Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
adventurous
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
The Broken Code continues to be great, and this one has the added bonus of not flagrantly mischaracterizing Mothwing! I love that this series goes full-on ridiculous fantasy with ghost nonsense and mind-controlled spirits and going to and from cat hell; honestly, it's fun and it's exciting and I'm fully down for all the nonsense. The characters were great-- I really love the Broken Code trio, and Squirrelflight, Snowtuft, and Tigerheartstar, plus a huge chunk of the remaining supporting cast, all delivered. I've heard some bad things about A Light In the Mist, but I don't think that'll ruin this arc for me.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
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!
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!
Rootspring reports on what happened to Squirrelflight. The Clan leaders debate on what to do about her kidnapping as well as what to do with Shadowsight. Graystripe returns from his wander and assumes temporary leadership over ThunderClan. After a disasterous attempt to enter the Dark Forest that results in a death, Shadowsight, under supervision from Mothflight, enters the Dark Forest. Rootspring is dragged into the Dark Forest by a spirit, and despite their decision to not be together Bristlefrost tries to enter to save him. Can anyone rescue Squirrelflight from the Dark Forest? Will Bramblestar return?
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No