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A review by scarlettblaze
Legends of the Clans by Erin Hunter
3.0
Since I read these three novellas within the same book, it's a little hard to give all three an overall rating, so I'll rate each one individually.
Spottedleaf's Heart: 2/5. This novella doesn't make much sense, and it doesn't fit into the general canon very well. Spottedleaf is a bit irresponsible emotionally, which we already knew from her fondness for Firestar, but what we didn't know until this book came out is that Firestar was not her first love. Spottedleaf's relationship with is insanely creepy and, from what I can tell, pointless to Spottedleaf's story. He literally starts pursuing her romantically when she is a kitten small enough to still be nursing from her mother, and he's completely grown. Their entire relationship is very uncomfortable to read, and I get the feeling the relationship was only written in the book as a way to tell the readers . It's also very unclear if Spottedleaf wanted to be a warrior or a medicine cat. At some points, she acts like she really wants to be a medicine cat and only chose to train as a warrior to be with her warrior pursuer, and at other times, it looks like she never wanted to be a warrior. It's a confusing story that I really don't think added anything valuable to Spottedleaf as a character.
Pinestar's Choice: 3/5. The story felt extremely rushed, but it gets a simple point across -- Pinestar never really wanted to be a warrior once he learned what kittypet life was like. Its redeeming quality is that it explores a warrior's desire to live a different life, which is something I think is not depicted enough in the universe. In reality, I imagine many feral cats would rather give up that harsh life to live with people! I do believe most warriors would choose to stay with the Clans even after considering kittypet life, but I do find it odd that this is one of extremely few times when a cat even questions their natural loyalty to the Clans. I enjoyed seeing the birth and early days of Tigerclaw. I could see that Pinestar's lack of interest in being a father and not spending time with Tigerkit very likely had some contribution to Tigerclaw growing up to be who he was.
Thunderstar's Echo: 4/5. I may be biased towards this book, because I loved the entire Dawn of the Clans arc and all its characters. I was glad to see how Thunderstar was coping as a proper leader of ThunderClan, and it was nice to see how all the Clans still got along so well. The book is an interesting look into Thunderstar figuring out how to best lead his Clan, which is bound to be hard when he's the first ThunderClan leader!
Spottedleaf's Heart: 2/5. This novella doesn't make much sense, and it doesn't fit into the general canon very well. Spottedleaf is a bit irresponsible emotionally, which we already knew from her fondness for Firestar, but what we didn't know until this book came out is that Firestar was not her first love. Spottedleaf's relationship with
Spoiler
ThistleclawSpoiler
that Thistleclaw was evil and training in the Dark ForestPinestar's Choice: 3/5. The story felt extremely rushed, but it gets a simple point across -- Pinestar never really wanted to be a warrior once he learned what kittypet life was like. Its redeeming quality is that it explores a warrior's desire to live a different life, which is something I think is not depicted enough in the universe. In reality, I imagine many feral cats would rather give up that harsh life to live with people! I do believe most warriors would choose to stay with the Clans even after considering kittypet life, but I do find it odd that this is one of extremely few times when a cat even questions their natural loyalty to the Clans. I enjoyed seeing the birth and early days of Tigerclaw. I could see that Pinestar's lack of interest in being a father and not spending time with Tigerkit very likely had some contribution to Tigerclaw growing up to be who he was.
Thunderstar's Echo: 4/5. I may be biased towards this book, because I loved the entire Dawn of the Clans arc and all its characters. I was glad to see how Thunderstar was coping as a proper leader of ThunderClan, and it was nice to see how all the Clans still got along so well. The book is an interesting look into Thunderstar figuring out how to best lead his Clan, which is bound to be hard when he's the first ThunderClan leader!