considering how big her half-fakeout death was at the end. Prance was a very cool concept for sure, but as a character she is literally not worth mentioning at all.
Bramble is just. . . ugh. He spends the entire book throwing himself stupidly into dangerous situations because he wants to help, but then has to be rescued from those situations 10 pages later (which is never hard to do; the authors literally just needed to take up some more pages). His fear of tunnels and claustrophobia never return, and he quite literally does nothing of note this entire book. Bramble is by far the worst of the three, which is, of course, incredibly disappointing considering how strong he was in book 1 (if you ignore his abrupt personality switch-up at the end of that one).
Chase was good in theory. Much like the last book, she's doing a lot of interesting things, but she as a character is still stale and bland. I wish at least one of our three protagonists had had a unique personality or some semblance of an arc. Chase also has the most lackluster attempt at the 'forced to work for the bad guys' trope that I've ever read, which just annoyed me and made me want to get her chapters over with.
All three of these protagonists were incredibly boring and disappointing, which sucks because at least two of them were doing interesting things. The Erins really need to work on making actual CHARACTERS instead of the same personality in different fonts.
Grandmother is still the only villain, and she was once again very underwhelming. I'll give the authors credit for what they tried to do; she was a physical threat and did actually do some damage herself. But for the most part, she fell flat to me. When the villain's entire plan relies on using a natural disaster to look cool, it feels cheap to me. Her plan wasn't 'use volcano explosion as a distraction for a smart plan,' it was 'brag while volcano erupts and then watch it do all the work to kill everyone.' That doesn't make for a very interesting story. Not to mention, the herd of animals that gathered to fight her felt unbelievably small- unlike in Blood and Bone, there wasn't logical time to collect a supposed Great Herd, and they weren't described very well, which in turn made Grandmother feel weaker because a small herd allegedly had such a good chance of defeating her. Grandmother's ultimate defeat was satisfying and unique, but that was because of Prance, not really because she did much. I'm just left wishing this villain had been more, somehow.
Overall, I was, once again, disappointed with this arc. The Erins REALLY struggle writing a book series where the later books are as strong as the start; they're quite good at setup, but tend to completely fall off once the plot gets rolling for real. I hope this is something the team tries to work on; I personally think it's much better to have a weaker beginning and a strong end than the other way around- it leaves a sour taste in the mouth to end an arc on a bad note.
Just one more trilogy and I've finished rereading Bravelands!
SERIES RATINGS:
Shadows on the Mountain: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Venom Spreads: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Blood on the Plains: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 1, 2023
*I've decided I won't write long book reviews for books under two stars unless it's a rant or I have a lot to say!*
<< *Every single person in this world can view a work of literature and have completely different thoughts and opinions. My opinion is not meant to offend you. If you do not want to see a review criticizing your favourite book (or a book you enjoyed), then I recommend not proceeding with reading this review.>>
Blood on the Plains was a huge disappointment for me. I did not know that the second arc in Curse of the Sandtongue would be a trilogy. Once I did finishing this felt underwhelming. All the characters barely feel developed. Each of them seem like photocopies of the first three protagonists in the Bravelands series. It makes the characters all feel watered down and mundane. Their stories felt like a bridge to another series. The great evil felt very weak and not as menacing or hard to beat as Titan. The characters had such unfinished story arcs. The characters from the previous arc were either killed off or written in a very mundane way. The characters were not well-rounded and felt stretched thin. I'm disappointed because Bravelands was a favourite of mine when I was younger. I will do a re-read on the first series and see if I still like it now.
<< *Every single person in this world can view a work of literature and have completely different thoughts and opinions. My opinion is not meant to offend you. If you do not want to see a review criticizing your favourite book (or a book you enjoyed), then I recommend not proceeding with reading this review.>>
Blood on the Plains was a huge disappointment for me. I did not know that the second arc in Curse of the Sandtongue would be a trilogy. Once I did finishing this felt underwhelming. All the characters barely feel developed. Each of them seem like photocopies of the first three protagonists in the Bravelands series. It makes the characters all feel watered down and mundane. Their stories felt like a bridge to another series. The great evil felt very weak and not as menacing or hard to beat as Titan. The characters had such unfinished story arcs. The characters from the previous arc were either killed off or written in a very mundane way. The characters were not well-rounded and felt stretched thin. I'm disappointed because Bravelands was a favourite of mine when I was younger. I will do a re-read on the first series and see if I still like it now.
January 31, 2023
The first Bravelands arc followed Erin Hunter's standard 6-book series format. Bravelands: Curse of the Sandtongue, Book 3: Blood on the Plains, is the third book in the second arc, and looks to be the last one in it, which would make this arc a Trilogy, something new for Erin. I assume the next Bravelands arc, called Bravelands: Thunder on the Plains, will also be a Trilogy. And now I realize this arc was a Trilogy, I suppose it's only fair to compare it to the Original Star Wars Trilogy. Bravelands: Curse of the Sandtongue, Book 1: Shadows on the Mountain can be compared to Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, in that it introduced the characters and world. Bravelands: Curse of the Sandtongue, Book 2: The Venom Spreads is like Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, in that it's darker. And now Bravelands: Curse of the Sandtongue, Book 3: Blood on the Plains is comparable to Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, since it ties everything up. And I really liked it.
December 18, 2022
4.5 stars.
My chief complaint was that the writing itself could have been pushed to a slightly higher level. There were snippets of excellent prose and storytelling that made up for lackluster writing at times, but there was still much left to be desired. Other than that, this trilogy is one of my favourite works by Erin Hunter.
My chief complaint was that the writing itself could have been pushed to a slightly higher level. There were snippets of excellent prose and storytelling that made up for lackluster writing at times, but there was still much left to be desired. Other than that, this trilogy is one of my favourite works by Erin Hunter.
June 30, 2023
I think this was the best book out of curse of the sandtongue, but it did get more intense and bloody, as the name suggests. I kinda thought Range was too smug. Some people out there might not agree, but I was kinda glad grandmother ate him😂. I do like Shadow though, he and Chase would be a pretty good match, in my opinion.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 22, 2023
The book was very well written and has great moral teachings. Perfect for those kids from 3rd grade up who like to submerge themselves in a good sorry where the characters are all animals. All walks of life fighting banning together to fight a common enemy with an unlikely hero.
October 22, 2022
This had me in the edge of my seat. The pure action that was going on was insane!
November 6, 2022
erin hunter best book of 2022
April 17, 2023
I loved this series! At first, I was doubtful but now I know that this was one of the thrilling and captivating book that I have read this year.
July 6, 2023
it took me WAY too long to finish this book but anyway the end is definitely disappointing and I wish it ended a different way but other than that it was pretty good
also I didn’t read twice idk why it’s saying that 🤬
also I didn’t read twice idk why it’s saying that 🤬
Want to Read
January 4, 2024SM
March 25, 2024
4.25 stars
May 9, 2024
Good
May 16, 2024
I definitely prefer the original series more but this one was pretty fun, too! I feel like it ended kind of abruptly, though, which felt really out of place. L
Anyways, on to the next one!!
Anyways, on to the next one!!
May 27, 2024
It was a great finish to the series so far. I would definitely recommend this book.
October 5, 2024
Gorilla. Leopard saves husband and child. Gazelle jumps into volcano.
January 2, 2025
4.4
I liked how all the characters had a crucial role in the book and the friendships!!
I liked how all the characters had a crucial role in the book and the friendships!!
September 6, 2025
Amazing!🤩 I liked the first arc better, though, but this one wasn’t bad🦁🌿
December 15, 2025
One of the best books I’ve read in a while.
I absolutely love the Bravelands i’ve read the first series and now the second I enjoy them so much. And I’ve read a lot of books.
I absolutely love the Bravelands i’ve read the first series and now the second I enjoy them so much. And I’ve read a lot of books.
April 1, 2023
Good but too morbid not recommended for little chidlers🧐.very dramatic 🙀 fun to read. *now prance pronks in heaven *🥹 WHY BURBARK DIEEEE?! #☠️🦍☠️ I like chase I think she be new great mother 👵🏻 I love how grandmother is so 😈 # I ❤️ G. Definitely read these books! 🪦
🦌 (review by my 10yr old daughter)
I will just add that I enjoyed the story and the three main characters and I also liked that this series was only 3 books (6 is sooo long). However, like all Erin Hunter books, I find them a bit too gruesome and too spiritual.
🦌 (review by my 10yr old daughter)
I will just add that I enjoyed the story and the three main characters and I also liked that this series was only 3 books (6 is sooo long). However, like all Erin Hunter books, I find them a bit too gruesome and too spiritual.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 9, 2023
There's something about the Bravelands books that's pretty unique for Erin Hunter, and I like it. The stuff with Prance and Chase is my favorite.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews