Rising Storm (Warriors, #4) by Erin Hunter

My rating: four stars

Genre: Middlegrade

Edition: Paperback

Goodreads Summary: Fireheart’s traitorous enemy Tigerclaw has been vanquished and exiled from Thunder Clan — but Fireheart can’t shake the feeling that he’s lurking in the forest, waiting for his chance to strike.

That’s not the only problem facing the young warrior in these blazing summer months, as he struggles to handle sinister omens, an apprentice with a shocking secret, and a devastated Clan leader who is a shell of her former self.

Meanwhile the forest gets hotter and hotter … and everyone braces for the coming storm… Ages 10+.

Continuing with my re-read of the series, we have gotten to one of my least favorite books of the original six book series. It is still an enjoyable read, I just think that it had a weaker storyline than the rest in the original arc, and I think the characters themselves didn’t go in a great direction.

Likes: I did like the growing relationship between Yellowfang and Cinderpelt. It was heartwarming and I love learning more about the medicine cats. I also enjoyed that there were more dangers to the clan than just Tigerclaw. There are some natural disasters and humans that come into play, and this opened up my eyes to see how the cats not only have to worry about troubles in the clans, they also have to worry about outside forces hurting them. There is also a relationship development between Fireheart and another cat that I found that to be adorable. 

Dislikes: Though I did like that this book includes other types of dangers, Tigerclaw is the main villain and he seems to barely be in this book. There is little progression in the plot because of this. I also did not like the direction Bluestar’s personality is taking. I understand that she is shocked by Tigerclaw’s betrayal, but at the same time she has endured much worse than that and I feel like she would not have been as broken as she is in this book. The naivety of the other clans also surprises me. I recognize that they are having their own troubles, however, I don’t think that they would allow the things that they do just because they are having a difficult time. It seems very unlikely that they would allow Tigerclaw to do the things he does.

Overall, this isn’t as strong as a book as the other ones in the original series, but I still enjoyed it immensely. The relationships that develop in this book are heartwarming, the natural disasters that happen are shocking, and this book did wrench my heart which is a sign of a well written book. Because this story was relatively stagnant in terms of plot progression, and the actions of most of the cats weren’t believable, I am going to deduct a star. However, I still recommend this book and this whole series!