Scan barcode
randomvlogs_withme's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
greenbean28's review against another edition
4.75
the parallel between shadowsight and tigerstar and rootspring and tree......
"“I never thought I would lose Rootspring this way.” Bristlefrost started at the sound of Tree’s voice. (...) “Coming to the Clans as an outsider, I had to prepare myself for the possibility of losing my son in battle. But not like this, not to the Dark Forest, or to StarClan.”"
"“I don’t like it,” [Tigerstar] growled brusquely. “No father could. But I suppose I have to accept that you are special.”"
& tigerstar and shadowsight getting the chance to have a genuinely emotional, touching, open conversation near the end, while tree must face the fact that his son is not coming back. if i had a physical copy of this book, it would be a crumpled ball of paper after that.
in connection w/ the father-son duo parallel, there's this other tigerstar quote, which he said to shadowsight "i haven't been a special cat for quite some time" or sthing of that sort. that specialness is present in tree and rootspring as well: it's what helped those two connect, while it was what drove a slight edge between shadowsight and his father (tigerstar's overprotectiveness, shadowsight feeling powerless, etc). and the fact tigerstar wishes shadowsight didn't have to deal with all this destiny stuff, while tree helped rootspring embrace his powers in the previous books, and sees their value, sees how much good rootspring can do thanks to them. But they're also what doomed rootspring in this instance, since i assume willowshine wouldn't have been able to drag him into the moonpool, had he no ghost powers?? i just think that's crazy!!! learn to embrace who you are, only to have that be the end of you!
anyway, i liked both tree and tigerstar, and rootspring and shadowsight in this book. also, the dynamic that bristlefrost and tree have is fun, the similarities between their situations, the contrasting personalities, the shared love for rootspring. (tho their convos also shone a light on how underdeveloped bristle and root's relationship is lol. she has a more well-defined dynamic with her crush/bf's dad than with rootspring himself. imo) i liked that despite tree's wish to save rootspring, he also didn't want bristlefrost or shadowsight to risk their lives. i just love tree. mwah
if bristlefrost had any of her early tbc charm (ergo any personality trait that isnt "loving rootspring") this book would've been a 5 star for me. spooky setting ashfur's psychologycal torture island or whatever?? , actually interesting conversations, exciting confrontations, stupid magic!!!<3
"“I don’t like it,” [Tigerstar] growled brusquely. “No father could. But I suppose I have to accept that you are special.”"
& tigerstar and shadowsight getting the chance to have a genuinely emotional, touching, open conversation near the end,
in connection w/ the father-son duo parallel, there's this other tigerstar quote, which he said to shadowsight
anyway, i liked both tree and tigerstar, and rootspring and shadowsight in this book. also, the dynamic that bristlefrost and tree have is fun, the similarities between their situations, the contrasting personalities, the shared love for rootspring. (tho their convos also shone a light on how underdeveloped bristle and root's relationship is lol. she has a more well-defined dynamic with her crush/bf's dad than with rootspring himself. imo)
if bristlefrost had any of her early tbc charm (ergo any personality trait that isnt "loving rootspring") this book would've been a 5 star for me. spooky setting
ann_s's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
nct's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
chamomiledaydreams's review against another edition
3.0
I know that this book is literally called "The Place of No Stars," but I honestly wasn't expecting the setting to last for the entire story. I grew fatigued of the seemingly endless plot points of, "Now So-and-so is trapped, so we need to go back in and save them!" and I was more frustrated with the protagonists than supportive (especially when they spent so long arguing over who should do what and then settled on a decision based on what seemed to be like arbitrary standards).
Still, shout-out to Mothwing, my beloved, for being much nicer to Shadowsight than in previous books. I enjoyed seeing her as a no-nonsense, older aunt figure, who says things disapprovingly but has a loving glint in her eyes all the same. My biggest pet peeve about her in this book is how the narrative took place over such a short stretch of time, yet other characters made comments like, "It seemed like she was still grieving So-and-so," or "The pain was still fresh in her eyes." So-and-so (whose name I am censoring for the sake of not spoiling anything) has barely been dead for 48 hours! I don't think that anyone should be surprised by the strength of Mothwing's emotions.
Anyway, I also enjoyed meeting Snowtuft in this book. I've heard a lot about him, and I'm genuinely more interested in learning new stories from the Dark Forest (such as his) rather than revisiting old antagonists (such as Darkstripe). I'm glad that the action has been steadily building across this series of six and seems prepared to boil over perfectly in the final installment. I know some vague spoilers that make me nervous, but I'm excited to see exactly how they play out for myself.
Still, shout-out to Mothwing, my beloved, for being much nicer to Shadowsight than in previous books. I enjoyed seeing her as a no-nonsense, older aunt figure, who says things disapprovingly but has a loving glint in her eyes all the same. My biggest pet peeve about her in this book is how the narrative took place over such a short stretch of time, yet other characters made comments like, "It seemed like she was still grieving So-and-so," or "The pain was still fresh in her eyes." So-and-so (whose name I am censoring for the sake of not spoiling anything) has barely been dead for 48 hours! I don't think that anyone should be surprised by the strength of Mothwing's emotions.
Anyway, I also enjoyed meeting Snowtuft in this book. I've heard a lot about him, and I'm genuinely more interested in learning new stories from the Dark Forest (such as his) rather than revisiting old antagonists (such as Darkstripe). I'm glad that the action has been steadily building across this series of six and seems prepared to boil over perfectly in the final installment. I know some vague spoilers that make me nervous, but I'm excited to see exactly how they play out for myself.
littleflowerly's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
taava's review against another edition
5.0
I have really enjoyed this arc so far! I felt like this particular book moved a little slower than some of the previous books in this arc. However, it was still enjoyable!
kenmakozumehq's review against another edition
3.0
This book was alright, though it was the worse of TBC so far.
oficeandink's review against another edition
4.0
****SPOILERS FOR GRAYSTRIPE'S VOW****
This book was pretty good. It was incredibly fast-paced with the three different POVs flowing nicely and smoothly together. It was easy to transition from Shadowsight to Bristlefrost to Rootspring and it felt as though I was reading the same story told from different perspectives, which is an aspect several books have tried and failed, to do. It was wonderful to see Graystripe take charge; out of every cat in ThunderClan, he has the most experience. I absolutely loved his comeback to Tigerstar II when he tried to push Graystripe out of the conversation regarding the Dark Forest: "I led ThunderClan for moons when Firestar was away on his quest to find SkyClan-long before you were even kitted. So how about a bit of respect?". Iconic.
I do wish Bramblestar died in the Dark Forest for the sole fact that I don't care for him. It also would have been interesting to see how a quest can fail. One of the main goals was getting Bramblestar back, and if they failed and Bramblestar died, what would have happened? Would Squirrelflight continue to lead once she came back? Would Graystripe help her the way he promised to in "Graystripe's Vow"? How would the dynamics of ThunderClan shift?
With Bramblestar back, how does ThunderClan heal from this? How do the dynamics change? How was Ashfur able to come up with this plan? Why did StarClan let him into their hunting grounds in the first place? If there was trouble in the Clans and StarClan wanted to warn them, why would they send Ashfur out of all cats instead of someone like Leopardstar, Tallstar, Rowanclaw, or Firestar? And how is all of this supposed to come to an end in one book? I hope the last book has some answers.
This book was pretty good. It was incredibly fast-paced with the three different POVs flowing nicely and smoothly together. It was easy to transition from Shadowsight to Bristlefrost to Rootspring and it felt as though I was reading the same story told from different perspectives, which is an aspect several books have tried and failed, to do. It was wonderful to see Graystripe take charge; out of every cat in ThunderClan, he has the most experience. I absolutely loved his comeback to Tigerstar II when he tried to push Graystripe out of the conversation regarding the Dark Forest: "I led ThunderClan for moons when Firestar was away on his quest to find SkyClan-long before you were even kitted. So how about a bit of respect?". Iconic.
I do wish Bramblestar died in the Dark Forest for the sole fact that I don't care for him. It also would have been interesting to see how a quest can fail. One of the main goals was getting Bramblestar back, and if they failed and Bramblestar died, what would have happened? Would Squirrelflight continue to lead once she came back? Would Graystripe help her the way he promised to in "Graystripe's Vow"? How would the dynamics of ThunderClan shift?
With Bramblestar back, how does ThunderClan heal from this? How do the dynamics change? How was Ashfur able to come up with this plan? Why did StarClan let him into their hunting grounds in the first place? If there was trouble in the Clans and StarClan wanted to warn them, why would they send Ashfur out of all cats instead of someone like Leopardstar, Tallstar, Rowanclaw, or Firestar? And how is all of this supposed to come to an end in one book? I hope the last book has some answers.
rosemary_nagy's review against another edition
5.0
Why are these cats so dramatic and also how did this series go from “housecat wants to learn to live in the wild!” to LITERAL CAT HELL???? 10 year old me would’ve been TRAUMATIZED I tell you