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4.15 AVERAGE
4.15 AVERAGE
adventurous
fast-paced
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
After the last two books had awkward pacing issues, A Dangerous Path jumps right back into the action as any good Warriors book does. There’s plenty of conflict and tension within the book alone, but we also see the seeds being sewn for the next and final book in the first Warriors arc. Subtle alliances are formed, not so subtle romances are built up and other relationships broken down. There’s redemption for my favorite character who had been really annoying up until the last couple of pages. There’s death and tragedy, and a surprising treatment of dogs considering how differently they’re portrayed in this series and in the Survivors series, also written under the Erin Hunter pseudonym. I almost wonder if the dogs in this book are meant to be the same as the Fierce Dogs from Survivors.
But, moving on from my fan theories, there are some things about the book that I didn’t enjoy so much. While I loved the budding romance between Cloudpaw and a certain terrorized she-cat, I wasn’t a fan of the dynamic between Fireheart and Sandstorm. I’m not tagging that as a spoiler because it’s pretty obvious that’s a relationship that’s been hinted towards in the last book, but dang I do not like them as a couple. Not only is Fireheart still enamored with Spottedleaf and therefore not loyal to Sandstorm, Sandstorm is just petty and annoying. I think there are many other fiery she-cats written much better in this series. Sandstorm acts more like a cranky elder who lets every little thing Fireheart says or does get under her fur. I get that couples fight, but this is borderline toxic with Sandstorm constantly pushing Fireheart away after he does even a single little thing wrong rather than trying to communicate with him at all. Things would have gone a lot better had Sandstorm learned to open her mouth and talk instead of acting like a child every time something doesn’t go how she expects it to. I know people hate FireheartxSpottedleaf, but I honestly think their personalities would have worked much better together than FireheartxSandstorm (and don’t hit me with that “Sandstorm was only a bully at first because she didn’t know how to express her feelings! No, she was a bully because she has a crappy personality and only changed her demeanor after Fireheart saved her life. It shouldn’t take something so dramatic for someone to realize they shouldn’t treat others so crappy. Not to mention I don’t think she ever even apologized for everything she said when Fireheart first joined the Clan). Ok that’s enough ranting about shipping. Another thing I hate is the way Bluestar acts in this book, continued from the way she started behaving in the last one. I get that’s she supposed to be suffering from some sort of cat dementia, but she turns from this amazing leader who has been through so much hardship and still managed to come out on top, to a bitter, frail elder who’s losing her mind after one cat betrayed her even though she’d been warned about it multiple times beforehand. And then all of a sudden there’s a one-eighty change in her character once more and all the terribly cruel things she did and said are forgiven. Don’t get me wrong, I adore Bluestar, but only the Bluestar featured before and after this book. It’s just hard to believe that Tigerstar’s betrayal would change her that much (see my last review for more of my thoughts on this) and I could be wrong but I don’t think dementia makes people suddenly turn mean. I wish they would have gone with the dementia angle differently by reducing Bluestar’s cruelty and playing up the forgetfulness/stuck in the past mentality. Despite these two complaints, I still really enjoyed this book and think the pacing issues are smoothed out from the last two installments.
But, moving on from my fan theories, there are some things about the book that I didn’t enjoy so much. While I loved the budding romance between Cloudpaw
Spoiler
Cloudtail for those who have already read the book
The DRAMAAAAA. This one has the big death that totally traumatized me as a child. Very good. Very weird.
adventurous
challenging
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This is book number #5 in the Warriors series and I'm still enjoying reading about the adventures of Thunderclan! Overall the story continues at a good pace and has all the same hallmarks of good writing as the previous installments e.g., regular reminders about what has happened previously and good character development. This book continues with the 'darker' theme as Thunderclan work through mounting internal and external challenges, but I still think it's written appropriately for kids and I really enjoyed the storyline, I actually didn't guess the endgame! I obviously knew about the dogs, but I had no clue how the cats were going to try and get rid of them. I think the writing was clever around this part. . My favourite character has become Cinderpelt, Yellowfang would be proud of her!
Specifics:
Specifics:
- The impacts of disability in the wild e.g. through
Snowkit's deafness - Questioning the role of religion as a mechanism of control e.g., through
Cloudpaw questioning the legitimacy of Star Clan - Shows the moral conflict of disagreeing with or going against orders of people in authority that you believe are wrong e.g., through
Fireheart negotiating with Windclan without telling Bluestar, in order to prevent a battle she had ordered - Depiction of depression, grief, and trauma response, e.g, through
Bluestar predominently, but also Speckletail and Lostface (what a cruel name)
Content Warnings
Minor: Animal death, Violence, Blood
All content is within the context of wildlife operating as it naturally does, there is no gratuitous violence.
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
*** WARNING: This review contains spoilers!!! ***
In many ways, the two halves of this book felt like 2 different books entirely. I spent the first half of the book feeling frustrated and infuriated at the inexplicable complications being contrived. Tigerclaw is a murderous traitor roaming the forest, and ThunderClan does not think that information is worth sharing with the other clans? Not even with RiverClan, when Tigerclaw helped cause Graypool's death? Then, StarClan blesses Tigerclaw's leadership of ShadowClan?!? Why would StarClan approve of someone who had so blatantly violated the warrior code?!?!
Even though the series is, of course, focused on cats, it didn't sit right with me that dogs were characterized as a cave-dwelling, barbarous, unevolved species that could only grunt single instinct-related words. I'm not a huge pet lover or anything, but still I was put off by the distinct contrast in the way dogs and cats were represented.
I was also bothered by the continual fretting over kits who had parents in another clan. In this book, we had three sets of kits who were separated from one parent's clan: those of Bluestar, Graystripe, and Tigerstar. It seemed like a pretty common occurrence that didn't deserve the stigma it carried. Also, it seemed strange that none of the cats involved reached out to the others for support. Like Bluestar could have bonded with Graystripe, Mistyfoot and Stonefur could have taken Graystripe's kits under their wings, and Graystripe could have sympathized with Tigerstar's kits. And the sexism! Bluestar could not be both a parent and a leader (which led to their separation in the first place), yet no one bat an eye at the idea of Tigerstar having kits, even when he became a leader.
Also, I didn't understand why such a big deal was made out of ThunderClan being hugely indebted to RiverClan for helping them during the fire. Didn't ThunderClan perform an equal service when they helped RiverClan during the river flood? Each saved the other from a natural disaster. You'd think they'd consider themselves even.
Bluestar's mental decline was just a bit too much to take - what a long way to fall for such a noble leader! And I really didn't get why killing the lead dog would automatically negate the threat of dogs in the forest. When a clan leader died, another took over. Why wouldn't another dog step up as leader of the pack, and seek revenge on the cats?
Well. With all those complaints, I thought I'd end up giving this book only 2 stars. But, really, I have to admit, the second half of the book was quite exciting, lots of action and surprises, and I really did enjoy the book more and more as the book progressed. By the end, I thought maybe it was a 4-star book, so I comprised and went with 3 stars.
In many ways, the two halves of this book felt like 2 different books entirely. I spent the first half of the book feeling frustrated and infuriated at the inexplicable complications being contrived. Tigerclaw is a murderous traitor roaming the forest, and ThunderClan does not think that information is worth sharing with the other clans? Not even with RiverClan, when Tigerclaw helped cause Graypool's death? Then, StarClan blesses Tigerclaw's leadership of ShadowClan?!? Why would StarClan approve of someone who had so blatantly violated the warrior code?!?!
Even though the series is, of course, focused on cats, it didn't sit right with me that dogs were characterized as a cave-dwelling, barbarous, unevolved species that could only grunt single instinct-related words. I'm not a huge pet lover or anything, but still I was put off by the distinct contrast in the way dogs and cats were represented.
I was also bothered by the continual fretting over kits who had parents in another clan. In this book, we had three sets of kits who were separated from one parent's clan: those of Bluestar, Graystripe, and Tigerstar. It seemed like a pretty common occurrence that didn't deserve the stigma it carried. Also, it seemed strange that none of the cats involved reached out to the others for support. Like Bluestar could have bonded with Graystripe, Mistyfoot and Stonefur could have taken Graystripe's kits under their wings, and Graystripe could have sympathized with Tigerstar's kits. And the sexism! Bluestar could not be both a parent and a leader (which led to their separation in the first place), yet no one bat an eye at the idea of Tigerstar having kits, even when he became a leader.
Also, I didn't understand why such a big deal was made out of ThunderClan being hugely indebted to RiverClan for helping them during the fire. Didn't ThunderClan perform an equal service when they helped RiverClan during the river flood? Each saved the other from a natural disaster. You'd think they'd consider themselves even.
Bluestar's mental decline was just a bit too much to take - what a long way to fall for such a noble leader! And I really didn't get why killing the lead dog would automatically negate the threat of dogs in the forest. When a clan leader died, another took over. Why wouldn't another dog step up as leader of the pack, and seek revenge on the cats?
Well. With all those complaints, I thought I'd end up giving this book only 2 stars. But, really, I have to admit, the second half of the book was quite exciting, lots of action and surprises, and I really did enjoy the book more and more as the book progressed. By the end, I thought maybe it was a 4-star book, so I comprised and went with 3 stars.
Oof this one was hard to get through... We get yet another action packed book where there is barely any time spent just sitting down and talking and something is always going on and happening... but man did I dislike the protagonist - Fireheart in this one. He seems dumbed down and all of his character growth is just thrown out of the window. He used to be one of the smartest cats around but now with all the hints pointing at a pack of dogs being lose in the forest he is still struggling to get that it's more than one dog being lose in the forest, he doesn't understand the "beware the enemy who sleps" prophecy once again even though he got it pretty fast last time around when he received it and man did I hate how he doesn't even bother to stand up to Bluestar when she refuses to make any other cat a warrior besides Cloudtail but then he still has the guts to tell Longtail that he tried and did everything he could to change her mind but it didn't work - like no you didn't, you said something once, she ignored it and you just... gave up.
And don't even get me started on Snowkit- he is introduced just so he can be killed off a few chapters later so his mom can finally go to the elders den ... and he is deaf. Yet another great disability representation where he is pretty much written off as useless as soon as the clan learn that he is deaf and is killed off pages later without getting a chance to explore a posiblity that maybe he could still be a warrior even though he is deaf, or maybe even medicine cat.
There were some good parts like the dog attack at the end of the book - but they were just overshadowed by the bad ones that this book is filled with to the brim.
And don't even get me started on Snowkit- he is introduced just so he can be killed off a few chapters later so his mom can finally go to the elders den ... and he is deaf. Yet another great disability representation where he is pretty much written off as useless as soon as the clan learn that he is deaf and is killed off pages later without getting a chance to explore a posiblity that maybe he could still be a warrior even though he is deaf, or maybe even medicine cat.
There were some good parts like the dog attack at the end of the book - but they were just overshadowed by the bad ones that this book is filled with to the brim.
it is not funny how much this stupid feral cat book is making me cry